"Taxi Driver" Korean drama season one: Episode fourteen 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: 12.9%

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 and above 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 two screenshots above. 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, Jung-Sun was her sister's name and her story is in the seventh and eighth recaps.

 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. Park's younger brother was married to Choi's younger sister but both were killed in an apartment fire set  by an arsonist.

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..... but then again that adds to her mystery! **** Perhaps being a mystery was better for starting with the tenth show the more we learn about Baek the more we learn how cunning and ruthless she is!!!!

Lee Ho-Cheol as Goo Seok-Tae.... Baek's ruthless main bodyguard and though has been in every show just added him in for this eleventh episode. Main reason was his name wasn't revealed for so long and check the guest star list as his name will be there too.

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. In a shocker Wang was stabbed to death at the end of the eleventh episode by Gu, Ha-Na dearly wants revenge but even with Jang's squad helping her justice has not been meted out.... yet! That's Wang below, just moments before he was stabbed to death by Gu.

Guest Star for the first nine episodes .... Have kept this first name here as he did make minor appearances and his storyline did become major until his death.

  

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 had still been alive and kicking as in the sixth episode he was able to escape from the dungeon. But he was recaptured by Baek's bodyguards after he stabbed Jang and was killed at the end of the ninth show.

Guest stars for the eleventh through fourteenth episodes

 The story all began with the disappearance of the man Go though he hasn't been mentioned in two episodes and the story did change so drastically.

Lee Ho-Cheol as Gu Young-Tae.... As you can see Lee plays two characters in these four shows.  He's playing a set of twin brothers, Seok-Tae is Baek's bodyguard while Young-Tae is a junior director at her Nakwom company. Both brothers are brutal but especially Young-Tae and who knows how many he's killed to date?!!!!

The twin brothers, on the left is Young-Tae and on the right is Seok-Tae.

Han Kyu-Won as Go Dong-Hee... We won't see much of him save for flashbacks but he worked as a salesman for a construction company. His disappearance was what opened this new case and all fingers are pointing towards Young-Tae who is presumed to have killed Go. The main reason is Go was engaged to the below woman who Young-Tae had eyes for.

Han -Hyun-Ah as Lee Hye-Yeon.... As mentioned she was engaged to Go and really did love him but if Young-Tae can't have her no man can!

Lee Yoon-He was Pastor Go.... The father of Go Dong-Hee and turned down Jang's offer of getting revenge for his son's disappearance/death.

Jung Kang-Hee as Sim Woo-Sub.... An associate of Young-Tae but that man really abuses Sim endlessly. Sim owns the HM company which is really just a 'paper organization' that will be explained in the twelfth recap.

Previous recaps .... most cases are for two episodes but the fifth through eighth episodes were for one very long and intense revenge case. There's a second four episode story which ran from the eleventh to fourteenth episode.

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

Episode five .... Episode six .... Episode seven .... Episode eight

Episode nine .... Episode ten .... Episode eleven .... Episode twelve

 Above is how the previous episode ended but sure you've read the recap. Do-Gi took out close to twenty men who all wanted to hurt our hero badly but as usual that didn't pan out for the bad guys(!), this recap will start off from that moment. Most posts here get over 500 views and the more popular ones well over a thousand. However drama recaps have never been too popular but they do draw many more views than years ago. These recaps will end up getting 150-200 views which to me is more satisfying than those posts that have over a thousand which are often photobooks. Viewers know what to expect when they see the title and it's for a drama recap so they must be interested in the series and keep checking these posts out so thanks for that. To me think the quality of them has gone up the last few years and they are kind of an easy read though at times perhaps too long!

 The prosecutor Ha-Na is a top notch one yet we've never seen her in court through fourteen episodes. Sometimes a case gets dropped or is settled before the trial. However most of the time it because Jang's 'revenge squad' has kidnapped, killed or done something else to a criminal which has left Ha-Na extremely frustrated. There were many arrests made at the end of this show so will we finally see Ha-Na's skills in court the final two episodes? Will have those recaps done within a week and have no idea how this series will end. Will take a break and view some other things before starting on the second season, there will also be a third one next year. That last episode ran for 67 minutes and took 65 screenshots. This show ran just under an hour yet took 71 screenshots as so much more took place, if it's another long recap that's okay as long it's done somewhat decent and think most are that way.

 There were a few cliffhangers that ended off the previous show. One was with the females in the top two screenshots, the one in the white sweater is Maria. Her story was the first revenge case of this series and she had been sexually abused by a man named Cho. Along with many other prisoners he escaped and Cho wants to revive this sick relationship and tried to abduct Maria. But coming to her rescue was the other woman who is Go-Eun, the tech whiz for the Rainbow Taxi 'revenge squad'. However she had been clobbered over the head by another escapee named Choi wo was responsible for Go-Eun's older sister killing herself. The pair are being held hostage at a remote warehouse and is there any chance of them being saved? Of course there is when you have Do-Gi on your side! That last episode ended with him beating up close to twenty of the prisoners and Baek's henchmen. One of the prisoners was still conscious and Do-Gi was able to find out the location of Go-Eun, there's no time to spare so he's headed there right away! Just in case Do-Gi would be followed the mechanic Park left first in a taxi and that man on the phone above observed that. He's also from the very first revenge case and he's Cho's partner Park, he told Young-Tae about thee taxi leaving. However he didn't stick around long enough to watch things as shortly after Do-Gi left and went in the opposite direction.

 That lowlife Park also wants to avenge what Do-Gi did to him, he ended up chasing the wrong taxi and what took place later on will be extremely important. The news of what happened was soon learned by Baek who was still upstairs in Jang's house. It was too dangerous to remain there so she took Jang and the other mechanic Choi hostage bringing them to her dungeon prison. Jang was locked in a cell and they're beneath the floor, Choi was allowed to remain 'free' however he probably wished he was locked up! Baek said for every five minutes that Do-Gi doesn't contact her one finger will be sliced off of Choi's hands, as I've said what a cruel woman she's become! Jang pleaded with her to release Choi and is offering to make a deal with her which she seems likely to accept. Choi was then put in the cell with Jang who then said if she could guarantee the safety of the four members of his 'revenge squad' she could have his corneas! If you've been reading these last few recaps you know that Baek has been in the illegal organ transplant business and she said yes to the offer immediately. You can see some of what took place above and it's not a procedure that a doctor can do quickly, however there was no doctor so Baek would do the prep work. A fluid needs to be injected into the cornea and has to sit for a while, once one eye is complete you go to the second. Baek did inject the fluid into Jang's left eye and now they're waiting until the right eye can be worked on.

 In an unexpected twist in the top three screenshots who should arrive at Baek's Nakwon company than Ha-Na and she had the whole force with her! She had a strong inkling that Jang and a few of his team were being held captive there, she was right to an extent. It was too late to obtain a warrant but Ha-Na had the backing of her superior Cho who is good friends with Jang and knows these cases involving Baek need to come to an end! However for the umpteenth time Ha-Na was thwarted as she could find no evidence and is she getting frustrated. with her lack of success. Ha-Na never thought to see if there was a basement and why would that be? She would have hit pay dirt then as that's where Jang and Choi were being held hostage. So a dejected Ha-Na and her troops had to leave Baek's office empty handed but looking back on what took place later think Ha-Na remained outside hiding to see what would take place. While that was going on Do-Gi arrived at the storage house where his teammate Go-Eun was being held along with the younger female Maria. She had tried escaping but Maria was noticed by her 'sick lover' Cho who wanted to drag her back to film a sex scene with him! But as you can see arriving in the nick of time was Do-Gi who saved Maria while dragging Cho back to the storage house while also giving him a minor beating. 

 A minor beating is not what the main culprit Choi faced from Do-Gi, so many characters are named either Cho or Choi. Choi had secretly filmed Go-Eun's older sister Jung-Eun having sex with him five years before, he uploaded the video to the internet where it's received millions of views. Choi just didn't do that to Jung-Eun but also uploaded many other secret adult videos to the internet and that was the revenge case for the seventh and eighth episodes. Do-Gi stopped him from doing this same evil deed to Go-Eun and gave this Choi creep quite a pummeling. Do-Gi was out of control and just may have killed Choi until he was held back by Go-Eun, a killing may have been too good for Choi! There was much else going on so Do-Gi and Go-Eun couldn't stay there much longer, they tied these creeps up tightly and notified the police. So now it's back to Seoul but of course Do-Gi and Go-Eun are wondering what's happened to Jang and the two mechanics? One they were able to contact was Park, he had been the decoy for Do-Gi to escape from Baek's office safely. Park was in the area and was soon spotted by Do-Gi, when Park began to drive to his friends what took place was in the above two bottom screenshots. Out of nowhere a delivery truck rammed at a rapid speed into Park's taxi, it was all planned out as this truck rammed Park's taxi at least five more times!!!!

 The driver of this truck was the man Park who had owned the evil fish company with the now subdued Cho. Park thought he had rammed the taxi Do-Gi was driving so was startled to see it was the mechanic who is also named Park. Do-Gi dashed to the scene along with Go-Eun, he gave the fiend a few punches to put him out of commission as his main concern was his friend. However Do-Gi should have given Park a few more punches as this thug soon stabbed Do-Gi in his left shoulder, Park then jumped back into that truck and fled the scene. After quickly tending to his wound Do-Gi gave chase and while it may not be too clear above Do-Gi did run Park off the road and it appears this lowlife is dead. What struck me in the second half of this episode is how little traffic there were on the roads of Seoul plus we never did see one highway patrol car. Go-Eun called an ambulance and Park was taken to a hospital where he's in some very bad shape. It was the last we saw of him and Go-Eun but have to presume Park survived as he is in the second season. With his mates okay for now you can see what Do-Gi says above, he needs to save his other two teammates and he better do it quickly!

 After Ha-Na departed without finding any evidence Baek and her henchmen returned to the dungeon to finish business with Jang. His left eye isn't looking too well and it's getting close to the time for injecting the same substance into his right eye. Jang did not have many pleasant things to say to his once trusted partner and as you can see above Baek wouldn't mind seeing him dead! Do-Gi has the knack for arriving in the nick of time which is what happened again, he took out Baek's guards rather easily and headed to the dungeon. These skirmishes are getting tougher for Do-Gi, main reason is he's been in three of them in about a five hour period. Make that four battles as he took on Baek's army which seems to be growing, Do-Gi held his own for a while but soon there were too many to fend off. Do-Gi surrendered which shocked everyone there but in my mind knew he had a trick up his sleeve. Do-Gi did as he grabbed Baek's ankle, leapt up and before anyone could react had a knife against her throat! Do-Gi did slice her cheek and think his plan was to use her as a hostage so he could escape with Jang and Choi. But that army was just too huge as Do-Gi was hit from behind and Baek fled her dungeon along with Gu who is the most wanted criminal of her troops. Do-Gi was also able to flee the dungeon and was in a few scraps which is right below but there is one more major battle awaiting him.

 Also fleeing the dungeon was the mechanic Choi and Jang, his eye was still closed from the injection. We never did see the pair again, by now there's only ten minutes to go and wonder if Jang will be okay? Outside Baek's Nakwon office the final duel between Do-Gi and Gu took place, a bit of that is above. Gu is a strong man and could take down most men but don't think he could defeat Do-Gi if the playing field was level. Which it wasn't as Do-Gi's shoulder was still in pain from the stabbing plus after at least four battles he was just so worn out. Do-Gi put up a good fight but soon Gu got the upper hand and it looked like it was the end for Do-Gi. Instead of going in for the final blow Gu began to walk away and told his troops to finish off Do-Gi which didn't happen as the cavalry arrived in time! Did muse earlier about Ha-Na and the vast amount of police she had brought with her to search Baek's house. That search turned up zero but don't think Ha-Na left the area as she arrived where Do-Gi was and fired a warning shot(!), soon after dozens of police swarmed the area and arrested everyone. Even Gu who was arrested in the last show but was somehow released and that was never shown or explained why. However there was one person not there who was the most key of all, that was Baek! Before the fight between Do-Gi and Gu she had sped away in a company mini truck, how could she be found?

 Easily enough as Do-Gi had managed to slip a tracking/listening device into the truck's cabin. While the police were rounding everyone up Do-Gi slipped away and jumped into a police cruiser, he zoomed away to finally end things with Baek. The only person who noticed this was Ha-Na who also gave chase, it ended at a pier where Baek was about to flee on a mini yacht. Do-Gi arrived a few minutes ahead of Ha-Na, though injured Do-Gi was able to take out Baek's remaining bodyguards and would Do-Gi enact revenge upon Baek for all she's done to his friends? No, though he easily could have and even Baek had asked Do-Gi to kill her! He kept her at bay until Ha-Na arrived who soon arrested Baek and think being a prisoner was the worst kind of torture for Baek. Do-Gi may have known that and told Ha-Na for once make sure these guilty parties get the punishment they deserve! With the pressure off and the case wrapped up Do-Gi passed out om the pier with Ha-Na holding him in her arms, that's how this long and intense revenge case ended. Whew, that also ended this recap and the first five screenshots below are from those final minutes. Did wrap this up somewhat quickly as I was getting a bit burnt out from doing so many recent recaps but anything that I may have omitted is in the below screenshots. Two more episodes to go and have no idea on what is going to take place, the recaps for them will be done within the week.