"Taxi Driver" Korean drama season two: Episode ten 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: 17.7%

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

**** Towards the end of the sixth episode there was a conspiracy storyline added in involving the new driver On. He's not what he appears to be and On's aim is to bring down Jang's team and the story is getting more intense as we go along.

 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 fifth story which lasts for two episodes, will update/change the names for every story and most last for two episodes.

Jung Ki-Seob as Han Jae-Deok.... Fifth requestor of season two and it took Jang's team a long time to decide on whether to take this revenge case. They did as they came to believe Han's story of the below surgeon messing up his daughter's operation which has left her in a coma. Han brought the case to court but lost, the last few months he's been standing in front of the Jeil Chakhan Hospital letting the world know how bad of a surgeon Ahn is.

Kang Seol as Han Su-Ryeon.... The above man's teenage daughter and we didn't see much of her for she's lying in a coma! That's because of a simple operation that took place a year ago at Jeil Chakhan Hospital and Su-Ryeon should never have been in this condition.

Lee Hang-Na as Ahn Young-Sook.... The director of Jeil Chakhan Hospital and also their most most famous surgeon. Ahn is immensely respected and serves on so many committees, does volunteer work, etc. and it seems as though it'll be impossible to bring justice to her. However it appears Ahn may be an alcoholic or have some other condition as her hands do shake which has only been noticed by Do-Gi.

Kim Youg-Jin as Manager Kim.... Close friend to the above woman and appears to be her assistant when it comes to running the hospital.

 Kim Jae-Min as Gong Soo-Ho.... We only saw him in the final seconds of episode nine so didn't add him in until now. Gong is a sales manager at Meditopia that sells health supplies and equipment to hospitals. He got scammed into becoming the surgeon that would take over for Ahn during surgeries though Gong had no medical experience! Ahn's hospital was buying many supplies from Meditopia and unless Gong cooperated Ahn would take her business somewhere else!

Previous recaps

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

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

 Here's an interesting scene from this episode which is subbed in English. It's from near the end of this show when.... Do-Gi's taxi explodes!

  
 

 

 The pace has picked up slightly and should finish the entire series by the end of the month. However the next set of recaps may be a bit late in coming and there's a good reason for that. The next story lasts for four episodes and don't want there to be a huge gap between the pair of recaps as I always have two at a time. Will view the next two shows and write those posts up but won't publish them. Then will watch the next two episodes and write those up, right after will publish the those first two recaps. Then will wait two days and have the other pair of recaps for the story as it would still be fresh in your mind, hope that's somewhat clear.

 Recommend watching that video above which was from the last few minutes of this episode. What took place was totally unexpected and sure episode eleven will finish the scene off, of course nothing can happen to the main hero Do-Gi. Sure you've read the above recap which was part one to this story about a hospital doing some shady operations and did we learn so much about the hospital's director Ahn in this show. Those two screenshots above are how the previous episode ended with Do-Gi lying in the OR and about to be operated on! But why(?) as Do-Gi's only injury had been a whiplash and along with his boss Jang had set it up so Do-Gi would be admitted to the Jeil Chakhan Hospital. The Rainbow Taxi tech whiz Go-Eun is above and she's watching the action from the mechanic's van where she has such an elaborate computer set up. She had installed a mini camera in Do-Gi's glasses and couldn't believe they were about to operate on him! Of course there's more going on which I'll get to and let's get to part two of this story.

 Do-Gi's glasses were removed as you can see in the top screenshot, I had been wondering why was he still wearing them? They were laid on a table which gave a perfect view of Do-Gi lying on the operating table which was being viewed by Go-Eun. The surgeon would be the hospital's famed director Ahn but in an odd twist just before the surgery began another doctor walked in and took her place? That ended the previous show and we later learned this man was only a medical salesman with the name of Gong. To the other staff in the OR something didn't seem right and they may have saved Do-Gi's life. Just as Gong was about to begin the operation another doctor said to stop and as it turned out they had the wrong patient!!!! A man named Park was supposed to be operated on and what Do-Gi had done was to switch that patients file with his own as he needed to see the OR with his own eyes.. So the operation was scrubbed and Do-Gi will be staying at the Jeil Chakhan Hospital for a while against the wishes of their famed surgeon and director Ahn Young-Sook. The OR was different than what the floor plans had shown, Go-Eun discovered that and what was different was there was an extra door and room added on so a fake surgeon such as Gong could enter and do a surgery!

 That's Gong in the middle screenshot talking on the phone. He's the chief salesman for Meditopia Medical Supplies and had been roped in by Ahn to do surgeries a year or so before. Gong is both innocent and guilty in this sham, guilty for he's the one who does most operations but innocent for he's being forced to by Ahn as she's his company's biggest buyer of medical supplies. Back at the 'revenge squad' HQ located beneath Rainbow Taxi Go-Eun has discovered some key details about this woman named Ahn and what took her so long? Four years ago Ahn had been caught doing the same thing which was having others do her operations. Her penalty was light as she had to pay a fine and had her license suspended. But at the time her first name was Ji-Eun, after being charged with the crimes Ahn changed her first name to Young-Sook. No one at the health department noticed the change when she reapplied for a medical license and Ahn has been running the Jeil Chakhan Hospital since then, not quite four years. Though we didn't see much of them this whole revenge case revolves around a seventeen year old girl named Su-Ryeon. She had been operated on a year ago and the surgery went wrong as the girl has been in a coma since them. Her father Han got nowhere with the police or hospital so in desperation asked Jang's team for help which they eventually agreed to. A little more digging into Han's case has revealed so many shady happenings at the hospital.

 Gong was not the first person to be coerced into taking Ahn's place during surgeries and the question to that is why as she truly was an excellent doctor. Do-Gi has the answer to that right above as Ahn has a drinking problem and only her assistant Kim was aware of that, now of course Gong does too. That father Han also had an inkling for when he sued Ahn for malpractice he swore in court Ahn had alcohol on her breath after the operation to his daughter Su-Ryeon was finished. Which was true however it was Gong that did the surgery and messed up badly. Do-Gi had discovered Ahn had some sort pf problems with her hands as they shook when he once gave her a ride in he taxi, now he knows the true reason for that. Above you can also see the very conniving mole On at the hospital and we didn't see much of him until the end. On said he was visiting a friend but that didn't appear to be the case and was he investigating Do-Gi's activities? In the first screenshot above you can see Ahn asking Gong to grab a couple of bottles of liquor to go, at the time they were at a club. She has such a supply at the hospital of liquor which was unknown to all except for Gong.

 Business is booming for Ahn at the Jeil Chakhan Hospital, she showed Gong her schedule and on the average there must be five surgeries a day planned for the next month. While she and Gong were at the bar the pair had been videotaped and that was courtesy of Go-Eun. Of course you wonder how it happened and the mechanic Choi acted as their bartender and set everything up, we didn't see much of him or the other mechanic Park in this episode. What was discovered is that Ahn had two surgeries planned that night for Gong and you could tell he's getting so fed up with this whole scam. Ahn's assistant Kim was supposed to pick up Gong at his office but the mechanics put a dent in that plan by damaging his new car and in his Deluxe Taxi Do-Gi picked up the fake surgeon. During the ride Do-Gi startled Gong by telling him he knew the entire story of what was going on with Ahn and how he was doing these surgeries. Really thought Do-Gi was going to give this man a whipping but that didn't take place, Do-Gi really only uses violence when forced to. Later on we learned Do-Gi dropped him off at a police station where Gong confessed to all of his and Ahn's crimes. Do-Gi is still a patient at the hospital but can easily slip in and out. When he returned after dropping Gong off Do-Gi made such an observant observation, why were there no visitors waiting to see any patients? Another question he had was why were there no family outside the OR when the operations were taking place?

 Go-Eun began to do a lot of investigating about Do-Gi's questions and she ended up hitting the jackpot! Ahn is so respected in the community for all she's done to help others, especially senior citizens. And that's the jackpot Go-Eun hit as she discovered the vast majority of surgeries done at the Jeil Chakhan Hospital are for the elderly. But there's more than that as Ahn has targeted those who have no family and whose condition really isn't all that severe. The elderly have whatever version of Medicare Korea has and there's never any questions asked when an elderly person has an operation and then recovers. These patients rarely if ever needed surgery but they didn't know that, so usually Gong wasn't really doing any kind of major medical work and was mainly there for show.... when he did try to do actual medical work the end result would be a tragedy such as what happened to Su-Ryeon. So that's a nice operation Ahn has set up and she's never been questioned, leave it to Go-Eun to get to the bottom of this massive scam. When Gong didn't show up for those evening's surgeries Ahn told her assistant to fire the man and to cut off all trading with his company. She then tried recruiting another man from a medical company but he never had the chance to begin as a 'doctor', once again Ahn said to learn how to operate via the internet!

 That middle screenshot above is kind of cool with the four members of the 'revenge squad', Do-Gi was also at the hospital but was soon about to check out. There had been another surgery done that morning and not sure if Ahn was the one who did it. If so the procedure didn't go well as this elderly man was going to die soon, he may have anyways, and Ahn ordered his medical records to be doctored for when he died, possibly that day. Jang's team knew what was in the cards and as you can see above Jang was wheeling out this patient and bringing him to a regular hospital. Think I forgot to mention that the girl Su-Ryeon had been transferred to another hospital but is still in a coma. So except for what happened with Gong not much has been done to Ahn but her world will soon come tumbling down.... within hours! Later that same day she attended an event to promote her new book where of course she made herself to look like the second coming of Mother Teresa! But this is where Ahn's world began to crumble rapidly, she also had a live TV interview at the event. During it one of the hosts had a major announcement which is that Ahn will be donating all of the hospital profits to a charity for the elderly! The crowd naturally cheered at her goodwill but Ahn was totally floored by that announcement, how could such a thing happen? The money, which had already been donated unknown to Ahn, would be going to Jang's Blue Bird organization which helps victims of crime and now also the elderly!

 Ahn called her office demanding to know what happened, she didn't sign any forms so where did her signature come from? That was courtesy of the mechanic Park, during that book event he got Ahn's autograph and sent a snapshot of it to Go-Eun. Who immediately was able to duplicate it and enter that signature on the form to give the Blue Bird organization all of her hospital's profits, too late for Ahn to do anything about that! Things kept spiraling down for Ahn as there were a couple of anonymous calls to the health department about her Jeil Chakhan Hospital and the shady happenings there. Such as that syringes were being used over and over, medications were out of date, blah blah plus to top it off her ex-surgeon Gong had confessed everything to the police. So Ahn was dragged away to the police station and her name was the #1 story for all of the news sites. But Ahn was quickly discharged though during her absence the hospital was closed and all of the patients were transferred. But as Ahn mumbled to herself above this is just a bump in the road for her, she'll once again change her name and come back stronger than ever! Not when your foe is Do-Gi who was waiting at the hospital for Ahn and what kind of punishment was he about to mete out? That's still a question as Do-Gi tied Ahn to an operating table and gave her a mini speech on right and wrong. 

 Ahn had the impression Do-Gi would kill her but as irate as he can get he's not that kind of man. So what the final outcome for Ahn was is still a mystery she was left tied to the operating table and will we be hearing her outcome in the future? During the time at a different hospital Han's teenage daughter Su-Ryeon awoke after being in a coma for a year so there was a bit of happiness. More happiness as Jang is using those hospital profits to help the elderly that Ahn has been mistreating, also to pay for Han's revenge case. Jang and his team don't care about the monetary rewards all that much, they want to make sure the victims see justice against those that wronged them. Down to the final few minutes, while that was going on the new driver On was scoping out Do-Gi's apartment, On lives right below him. Nothing new was found there but perhaps it won't matter as On had his own form of punishment planned. During the day On had notified his Geumsa partner Park who is a corrupt superintendent with the Seoul police. Geumsa is a criminal organization that finances many illegal activities and Jang's team has been a thorn in their side. On had ordered Park to get rid of Do-Gi once and for all, what a shocking ending it was. Seems Park's henchmen had rigged Do-Gi's Deluxe Taxi while he was in the hospital and I was very surprised there were no warning signals to let Do-Gi know what had happened. So heading home from the hospital Go-Eun in the van behind Do-Gi knew something was wrong with his taxi and so soon didn't Do-Gi. He veered off the highway without saying a word to his mates. In close pursuit was Go-Eun's van driven by the mechanics and what they witnessed were the top screenshots below that ended the show. In front of their eyes Do-Gi's taxi exploded(!) and all were powerless to do anything. That scene ended this episode and positive the next show will continue on from it. There's no way Do-Gi would be killed and I wouldn't be surprised if he had somehow jumped out of his taxi before it exploded. This was one of the most intense episodes of this second season and as mentioned in the intro the next story will be lasting for four episodes..