"Taxi Driver" Korean drama season two: Episode eight 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: 16.0%

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. In episode six it was confirmed that On is some sort of agent and is targeting Jang's squad.... but why?! That we discovered in the seventh episode as On is a director of the underground Geumsa organization and Jang's team have thwarted his criminal activities.

 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. Finally saw him in episode seven and is working with On.

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

Kim Eun-Bi as Lee Jin-Hee.... Fourth requestor of season two. Her older sister is the next character and though their parents died at an early age the pair had been living well until two years ago. That's when Jin-Hee graduated from college with a business degree and obtained a well paying job. But shortly after her sister Jin-Seon was diagnosed with leukemia and eventually joined a church cult. Jin-Hee has had no success in contacting Jin-Seon and her only solution was to call Jang's 'revenge squad'.

Jung Ji-Woo as Lee Jin-Seon.... Jin-Hee's older sister who has joined the cult religious group Sunbaek Church after her leukemia treatments weren't working. But the medicine was keeping her condition stable, now with no medicine Jin-Seon may die at the church!

Ahn Sung-Woo as Ok Ju-Man.... Pastor of the scam cult religious group Sunbaek Church. He does have charisma preaching from the pulpit and must have over a hundred followers who live at the compound. But of course all are being duped for as much money as Ju-Man can scam off them, he's also very adept at slight of hand tricks. He has a girlfriend who is also his assistant and her name is Seo Ji-Soon.

Previous recaps

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

Episode five .... Episode six

 Of course it's Do-Gi who is known for his unbearable fighting skills. But in this episode the tech whiz Go-Eun showed she's someone you don't want to mess around with and the video is of her in this episode teaching a pair of loan sharks a lesson!

 

 

 Do-Gi has become such a master at changing his appearance, in this story he became the Monk Kim! Above him is a woman named Jin-Seon and this story revolved around her or at least her sister Jin-Hee got the ball rolling. Three years ago Jin-Seon had been diagnosed with leukemia and while medications were keeping her condition stable she wasn't improving as she still had leukemia. Jin-Seon eventually got roped into a cult religious group called Sunbaek Church led by a sham pastor Ok Ju-Man. The younger sister hired Jang's 'revenge squad' to save Jin-Seon which of course will happen. But more importantly Jang wants to bring this cult down and return the massive riches these followers had been duped into giving Ju-Man. Of course that's all in the above recap but like to have a quick intro on where the story stands. 

 After two very intense episodes this one retuned to a bit of lightheartedness and to an extent goofiness though the story was very serious. We didn't see the new driver On until the final three minutes, he's actually a high ranking official for the criminal Geusam organization and his mission is to find out more about Jang's team. That's because they've thwarted three of Geusam's illegal activities and this will be one interesting storyline until the very end of the series. One minor beef though is becoming a bit major is how Jang and his team get all of these traps/tricks/etc. set up. We never see them installing cameras, fiddle with cars and so many other things which have to take a lot of time. Things are done at the snap of a finger and does make you(me) shake your head at times.

 So when the previous episode ended the sham pastor Ok Ju-Man was stranded in the middle of a forest. His car had conked out and that had to be done by the Rainbow Taxi mechanics Choi and Park. And thanks also went to the tech whiz Go-Eun who is above in four screenshots as Ju-Man had no service on his phone. But he did stumble upon the monk.... Do-Gi(!) who he met earlier at a restaurant. Do-Gi has warned Ju-Man that unless he changes his ways bad misfortune will soon descend upon him, perhaps even death! Ju-Man didn't believe any of that crap from some second rate monk but will soon be changing his mind about Do-Gi. Who somehow waved his arms and said for now the evil spirits had disappeared, maybe they did as Ju-Man's car and phone began to work. But bad incidents began to pile up for Ju-Man as shortly after leaving the forest his car began to have a mind of its own and almost crashed! Plus one of his followers at Sunbaek Church had died for this older man failed to get the medical attention he needed. Ju-Man was brought to the police station but once again couldn't be charged with a crime to the fury of this man's family. To top it off this believer of Ju-Man's had changed his will and left his vast estate to him and the church!!!!

 So many bad yet minor incidents kept occurring and eventually Ju-Man checked himself a hospital. There the doctor said there was nothing physically wrong with him, perhaps stress or something along those lines was the key reason Ju-Man had a hard time controlling his body such as when he almost crashed his car. Later on we saw that this conversation with the doctor was filmed and how could that have happened???? In the third to last screenshot Ju-Man paid a visit to Do-Gi's temple, the man in the middle is the mechanic Choi who acted as his assistant. Ju-Man is slightly starting to believe Do-Gi's words of impending doom and wants help though his next free appointment won't be until early 2026! Ju-Man left in a huff but will soon be consulting with Do-Gi and what a way he set his appointment up! This whole case began because of the woman in the second to last screenshot. Her name is Jin-Hee and had hired Jang's 'revenge squad' to get her sister back from Ju-Man's Sunbaek Church. Before she went to live there the sister Jin-Seon had borrowed a lot of money from loan sharks, they now want their cash and are demanding it from Jin-Hee... NOW! Who didn't have anything but arriving on the scene as a Superhero was none other than Go-Eun. She's probably learned a bit of fighting from Do-Gi, Go-Eun grappled with these two thugs and ended out on top! The video of that is in the intro section to this post.

 Said above that Ju-Man had set up his own immediate appointment with Do-Gi, he had to kidnap him to do that! Ju-Man's henchmen had dragged Do-Gi back to the church and Ju-Man wants answers, has Do-Gi been following him and if so for how long? Plus why have so many odd incidents began to happen in Ju-Man's life after the pair met? Do-Gi had no answers for any questions and he played the role of a Monk to a T! Do-Gi had some words of wisdom for Ju-Man if he wants to remain alive such as forgoing any future riches! To Do-Gi Ju-Man has to be doing some very bad things or else why would the evil spirits have begun to target him? Ju-Man still isn't a true believer in Do-Gi's advice but he is listening to the wisdom a bit closer. In the sixth screenshot above is the mechanic Park who has infiltrated the Sunbaek Church as a new follower. His main mission is to get the very sick Jin-Seon away from there and to a hospital but so far that's been impossible.

 In that screenshot Park had been praying to Ju-Man at the altar, the sham pastor then began to slap Park violently and there was nothing he could do about it as that's part of the 'treatment'. As mentioned in previous recaps Do-Gi has come up with so many key ideas in this second season such as sending Park to the church and himself being a monk. He asked Go-Eun to check on Ju-Man's history and whether there was any info about his mother. Which she of course found at the snap of a finger and though tough Ju-Man was a bit of a 'momma's boy'. At the sermon where Park was slapped around somehow Go-Eun was able to do odd things to Ju-Man in front of his followers such as have green blood pour down on him. Go-Eun's main work area during cases is in the back of the mechanic's van. In a panic Ju-Man fled the hall and dashed back to his office where Do-Gi still was. Upon entering the room the lights went out and Do-Gi appeared as the ghost of Ju-Man's mother! This Spirit gave her 'son' a sheet of paper and quickly disappeared, what was on it? That bottom screenshot above is of Ju-Man discussing it with Do-Gi, there were dates on the paper with the first two showing the birth/death dates of his parents. The other dates listed Ju-Man's birth date and also.... the date he was going to die! That wasn't too far in the future and by now Ju-Man is in such a state of panic, to him the only person that can save him is the monk Do-Gi!

 We're over the halfway point in this episode, quite a bit will happen but it should be somewhat easy to zip through. Do-Gi was against helping out Ju-Man but the sham pastor begged him to do anything as he's now a true believer of his powers. Do-Gi told Ju-Man to give him all of his money(!) and to our shock Ju-Man readily agreed, he even told his followers not to give him any more donations. This cash and jewelry will be used to pay for an exorcism as that's Ju-Man's only hope to beat the evil spirits, that ceremony is right above As mentioned a few times before how did Jang's team get everything set up so quickly and who were these followers of Do-Gi? Guess you could call this ceremony a success as Ju-Man did feel most of these evil spirits had flown the coop. Though it was a bigger success for Do-Gi and his mates as they were able to get most of the money back that Ju-Man had conned and what a haul he had taken in! The best part of this mini exorcism was when Do-Gi slapped Ju-Man around a few times like the sham pastor did to his followers though Do-Gi's slaps were much powerful and it was the only time I can think of when he hit a man in this episode.

 Ji-Soon is Ju-Man's main assistant at Sunbaek Church and also his girlfriend. She hasn't had much screen time so you haven't heard her name mentioned that often. She was stunned to the Nth degree that Ju-Man would give all of his money and her jewelry to this second rate monk. With Ju-Man seemingly out of the picture Ji-Soon gathered all of the believers for a sermon and proclaimed she's their new 'Mother' and to follow her! That never went far for entering the chapel soon was Ju-Man who felt himself 'cleansed' of spirits and harshly told Ji-Soon he's stull the leader. The two got into quite a scrap and it soon involved the other followers of the cult. It soon turned into a riot as from her van Go-Eun began to show videos on the chapel's screen that she had taped of Ju-Man the past two weeks. Such as that hospital stay, his laughing at his followers at the restaurant where he met Do-Gi and so many more. This crowd finally woke up to the fact they had been duped badly and began to take their frustrations out on Ju-Man and Ji-Soon, that's in the bottom screenshot above. Those who didn't join in the melee began to filter out of the church and one of them was Jin-Seon who by now didn't look as she had long to live. Outside the church waiting were the police and many other family members of these 'follower's who had been contacted by Jang.

 In the second screenshot above was the reunion between the very sick Jin-Seon and her sister who started this whole case, Jin-Hee. Jin-Seon was rushed to the hospital and though her leukemia had gotten much worse she began to recover rapidly. Jang does charge fees for those who request the services of his 'revenge squad' but rarely do these people have to pay. Such as in this case for Jang's team had taken quite a haul from Ju-Man's safe and also sold the church keeping the money! Well, they didn't keep it for themselves as Jang paid the medical bills for all those who had been duped and none of his team ever complains when their leader does that. Ju-Man and Ji-Soon were able to escape from the church, Do-Gi had said to go to a pier that night for safety. When the pair arrived dressed as a worker was Jang who escorted them into a huge storage container. He soon locked the pair in and don't really know what the outcome was, the most logical assumption was that Jang had put this huge container on a ship and the pair were off to some foreign country. Only three minutes to go in this episode and we finally saw the new driver On who is in the bottom four screenshots above.

 He lives in the same apartment building as Do-Gi and there's little doubt it's to keep tabs on his possible #1 enemy! On arrived with coffee and wanted to shoot the breeze for a while, mainly to feel Do-Gi out a bit. For instance On asked him some advice on how to help his younger 'brothers' who had been beaten badly in many recent scraps, they were courtesy of Do-Gi. And Do-Gi knew exactly where On was going with this conversation and how suspicious is he of this new driver? On then went into Do-Gi's apartment to use the bathroom but of course it was to make a quick search of things and Do-Gi knew what would take place. On discovered so much info lying around about previous cases Jang's 'revenge squad' had solved, all of the cases had been financed by On's Geusam organization. As the show ended On was looking at the info and Do-Gi popped onto the scene and asked On did he find what he was looking for? So that ending turned out to be the best scene of the show and hope this storyline with On gets expanded a bit more. Plenty of screenshots below to help you follow the action a bit better and will increase the pace of these recaps, this marks the halfway point of the series.