Summary
While the series had many bumps and bruises along the way, the finale manages to end on a satisfactory note, bringing a true sense of justice and more mock trial fun.
This recap of the Netflix k-drama series Law School episode 16 — finale/ending explained — contains spoilers.
Personally, for me, this has been a frustrating series with so much promise. My main issue is that the writers felt the need to make every plot point complex, and while I don’t frown at mind-bending stories, Law School exceeds the limit. Thankfully, the finale of Law School is satisfactory.
The finale begins “a few days” ago, returning to the events of the penultimate chapter but from a different angle, with the students and Professor Yang planning to foil Assemblyman Ko for his corrupt and criminal activities. Kang Sol A learned her sister could not travel to Korea, so she pretended to be Erica Shin (Kang Dan). Hwi-oh found the underground hub to spread fake news, funded by Assemblyman Ko. When Assemblyman Ko speaks to Professor Yang and “Erica Shin,” he was fooled – he was under surveillance. The police put on a search and seizure warrant and arrest Assemblyman Ko.
A dramatic start to the finale!
Prosecutor Jin is cornered
As we predicted last week, Assemblyman Ko will rely on Prosecutor Jin and ask him to help him out. The prosecutor is cornered, and Professor Yang knows it. Professor Yang tells Jin that he should tell the truth now before it spills out with Ki Du-seung; he plays him a voice memo, and he realizes all this is now connected to a murder.
Law School episode 16 is ensuring that the finale ties up loose ends.
Assemblyman Ko is arrested
Assemblyman Ko holds a press conference and claims this is a ploy to undermine him. He says the judge who issued the warrant has a daughter who is one of Professor Yang’s students, referring to Kang Sol B. Soon after, Assemblyman Ko is arrested for inciting murder and online manipulation.
Prosecutor Jin wants to be an outsider in Ko’s case
Assemblyman Ko is in the interrogation room, and he’s furious at Prosecutor Jin for not destroying the evidence. Jin plays the voice memo that Professor Yang gave him, and Assemblyman Ko is frustrated. Prosecutor Jin says solicitation of murder is “out of line” — he doesn’t want to be involved anymore, and he leaves the politician in the room. An investigator then asks Assemblyman Ko why he has a photo of Lee Man-ho’s son and suggests he gets an attorney.
In a surprising moment, Kim Eun-suk agrees to represent Assemblyman Ko, but he will need to be indicted first. She knows representing him means her lips will remain sealed.
Preparing for the competition
The finale of Law School re-surfaces the law competition, which means exciting mock trials.
Kang Sol A, Kang Sol B, and Joon-hwi are in a team, and they have reached the semi-finals. They are the defense team for the next round, and Kang Sol A is mortified. It’s a child abandonment case. The trio gets to work to form their defense — Kang Sol A feels she has Professor Yang’s encouragement for the first time, and she feels like she has an injection of energy.
Kang Sol A knows that Assemblyman Ko’s trial is on the same day as the mock trial, and she can tell Joon-hwi is thinking about his uncle Professor Seo. She wants to do her best for Joon-hwi. So the pair practice the mock trial together.
Assemblyman Ko’s first trial
The finale presents Assemblyman Ko’s first trial. Professor Yang announces himself as the victim in the trial and sits down.
Ki Du-seung is the first witness to be called; he states that Assemblyman Ko offered early parole if he got rid of Professor Yang. Next, Erica Shin is one of the witnesses, and this time, she’s really here.
The episode then flits back to the voice memo that Professor Yang played for Prosecutor Jin — it’s a phone call where Assemblyman Ko asks Erica to meet him as soon as she arrives in Korea. He tells her that she knows what happens to people who mess with him. Erica Shin states she ran away because of that. This voice memo is played to the court, which strengthens the evidence against the Assemblyman.
The twin sisters
And then the significant moment arrives in Law School episode 16 — the villain has nowhere to run or anyone to manipulate; his time is up.
Erica Shin starts answering questions, and Assemblyman Ko asks the judge to check it’s really her. But then Kang Sol A turns up, which immediately disputes his claims. She asks the judge to understand what Assemblyman Ko meant when he said, “he can do worst things to me”. After the court session, Assemblyman Ko is furious. Kim Eun-suk tells him that it’s time he paid for what he did, and he’s dragged away.
Erica Shin thanks Professor Yang for allowing her to work on this with him. They’ve been working with each other to bring down the politician for a while. Afterward, Prosecutor Jin apologizes to Professor Yang in front of the journalists. It feels like he’s worming his way out of trouble.
The only criticism about the case against Assemblyman Ko is that it has required a lot of commitment from the audience to reach this stage, and they wrapped up the trial of the main villain in the last episode. It feels like they spent so long going over many things in the show’s plots but then quickly dealt with the main event.
Justice mock trial
At the mock trial, Kang Sol B and Joon-hwi are worried that Kang Sol A will not turn up, but then she does. Kang Sol A gives her main defense argument in the mock trial regarding the abandonment of a child. Flashbacks show that Kang Sol A, Joon-hwi, and Kang Sol B found a new argument, but they can’t raise it, or they’ll get penalty points, but Kang Sol A wants to proceed with the main argument anyway.
The extra argument
In the present day, after Kang Sol A’s argument, Joon-hwi reveals the extra argument. The judge notes the argument wasn’t presented in the preparatory notes, and they accept the penalty points, knowing they are doing the right thing. Erica Shin walks into the courtroom and watches her sister perform before leaving. In the end, Kang Sol B performs the closing argument.
Ji-ho’s team won despite their efforts.
Erica tells Kang Sol A that she’ll make a good lawyer
And then the finale of Law School starts to wrap the story up from here.
Kang Sol A rings her sister, and she’s s little upset she didn’t get to see her properly. Erica tells her sister that she will be a good lawyer, and thanks to her, she can return to America worry-free.
Celebrations
The students go out and celebrate the outcome of the mock trial. Kang Sol B has been avoiding her mother’s phone calls, but she finally answers it; she says she got eliminated from the competition because of Kang Sol A, but Kang Sol B sticks up for her friend.
The ending of Law School episode 16 – the finale
As the finale starts closing out, Kang Sol A and Joon-hwi decide to help an older man who is in financial difficulties and a plaintiff is asking for money back after many years. The statute of limitations on the loan has already expired, so the student lawyers help the man.
Professor Yang visits Assemblyman Ko in jail. He feels he has way more to solve and wants to know if Seo Byong-ju was the victim of a bribe. Assemblyman Ko toys with Professor Yang and says it will do no good admitting it now. Professor Yang wants the truth for his students.
The finale flits to a few years later — Kang Sol A is an attorney at an office run by her and Mr. Park, and Joon-hwi is a prosecutor. Both characters head into the law school and meet up with Professor Yang, and they walk together as a trio.
While the series had many bumps and bruises along the way, the finale manages to end on a satisfactory note, bringing a true sense of justice and more mock trial fun. Law School tries to wrap up as many plot points as possible.
Additional points
- Bearing loads of experience, Ye-seul helps out a domestic abuse victim.
- Seung-jae asks for the strictest punishment in his cheating case. He could end up in jail.
- Kang Sol B’s family goes to a family counselor to resolve their issues.
