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

 

Air Dates: 17th until April 15, 2023. Friday and Saturday nights at 9:00 pm on SBS/ViuTV

Director: Lee Dan    Screenwriter: Oh Sang-Ho.... This episode's rating: 12.1%

This series ran for 1070 minutes or close to 67 minutes an episode.

Main Cast: The five heroes from Jang's 'Revenge Squad' are also in this second season. The only major character who didn't return was the prosecutor Kang Ha-Na so don't know if Jang's crew will be feeling any pressure from the authorities. She was mentioned in the opening minutes and also her superior won't be in this series. The top five names below are the 'Revenge Squad', think at least one more major character will be added in plus will be doing a lot of editing in the first half of the series. The bottom characters will be the guest stars for the story, for the first case will leave them there for two recaps. If you didn't read the posts or view the first season highly recommend that you do as it's my top drama from the last three years. Here are the links to the final two episodes of season one if you want to get a feel for the series:

Episode fifteen .... Episode sixteen

 Lee Je-Hoon as Kim Do-Gi.... Everyone on Jang's team is important but Do-Gi is the most essential part of the team. He used to be a member of the Special Forces of the Korean military and is truly one unbeatable fighter. Shortly after Do-Gi was discharged from the military his mother was murdered by a serial killer and that was a key story in the first season. After that killing is when Do-Gi was recruited by Jang to be a part of his 'revenge squad', after being together for over three years the team was disbanded at the end of season one. But Do-Gi kept in touch with his mentor and after two years rejoined fighting evil with Jang, soon the other three completed the team.

 Kim Eui-Sung as Jang Sing-Chul.... Leader of the 'revenge squad' and for well over a year it was a solo project. Jang also owns the Rainbow Taxi company which is a semi cover for his team, he also runs a victim's organization called Blue Bird. At the end of the first season Jang felt his squad had done all they could do so disbanded the team, think he was also worried for their safety. However Jang did secretly keep in touch with Do-Gi and in the first episode the pair did work on two revenge cases. The second case was so intense the rest of the old 'revenge squad' found out some details about it and Jang eventually brought them back into the fold. Jang below was telling the police after the squad's disbandment that he did everything by himself but the charges were soon dropped.

Pyo Ye-Jin as Ahn Go-Eun.... Her sister had been framed by a sex con artist and because of that had committed suicide. That was over five years ago and after hearing Go-Eun's story Jang recruited her to be a member of his squad. Go-Eun is the techno whiz of the team and there's seemingly nothing computer related she can't do. After Jang broke the team up Go-Eun took the civil service exam, when the series began she was working for the police in their Information Management division though soon returned to Jang's squad in the second episode.

 Jang Hyuk-Jin as Choi Kyung-Goo.... Was the head mechanic at Rainbow Taxi and really knew how to 'soup up' Do-Gi's vehicle. When the 'revenge squad' was disbanded Choi went back to being a researcher testing out new automobiles but he really missed working with his mates.

 

Bae Yoo-Ram as Park Jin-Eon.... In real life him and the above man are a comedy team who also appear in many dramas together. Below is Park on the left, Choi is on the right. Park comes off as being a bit goofy but what an intelligent man he is! What he did after the team broke up was to work for Korea's version of NASA designing spaceships but was about to be transferred to Russia(?) for five years.

 Park Jong-Hwan as Park Hyeon-Jo.... Don't know much about him yet but think he will be a major character and also a thorn in the side of Jang! Park works for the Northeast Seoul PD and is also an executive at the Geumsa Organization which appears to be a shady outfit.

 ****Guest stars for the first story which lasts for two episodes, will update/change the names for every story and most last for two episodes.

Choi One as Lee Joon-Bum.... He's on the left below and is the father of Dong-Jae. Lee's wife died about twenty years ago and he raised his son alone since then running his own fried chicken shop. Things hadn't been going so well as Lee was behind on his rent payments and had borrowed some money from loan sharks who had been pressuring him for the money. Soon after is when Dong-Jae disappeared and Lee became a broken man who closed his shop and spent all day hunting for his son with no success. Eventually Lee became the first 'revenge seeker' in this second season to contact Jang as there was something very shady with his son's disappearance. 

Zo Zee-An as Lee Dong-Jae.... That's him above on the right and he's about 25 in age. Dong-Jae had completed his military stint and was attending college but was aware of his father's money woes. Dong-Jae said he had a scholarship to attend an American college for two years but instead had taken a shady job in Vietnam to help his father with the bills. Soon after arriving in Vietnam Dong-Jae disappeared and unknown to anyone in Korea was being held captive along with at least five others who had to design illegal gambling games.

Lee Kyu-Ho as Kwon Du-Sik.... Boss of Cheongeum Industries gambling website and he's based in Vietnam, it appears he has some Korean police working for him.

Yoon Seok-Hyun as Sang.... Manager/director of Cheongeum Industries.

Park Seong-Geun as Kim Hyung-Sub.... Corrupt captain of the Northeast Seoul PD's violent team and is the unknown chairman Cheongeum Industries.

 Short promo video for the first episode which is subbed in English.

 

 Whew, does that above take a while to write up! But only have to do it once, after this will just be some editing and changing the guest characters. Finally got to this series and the first season was one of my all time fave Korean dramas, these days almost always wait for a drama to finish before recapping it. Don't think these recaps will be done too quickly for as odd as it may sound still feeling the affects of being in the hospital and for some reason doing posts takes so much longer. My plan is to write up four recaps, will post this first pair today and then in 2-3 days the next two. Am hoping by doing that the gap between recaps won't be too long and hopefully that plan works out. Haven't viewed the next episode yet but probably will halfway through writing this up(didn't) for as mentioned have been in a slow speed mode lately plus it may help making this recap a bit clearer.

 **** This is very important so if you are going to read the whole post read this first! There are two cases in this recap, the second will continue on into the next post. This was a seventy minute episode and the first fourteen minutes will be revenge case #2. That case featured the entire five member 'revenge squad' who didn't get reunited until the second episode. So when that first(second) case concluded there were some mini flashbacks on what the team members had been doing the past two years but that was described well enough above. When that finished the first case of season two began and at first it just had the duo of Jang and Do-Gi working on it though the other three had an inkling on what was happening. It wasn't confusing watching the episode but if you didn't know that the first case I talk about happened AFTER the main case it could be a tad confusing. Okay, think this section is finally complete and let's get to this first case which should be only one segment.

 This first mini scene, case #2, ran for fourteen minutes and began at the Gucheon Prison which is in the top screenshot. In the middle screenshot are three unnamed convicts who were about to be sentenced for running an illegal porn site where videos and books could be purchased. They were all looking at a sentence of at least ten years but their shady lawyer had bribed some of the prosecution's staff and at court all the charges were going to be dropped!!!! The trio were heading to court on a bus along with one other inmate, that's the long haired man above who happened to be none other than the drama's hero Do-Gi! During the trip he told the men to fasten their seatbelts, within a matter of seconds after that the bus overturned as you can see above. Do-Gi and the three men escaped safely and Do-Gi even had the keys to their handcuffs plus also had a car in waiting! He had this all planned out or should I say Jang's 'revenge squad' did. These criminals had no clue who Do-Gi was but they went along with everything he said as he was their savior! Do-Gi gave them each a drink to quench their thirst which they gulped right down, not an ordinary drink but one that knocked them right out!

 When the trio arose some hours later they were at a mysterious house at an unknown location, what happened and where is this other inmate Do-Gi???? The TV happened to be on and that middle screenshot was of the criminals who are now public enemy #1. The news said these porn creeps had many new charges such as hijacking and destroying the prison bus, stealing weapons and beating the guard along with dealing even more porn while in prison! All but the last charge was false but they can't prove that and these charges would add up to be a life sentence! To say these creeps were trapped like rats would be an understatement and soon after the police raided the house dragging the trio away! So that first case was such a success and that's where we learned that the other three of the old 'revenge squad' were involved. They are Go-Eun the tech whiz along with the two mechanics Choi and Park, they're above in the third and second to last screenshots. In the bottom screenshot is the team's leader Jang and as you can see he was talking to none other than.... the ex-prosecutor Kang Ha-Na! She was such an important part of the first season but isn't in this one but had hired Jang to bring down the trio of porn criminals and any corrupt staff at the prosecutor's office. There was a hefty reward too for Jang and his mates as Kang said to keep all of the group's income from their sales! So everything worked out perfectly and now it's time to move on the main case which continues on into the next recap.

 Before the first case of season two began there were a few minutes after that case above was done showing what the 'revenge squad' members had been doing the previous two years. As you can see above the mechanic Park went to work at the Korea Aerospace Lab, bit funny how during that scene he blurted out how much he enjoyed souping up taxis!!!! The head mechanic Choi was back to being a researcher for the car industry while the tech whiz Go-Eun passed the civil service exam. She's working for the Seoul PD in their Information Management unit so all are doing well leading a regular life. However all miss working with Jang and Do-Gi so much, the money they're making may be better but it's impossible to replace the intensity of their previous job. Jang had told all to stay away forever and he himself had been brought in for questioning about the revenge cases though all charges were dropped. However most of his staff at Rainbow Taxi had quit and Jang was stuck doing most things such as being the mechanic, accountant, dispatcher, etc. While he told the other three to stay away Jang did see Do-Gi on occasion and he too would like to resume that revenge work.

 Think so didn't Jang who began to secretly leave decals and flyers around Seoul that if you need help with cases the police can't solve to contact the Deluxe Taxi Service, that screenshot is above. It appeared Jang was going to work solo but then again perhaps he had it planned out to begin working with Do-Gi again, for now am unsure about that. Soon after the first revenge seeker for season two got in touch with Jang, it's the man in the bottom two screenshots above. His name is Lee Hyeon-Jo who is about fifty in age, twenty years ago his wife died and since then has been raising his son alone. Whose name is Lee Dong-Jae and is 25 in age, Lee had supported him by operating a fried chicken shop. Things had been going well until two years ago but now business has dropped and Lee had trouble paying the rent. He solved that by getting money from a loan shark but of course that man also wanted his money and Lee constantly struggled to repay his loans. Dong-Jae had served his two year stint in the military and had been going to college the past two years. He was aware of his father's money troubles and wanted to help out so badly but what could he do? One day Dong-Jae told his father that he had been doing so well in school that he won a two year scholarship to an American University and would soon be leaving Korea. **** This story along with the screenshots of it was being told by the father Lee to Do-Gi while he was driving the man along the streets of Seoul in his Deluxe Taxi.

 The father Lee believed his son's story 100% and why wouldn't he? Lee saw Dong-Jae off at the airport and it is true the son did get on a plane but not to America! Dong-Jae never did tell his father what college he was going to nor the city but did promise to call or write every other day for two years. Which he did but after a few months those stopped and naturally Lee was frantic with worry about his son. Lee asked all of his Dong-Jae's friends about the college but none knew about it though one friend did say he heard a rumor that Dong-Jae may have gone overseas to work. Which was proven to be correct for Lee's loan shark had said his son had sent all of the money for his loans and Lee was 100% paid up! Lee began investigating even further and by now had closed his fried chicken shop to search for his son. The hunt led to a fictional city in Vietnam named Cotaya where he tried to find a company named Cheongeum  Dong-Jae was supposedly working for. Lee travelled to Vietnam but there was no company at that address nor had any residents heard of it. Upon returning to Korea Lee began to hand out flyers with a photo of his son but that proved to be fruitless. Lee even went to the police who were of no help for if Dong-Jae was in Vietnam that was out of their jurisdiction. Lee was so distraught he even stood on a bridge ready to jump to his death and it's when he noticed Jang's flyer for those seeking revenge.

 That's what made Lee contact Jang who in turn had Do-Gi feel out the man and hear his story, upon hearing it Do-Gi said the 'revenge squad' needs to be back in business! But for now it will just be the two of them and the tech skills of Go-Eun were sorely missed. Lee did give the duo some key info such as a suicide letter that Dong-Jae presumably wrote which was in his handwriting. But as Do-Gi says above he was probably forced to write it and did notice some strange characters at the bottom of the letter. Dong-Jae was in the Operations Unit while in the military and what Do-Gi saw appeared to be the Morse Code. Which it was and as you can see in a screenshot above Dong-Jae's message was.... Save Me! More digging revealed that the company's name was Cheongeum who had a Korean office but that was just a front as that empty building Do-Gi was looking at above was supposed to be their HQ. However there has to be a Korean office for they do advertise jobs at a website and were accepting resumes. With really no alternatives Do-Gi submitted one that was close to the resume that Dong-Jae had turned in, if that was accepted so shouldn't the one from Do-Gi. At this time there was no definite plan for Jang and Do-Gi, they waited for a response from Cheongeum and would go from there.

 There was a quick response and the following day Do-Gi will be leaving for Vietnam and this could turn out to be the most dangerous case he's been involved with. Said Dangerous for Do-Gi has no idea what could have happened with the missing Dong-Jae plus had no clue what this Cheongeum company does and also it's the first time a case has brought him outside of Korea. So he's in uncharted waters plus it's just his boss Jang who will be helping him via a transmitter, this is where Go-Eun was really missed. Meanwhile the ex-mechanic Park has learned he's going to be transferred to Russia(!?) for five years, he told his close mate Cho that who suggested they pay their old leader Jang a final visit before his departure. At Jang's residence they didn't find him yet discovered that flyer about the missing Lee Dong-Jae, has Jang restarted the 'revenge squad'? Park and Choi did pay a visit to the underground HQ of the team where it looked like nothing was going on as far as cases went for the souped up Deluxe Tax was still there. Of course it was as Do-Gi at this time was landing in Vietnam and couldn't bring the taxi. The pair did eventually find Jang who once again told them to leave his place and never come back(!) though have a feeling Jang was pleased to see them and may be contacting them soon.

After that brief visit the duo got in touch with Go-Eun who had also seen the flyer for Dong-Jae at the police station. She was ordered to stay away from cases like that but her curiosity got the better of her and Go-Eun did find out Dong-Jae had left Korea ten months ago but had never returned, None of the trio are on the case yet but they certainly will be in the next episode. In Vietnam Do-Gi, along with two other men from Korea, met a man named Oh who showed them around. It was all a ploy to get the trio comfortable for soon they had hoods thrown over their heads and arrived at an unknown location. By now there's only a few minutes to go in this episode and Do-Gi was shocked at what he was witnessing. There were many others at this 'prison' who were being forced to create rigged gambling games for this gang of hoodlums who were all from Korea. If these prisoners couldn't successfully create anything profitable for the Cheongeum company they were starved and tortured, what had Do-Gi gotten himself into? Back in Korea his boss Jang had no clue what was going on as Do-Gi had to remove his fake glasses which contained a mini camera and listening device. Some of what took place is right above and also the last few screenshots below. So when this first episode ended Do-Gi, the two new recruits, Dong-Jae and many others were being held as captives at this unknown location and things looked mighty dire! But knowing Do-Gi something will pan out and an intense ending to this first show, the next post has the recap for episode two which I haven't viewed yet.