"The Good Wife" Episode 7 recap

There is plenty of awkwardness to go around between Hye-kyeong and Tae-joon, but also between her and Joong-won. Both relationships get rattled and become re-defined. Her co-workers all sense something is going on and each has their own reactions to the firm's hot topic. Hye-kyeong and Joon-ho take on the task to defend a fellow lawyer in a murder case, but Hye-kyeong finds out that the culprit is none other than Jo Gook-hyeon.
It is a testament to the actors' skill when you can feel the tension between characters in a visceral, cringe-worthy way. Hye-kyeong (Jeon Do-yeon) may have tried to will her attraction to Joong-won (Yoon Kye-sang) away by sleeping with Tae-joon (Yoo Ji-tae), but it is clear that she no longer feels comfortable with him as a familiar presence. Similarly, she is anxious around Joong-won. The rest of the workers see this and their reactions are not really a surprise by now.

Myeong-hee (Kim Seo-hyeong) is clearly a big softie and she seems to worry about her brother more than she does for the firm. Dan (Nana) takes the cool and enabling approach, because she thinks little of Tae-joon and seems to like Hye-kyeong enough to wish her something better. We get some small, but steady development on these people. On the other hand, Joon-ho (Lee Won-geun) is a very weak character defined by prodding and petty behavior. I hope he will be developed soon.
I do feel confused about the part of Joong-won's behavior related to him as well. He encourages Joon-ho to be competitive, even though this has meant trying to one-up Hye-kyeong so far. Given her current situation and his own advances toward her, does he not see how enabling Joon-ho can cause problems? Being blind to the added grief they give her is something he and Tae-joon share. We now know that the latter does have some misguided sense of protectiveness, but neither man treats her like an equal.

This makes Hye-kyeong's decision to become involved with a dangerous criminal like Jo Gook-hyeon (Go Joon) important, because she actively pursues the truth and her work despite the ones around her trying to shield her from it. At the same time, this is a very risky decision. Tae-joon has been painted as so bad that his own fate is not a top priority, but her role in his case, her safety and conscience are.
A big surprise for me is Kang  Seok-beom's (Han Gap-soo) reaction to Hye-kyeong's presence at the church. I had assumed he was willingly helping Jo Gook-hyeon to destroy Tae-joon and his family, but it seems he does not hold animosity toward Hye-kyeong. He has an important role in this mess and so his outlook on things matters. He might be a future ally.
"The Good Wife" is directed by Lee Jeong-hyo, written by Han Sang-woon and features Jeon Do-yeon, Yoo Ji-tae, Yoon Kye-sang and Kim Seo-hyeong.
Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'

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