Recap Korean Drama "Wise Prison Life" Episode 11

t’s no secret that almost everyone loves our not so bright pitcher. So when Crony shows up with vengeance in his eyes, the troops rally around him. First, Min Chul goes totally gang boss on Crony, even holding  broken glass to his neck. (Seriously, how do these prisoners get a hold of so many thing that can become weapons?)

Also, the other cellmates faces when Min Chul took charge was priceless.

Even with the pecking order established, the boys are still wary so they guard Je Hyeok like a little pack of momma bears. Even when he gets up to pee in the middle of the night they wake up and follow him in their zombie like state. They get so used to it that even when Crony isn’t in the cell they do it on reflex.

 

Poor Looney, get this guy into a rehab center!

Han Yang has been clean for three months and is still showing serious signs of withdrawal. He passes out and they have to take him to the infirmary where Officer Paeng learns that the shivering and yawning are all normal signs of drug withdrawals and that it means that he’s trying to do it all on his own. Officer Paeng swells up in pride when learning this.

Han Yang doesn’t stay in the infirmary that long and ends up joining the others, but Officer Paeng finds him shivering and feverish in the middle of the night so back he goes. But then he wakes up and tells Paeng that his weekly visit is the next day and he must go. Of course, Paeng promises him that even if he has to take him on his back, he’ll get him there.

It’s his boyfriend that he’s desperate to see each week and when they meet Ji Won notices that Han Yang looks ill. Han Yang claims he’s fine and reminds him that he’s been clean for three months so he can’t stop coming to see him. Then he tells Ji Won he loves him. Ji Won’s response is that Han Yang always just says whatever he wants.

We flash back to a high school reunion and Han Yang’s classmates are surprised to see him because he never comes, but this time Ji Won is going to be there. Ji Won has been gone for seven years, but it looks like Han Yang and Ji Won stayed in touch through texts during that time. After Ji Won arrives their classmates who are already drunk joke around about them liking each other. Ji Won loudly denies it, but then Han Yang says if Ji Won were to say so, he would be interested in dating. Dang, that’s brave. He throws the gauntlet down, then laughs it off.

Ji Won pounds down so may beers you can tell it’s phased him. It’s New Year’s Eve and they end up waiting outside the bathroom right before the countdown. No one is around, and there’s a curtain dividing them and the people in the restaurant. They’re both swaying and drunk, and  when the new year rings in, Ji Won is the one that steps forward and kisses Han Yang. (I’m assuming since they didn’t show above their feet, but that’s about as much as we’ll probably get.)

Joon Ho, get off your high horse and see reality

Joon Ho’s dislike for Officer Paeng is no secret. It seems to stem from how Paeng cusses at the prisoners and yells at them. Which from a distance can look like he’s being a hardass.

There’s a prisoner that Paeng has been dealing with that screams for his them to call his sister so that she’ll come see him. His yelling is almost constant and everyone just refers to the guy as Headache. When Joon Ho takes over for the chatty officer’s rounds, he is berated with the same yelling and decides to take it into his own hands and call the guy’s sister. She is impatient and rude to him when he calls because that Officer Paeng has called a hundred times trying to get her to come, and she told him already that she won’t come. Her husband and family don’t know about her convict brother, and she plans on keeping it that way.

You can tell this sheds a new light on Officer Paeng for Joon Ho, though later when he hears him cussing at a inmate he grumbles that he just doesn’t like that guy. Even though I want Joon Ho to see Paeng the way we do, I do like that it’s very realistic that even though these men are both guards who are fair and just toward the prisoners, it doesn’t mean they have to like each other.

I think I’d just stay stinky

Prison showers are somewhere I’d spend as little time as possible, but this episode puts a new scare (and laugh) into this location. The boys all have to shower together which means continued vigilance on protecting Je Hyeok. When Crony walks by it’s hilarious how they all surround him with death glares (while naked, of course). The best part is when Han Yang awakes and lifts his head trying to look as fierce as the rest of them.

Once they’re in the shower Je Hyeok asks to leave to pee and Min Chul washes his hair as fast as he can so that he can go protect his boy. He’s in such a hurry he slips and falls to the ground, hurting his back. He had reason to worry because while everyone is freaking out over Min Chul, Crony slips into the bathroom and tries to get into Je Hyeok’s bathroom stall. Je Hyeok who has been trying to remain as calm as possible freaks out while holding the door closed. Thankfully, a guard comes in and gets Crony before he can get to Je Hyeok.

The injury to Min Chul’s back creates another opportunity for Crony to strike. Min Chul has to ask another inmate to go with Je Hyeok to the incinerator, but it’s the guy that runs the store and one of Crony’s buddies distracts him at the right time. Which leaves Je Hyeok alone. Sort of. The sad old guy that sits there and watches the fire is there, and because his shirt is torn, Je Hyeok offers his coat. He then runs off to pee behind the enclosure.

Crony doesn’t realize Je Hyeok isn’t the one in there and locks the door then throws some type of chemical laced fabric over the side. It bursts into flames. Je Hyeok and two guards come running. The guards are about to run to get fire extinguishers when Je Hyeok says there is someone there and starts ramming the door with his body. The guards join them and soon the break it open.

Je Hyeok runs in and saves the old man. Once the old makes it to safety he just screams about not wanting to be saved. We find out from Min Chul that he’s in prison for killing the men who raped his daughter, who killed herself and then his wife committed suicide as well. He just wanted to die so he could see his daughter again.

Um… Joon Ho, not sure that was a smart move

Once the old man is safe, Je Hyeok is caught up in his anger and emotions. He grits his teeth and asks permission to go about the facility without a guard. Joon Ho gives him permission and tells the other guards he’ll take responsibility.

Dude, Joon Ho has been worried the entire time about what Je Hyeok will do to the guy that almost ruined his career and at the most important moment lets him do whatever he wants?

In a rage, Je Hyeok scours the prison for Crony. He finds him in the shower. Told you it was a really unsafe place to be. And proceeds to beat the crap out of him. Joon Ho waits a pretty long time before he steps in. Je Hyeok ends up in solitary confinement and Joon Ho says that hopefully this won’t make his sentence longer.

 

My Thoughts:

Everyone worked together to protect Je Hyeok and in the end he was the one who rescued someone else. Je Hyeok is an extremely likable guy who looks out for others, and it was nice to see everyone rallying around him. I love how close he’s gotten to Min Chul. A few of the scenes with them working in the garden together really warmed my heart.

Je Hyeok not only spends the entire episode worried about being attacked by Crony, he also has the added stress that the world now knows he’s started practicing baseball again and switched to his right hand. He isn’t sure any of the teams will be interested, then he finds out not just his old team, but ALL the teams want him. So even though life keeps handing him really hard situations to work through, he pushes to the other side of them, coming out a better person.