‘Pro Bono’ Episode 1 & 2 Recap – A Familiar-Feeling Procedural With Charm

Pro Bono feels like a pretty safe bet for fans of Jung Kyung-ho and the kind of weekend streaming K-Dramas that feel more like a reassuring hug than anything genuinely provocative. None of this is a criticism, by the way, simply a statement of fact. Episodes 1 and 2 of this show feel as if they’re saying, essentially, “don’t worry”. This is a comedy procedural in the same precise manner as Hospital Playlist and Extraordinary Attorney Woo. Each episode presents a new case, some lessons are learned along the way, and all is well.

Here, Kyung-ho’s familiar-feeling lead is Judge Da-wit, a well-known and widely liked professional who doesn’t tolerate any horseplay in the courtroom and is perfectly willing to throw the book at the kind of CEOs that someone in his position would typically have to schmooze up to. But this is the hook, you see. Da-wit is in the running for a Supreme Court position and is driven enough to do at least a bit of schmoozing without compromising on his core principles. The super-judge persona is a bit of a fabrication, or at least an embellishment.

Naturally, though, this is very much one of those shows about someone in a position of some authority who suddenly finds themselves experiencing a professional and reputational downgrade. In this case, Da-wit gets conned by a scammer posing as an old school friend – he just thinks the fact that this guy looks nothing like how he remembers is just a consequence of the ageing process – and is on the hook for taking a big cash bribe. His only professional salvation is Oh Jung-in, an old crush who he claims was crushing on him in reverse, but the big opportunity she offers turns out not to be anything especially glamorous, but a gig working pro bono from a sunless basement.

Da-wit considers this a pretty significant downgrade – especially considering his first client is technically a dog – but as Jung-in reminds him, it isn’t like he has much of a choice. Personally, I’d represent dogs free of charge on any day of the week, but I suppose I’m not a judge and have less to lose. Anyway, the case involves Korea’s lax animal protection laws – Extraordinary Attorney Woo and recently Beyond the Bar also did this a lot, pointing an accusatory finger at some specific corner of the legal system or another – since the dog, Byeol, was abandoned, adopted by an old couple, and is now trying to be reclaimed by the original owner.

Predictably, Episode 2 of Pro Bono reveals a bit more to the case than there initially seemed to be. A woman who works for the elderly couple dumped the pooch’s collar in a river, but the collar had an electrocution function, and the couple is treating the animal as an extension of their late granddaughter, who they lost in an accident. This introductory case is mostly an excuse to show us how Da-wit works. He’s not quite ruthless, but it’s a close-run thing, and he’s like a dog with a bone when he realises he has an angle. He’s not afraid to use appropriate leverage to his advantage, and he’s not easy to manipulate (which runs contrary to how easy he was to manipulate in Episode 1, but no matter).

We’re supposed to understand that this position is temporary, that Da-wit is willing to work for Jung-in for a period of time, but that it’s simply a means to an end. But I think anyone who has seen a K-Drama like this can already get a sense of what will become the show’s ultimate shape, with Da-wit realising the value of helping people – and sometimes animals – in need out of the kindness of his heart. In the meantime, though, he’s going to have to deal with the conman who continues to float around in his general vicinity, and likely grapple with a few more cases in the meantime that he finds personally demeaning. Should be fun.