Summary
A detailed installment opens up plenty of potential directions for the story.
We recap the Netflix K-Drama series Trolley Season 1 Episode 7, which contains spoilers.
Although today’s ending wasn’t quite as shocking as others, Trolley Season 1 Episode 7 still did a stellar job of retaining its excitement level. With Ki-young (Ki Tae-young) now a potential ally for Hye-joo (Kim Hyun-joo) and Joong-do (Park Hee-soon) becoming more relentless in blending his political aims with his personal life, there are plenty of directions for this show to go in. Add to that the omnipresent threat of Seung-hee (Ryu Hyun-kyung) and Soo-bin (Jung Soo-bin), and there’s an element of unpredictability too.
Trolley Season 1 Episode 7 Recap
Picking up where we left off, we get some important context on the previous installment’s ending. First, that Seung-hee panicked over his mother being with Ki-young, so requested her husband be sent away to work before Hye-joo’s apology (the driving range owner became aware of what was going on, however). Then, that Joong-do found out earlier that his wife was involved in the suicide case of Seung-ho, hence why he wanted answers.
Moving forward, Joong-do is persistent in trying to enter Seung-hee’s house. Not only does he frantically ring the doorbell, demanding to be let inside, but he also crashes his car to cause a commotion outside. Eventually, the assemblyman is granted access, and he tries to take Hye-joo away, believing she has nothing to apologize for. Naturally, Seung-hee takes issue, claiming Joong-do can empathize with his wife because he too killed someone, yet this confrontation actually appears to give the book conservator a wave of confidence.
As such, Hye-joo explains herself to Seung-hee. “I had no idea Seung-ho would do such a thing. That was an accident no one wished for,” she says, before recalling how her younger self panicked she would “live the rest of my life as a liar” when the investigation into the alleged sexual assault was abruptly closed due to Seung-ho’s suicide. Nevertheless, Seung-hee isn’t in a compassionate mood, so denies her former friend the chance to call herself a victim too, instead wanting the book conservator to admit to the world she’s a murderer who “ruined” Yoo-sin’s family.
However, Hye-joo refuses to do this, despite her willingness to apologize to Yoo-sin, because she knows she told no mistruths when it came to what Seung-ho did to her. Thus, Seung-hee becomes angered, sending the book conservator away without giving her the chance to say sorry. “Don’t resent me for the things I do from now on,” the hurting daughter of Yoo-sin adds. But it’s not quite the end of Seung-hee’s verbal attack, as even when she gets a slap for claiming Hye-joo can’t empathize with her family because the late Ji-hoon wasn’t her biological son, the bitter former friend of the book conservator loudly questions why Seung-ho was made to die.
Fortunately, Joong-do is on hand to break things up. First, he sternly asks that his wife is referred to by the name Kim Hye-joo, not Kim Jae-eun. Following that, the assemblyman tells Seung-hee she is free to act as she plans to but will be made to pay should she “mistreat” Hye-joo again.
While Joong-do tells his wife to “forget all about this” upon their departure, Ki-young arrives home alongside Yoo-sin, where they question Seung-hee on the crashed car outside. No proper answers are given though, only an admission the vehicle belongs to Hye-joo — who was brought to Youngsan to apologize — when the driving range owner checks on his wife’s health.
After selling a purse, Soo-bin comes across a young customer of Yeo-jin’s she was once needlessly rude to. The pregnant youngster buys the girl a lip balm, perhaps as an unspoken apology, yet cynically asks that the kid doesn’t trust the usually kind restaurant owner, as “good deeds don’t make her a good person.” Elsewhere, Woo-jae requests he’s mailed the contents of Hye-joo’s busted car, and thinks back to his subtle warning to Ki-young that Joong-do’s team has plenty of information on Yoo-sin’s real estate speculation to counteract any fuss made over Seung-ho’s suicide and sexual assault case.
Interestingly, Woo-jae invites Yeong-su, the journalist who covered Seung-kyu’s revenge porn upload, into his car for a discussion, and it’s revealed he was actually the person who provided the “scoop,” he just didn’t plan on it being discussed so soon. Meanwhile, Jin-seok agrees to eat with Soon-hong “when the time is right,” claiming “a shared goal is more important than who you sit with.”
While Soon-hong is telling his driver, Hyeong-tae, he “couldn’t go home empty-handed” given Yoo-sin now regularly complains to his wife about her land problems, he receives a call from Seung-hee. She’s obviously wanting to make a scene about Hye-joo, but is warned she shouldn’t act rashly unless prepared for Joong-do to respond. Still, there are signs Soon-hong will be helping her niece out, proven by his hint about Seung-hee’s interest in the legal profession to Hyeong-tae.
Next, Joong-do assures his wife she did the right thing in not making a fake apology to Yoo-sin, not wanting her to feel bad for likely “complicating” his upcoming election chances, or answer any more of Seung-hee’s calls. Touched by her husband’s comfort in allowing her the chance to detach from her past completely, as well as by his trust in her, the book conservator cries, clearly believing the assemblyman is genuine when stating he will sort everything out. Still, when Hye-joo properly arrives home, she is struck by an ominous letter addressed to Joong-do.
At the culmination of a frantic search, Gwi-soon is found at her workplace, fortunately conscious following a suicide attempt. Hye-joo is particularly dejected by this situation (it has parallels to the strife she faced with Seung-ho), re-reading the elder’s note which showed the torment she suffered when her granddaughter was alleged to be desiring Seung-kyu’s money and highlighted the idea she wanted her self-inflicted death to bring news coverage on the truth. “Please help me so my death won’t be in vain,” Gwi-soon had painstakingly written to Joong-do.
As Hye-joo admits to Joong-do that she never wanted Seung-ho to die, but felt resentment towards him because it stripped her of the ability to defend herself, the book conservator wonders why history is now recurring. The assemblyman is resolute here, replying by saying he’ll find a way to make certain “no one has to face injustice again.”
Later, Joong-do is prickly when faced with Soo-bin. “If you mess with her (Hye-joo) or hurt her in any way, you won’t be able to handle the consequences,” he bluntly exclaims despite the pregnant youngster only asking if the book conservator is ok. Concurrently, Ki-young finds himself unable to talk to Seung-hee. Following this, we see a quick scene showing the unenviable positions the ensemble finds themselves in.
While Yoo-sin guilt trips Seung-hee into hastily sending pictures of land, with the real estate mogul more interested in that than her “brat” daughter, Ki-young thinks back to three years ago. Here, it’s shown that his wife opted to study abroad in Canada to avoid her mother, yet left him in Korea so Yoo-sin still had company. Elsewhere, Soo-bin rushes to stop Hye-joo from entering her room, obviously concerned the phone she’s hiding would be found. Then, shockingly, the scene ends with the worried pregnant youngster receiving a call from the enigmatic ‘JD’.
After watching Hye-joo ask Gwi-soon to “focus on getting better,” and Joong-do get diagnosed with a hairline fracture from his car crash, we cut to Ki-young. He’s staring at the number of the book conservator, evidently debating whether to call. Meanwhile, Seung-hee discovers Seung-kyu’s mother attempted suicide and prepares to use this against Joong-do, with the help of her friend Seong-chang.
Ending Explained
Continuing, Joong-do proposes to his team an amendment to the sex crime law which would allow investigations to continue “by retaining the prosecution’s right of arraignment even when the suspect is deceased due to suicide or otherwise.” His aides aren’t optimistic, given similar propositions were rejected last term, though the assemblyman is determined he pushes through with his ambitions, as is Woo-jae.”I am going to work with you to convince the public and gain their support,” Joong-do says, believing he can get this amendment passed. Elsewhere, Ki-young meets with Hye-joo, with a quick flashback showing he once confessed his feelings to her.
Then, to end the episode, Joong-do gets ready to tell his team something about Hye-joo, presumably about her involvement with Seung-hee’s family.
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