‘Gangnam B-Side’ Turns Up The Heat In Episode 2

Episode 2 of Gangnam B-Side is a cut above what was already a sturdy premiere since it benefits from the basics having already been established. We know who’s who and what’s what, mostly, and we have a few blanks filled in out of the gate to clear some things up. Sure, there’s a lot we don’t know, but that’s fine. With the essentials dealt with, the drama kicks into a higher gear.

This episode does better by Prosecutor Min, as well, which gives us three protagonists with roughly aligned goals but distinct methods, which should create some interesting dynamics as we go. That’s the hope, anyway.

Never Trust An Idol

If nothing else Gangnam B-Side validates my general fear of K-pop idols, since one of them, Joonseo, is one of our Big Bads. Smug, handsome, coked-up, beloved, psychotic – it all tracks. He’s also emblematic of what power looks like. At a glance, you’d worry more about encountering someone like Psyche in a dark alley, but it’s the pretty boy who’s pulling the strings.

Joonseo knows he’s up against it, though. Junghwa’s body is missing, having been taken by Gilho and dropped at a subway station for the benefit of the cops. Gilho is still on the prowl, too. Jaehee and Junghwa were his prized girls, and he’s determined to avenge the latter’s death and keep the former hidden – though he isn’t clear why Joonseo is so keen to find her. Not initially, anyway.

Old Acquaintances And A Convenient Fall Guy

Since Dongwoo is being frozen out by his department, he turns to his old colleague, Jangho, who has graduated to a small-town crook, and provides some useful information. It’s his little gang that points Dongwoo toward a meeting between Gilho and Joonseo, but we mostly see this all being set up from the perspective of those two rather than Dongwoo.

Because he dumped Junghwa’s body, Gilho is being set up as a very convenient fall guy. The CCTV footage that Prosecutor Min digs up is enough for Chief Prosecutor Tak to declare he’s Junghwa’s killer, with no further investigation needed. It’s quite clear that some money has changed hands here, and that Chief Yun of Major Crimes is similarly on the take. Prosecutor Min is surprised by the speed at which all this is moving, but she doesn’t seem to be especially concerned about implications as long as she’s properly compensated.

Gangnam B-Side Still | Image via Disney

Gilho’s Centrepiece Scene

Joonseo’s plan is to kill Gilho at the meeting at Yeoksam, which Gilho is lured to by Psyche. Joonseo pays off Yun to bide his time. If Gilho isn’t killed, he’ll be arrested, since Prosecutor Min is on her way with a warrant.

This is where it becomes clear that Gilho has no idea what Jeehae has on Joonseo and, it turns out, the Gangnam Trading Company, the leadership of which he’s clearly angling for (more on this in a minute.) It’s some kind of video, but since Jeehae is in the wind – she fled after seeing Junghwa’s death on the news – Psyche and Joonseo are no closer to finding her or retrieving the footage.

That does leave Gilho to be dealt with, though, but that’s easier said than done. In the clear standout sequence of Gangnam B-Side Episode 2, he takes on an army of goons with a single knife, cleaving his way through all of them and almost right the way to Joonseo, who’s watching the brawl live thanks to Psyche’s live-stream, until he’s badly wounded by a couple of Joonseo’s bodyguards. Just when he seems like Gilho might finally be defeated, Dongwoo shows up to rescue him.

A Change In Leadership and A Standoff

Remember I mentioned the Gangnam Trading Company? Well, towards the end of the episode, Joonseo sends a distressingly young assassin to stab its current CEO, Lee, to death. As he bleeds out on the floor, Joonseo calls Mr. Choi to inform him that it’s high time Gangnam Trading Company had a change in leadership. He’s putting himself forward as the new CEO.

The Gangnam Trading Company also comes up when Dongwoo and Gilho are racing away from the scene. Gilho is in disbelief that Dongwoo thought his drug bust three years ago would have put an end to them. No such luck. The rot still runs deep, and as if to prove his point, their car is cut off on the highway by Chief Yun and the rest of his squad, who all point their guns at Dongwoo.

Dongwoo intuits that a cover-up is afoot and instinctively tries to protect Gilho. Eventually, Prosecutor Min arrives, and Gilho uses the distraction she inadvertently causes to leap off the bridge and into the river.