"Taxi Driver" Korean drama season one: Episode five recap

 

 Air Dates: April 9th until May 29, 2021 on SBS-TV, Saturday and Sundays at 10:00 pm

Director: Park Joon-Woo... Subs done by Sally G... This episode's rating: 13.5%

Main Cast: Bit of a large cast plus there's many guest stars whose roles are big but the episodes are an hour or longer. The setting is the Rainbow Taxi company which is a legit operation and is run by an older man named Jang. For now it seems 100% of the drivers are just your regular cabbies but there is one driver who goes beyond the call of duty and will be the first character you'll read about below. His name is Kim Do-Gi, usually in recaps use the last name for males and first names for females which I hope makes things easier. However will be referring to him as Do-Gi, there's a woman that I'll be using her last name who is Baek.

A second season began on February 17th of this year, hopefully can recap most of the episodes before that season ends and may do posts for that also. Almost all of my drama recaps for the past year have been for shows with the episodes being between 25-45 minutes and have been doing a good job at keeping them brief yet also not leaving any details out. So these recaps will definitely be longer but so much takes place in this show and will already give this series a very high recommendation. As it says in this screenshot this drama is about revenge and we need more in that vein!

Lee Je-Hoon as Kim Do-Gi.... This is a man who can do it all, if I described everything we'd be here for days! Do-Gi is the most unbeatable fighter I've seen to date in a drama, he had once been an elite member of the Special Forces division of Korea's military. Four years ago his mother was slain by a crazed killer who later committed suicide in prison which meant Do-Gi couldn't avenge his mother's death. He soon met the man below who is Jang and the owner the Rainbow Taxi, he told Do-Gi if he wants revenge to join his company. Which is a legit taxi service though Do-Gi also specializes in helping others getting back at those cruel people who have made their lives a living hell! Could add more in but that's enough for now....

Kim Eui-Sung as Jang Sung-Chul..... Owner of Rainbow Taxi and that's him in the above screenshot. Jang's parents were murdered twenty years ago and since then has sworn to avenge the victims of brutal crimes or who have been mistreated so badly. There's five members at the taxi company who do work on helping others get revenge but after two shows unsure if that number just may be a bit higher. Jang also runs an organization called Blue Bird which helps victims of crimes.

Esom as Kang Ha-Na.... The exact name as one of my all time fave Korean actresses! She's a prosecutor for the Seoul Northern District and was hell bent on finding what happened to a goon named Cho who disappeared after being released early from prison. But Ha-Na's supervisor told her to lay off the case and has assigned her to work with Jang, besides owning the taxi company he also has an organization helping victims of crime. Since the second show Ha-Na has been a bit leery of how the company operates, are they mixed up in some illegal activities?

Pyo Ye-Jin as Ahn Go-Eun....  I need to do some regular posts for her! Go-Eun is an elite hacker and tech expert who works at Rainbow Taxi and is one of five people there who work on the unknown 'revenge squad'. Go-Eun's sister committed suicide a few years back and we're slowly learning the details of it.

 Jang Hyuk-Jin as Choi Kyung-Goo.... The head mechanic at Rainbow Taxi, Choi and his assistant Park also work for the 'revenge squad'. Along with the above Go-Eun him and Park also work off site doing surveillance work and other duties.

Bae Yoo-Ram as Park Jin-Eon.... Bae and Park are a also comedy team and I've seen them paired up often in dramas.

Cha Ji-Yeon as Baek Sung-Mi.... A very mysterious middle aged lady who owns the Nakwon Company. When Jang has to stash one of the people who they've taken revenge on he brings them to Baek who charges some very high fees. She also owns a shady night club and appears to even run a call girl ring, we learn more about Baek in every episode.

Yoo Seung-Mok as Cho Jin-Woo.... The Deputy Chief Prosecutor for the Seoul Northern District office. Cho is Ha-Na's supervisor and he's also good friends with Jang.

Lee Yoo-Joon as Wang Min-Ho.... Ha-Na's assistant at the prosecutor's office.

Guest Stars for the first two episodes

  For a while will keep these five names at the top, they were the villains from the first two episodes with the bottom four working as a team. But they've still had no official outcome as all are still trapped in the Baek's dungeon.

Cho Hyun-Woo as Cho Do-Chul.... A sexual offender who was sentenced to life in prison but was released after only eight years to public outrage.  He was picked up at court by none other than our hero Do-Gi who brought this sicko to first Jang then to Baek's 'prison'. Ha-Na is on the case to find out what's happened to Cho with no success.... yet. Cho is still alive and licking as in the sixth episode he was able to escape from the dungeon.

Tae Hang-Ho as Park Ju-Chan.... The main owner of the fish factory and one of the most despicable men I've ever seen in a drama who gets his due justice at the end.

Song Duk-Ho as Cho Jong-Geun.... Park's assistant and he appears to be a bit slow. Cho watches over the workers/slaves at the fish factory, when he first saw Maria he fell in love and began to have his way with her. 

Kim Do-Yeon as Choi Jing-Sook.... Maria's 'handler' who is also beyond cruel, she's recruited all of the workers for Park's factory.

Jo Dae-Hee as Kim Hyun-Wook.... Corrupt police chief in this small town the factory is located in and works as Park's security man.

 Park is on the right, Choi in the middle and Cho on the left.

Guest Stars for the fifth through eighth episodes

Jeon Sung-Ii as Seo Young-Min....  Ex-employee of the U Data company, he quit after working there six months. Young-Min had been brutally harassed and bullied while at the company which is why he quit. But after leaving he was beaten to a pulp by the chairman Park and his group of 'execs', Young-Min had pressed charges but they were dropped through some very devious methods and he's currently in the hospital because of his injuries.

Baek Hyun-Jin as Park Yang-Jin.... Chairman of U Data and to say this man is brutal would be an understatement! In a way this story is a bit like the previous one as it has to deal with bulling but the other story was with high school boys and this is set in the hi-tech world. Park mainly hires workers who have a shady criminal background as he can control them.

Cho Ha-Seoko as Jung.... Director at U Data and in a way may be a meaner man than his boss Park is, he's the man with purple hair in the screenshots.

Kim Jae-Young as Ahn.... Manager of the Strategic Planning Department, like the other execs is also very brutal and he has the green hair in screenshots.

Kwak Min-Gyu as Jeon Jin-Won.... Former employee at U Data who quit after Min-Young did, he's fled to an island for fear of being hunted down!

U Data.... The largest global cloud/streaming in Korea and most of their profits appear to come from adult videos. They have a unique system where they can see what everyone writes in the cloud even if the e-mail isn't sent or a comment isn't published at a social media site. That's come in very handy to get back at those former employees such as Min-Young. 

Previous recaps

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three .... Episode four

 As it says above this will be a four episode 'revenge story' so will do the posts slightly differently. Will watch episode's five and six, then will write the recaps up but won't publish them quite yet though if you're reading this you know I have! Then will do the same for the next pair of shows, once episode seven is written up will publish these first two recaps, confused? After this will wait about three days and publish the recaps for the other two shows, short gap so you won't forget what's taken place. And a lot does take place, of course for the new 'revenge story' but there's also about five mini storylines which are also occurring and those too are very important to this drama. 

 That last episode ended with Do-Gi passing out in the middle of a street, it was after he had seen the warning lights at a construction site. With him was the prosecutor Ha-Na, the pair had been out with their bosses for a dinner and not sure why that took place. Do-Gi was rushed to a hospital where he's recovering quickly but there was a mention of something in episode four that didn't continue on into this show. Which was of Do-Gi having many bullet wounds on his chest, he was in the Special Forces of the Korean military but that still wouldn't explain the wounds. Do-Gi had passed out for those lights made him recall the day his mother was murdered, he had some flashbacks of that while he was sleeping and those are the top two screenshots. Do-Gi recovered soon enough as that morning he was released from the hospital. Do-Gi is one unbeatable fighter though also a bit too thin so his boss Jang and his mates at Rainbow Taxi think Do-Gi isn't eating enough which could be true and maybe why he passed out. In that bottom screenshot above is the prosecutor Ha-Na who has been suspicious of Rainbow Taxi, have they been a part of some vigilante activities the last few weeks?

 Of course they have but for now Ha-Na doesn't realize it, however she's been doing so much investigating she's coming a bit closer to the truth in each episode. Her prosecutor boss Cho has assigned Ha-Na to work with the Blue Bird organization which helps victims of crimes. It's run by the Rainbow Taxi owner Jang, he started it after his parents were murdered twenty years ago. Ha-Na viewed her first session of this group which had about seven in attendance and we did learn some key info. The head mechanic Choi's younger brother had married the younger sister of the other mechanic who is Park. A few years back the pair were killed in an apartment fire which was set by an arsonist, that person was caught but managed to get a very light sentence. Both Choi and Park are naturally bitter at what took place and have been attending these Blue Bird sessions for a while. So now we have a good idea on why Jang recruited the pair to become a part of his 'revenge squad' though we still need to learn a few more things about it. The company's tech whiz Go-Eun is also a part of of this victim's group, her sister committed suicide but was she pressured into it? Ha-Na was a firm believer that the law would mete out fair justice for all but she's slowly changing her views, especially after hearing the tale of these victims. That's her in the bottom screenshot above and will one day Ha-Na become the sixth member of Jang's 'revenge squad'?

 The new revenge case didn't begin until the twenty minute mark, will get to that in the next paragraph. In that top screenshot is Go-Eun who still grieves over her sister, she has an online diary where she writes to her every day. Second screenshot down is the mysterious woman Baek and she's also proving to be a very treacherous person. The criminals that Jang and his team catches are sent to Baek who keeps them locked up in her mansion's dungeon. Baek has also been having an affair with a CEO named Kim whose vision is getting much worse. She has an idea which is to take the corneas from one of her prisoners and give them to Kim, much more on that in the next recap. The prisoner is a sexual predator named Cho who has been locked up since the first episode. That's him in the third screenshot who was being grilled by Jang, think he would like to rehabilitate some of these lowlifes but there's no chance of that with Cho who wants revenge on those who sent him to prison. Cho was sentenced to a life term in prison but was released after eight years, his completes story is in the first recap.

 On to the third revenge case for the heroes from Rainbow Taxi, it's such a complex case it takes up four episodes! In that fifth screenshot above is a young man named Seo Young-Min who worked for a company named U Data. They're the most popular and successful cloud service/streaming company in Korea but if the public only knew what went on behind closed doors!!!! Young-Min had worked six months for U Data but has recently quit for he was beaten, bullied, harassed, etc. ruthlessly by the execs at the company. Young-Min finally got the courage up to press charges and Ha-Na had received his case, she's becoming a bigger supporter of victims and wants justice for this young man. However it's so difficult to bring charges against such a powerful company such as U Data who soon had the case dismissed. There was a chief prosecutor at the Seoul Northern Office named Kim who was the person responsible for squashing the case and there's little doubt he was paid off by U Data. Ha-Na was more than furious when she heard the news and really tore into her boss Cho which is right above, Cho probably couldn't admit it but to me seemed he knew something underhanded was going on.

 Listening outside Cho's door to this intense conversation was none other than Jang! Cho soon left his office, Jang then entered and saw the file for Young-Min crumbled up on the floor. Jang snatched it up, there was also a tape of Young-Min's testimony, and quickly left the building. Outside was his ace driver Do-Gi and Jang ordered him to read the statement and listen to the tape. Usually a victim will contact Rainbow Taxi but in this case it wasn't possible, Jang told Do-Gi it would be up to him if they should take on this case. Once Do-Gi read the transcripts and listened to the tape there was no doubt the 'revenge squad' would take this case but would Young-Min be alive to see justice done?! Above are some screenshots of Young-Min's time at U Data, you could almost say working there was similar to being in a Cult. If you do an outstanding job an employee may make out well as far as money goes but was it worth it? At Young-Min's welcome party that also had another five new employees he began to wonder 'Did I make a mistake?'. The chairman of U Data is a brutal man named Park who rides around the office on a two wheeled cart.

 Park is also a massive alcoholic and loves violence, at that party he ordered the new employees to slap each other and a few of the execs.... as hard as they could! Young-Min at first worked in the Customer Service Department, he did well but so often it didn't please his superiors. As time went on the harassment and beatings increased, so much that Young-Min felt his only option was to quit which he did after six months. He was talked into reporting what had taken place at U Data by his wife but we know how that turned out. **** U Data has this system where they can read anything written on a person's computer even if it's a draft that's quickly deleted. Young-Min had written some horrible things about Park on his computer which were all true but he couldn't post it at a site so soon deleted it. However there's an elite team at U Data which tracks such things and they were aware of what Young-Min had written. As you can see above the following day Park and his goons were waiting for Young-Min to teach him a lesson even though he no longer worked at U Data. Young-Min was brought to a warehouse where he was beaten senseless, what a cruel core of execs work at U Data and you'll learn why in the next recap. Young-Min is now unconscious at a hospital and Ha-Na rushed there when she heard the news but she's powerless to do anything.... for now.

 Young-Min had been found underneath a bridge, an anonymous caller to the police had said he jumped off the bridge and was drunk. Which was all a massive lie as Park's henchmen had done the deed, Jang's Rainbow Taxi mechanics visited the scene and there was no way a drunk person could have jumped off. At the hospital Ha-Na obviously couldn't talk with Young-Min who was unconscious and still was at the end of the next episode. But she did have a brief conversation with his unnamed wife who couldn't believe there were such cruel people as the ones that worked at U Data, that talk has really lit a fire under Ha-Na but how can she get justice as the case was dropped? However that won't stop Ha-Na, just like the ongoing Cho case from episode one she'll work on it secretly and much more on that in the next recap. Above is a man named Jeon who also worked at U Data and had helped Young-Min get the job there. But something took place and Jeon fled Seoul as he was scared for his life, we only saw him for a minute but we'll get to know his story a bit better in the next recap. Thinking about it that next post may be a larger one as so, so much took place and was the top episode so far.

 It was Do-Gi's decision to take Young-Min's case and wants revenge so badly for this man, of course do don't the other four on the 'revenge squad'. But U Data is like a fortress, where can they begin? Leave that to the tech whiz Go-Eun who has set everything up for Do-Gi, she really is such a likable woman. She's created a top notch resume for Do-Gi and his name has been changed slightly to Do-Ki. He's just arrived back in Korea after working in America, any company in the world would want Do-Ki as an employee. However Do-Gi is no tech whiz but for now on will always wear a small transmitter in his ear so he can communicate with Go-Eun who feeds him all the answers to any tech question and much more. To make a long story short after a intense interview Do-Ki is now an employee at U Data though his first day won't be until the next episode. We did see twenty seconds of that first day, as he was entering the U Data building who should be there but Ha-Na, that's the pair above. In the final minutes we did see a short scene with Go-Eun who has been seeing a counselor as she still grieves so badly for her sister who killed herself, why is still an unanswered question which I'm sure will be explained soon enough and that's the first two screenshots below. That wraps this recap up, episode six is the next post and as mentioned that was the most intense show to date.