Summary
The final episode delivers an emotional resolution, but undermines itself with a confusing last-minute attitude.
This recap of Juvenile Justice season 1, episode 10 contains spoilers, including a discussion of Juvenile Justice’s ending.
The final episode of Juvenile Justice begins with Geun-hee putting two and two together. She realizes that Eun-seok was the mother of the child “accidentally” killed by In-jun and Do-hyeon, and confronts her about the conflict of interest. Eun-seok gives a long, heartfelt speech about Geun-hee’s failures that day, how her brisk three minutes couldn’t have possibly taught those boys anything about the very real repercussions of their actions. Geun-hee, predictably, doesn’t take it well. She pulls Eun-seok from the case and threatens her with an investigation. Some people just don’t like criticism.
Juvenile Justice season 1, episode 10 recap
Of course, Eun-seok won’t drop the matter. Despite Tae-ju’s warnings, she presses him for information about why he suggested Do-hyeon might have been present, and he tells her about one of the girls he’s responsible for who worked with the runaway gang as part of a grift to assault and blackmail men employing the services of prostitutes. Do-hyeon is notorious as the psychotic leader of that gang, the other members of which are those who raped Seon-a. If he wasn’t present in the taxi dashcam footage, he was involved somehow.
Eun-seok follows these testimonies to a relatively complex operation in which the gang rape girls, film the act, and sell the footage for a seemingly hefty profit. This leads her directly to Do-hyeon’s base of operations, but he catches her snooping at his computer, and they begin to fight. He stabs Eun-seok in the shoulder; she hits him with a brick. They crash into a back room, where Eun-seok spots a shoe that matches the one left at the scene of Seon-a’s rape. Do-hyeon overpowers Eun-seok and begins to strangle her, but he’s interrupted by the flashing light bar of a police vehicle. Eun-seok is taken back to the courthouse, where Geun-hee helps to patch her up. Eun-seok does her best to convince her that this isn’t just about revenge and that Seon-a’s case is just the tip of a very nasty iceberg.
Luckily, Geun-hee listens. Using evidence taken from Do-hyeon’s base, Tae-ju is able to coerce the other two boys into revealing his involvement and the extent of the operation and give the court cloud access to Do-hyeon’s secret phone, which contains a treasure trove of evidence proving that both he and In-jun are guilty. Geun-hee ensures that Do-hyeon takes the stand to be shown all this, and naturally, he flips out completely, he and In-jun only incriminating themselves further in their fight and argument. Eun-seok is also present in the courtroom, and Seon-a is watching from another room. She’s allowed her final thoughts on the case, and on Eun-seok’s advice, she lifts her head high and tearfully asks for her life to go back to normal.
Geun-hee’s involvement in this case compels her to apologize to Eun-seok, and indeed to anyone else her decisions may have impacted. And Kang compels her to testify on Eun-seok’s behalf to the Supreme Court disciplinary committee that Eun-seok stands before as she reiterates her position on young offenders. As it turns out, she still despises them. But the context has changed now. She’s willing to treat them fairly, and objectively. But the final line of Juvenile Justice is simply a reiteration of Eun-seok’s hatred: “I despite young offenders.” Really, then, has anything really changed?
You can stream Juvenile Justice season 1, episode 10 exclusively on Netflix.
