Summary
Episode 10 is an emotionally driven chapter, which makes it worthwhile. It provides key moments and significant performances that have been lacking from the start.
This recap of the Netflix k-drama series Law School episode 10 contains spoilers.
I was so frustrated with this series last week that I was glad we got a short break on Thursday. However, Law School episode 10 ain’t bad at all; in fact, it manages to make the audience care on this rare occasion. There are some good moments in this series, even if, on the whole, I feel let down by it.
In true dramatic fashion, Professor Yang turns up to be Ye-seul’s attorney at her trial and asks for a jury-decision-based session. The question is, can Professor Yang be the attorney? In special circumstances, he can be, even if he is on trial himself, but Han Joon-hwi doubts the judge will accept it. The prosecution argues against Professor Yang’s appointment. Professor Yang argues that no one wants to defend Ye-seul due to Assemblyman Ko’s involvement, so it is a special circumstance — he also believes he can prove that Ye-seul is not guilty, and it is self-defense.
Preparing Ye-seul for the trial
The students get together to discuss how they can help Ye-seul’s case. She’s up against a prestigious family, and this court, in particular, has never ruled in self-defense — Han Joon-hwi thinks this will be the first one. Meanwhile, Ye-seul tells Professor Yang and Kim Eun-suk that she will not press charges against Yeong-chang because he may be disabled for the rest of his life. Professor Yang tells her to change her mind, as he’s not losing his first case as a public defender.
Kang Sol B defends the plagiarism case
This subplot got a little cold recently, but it’s good to see Kang Sol B standing her ground and with intelligent defenses.
Kang Sol B tells the law school board that she wrote her essay in middle school and that she was not aware that Professor Seo had used it to submit to Harvard University when she used it in a contest. She argues her case strongly that it was her piece. Kang Sol B also claims that Ji-ho is a witness as she went to the same school as him. Kim Eun-suk is frustrated that good arguments from Kang Sol B put down all her challenges.
Kang Sol A is feeling down, but Han Joon-hwi finds ways to cheer her up
Are Kang Sol and Han Joon-hwi a potential romance, or are they good friends? Right now, I’d say they are good friends.
Kang Sol A is down about her grades and wonders if she is smart enough for law school — she drinks copious amounts of alcohol and confides with Han Joon-hwi. However, she doesn’t need to retake her exam as she just passed, but she feels pathetic for how hard she had to try. She feels like a joke. The next day, Han Joon-hwi offers a hungover Kang Sol A some soup to help her get over her post-drunk sorrows. Han Joon-hwi passes Kang Sol A the sugar glucose logbook he found in Professor Seo’s car on the day of the incident, and she is proud of him for finding such evidence.
The prosecution against Ye-seul strengthens
Law School episode 10 manages to center the story on Ye-seul while, on the other hand, make Professor Yang’s final session in court equally as important/
Yeong-chang invites Ye-seul into the hospital and spits in her face. He’s dismayed that she is arguing self-defense in the courtroom. Yeong-chang claims he was going to delete the videos — Ye-eul tells him that she will pray for his recovery. The students learn that the prosecution is putting together a story that Yeong-chang would have deleted the videos and that they’ve removed any evidence of spy cameras. Ye-seul shows Professor Yang transcripts from a phone call — it proves Yeong-chang was abusive, but she only wants him to use it to defend her, not press charges. Kang Sol A then enters the office and tells the professor that Assemblyman Ko used fake news to make his opponent take his own life — she knows the politician has done this before, which is why Kang Dan left the country for being a whistleblower; she wants to prove self-defense for Ye-seul.
Stolen evidence from Seong-jae
Before the final session of the trial against Professor Yang over the murder of Professor Seo, Seung-jae gives Ye-seul a memory stick and tells her to make sure that Professor Yang gets it as he doesn’t have the courage to bring it himself. However, on the way to the trial, someone on a motorbike grabs her bike and rides off — the memory stick was inside her bag.
We always knew Seung-jae was going to be key to this — Law School episode 10 brings a pivotal moment.
The final trial session
Ye-seul tells Professor Yang that she lost the flash drive. In the trial, the prosecution and defense argue which log of sugar glucose is correct — the device or the logbook. Professor Yang’s attorney proves the contradictions in date and times. Professor Seo’s personal driver, Lee Man-ho, is called a witness, but the prosecution claims he’s unreliable because he’s a sex offender. During recess, Lee Man-ho confronts Prosecutor Jin for calling him an unreliable witness.
Closing statements
Professor Yang is a straight shooter, but he seals this episode with a fine performance, arguing his innocence in the courtroom.
Lee Man-ho does not turn up as a witness after recess, so the judges move it to closing statements. Prosecutor Jin claims that Professor Yang takes advantage of the law to get away with murder and proceeds to build the narrative that he is the murderer. Professor Yang brings his closing argument; he quotes Professor Seo and believes the innocent should not be served unjustly, but Seo did just that. Finally, he raises how the investigators and prosecutors pinned it on him from the start and completely disregarded the possibilities that this was premeditated — flashbacks show Professor Yang and Han Joon-hwi rechecking the crime scene for evidence and building the case that this was planned.
The smoking gun
Professor Yang gets emotional that the prosecution ignored logic and signs — he asks the court if they really think he was the killer and that it needs to be beyond a reasonable doubt. He then gets out a flash drive that proves his alibi. It’s a video of Seung-jae, and he’s telling the court that Professor Yang ensured that Professor Seo recovered from a hypoglycemic episode after drinking the coffee with sugar. But, of course, the real reason why this is an alibi is that Seung-jae hid in the professor’s office to hack into his laptop at the time to get information on the exams. Ye-seul tells the judges that the evidence is viable.
Professor Yang gets emotional again and tells the court they should set a good example by making a fair decision to the students sitting in this room. However, before Professor Yang sits down, he tells Prosecutor Jin that he will use the flash drive in appeals court if he is found guilty.
The final trial is probably the highlight of the series so far.
The ending
In public, Assemblyman Ko confronts Ye-seul and says her actions are a disgrace. Ms. Oh joins the commotion, and Assemblyman Ko tells her that Ye-seul should not step inside this school, however, Ms. Oh says they should prove she’s a criminal first. Assemblyman Ko asks Kang Sol A if it was her idea to get special counsel for Ye-seul. Kang Sol A tells him she wonders how he heard that it was her idea, implying he’s spying on her as well — like father, like son.
When the students gather again to discuss Ye-seul’s case, Ji-ho tells them that he can no longer be involved, as he’s off to study at Hyeongseol. Kang Sol B finds a case that will help them.
The episode ends with both Lee Man-ho and Professor Yang both meeting someone in the middle of the night — are they meeting each other or someone else, or the same person?
Law School episode 10 is an emotionally driven chapter, which makes it worthwhile. It provides key moments and significant performances that have been lacking from the start.
Law notes
- Prosecutor Jin tells Kang Sol B to call him before the sentencing date.
- After the court session is finished, there’s a worry that Seung-jae is in trouble. However, Kim Eun-suk finds him. She is annoyed at him because she thought something had happened. Seung-jae is apologetic.
- Kang Ju-man tells his daughter Kang Sol B that she was taken off court training because she doesn’t qualify and has nothing to do with her plagiarism. It doesn’t matter how smart she is.
