"Lookout" Episodes 7 and 8 recap

"Lookout" is barreling forward with Soo-jin at the lead. This grieving mother is brave, intelligent, and determined to bring her daughter's killer to justice. Her independence throws a wrench in the plans of Do-han and keeps everyone else on their toes. It's hard not to love such a driven heroine who keeps us guessing at how she will escape each new situation.

The focus of this pair of episodes is the search for Woo-sung, the man whose case incited cover ups and began Soo-jin's involvement with Chief Prosecutor Yoon and Chief Oh. Woo-sung is a lowlife, having taken the life of a man and then living free while an innocent young man took the fall for his crime. It is only Soo-jin's dogged hunt for him that brings him back to prison after Yoon releases him. In general, it is the chase and capture of Woo-sung that drives the episode, shows off how amazing Lee Si-young is at being a badass woman, and allows for Team Justice (Soo-jin, Bo-mi, and Kyeong-soo) to really get to know each other and reveal some of their stories to us. Mostly it is Bo-mi, the closeted woman who monitors the CCTV feeds of the city, who reveals herself to us. A cranky nay-sayer and the primary person who thinks Soo-jin should strickly follow their Leader's orders, Bo-mi has a trauma that keeps her shut up 100% of the time. She alludes to it when she decides to go against their Leader's orders and help Soo-jin find and apprehend Woo-sung, who kidnapped his daughter to get revenge on his ex-wife. She mentions not wanting any other children to live in fear. Both she and Kyeong-soo have backstories that I want to unearth.

The events of this episode are those of the very first scene with Soo-jin chasing Woo-sung and I do very much appreciate the show coming full circle and then spinning us into new territory. We now clearly see Do-han's involvement, both as his coverup as a smarmy, ladder-climbing prosecutor, and as the leader of a secret group that he uses for punishing the corrupt people protected by money and power. While he's a fascinating character to watch (and I'm sure for Kim Young-kwang to play), he is not very likable. I hope this changes soon because a anti-hero one understands but does not empathize with is not going to stay in the good graces of the viewership for long. For now, Do-han is interesting because of his dual role and because of how brilliant and flexible he is, playing both roles with extreme dexterity.

Another solid aspect of the show is the corrupt prosecutors played by Choi Moo-sung and Kim Sang-ho. These men usually don't fill roles quite like these. Choi is chilling as the ruthless Chief Prosecutor Yoon, a role much different than his usual kindly father figure. I'm glad to see such a talented man make use of his wide variety of acting skills. The same is true for Kim as Chief Oh, whose nervousness and supplicating behavior takes finesse to execute convincingly. Kim Sang-ho and Kim Young-kwang have remarkable chemistry that makes Do-han's manipulation of Chief Oh much more real and grounded.

But in the end, the story is about Soo-jin and the emtpiness she feels at the loss of her daughter. She goes on eating and sleeping each day despite her loss and grief. Will she be able to capture Yoon and his sociopath son Si-wan?

Written by: Lisa Espinosa AKA Raine from 'Raine's Dichotomy'

"Lookout" is directed by Son Hyeong-seok, written Kim Soo-eun, and features Lee Si-young, Kim Young-kwang, Kim Tae-hoon, Kim Seul-gi-I, Key, and Choi Moo-sung.

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