There are some interesting revelations in this episode and some questions to ponder. What is loyalty? Does it show loyalty to volunteer to take the blame? Is it about being there for your partner in times of crisis? Is loyalty yielding the field to a love rival who is also your friend? All this and more is explored in Episode 8.

It appears the mentors and mentees may have a retreat in the days ahead. There are definitely mixed feelings about the idea. It will be interesting to see if they follow through on it or not!

Catching Bad Guys Takes Patience

Meanwhile, Jeong-o and Nam-il are working with Captain An and her team to catch the leaders of the prostitution ring, and hopefully save the women who may be victims. Jeong-o tried to act nonchalantly as she is trailed by two men connected with the prostitution ring. She pretends she is simply on patrol and asks them if they need help. She even warns them to be careful because it is not a safe area. Seeming to disregard her, the two men return to the place Captain An’s team is staking out. A long line of women are hustled out of the building and into a waiting van.

Captain An gives the order to pursue them and herd them into an area of the highway with construction. Other teams take over. Captain An’s team and Jeong-o enter the building. They find a woman who appears to have had an illegal abortion. Hearing noises from other parts of the house, Jeong-o and Captain An chase someone trying to escape. The man runs and Jeong-o cuts him off. He fights her and Captain An, getting some solid punches in, but in the end losing to the combined efforts of Captain An and Jeong-o. While Jeong-o and Captain An are fighting the bad guy, Choi and his team successfully catch the van full of trafficked women and Choi reacts very strongly when one of the men says the women do it because they enjoy it. Choi has to be restrained, but not before he is able to land a few kicks and punches to vent his anger.

Who is to Blame?

While the prostitution ring sting operation is occurring, Sang-su goes to the boy who cut his face with a knife, and Hye-ri buys the sister some food and toiletries. The boy throws water in Sang-su’s face and blames him for creating a situation that will put him in jail instead of being there for his sister. He is afraid his sister will be out of control and continue to use men to buy her things. Sang-su reacts by throwing water back in the the boy’s face. He then sends him some information that might help him.

A Glimpse into Jeong-o’s Past

As Jeong-o is helping Captain An by tending to her wounds, Captain An remembers a similar situation from the past. It appears to be another scene of an illegal abortion. This time, though, the flashlight does not show a foreign woman who was likely a victim of sex trafficking, but instead the flashlight beam illuminates a girl in school uniform and her name tag clearly shows she is a young Jeong-o. As the flashback fades away, Jeong-o continues to help Captain An, and they tacitly acknowledge their past connection. Captain An says it was nice to be on the same team and Jeong-o says Captain An hasn’t changed. What? I want to know more!

Should First Call Take the Fall?

Other cops are on scene where a man accused of fraud was attacked by people he allegedly stole from. The officers focus on getting people into the police car and to the station for questioning. Nami-il shows up late and they direct him upstairs. Jong-min leaves to go check the ID of the victim. The “victim” rappels out the window and runs away. It turns out he is wanted for economic crimes.

Back at the station, one of the cops has to take the blame for losing the man who committed fraud (named Choi, coincidentally). They all have circumstances that will make it difficult to take a pay cut. Who should get the blame? The one who took the call? The one who arrived late? Does being single but having a fiancé trump having a baby for the first time? Sometimes things are different than they appear from the outside.

Birthday Soup

Grandpa (Oh’s dad) makes seaweed soup for his daughter-in-law’s birthday. Oh sees a bruise on his daughter and starts to get overprotective or suspicious of her boyfriend. He looks out the window and gets jealous, thinking his ex-wife may be seeing his colleague. His son intervenes just as he is about to call his wife, and says it looks like they are just friends and if he calls it will upset the mom. We find out Gyeong-mo does still have an interest in Captain An, but despite what she told Oh, she still has feelings for her ex-husband. Captain An eats her birthday soup and takes a call from Gyeong-mo. They suspect Oh’s friend and former mentee, Ju-yeong, might be involved in the prostitution ring.

Retreat and Rivalries

The people against the retreat were apparently outvoted because it is on! At the retreat rivalries heat up. Sang-su takes on Choi and Oh takes on his love rival, Gyeong-mo. Mentors take on mentees. Namil makes a winning move in foot volleyball and then sneaks away after saying he will take the blame.

Others are happily singing together. Choi leaves the noraebang group and appears to be looking for someone. Sang-su eyes him suspiciously and then also looks around, maybe for Jeong-o?

Nam-il snuck away to work at the pizza shop. They apparently bought it instead of the house they had been saving for. His pregnant wife wants to know why he agreed to take the blame, but he shouts back that he just wants to live a normal life too. He doesn’t want to spend his time as a cop just handing out parking tickets.

Jeong-o goes for a walk and Choi blows bubbles. They blow bubbles and laugh and then Choi kisses her. Ack!!!!! Sang-su is riding a bike and appears to have seen this too.

Closing Thoughts

I am not going to lie. I was not fully invested until this episode. I feel like we now have some story breadcrumbs I really want to follow. What happened in Jeong-o’s past? What happened in Choi’s past? Is there anything concerning about Oh’s daughter and her boyfriend or is that just an overprotective dad? Is Oh’s former mentee really involved in the prostitution ring? How will Sang-su react to the bubble kiss? Did anyone else see it? Can Jeong-o resist Choi and his dimples? Would she even want to? So many questions! Excuse me as I hit play on episode 9!

Until the next patrol…

Kdrama JenDramas with a Side of Kimchi