"Taxi Driver" Korean drama season two: Episode six 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: 14.4%

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 Eun-Go'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. At the end of the second show he, Park and Go-Eun all quit their new jobs to return to Jang's 'revenge squad'.

 

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.

Shin Jae-Ha as On Ha-Jun/Kim Don-Woo.... New driver for Rainbow Taxi who we first met in the third episode. There are two names for him as On is the alias he's using while working as a driver. Don't know much about him yet so will be editing this bio info but it appears he's a mole working for the below man who we haven't seen much of yet. In episode six it was confirmed that On is some sort of agent and is targeting Jang's squad.... but why?!

 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. **** Here we are up to the sixth episode and haven't seen him since the first show.

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

Ahn Chae-Heum as Hwang Seo-Yeon.... Eight year old girl who is below and had been wandering the streets when found by Do-Gi and his mates. Seo-Yeon's life was a mystery until the next show save that she was looking for her younger sister  So-Mang. It was discovered her and many other children were being held captive by the man below. The children had been taken from their mothers shortly after birth and were being used to appear they lived with families who Kang sold houses to. If it sounds confusing the recaps should make the story clear.

Kim Do-Yoon as Kang Pil-Seung.... This man is one ultra conceited creep and that's him below. Kang is the president of a company called Feeling Consultants who help low income childless families get houses or condos. Sounds nice but in reality in the end the married couples are scammed and lose everything they had, the house and all the money they had paid! Much more about this lowlife in the recaps, it was so nice seeing justice meted out to him!

Jeong Young-Gi as Park Joon-Min.... The lead manager for Feeling Consulting, when he screws up which is often Kang's henchman is there to give him a licking! That's Park on the right below, with him is his assistant Im.

Previous recaps

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

 A highlight video featuring the new driver On Ha-Jun who we didn't see in this episode until there were just a few minutes left. However his scene which is in this video is so important and it could change many things about this drama, it is subbed in English.

 

 

 Much better episode this time around and it was probably the best show to date.. The humor level dropped to almost zero in this show which helped immensely plus we got to see Do-Gi in action teaching the bad guys a lesson! Which happened a few times and that bodes well for the rest of the series so it appears will be recapping all sixteen episodes. These posts aren't nearly as popular as others so thanks if you've been reading them and you may have noticed something. Which is that I haven't been zipping through them and am still having those issues with my health though it's been getting better. The pace will begin to pick up a bit and hopefully can complete this by the end of October.

 Not sure what the next series will be, do have a few possibilities. One is a dramas that just wrapped up which is called "My Lovely Liar" and don't be fooled by the title as it is a very serious show. For now that appears to be my next Korean drama but things could change over the next month. On to this recap and sure you've read the above post. As mentioned this was such a better show as it got back to the things that made season one so terrific such as the intensity level being high and also Do-Gi meting out justice to many, somehow his fighting skills have improved. There was one lighthearted scene which is how the previous episode ended and continued on into this show which was of Do-Gi and Go-Eun acting as a.... married couple!

 The main culprit in this story is the man in glasses above whose name is Kang Pil-Seung. He's the president of the Feeling Consulting company which helps poorer newly married couples obtain houses or expensive apartments but of course there's a huge catch to that. Also above is the eight year old girl Seo-Yeon who Do-Gi and his mates had found wandering the streets. She and possibly other young children are somehow connected to Kang's company but coming into this show Jang's 'revenge squad' hadn't found what the link was. So to get closer to this creep Do-Gi and Go-Eun pretended to be a married couple to get a place to live and also discover what Kang's illegal activities have been. It was fairly obvious to Kang the pair weren't married and was about to tell them to go their merry way. However Do-Gi said if the only way to get a place was to be married he and Go-Eun would, until then couldn't Kang get the ball rolling getting them a ritzy apartment? When Kang smells he has a couple of suckers he'll do anything to dupe them and take their money, we learn how later on how in the recap.

 So Kang showed the 'lovers' an extremely elegant apartment which Go-Eun fell in love with, now it's back to the Feeling Consulting office to sign the contract. During the meeting Kang confused the pair as he told Do-Gi didn't he know that Go-Eun was now pregnant?! That screenshot is above and the two were at a loss on what Kang meant but still signed the lease/contract. Back at the hidden HQ of Rainbow Taxi Do-Gi and Go-Eun told their team all about Kang's activities and the team was still in the dark about what his crimes were. Especially the part of Go-Eun being 'pregnant' and then is when we started to learn more about Seo-Yeon's past. It was from a flashback and she had hadn't told the others much about her past quite yet. Her and about ten other children between the ages of five to eight were being held captive in a very small and rundown shack. That's Kang in the bottom screenshot above and he was using these children terribly, many times they would be beaten and just given scraps of food to survive on. In just a bit we will learn more about how/why Kang had been using these children and it was just a fluke that Seo-Yeon was able to escape which will eventually lead to Kang's demise! Below is the man who watches over the children and calls the set up Dream Butterfly where nightmare may be the better word. Below that is Jang telling Do-Gi to do whatever Kang suggests for now as it may be the only way to find out where the children are being held captive.

 The following day Kang ordered Do-Gi and Go-Eun to visit the Naram Women's Hospital that night, it was closed but he somehow has keys to the place. This is a key development as we learn what cruel activities Kang and his henchmen have doing for many years. In that bottom screenshot is an unnamed woman who was so important in this scene, will refer to her as Kim. While Kang was telling Do-Gi and Go-Eun that they soon will become parents the pair noticed Kang's goons dragging Kim into the hospital and going down to the delivery room. It was a bit obvious to Do-Gi and Go-Eun what was going to happen, once the woman Kim gave birth Kang was going to take the baby and give it to them! There was no doctor present so don't think Kim was quite ready to give birth but Kang had to make sure Do-Gi and Go-Eun would go through with everything and sign the birth registry! Kang then left the room and what Do-Gi knew would happen repulsed him to no end! He took a stroll down to the delivery room and proceeded to give one of the thugs a well deserved beating, Do-Gi's first fight in three shows but not his last for this episode!

 During that skirmish Kim was able to flee from the hospital but another goon was soon on her tail, she was walking while the goon named Im was in a car. Im did have ideas about running Kim down but held back as her baby would be worth a lot of money. Soon arriving on the scene in his new souped up Deluxe Taxi was Do-Gi which was an exciting scene. He managed to corner Im via some nifty maneuvers and Im was quickly Do-Gi's second victim in less than ten minutes! That's Im above lying on the top of his car and justice is now slowly being meted out, Do-Gi along with Go-Eun were able to scoop up the hurt Kim from the road. She related some of her story to the pair saying she had gotten into debt with Kang and giving him the newborn baby would clear those debts away. Kim  had second thoughts and didn't want to give her baby up but Kang wouldn't take NO for an answer. Kim was eventually brought to an unwed mother's hospital and all now seems well with her, we didn't see or hear about Kim again. So one potential victim of Kang's was saved but he must be using many other woman, what ever happened to their newborn babies?

 We're over halfway through this episode and what an exciting finale. Kang owns over thirty properties, they don't include the ones he's sold to poorer newly married couples. In at least one of those properties Kang must be holding the children captive, Seo-Yeon had no clue where it might be. But Do-Gi had an inkling and figured it must be the worst/lowest valued of the properties so quickly visited one as time was of the essence. This building at one time had been a photography shop but was now closed for business. But not entirely closed as Do-Gi could tell the place was still being used as a studio and what was discovered shocked him to no end! There were many photos and portraits of little children with the married couples Kang has been selling houses and condos to. Do-Gi found four of these 'family portraits' that featured Seo-Yeon with four different couples! That make him overly furious and you don't want Do-Gi as an enemy!!!! When he goes on an assignment he has a radio transmitter in his ear, sometimes also a small camera but not on this occasion. Do-Gi reported back to Go-Eun about his discovery and she asked him at the time a thought I was wondering.... how is Kang making money from these couples and where do the children come in? That will be answered in the next paragraph and while Do-Gi did find one of Kang's buildings where was he and his cohorts hiding the children? 

 The next morning Do-Gi made a return trip the shuttered photography studio hiding in the back. Soon a trio of Kang's men showed up with a little girl, there was also a recently married couple. He observed what took place as the couple took photos with the little girl and would pretend to be her parents. Do-Gi had enough info as he was taping this scene and rushed into action. He threw those fake parents out and gave these creeps one severe whipping. Among the trio was the man who ran the sham orphanage and Do-Gi was able to get the address from the creep, that will be his next destination but not for many more hours and he did save that little girl. **** Will explain Kang's way of scamming people though it didn't go into a lot of detail in the show. In Korea a newly married couple who are expecting a child can get many benefits, tax credits and other freebies from the governments and organizations. So these new couples would sign a fake birth certificate for woman who 'abandoned' their baby, such as what almost happened to the woman Kim. But even if a couple has an older child such as Seo-Yeon they also can qualify for a lot of benefits, the couples were so happy to own a home or apartment they were more than willing to hand those benefits over to Kang. The children never lived with these 'parents' but photos were taken in case the authorities ever investigated. One final thing was that the contract terms always favored Kang who knew the couples would end up defaulting on the loans to him. So in the end run these people lost their homes and all of the money they had paid to Kang, over the years that would add up to be quite a sum. None could report him to the police for after all they too were involved in claiming these children were their own and would also go to prison.... whew.....

 Finally we've hit the last segment, this has been the longest recap to date and that's because so much took place. It's the fatal night for Kang as Do-Gi has arrived at the 'fake orphanage' and was able to get all of the children outside safely. But arriving on the scene was Kang who heard what happened at his photo studio. Him and his henchmen quickly bolted the doors, Kang spread gasoline all around the building and lit it on fire! Of course Do-Gi should have been able to escape safely but he heard something from upstairs, investigating he found a little girl and the fire was spreading rapidly. At that moment Do-Gi received a call from Go-Eun who was heading to the building with the mechanics Choi and Park so the trio will be able to save their fiend. 'Not so fast' exclaimed Do-Gi, forget about me as I can handle this situation, follow Kang's van as the other little children are in it! As you can see in a few screenshots above it takes more than a raging fire to stop Do-Gi who while holding the girl jumped from the second floor and didn't get a scratch on him! By now the fire department had arrived and took the girl away who was safe and sound. Now there's one target left for Do-Gi who of course was Kang, his mates called saying they had trailed him and his goons to the Feeling Consulting building's underground garage. 

While Do-Gi dashed upstairs to the main office Go-Eun and the two mechanics searched frantically for the children with no success. But soon they were able to find the seven or so youngsters in the back of Kang's huge van, some had even been hidden in large suitcases! Upstairs at the office the two thugs were no match for the furious Do-Gi and don't think I've ever seen him so irate. Soon left was just the creepy leader Kang who pleaded for mercy and asked Do-Gi wouldn't he have taken advantage of the children too? Which of course was not true and Kang did get a beating but it could have been worse, the next thing we knew it was the next day at a massive Seoul city dump. There lay Kang tied up and buried in some trash, there's two screenshots of that above. Kang was still pleading for mercy but would get zero from Do-Gi who told the goon welcome to your new home(!) for this is where he was going to be left! Do-Gi then used a tractor to pour more trash on Kang and left the scene, wonder if Kang ever escaped and if not did he die there? That ended the case and all of the children were safe, that includes Seo-Yeon who ended up being adopted by a nice couple and Jang was now her new 'grandfather'. 

 

 There's only two minutes to go in the show and up until now we hadn't seen the new Rainbow Taxi driver On. In these last two minutes he left the company to drive his taxi but instead of picking up passengers he flew right by them! On soon arrived at a very large mansion and told one of his men there to drive the taxi for him that day! We then saw On enter the mansion, go upstairs to an office and change into an ritzy suit. On then began looking at a wall and on it he had put photos and other information about the 'revenge squad'. So who is this 'mole' On and is he seeking revenge on Jang's team? If so why and this should end up being a very interesting storyline, could On have had something to do with the corrupt police captain Kim's death? Whew, this recap is finally done and couldn't help making it a bit longer as so much happened and it was the best of season two's six episodes to date.