"Remember" Episode 2 recap

Dong-ho (played by Park Seong-woong) is Jae-hyeok's attorney. Well, not yet anyway. That's the main exposition this episode is focusing on. How and why would an arrogant high-class lawyer with goofy sidekicks, comical fashion sense, a shameless self-promotional attitude, and a one hundred percent win rate take on Jae-hyeok's case, when it seems like Jae-hyeok is completely doomed from the outside?
Well in the first place Jae-hyeok isn't really doomed. The prosecution's case has all sorts of suspicious looking holes in it, it's just that the Jae-hyeok's public defender lacks the skill set necessary to expose them. Interestingly, the media blitz is the main thing the prosecution has going for themselves. The father of the victim (played by Maeng Sang-hoon) has very quickly gone from sympathy toward Jae-hyeok to towering hatred, even though there's really not much more evidence to suggest that Jae-hyeok was the culprit now than there was last episode.
That's not enough for Dong-ho, though, so then there's the personal element. Dong-ho originally became a lawyer for sentimental reasons, whatever he looks like now. Yet even this isn't quite enough. Note how Dong-ho gets embroiled in a confrontation with Gyoo-man this episode even though he has very little reason to do so. For Dong-ho, making someone look like a fool is its own reward.
Even the money turns out to not be that big of an element. Jin-woo, ever plucky and ever smart, does manage to figure out a way to get behind this major impediment to acquiring Dong-ho's help. That ends up going nowhere, although the entire setpiece explaining how Jin-woo got the money was definitely worth the price of admission. It demonstrates that while Jin-woo is smart, he's not really that smart, and predictably requires a rescue to get out of the rather deep mess he's gotten himself into.
So why, in the end, does Dong-ho become Jae-hyeok's attorney? Well, a combination of all these factors really. While "Remember" certainly makes the best of its most entertaining scenes, there's not really a whole lot I can get to thematically regarding this very predictable outcome. "Remember" is still establishing its own premise. There's not much room yet for the characters to act all that dynamic. All I can offer right now is the faint praise that the production team is still getting everything right in terms of having a brisk pace, an engaging mood, and strong performances from the cast. But nothing yet is really breakout quality.
Review by William Schwartz
"Remember" is directed by Lee Chang-min-I, written by Yoon Hyeon-ho and features Yoo Seung-ho, Park Min-yeong, Park Seong-woong, Nam Goong-min, Jeong Hye-seong and Jeon Kwang-ryeol

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