[Drama 2018] Lawless Lawyer, 무법 변호사

[violina]

Now this is what we call a STRONG finish.

 

 

[zenya22]

10 hours ago, violina said:

I think it could be anyday from tomorrow.Remember "Criminal Minds" they usually have the wrap up party a day or two after the final broadcast.

@violina I know you will but I am requesting if you can post the wrap-up party? Thank you so much.  love the ending miss my balcony scene but good ending follow with comments later 

 

 

 

[goldjuhyeok]

It was a great drama. I love it very much. I enjoyed watching the story and amazed with the cast as well.

Thank you to everyone for the updates, review, photos, videos and comments, I really enjoyed reading them.

I'm gonna miss Bong Sang Pil, Ha Jae Yi, the Mubeop Team, the villains and everyone else. They really did a great job!

I can't wait to see LJG's next drama project (I'm too greedy haha) but I also want him to take a good rest.

I'm pretty sure he will hold a fanmeeting after this coz he really loves and always appreciate his fans.

 

Thank you so much!!

[violina]

11 hours ago, zenya22 said:

@violina I know you will but I am requesting if you can post the wrap-up party? Thank you so much.  love the ending miss my balcony scene but good ending follow with comments later 

 

 

 

Me too but its alright.I forgive them because they wrapped up things properly.This is some of the clips from the wrap party.This is the press photo op time.

 

lol he has his own clip since he is still one of Korea's biggest celebrities.That means more media and fan frenzy and the obligatory "fan service" for these kinds of events.So the other actors would want to get it over with and hightail out of there to escape the madness.

 

She looks gorgeous!!!Lee Hye Young too.Smart Casual is my kind of fashion.I like how all the ladies put some effort into their styling and the men didnt even try.This is the clip of all the cast including some of the supporting actors and actresses.

 

More Ratings News(Its temporary because other shows are still airing) but still an achievement worth mentioning.

 

[lebritneeey]

feeling a little sad now that we're reached the end!!! but all i can say is that i love the ending and the show didn't disappoint!
though i wished it could be a little sweeter for our otp (prolly like a proposal or something) but hey i'm satisfied with the ending they gave us so!! 

loved the entire chemistry between the whole cast and ofc, not forgetting our villains who played the role really really well.

gonna miss the show but hope to see another LJG and SYJ collaboration!! ^^

[bebebisous33]

This drama was really good till the end, although I have one thing to complain: HJY's father. I wished, the writer would have made the transition more believable. Moreover, we still don't know how CMS got aware of the existence of the pictures. 

[violina]

I know better videos will pop up but am not the patient type(sorry) but here are some updates live from the wrap up party:

 

 

 

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Drama Review

Mid-Year K-Drama Recap: 16 Engaging Korean Dramas Aired From January – June 2018

 



 

Remakes, dual roles and healing dramas sum up the first half of 2018 Korean dramas!

A lot has happened in the first six months of 2018 Korean drama world. We are happy to announce how it has been an amazing ride with myriad of story concepts and well-written drama pieces that were executed well by the show runners and the actors.

 

From the remnants of 2017 tail-end dramas, we had an abundance of hero-centered stories in slice-of-life tones which left encouraging impressions to the viewers.

 

Romantic stories as a staple genre for South Koreandramas satisfied its fanbase with a generous amountof memorable love tales poured in especially in the season of spring.

 

Having no definitive runaway hit for the first half of the year can be explained with how almost all 2018 Korean dramas which have recently aired are generally amazing. We have the rating’s statistics reflecting even distribution of numbers to back up that deduction.

 

Here’s our must-watch picks from the first batch of 2018 Korean dramas which aired from January to June 2018.

 

13. Lawless Lawyer

 

 

One unambiguous conflict plus precise hero-villain showdown makes Lawless Lawyer a thrilling crime drama that does not suffer with pointless plot insertion and indecisive characters. The airtight narration consistently conforms to the shifting of the plot bends.

 

It banks on a sane trajectory approaching the solid portrayals of the lead cast and facile story thread of crime and its deserving punishment.

 

 

(skipped unrelated.....)

 

 

source : Hellokpop

[monalisa]

I'd always check out any drama with Ahn nae-sang in it. I do like him playing a serious role but he shines playing a comedic character.

[0ly40]

OST part 4

 

[violina]

 

(skipped the recap because I know some havent watch the finale yet)

.......................

This is for those who are yet to watch the drama.

 

Series Review

Lawless Lawyer (Lawless Attorney) was extremely thrilling to watch as it maintained the same pace and kept us on the edge until the last episode. Though we knew the identity of the killers from the very 2nd episode there was not a single scene that was boring throughout the series.

 

If you want to watch an action-packed series with elements of humour and romance and that has a happy ending then I would highly recommend watching this series.

 

The storyline is really thrilling with a lot of twists and conspiracies. The action scenes are swift and a treat to watch while the trial scenes are gripping. This is one of the few series that does not have a second lead in it and I liked that about it. The Chemistry between the leads is a delight to watch and the romance track is matured and steady throughout the series. The humour aspects of the series are well blended into the main plotline and are a welcome change when the plot gets too serious. It has the right blend of legal, action, humour and romance in it.

 

Every character is well written and the casting is perfect as everyone has done a great job with their roles.My favourite characters from this series were, without doubt, Bong Sang Pil and Ahn Oh Ju.

 

Lee Joon Gi has done full justice to his role, Bong Sang Pil- the Lawless Lawyer. He is amazing as he portrays the character, which requires him to constantly switch between being a brilliant lawyer, a skilled thug, a romantic lover and a determined avenger.

 

Ahn Oh Ju portrayed by Choi Min Soo tops my list of favourite negative characters by far. Choi Min Soo’s brilliant portrayal of Ahn Oh Ju makes us hate Oh Ju and at the same time feel for him. This character possesses dark humour and he has a dynamic personality. Though he is a formidable thug, he is exceedingly loyal to the Judge family until the very end. He gives an indomitable look and he is the responsible for bringing out Sang Pil’s full potential.

 

I enjoyed watching this series as it exceeded my expectations as it started with a bang and finished in a flash. Thank you Team Lawless Lawyer and TVN for giving us this wonderful series that we can re-watch umpteen number of times!

 

Source:https://thewritersroomchennai.in/2018/07/02/lawless-lawyer-recap-episode-16-series-finale/

[allythefangirl]

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this series and was always looking forward to new episodes. I loved the chemistry of the main leads and I loved that their love story wasn't forced and it wasn't cringey. The supporting cast members were also very effective. Special mention to the actors who played Ahn Oh Ju and Cha Moon Sook, as they just owned their roles. CMS's face had subtle twitching and I am just amazed! Overall, it was a good watch and while I may be irritated with some of the characters, it's because of poor acting. It's because the acting was superb. 

 

Spoiler

I wish they'd do a season 2, but more about their new jobs in Seoul. 

 

[celebrianna]

This was an excellent show from beginning to end. I don’t think I have watched an ending to a crime/law show as satisfying as this in a very long time. I love that CMS got a sentence worthy of her crimes and all her cohorts. Great actors and thoroughly interesting story. 

[40somethingahjumma]

It's always a good journey with a drama when the baddies get their just desserts but maybe I'm particularly vindictive but I really wanted to see CMS... well, not exactly hanged drawn and quartered... but publicly shamed at the very least. Eggs, tomatoes, heckling, booing and hissing... the works. Especially because we've had to endure so much hypocrisy in these last couple of episodes... I thought we deserved some kind of public unmasking or at least negative reaction from the crowd as she's led away by the cops. Seeing her in prison as a numbered drone with NSJ doing her routine on her from across the corridor was funny though. At least she got that out of her system.  And we have some gratifying assurance that at the very least NSJ will make CMS' life in prison a very unpleasant experience. In general I think I would have preferred a story that saw each person of Club 7 taken down one at a time but for what we got, it was still reasonably entertaining. Plus it always seemed that at least the actors had a really great time with this.

 

My honest opinion on the entire series is that its strength lies primarily in the larger than life villains. AOJ and CMS played by seasoned actors really dominated with their charisma and multifaceted personalities. They were characters that believed in their own importance... that what they were doing was important. They both believed strongly that they were needed. AOJ certainly believed he was indispensable right to the bitter end. His whole life revolved around serving the Cha family and he cleaned up after them but when it finally penetrated the delusional fog he was wallowing in that he was nothing more than a disposable entity, he chose to make his own exit. That is the tragedy of his life. Despite being raised from the gutter to the heights of city politics, he was never more than a dog with an owner... a tool with a use-by-date that had come.  CMS, it's clear from what SP said, never understood what power was really about. She was born to power. It was handed to her on a silver spoon. For a while she successfully maintained it from surrounding herself with key people. She was undoubtedly a shrewd operator in so far as she was able to manipulate various types of individuals into doing her bidding. So while she wielded absolute power in her city and others deferred to her, she was only as powerful as long as a mutually beneficial relationship existed between her and the others. But once she attempted to jettison them from her inner circle, their own survival instincts won the day. There's also another aspect to this as well in that she didn't understand that with power comes great responsibility. It's a bit of a Spiderman cliche these days but it is undeniably true. She knew that she had the power to do good and evil but she used it for her own ends. Publicly she peddled the idea that she did it for the good of Gi Sung but the reality is that Gi Sung and the court that she presided over was a stepping stone for a much bigger political career. All that aside, she killed people because she felt entitled to hold on to the power that she had been given. Goodness only knows how many other instances of miscarriages of justice there were during her regime, aside from those we know about. The power that was vested in her was to uphold the rule of law but she abused that trust for her own ends.

 

The other thing I thought was striking about the drama was the missing fathers and as far as I can remember, there was no mention of them at all. BSP's father or KYH's father. Both were raised by mothers. There were father-figures of course. JY's father on the other hand was a gullible fellow and not especially noteworthy except as a cheerleader for the Cha family. The husband said that he really liked the dynamic between AOJ and BSP especially at the end when they had their final face-off at the harbour. It was a great scene and a well-staged culmination of a rather tumultuous relationship between two opposing forces.

 

Much as I appreciate LJG as an actor, I thought that the BSP character was much more interesting at the start of the series when he was the focal point of the story and the primary agent of the bid to take down the rich and the corrupt in GS. There was a darker side to the cloak of joviality that we caught glimpses of but it sort of came and went.  Bringing HJY on board as a romantic partner and legal collaborator was on hindsight a double-edged sword. It put him behind the eight ball especially when they made the decision to kill off his uncle. Not only was it a waste of Ahn Nae Sang but we didn't get to see them work together which I was really hoping to do. But I get it... Uncle represented his old life... the gangster part of his life while JY represented a new era... doing things by the book, eschewing the darkness that's been hovering over his life. Still... I would have liked to have seen a BSP version of the Daredevil. 

 

Another character that didn't get a lot of development was KYH. Again she started off with a lot of potential but got pushed to sidelines towards the end when the big villains took centre-stage and battled among themselves. I always hoped that she would be more of a double agent type character but she ended up becoming a paler, less flamboyant version of her mother.

Still I liked the thought of JY and SP going off to work for Prosecutor Cheon in Seoul... I can definitely see another series with those three taking down corrupt baddies in a different context. It's a pity we didn't get much Prosecutor Cheon in this... and I'm certain that they can make it up to us by giving us another series of Lawless Lawyer -- Sin City Seoul.  Well, I suppose Park Ho San deserves a bit of a break from all his labours with tvN this year.

 

I'm glad this was a ratings winner for LJG et al. It's been a good year for tvN and they've earned it by bringing so many interesting stories to the forefront. Although I have certain criticisms of it, the husband and I were largely entertained by it.

 

Hope to see you all somewhere around the forum. If you're looking for a good crime show to fill the void, I would highly recommend Life on Mars. For me it's really one of the year's best. Everything about it yells out "quality". Watch it and come hang out with us at the Life on Mars thread.

[violina]

4 hours ago, allythefangirl said:

I loved the chemistry of the main leads and I loved that their love story wasn't forced and it wasn't cringey.

 I will miss them so much.. This scene?  were they even in character here?This is so LJG (the dancing, he is having too much fun acting out that part) and SYJ(the way she is laughing especially in the last gif).I will miss Jae Yi's smile. SYJ has the richest smile in the world.

[ForgottenSoulx]

i stopped watching the episode before the Kiss episode how did it end? 

 

Just want general comment not spoilers ofc. 

[violina]

5 hours ago, celebrianna said:

2 hours ago, Wotad said:

i stopped watching the episode before the Kiss episode how did it end? 

Just want general comment not spoilers ofc. 

This was an excellent show from beginning to end. I don’t think I have watched an ending to a crime/law show as satisfying as this in a very long time. I love that CMS got a sentence worthy of her crimes and all her cohorts. 

@Wotad its hard to say without spoiling but I think @celebrianna above has answered what you need to know.

5 hours ago, celebrianna said:

I don’t think I have watched an ending to a crime/law show as satisfying as this in a very long time.Great actors and thoroughly interesting story. 

Talking about ending, I didn't get my wish fulfilled for one last smooching session between BSP-HJY. But I got this and a few more swoon worthy scenes.I am cool with that.

 

     
 

Quote

 

Unconventional.Partners in love.Partners in justice.A power couple is a dynamic relationship where both individuals bring something to the table, they learn from each other, they support one another and build together(or in our case fix things together).-unknown-

 

                                                 

Quote

The most interesting villains are those who do the right things for the wrong reasons, or the wrong things for the right reasons.The gray area between right and wrong.Its super interesting - Dan Brown-

 

This cast in a nutshell was like four missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.Take out one piece and the puzzle is incomplete.A big thank you to the casting team for giving us the best foursome combo ever.They got the best artisans for the job.Kudos also to a very competent PD and writer who manage to mix four genres (law, action, romance, thriller)  in one drama and manage to hold their audience for 16 episodes.

[zenya22]

I suspected that Geum Ja and GS had something going when in episode 13, GJ said she was going to be the woman who will do her best at work, and her brother said, I forgot you are a woman, but GS said, you are a cool woman GJ. I am glad GJ found her ideal man studying to be a lawyer and she loves lawyers. GS is a good man, kind and loyal.

 

The end is here, and the Bong/Ha couple did it their way!!! Well except for AOJ whom BSP wanted to be punished under the law. He could have forced his way when he took the gun away from OJ and knocked him down to drag him into court and try him for the murders of his mother, uncle, the mayor, Detective Wo and whoever else he was ordered to kill. OJ begged to die in that place by the ocean at the fish markets he considered his father and mother. OJ was probably an orphan and learned to survive by being a hoodlum at the fish markets. Connecting with the elder Judge Cha (the father) may have meant something for OJ especially when the elder judge ate with him at the local eatery by the markets and he became a faithful dog to the elder. He said he will destroy Cha Moon Sook by his own hand and he did in court. But that was the trial of NSJ for ordering the death of the masseuse. BSP wanted to try OJ in court for all the murders he committed especially his mother and uncle but OJ shot himself in the head. I was disappointed because I also wanted a trial for the murders of Choi Jin Ae and uncle Choi Dae Woong. However, I was relieved when SP went to the newly promoted Prosecutor Chun and submitted his mother’s case for investigation added to the cases against CMS. The gangsters will take care of the traitor KMB.

 

What I love most, and I what attracted me most in the drama is the love affair of the Bong/Ha couple. It is not the main premise of the drama, but I like how they handled their love affair when it came about. They were honest about their feelings, no drawn-out unnecessary push and pull, guessing and crying game. Only for just one moment because of the request of the mother for SP to keep away from her daughter, which lasted an episode.  The drama was a fast-paced revenge drama blended with comic relief from the Lawless Team and some gory scenes as in the killing of the uncle, lots of fantastic fighting scenes with the tornado kicking and turning SP, the JJS training of JY which I thought was very well-choreographed, looked even graceful as if they were dancing. Love that JY was able to get SP down at the end. What I did not like was the killing of Uncle DW, and the court trial of BSP after that, I thought as unrealistic. However, reading POV of @bebebisous33 about where the drama was taking place, the politics and political climate involved, as in CMS being a dictator, changed the way I viewed the court trials and the drama and therefore understood the gist of the court scenes and the drama better. The hero/heroine in the drama are the underdogs who seem not to ever get ahead of the game but who does not want to root for the underdogs who steadfastly kept on even while the tide seems to be against them and win at the end anyway? I like how at the end BSP looked at the pictures on his wall and reminisced about him and his mother walking at the beach and JY’s mom met with his mother to hand her a manila envelope. He has done what his mother had taught him, finished what his mother had begun 18 years ago sought justice for his mother and the people killed through the law.

I commend all the actors in the drama, they were all fantastic and played their roles well especially the villains, although I missed the uncle played by Ahn Nae Sang. Thank you to the cast PD, writer and everyone involved in the drama and thank you to all my fellow soompi viewers and posters who shared in the fun viewing the drama.

 

At the arrival to the wrap up party Choi Min Soo had this cap with DOPE written at the front of the cap and I just wondered if he was still in character, that was so AOJ LOL….

 

8 hours ago, 40somethingahjumma said:

Hope to see you all somewhere around the forum. If you're looking for a good crime show to fill the void, I would highly recommend Life on Mars. For me it's really one of the year's best. Everything about it yells out "quality". Watch it and come hang out with us at the Life on Mars thread.

@40somethingahjumma could not find this drama in Viki or DF, where can I view the drama please and thank you so much
 

[Guest]

Finally finding some time to watch the subbed finale...I was wondering for the longest time  if  Giseong had a Subway...

 Bonus ! Unexpected skinship 

[violina]

Ok so as AOJ, CMS and BSP are getting their well deserved credits.I would like to talk about HJY. The first half of kdramaland(2018) has given us about 50+ dramas.I would say she has successfully earned her place in my top three of best female lead characters(In no order, the other two are go hye ran from "misty", and lee ji an from "my ahjussi").

 

I remember back in the press conference before the drama started.This is what Seo Ye Ji had to say when the cast were asked why they chose "Lawless Lawyer":

 

Quote

"My previous drama(Save Me) was quite depressing.Working on it brought me down emotionally.I was in such an emotional state.So I was looking for a role that would help me quickly get out of my previous role.Then our star director Kim Jin Min offered me this role in Lawless Lawyer.I thought the role "Ha Jae Yi" would make me look unrecognizable to viewers who saw me in my previous works. That's why I chose this role.I was a little afraid to take this because, typically, an action drama features a bunch of guys which makes female actors invisible.I was a bit worried about it.But on set, the director makes sure that there are situations and lines of dialog in the drama that allow actresses to do some action as well.So I am even more glad that I chose this project."

 

I tuned in to this drama for JG since I am a fan.I was not sure what to expect of HJY's character or Seo Ye Ji(+writer and director) would fully deliver what was described of her character in the synopsis at the beginning.There are many dramas where the female lead character is described as a "girl crush".But regardless of the genre(but more notably in malecentric dramas), once they fall in love or have more interactions with the male lead.They lose their presence and just become pretty accessories for the male lead.For Seo Ye Ji as an actress, all I knew of her was from some clips of her I watched on youtube videos about "Moorim School", "Hwarang", "Night Watchman" and that she got great reviews for her acting in "Save Me".But it only took me three minutes of ep 1 of "Lawless Lawyer" when she punched that douchebag judge to acknowledge that HJY is an instant hit for me.

 

Her Fire.Her Charisma.Her Determination as a lawyer.

 

Her Loyalty.Her Maturity.Her Fierceness in love as a woman.

 

The way she carried herself from start to finish was awesome.She was consistently strong.I give Seo Ye Ji props for that. HJY was not written to be an overly dramatic character nor was SJY directed to act like one.But she was not a pushover either.She was confident, rational, even when there were emotional draining moments, she never lost her marbles.That for me, made her a charming character.I wish to see more female lead characters like her in Korean dramas.

 

[zenya22]

8 hours ago, violina said:

Ok so as AOJ, CMS and BSP are getting their well deserved credits.

@violinathank you for all the recaps, GIFs and pics you posted. I just started doing a rewatch of the drama. Not ready to say goodbye yet