Divorce Attorney Shin Episode 9

Episode 9 of Divorce Attorney Shin begins with the big case we’ve been building up to going ahead. Dinh Thi Hoa sits in silence, with her translator doing all the heavy lifting, as Yu-Seok mentions his client’s severe depression and inability to acclimatize to the country given the amount of farming she’s been doing.

Putting on his glasses, Sung-han tells the courtroom that he’s done some calculations, and if she really did take a whole year doing online Korean classes, along with several other activities, the total amount of time that Dinh Thi Hoa has done farming – given her 87 year old mother-in-law has been looking after their child – is about three months. By comparison, what about Chun-seok?

Well, he’s had 4 weekends off in total for a long period of time, while sticking to a grueling schedule of farming from dusk until dawn. There’s even the neighbour statements to confirm the timings too. If that wasn’t enough, Chun-seok even helped pay for Dinh Thi Hoa’s family to come over and go to Jeju Island.

All of this changed when Dinh Thi Hoa gave birth, and six months after, she started going out a lot more, getting drunk and it would seem that this throws the biology of Chun-seok’s child into question. This was touched on a little last week, but now, in the courtroom, Sung-han brings up the bloodwork, including how Chun-seok’s differs compared to what’s on the papers.

As a result of all this, Dinh Thi Hoa is in the wrong but Yu-seok changes tact and brings up the Seo-jin case. Specifically, how the circumstances that occur before an affair can be looked at as a probable cause toward divorce.

Sung-han chuckles incredulously and brings up the fractured bone in Dinh Thi Hoa’s arm and how it happened. She points out it was done with the attacker’ right hand. Only… Sung-han brings up the fact that Chun-seok can’t actually carry anything with his right arm, meaning it throws into question her statement. Flashbacks even confirm this too, given Dinh Thi Hoa conspired to frame her husband. And naturally, Sung-han comes out on top, winning outright. Outside the courtroom, Sung-han throws shade at the reporters talking about suing for slander.

Dinh Thi Hoa returns home with the babe, and Chun-seok takes his child in. Well I say his, technically not his biological child but still his all the same.

After the brutal loss, Yu-seok and Yeong-Ju head back to Keumhwa to lick their wounds. Yeong-ju is not happy that her subordinate has made them look stupid. Yu-seok bites back, telling her it’s her fault that this happened and despite them being partners, she’s crossing a dangerous line that could cause them to fail spectacularly. “It’s only natural for the incompetent to be replaced,” Yeong-ju sneers.

Meanwhile, as Sung-han and the boys have some banter with the grandmother over at the noodle shop (which is pretty funny in truth, especially as Hyeon-Geun eating noodles attracts the interest of So-yeon, the noodle shop owner, who starts to have a crush on him), Seo-jin stays in the car while Choi end up at knitting club. This is actually a support club called Heart Waves, and is tailored specifically for those with family members that have schizophrenia.

As Choi quizzes them about Hyeon-tae, they confirm that he does attend regularly. This is, of course, Seo-jin’s big case but her anxiety about being in public places is starting to spill into her personal life too, with her buying shoes online for her son rather than going to the shops outright. It’s clear that little Hyeon-U wants to go there himself.

The next day, Choi heads to the first mediation, where Min-Jeong’s schizophrenia is brought up and her character questioned. Choi points out that he’s submitted Min-Jeong’s doctor’s note and brings up Heart Waves too.

Now, this gets Hyeon-tae feeling uncomfortable, especially as he claimed that Min-jeong was his sister rather than his wife. Hyeon-tae joined the group three years back, then he became a member of the church Min-jeong was in several months later, which seems to hint that he intentionally approached her.

Hyeon-tae snaps and claims that he did this to show that he “loved her”. Well, remember when he was giggling at the drama in the waiting room after the seizure? Well, Choi has a video of that, throwing Hyeon-tae’s entire character into question. “You call this love?” Choi asks. Hyeon-tae shows his true colours, including how he feels deceived about her schizophrenia.

Although they agree to a divorce, the scene turns rowdy and Choi ends up at blows with Hyeon-tae.

When Sung-han finds out, he’s not particularly happy and starts quoting Police lyrics to him. It’s pretty funny, but despite Choi winning his first case, everyone else is completely nonchalant. Seo-jin is desperate to confront her social anxiety, and she heads out to do the recycling, hoping to turn a corner. Unfortunately, all the other residents begin whispering behind her back, which does her no favours.

Choi heads to the noodle shop, where So-yeon convinces him to hand over Hyeong-geun’s number. So-yeon messages him after ringing and asks to meet. Outside, things are a little awkward until So-yeon asks if he likes noodles or macarons. You see, So-yeon’s dream is to open a macaron shop but when Hyeong-geun claims that he absolutely loves noodles, it seems to change her mind.

So-yeon also asks about love, and specifically about whether he’ll love again. His reply is one that touches on first love, which unfortunately (when he relays this on to his friends later that evening) they immediately act incredulously to.

As for Choi, he ends up drinking a lot of soju, drowning his sorrows in alcohol. He then heads back to the office and ends up on a livestream, talking gibberish about his divorce case, badmouthing Sung-han, the law firm… and then passing out. Thankfully, Sae-bom (the other worker at the office) stops him and shuts down the stream.

Meanwhile, another divorce case simmering starts to reach boiling point. That comes from Geum-hee, who files a divorce with her husband. The Chairman speaks to Yeong-ju about it, contemplating whether it may be Yeong-ju, rather than Sung-han who’s the bad apple of the family. He’s adamant that the divorce won’t go ahead but she’s “spoiled the barrel” with her incompetence. As a result of all this unpleasantness, he decides not to hire Keumhwa to deal with the divorce and will hire a team of his own.

All our characters end up going for food together, and there’s plenty of banter between the guys. There’s a rather stomach-churning joke about not washing one’s hands after leaving the bathroom, and a few jabs at Choi for his drunken escapades on his live stream.

Afterwards, a man arrives drunk outside and tries to approach Seo-jin, making her super uncomfortable. Sung-han steps in and manages to help her and the man leaves.

Seo-jin decides she wants to walk alone, but Sung-han tells her she needs to stay strong. He knows that things are tough but she’s still got Hyeon-u and for that, she should do everything she can. Asa result, Seo-jin plucks up the courage to meet her son halfway back from school and even takes him out to the shoe shop.

Hyeon-u admits that he’s happy to be out with his mum, while Seo-jin admits she’s not okay but she’s going to make an effort and try to do right by him.

The Episode Review

The somber tone this episode ends on brings to a close this topsy turvy chapter. This was a real rollercoaster ride, although I must say that the hastiness at which both the Min-jeong and the Dinh Thi Hoa cases were resolved, especially after the build-up, is a little disappointing. There’s really not much in the way of shades of grey with these cases either, which is something that Extraordinary Attorney Woo excelled at.

However, where this show really stands out is with its characters and the banter they share. There are some genuinely great moments, including So-yeon’s growing affection for Hyeong-geun, the situation involving Choi being the outsider at the law firm and how he feels about that, and, most notably, the anxiety and trauma that Seo-jin is facing.

That crippling inability to be able to do anything wirthout it feeling like a massive climb up Mount Everest is indicative of both depression and anxiety, including its crippling effect it can have on your psyche.

This episode really does a great job capturing that and from the laughs with the Grandma in the noodle shop, Divorce Attorney Shin manages to balance that pretty well with a somber, gut-wrenching moment at the end of this one. All in all, a decent episode that leaves plenty on the table for the remaining 3 episodes of the season!