"Taxi Driver" Korean drama season two: Episode twelve 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: 18.3%

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. In the eleventh episode On handed in his resignation as he thought Do-Gi was dead and he didn't need to continue spying on Jang and his team.

 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. Added in a second pic of Park below as it was revealed in episode twelve he's the main owner of the Black Sun nightclub which is a very shady place. Not a huge role for Park but it's turning into an important one.

 ****Guest stars for the sixth story which is the only one that will last for four episodes. 

Baek Soo-Jang as Kim Yung-Min.... Once a respected reporter for Hanbaek Daily but was fired for taking bribes. These days Kim is mainly a tabloid reporter and is trying to write a story about the Black Sun club which is very shady and secret. Below is Kim who was so irate at Do-Gi from saving him from a beating by the Black Sun guards! Added in a second screenshot form episode twelve, Kim at the time was explaining to Do-Gi about the suicide/murder of his detective friend Choi and became the sixth 'revenge case' requestor for this season. 

Jang In-Sub as Choi Seong-Yun.... We won't be seeing much of him in this story but he is a very key character. About a year before Choi had been investigating the criminal activities at the Black Sun club and had gotten most of his info from the above reporter Kim. The pair were friendly and Choi got too close to the truth as he was killed though it was labeled as a suicide. Kim knew that wasn't the truth and is trying to find out who Choi's murderers were.

Kim Chae-Eun as Windy.... Agent/hostess at the ritzy Black Sun nightclub, an attractive woman but wouldn't trust her with your worst enemy!

Yoo Ji-Yeon as Yang Mi-Kyung.... Is known as Madam Yang and is the CEO for the Black Sun club. What a cruel woman she is and seems to know the ex-driver On very well.

Jeon Jun-Ho as Jang.... Head of security at the Black Sun nightclub. Tough man but the agent/hostess Windy has his sewn around her finger.

Go Geon-Han as Victor.... Popular singing Idol though he is close to thirty in age and is a VIP member of the Black Sun club. He's also an ally of the corrupt superintendent Park and sets him up with some very young females. 

Moon Jae-Won as Yoo Moon-Hyeon.... Black Sun's other main manager and like everyone else who works there is such a cruel person but did take a liking towards Do-Gi.

Below are the two detectives who actually are undercover men for Black Sun and protect the club. They may have also had a hand in the death of their detective mate Choi. The screenshots below them are of the Black Sun nightclub.

 

Previous recaps

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

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

Episode nine .... Episode ten

 You'll read what this video is about in the recap but it was so cool it's better to view it then read about it. Do-Gi had been roped into driving a drugged girl to to a hotel but had been pursued by the reporter Kim, what an exciting scene this was.

 

 

 This is the second recap for this four episode story. Will wait a while before publishing these first two as I will view and write up the posts for the other two shows. Then will begin to publish them and that way there won't be a long gap between the recaps and what you read will still be fresh in your mind. Added in four guest characters for this post and also did some editing to the regular cast, mainly for the corrupt police superintendent Park. The ratings for this series keep getting higher and higher, the 18.3% for this show was the top one to date. These episodes air on back to back nights, the second show always gets much higher ratings.

 The previous episode ended off with Do-Gi being arrested outside of the very upscale yet shady Black Sun nightclub. Do-Gi hadn't done anything wrong but had called the police to report that minors were there drinking. There's a pair of officers who are under the control of Black Sun and made up some trumped up charges to arrest Do-Gi! The names of these two officers are Jang and Jo, while not major characters they may play an important part in this story. Such as did they have anything to to with the death of the detective Choi(?) and will tell you his story in this recap.

 Do-Gi had been left to rot in a police cell though luckily had an unexpected man come and save the day. That's the man in the top three screenshots and you'll be hearing much more about him in this post. The man's name is Kim Yung-Min and had met Do-Gi briefly in the previous episode when Do-Gi had saved him from a beating on the roof of the Black Sun nightclub. Kim wasn't happy about being saved as he had been filming the beating and why would that be? We'll find out later on and at one time Kim was a respected reporter for a newspaper until a scandal ten months ago ruined his career. Since then he's been trying to find out as much as he can about this club which is actually a front for a criminal group and does quite a bit of drug dealing, Kim saw Do-Gi being dragged away and followed him to the police station, There he told the officers if Do-Gi wasn't released immediately he would write a story about it on his personal site which worked as Do-Gi became a free man. Do-Gi is extremely curious about Kim and at first thought he was some sort of wacko trying to blackmail the Black Sun club.

 That could be somewhat true but as we'll learn later on Kim has a more important agenda and will become this season's sixth revenge case requestor. The fifth and sixth screenshots above show the Rainbow Taxi tech whiz Go-Eun watching the action outside of the Black Sun club. Though Do-Gi had been beaten and hauled away she and the two mechanics Choi and Park were told to stay and monitor the club. This place is so ritzy and expensive, for instance to rent a table for a night could set you back well over $1,000 so how can young people or anyone afford to go to a club such as that? Go-Eun witnessed an ambulance pulling up to the entrance and before long two minors were thrown in it. That's a huge problem at the club with minors of very wealthy families going there and they won't be turned away because of their wealth but it may cause problems very soon. Above you can also see two employees of Black Sun, the woman is the popular agent/hostess Windy while the man is Jang who is head of security. They don't like each other at all and Jang had taken some her exclusive reservations away from her, noticed most employees there feel the same way towards everyone else so could that eventually be a factor in the demise of the Black Sun club?

 That's Windy again above, she looks quite good but what a cruel and heartless woman she is.... then again so isn't everyone working at the Black Sun nightclub! On the right in the top screenshot is a very popular Idol singer Victor and he's one of Black Sun's VIP members. On the left is the corrupt police superintendent Park and we learned during thus scene he's the main owner of the club! Of course if you've been reading these posts you know that Park works with the ex-Rainbow Taxi driver On, both are high ranking officials for the Geumsa criminal organization. Not much was said about that group in this episode but they're still seeking revenge against Jang's team, more on On coming up. Though Do-Gi wasn't in the Black Sun club for a long time in the previous episode he had seen enough, he could see there were many illegal activities going on and how could he gain entrance again? The security at Black Sun has a tough group of twenty or so guards and all are top notch but the quality has gone downhill recently as too many minors were allowed in and there were a few other unsavory incidents. So many guards were let go though some mistakenly by Jang and now the process of hiring some new ones has begun.

 And that's how Do-Gi will gain access to the Black Sun club again. He discovered where new guards are from which was a gym and he immediately enrolled as a member. Taking care of hiring new guards was the main manager Yoo who we met in this episode and that's him in the purple suit above. Do-Gi made such an impression on Yoo as at the gym he pummeled two much larger men than himself and was hired by Yoo on the spot. Do-Gi is taking such a chance as everyone presumed he died in a taxi accident at the end of episode ten and I'm surprised he hasn't stayed more hidden. Back at the Black Sun club the head of security Jang recognized Do-Gi from the incident when he reported there were minors in the club, why would he be hired as a guard? Yoo was impressed with Do-Gi's response and told the new hires that even if they had money minors should not be allowed, he stuck up for Do-Gi to the fury of Jang. Can see why Yoo would not want minors in the club as it's so successful and why mess up a goldmine as the club made almost $5.5 million the previous month! Sure that doesn't include the sales of drugs and that's one lucrative business for them.

 Do-Gi's main mission is to find out where the manager's office is but even being a guard doesn't allow him access to most of the club. In that second screenshot above Do-Gi had snuck out to report his findings to Go-Eun and the mechanics though there wasn't much new info learned. The head of security Jang tailed Do-Gi outside and almost caught him talking with his mates but some quick thinking by Do-Gi saved the day. Do-Gi is one unbeatable fighter but in this season is showing that he also is one intelligent and quick witted man. It's Do-Gi's first night as a guard at the Black Sun club and they have some odd rules they need to follow. For instance if there's a fight between customers the guards need to back away unless it involves a VIP guest. The guards are also assigned a number, in Do-Gi's case it was #9. They need to closely watch the bottles of liquor a VIP guest orders and make sure it doesn't get broken, if it does the cost of the bottle has to be paid by the guard! Entering the club was one of the two main managers Madam Yang and she took an instant liking towards Do-Gi. Later on she wanted to be served drinks from him but a senior guard had noticed the way she eyed Do-Gi and switched numbers with Do-Gi, did that make Madam Yang overly irate! Needless to say this guard took a bit of a beating though in the end run switching numbers was a blessing for Do-Gi as it may have saved his life. Do-Gi was assigned to make a 'delivery' at the back entrance, will get to that very shortly.

 That's Madam Yang in the middle screenshot above, guess who is with her and also in the next two screenshots? It's none other than the ex-Rainbow Taxi driver On who as mentioned many times is also a high ranking official of the criminal Geusma organization. On is very known to the managers at Black Sun and seems to know Madam Yang quite well. In a challenge he told her there was no way a pair of guards could touch two bottles of champagne behind him, if they did she could have any wish she desired. It wasn't much of a challenge as these two beefy and tough guards were handled easily by On and did learn something which could be very key. Had never seem On in a fight and figured if he ever went one on one with Do-Gi he would be no natch. However in this mini scene On proved that he is such a fierce fighter and I'm wondering if the series may be ending with a death match duel against Do-Gi?! That delivery Do-Gi had to make was helping two other guards deliver a drugged up woman to a hotel, no doubt someone would be taking advantage of her. Do-Gi had to drive and he was at a loss on what to do, he couldn't let anything bad happen to the woman yet he couldn't reveal his identity quite yet. But a situation arose which saved the day for Do-Gi though at first it didn't seem that way. He noticed a car trailing the one he was driving but for a while didn't say a word to the two other guards. Following two cars back in the mechanic's van was Go-Eun who was able to trace the unknown car's license plate number, it belonged to that reporter Kim who we met in the beginning. That bottom screenshot above shows Do-Gi ramming Kim's car and that actually saved the reporters life!

**** Almost forgot to mention that when On entered the room where Madam Yang was leaving via a stairwell was Do-Gi. On caught a glimpse of his back and could he have had an inkling that his nemesis Do-Gi had risen from his grave!!!!

 Kim was a good driver but not in the league that Do-Gi is. It was an exciting chase scene and when Kim's car was about to be run over by a huge truck Do-Gi rammed Kim's car out of the way, that's in the video near the top. During that collision the two guards had hit their heads and would be out of commission for a while. Kim wasn't hurt badly and told Do-Gi to grab the drugged up girl and they would bring her to a nearby hospital. There the doctors said this unnamed girl had been drugged but weren't allowed to give more info. To the shock of Kim the head nurse had called the local police, arriving on the scene were the two corrupt officers Jang and Jo who secretly work for the Black Sun club. To the amazement of Do-Gi and Kim the girl was arrested for using drugs and hauled away, now even the police can't be depended on! After that Do-Gi and Kim split up but Do-Gi was still so curious about this once respected reporter, how does he know so much about the Black Sun club and the next day Do-Gi paid Kim a visit at his apartment. There's ten minutes to go in this episode, Kim gave so much info and hope not much if any is left out. He had been friends with a detective named Choi at the Jeongsam police station, Kim would give Choi some tips about crimes and then the detective would let Kim have the scoop on reporting the story first. Need to note that also working at this precinct were the two corrupt officers Jang and Jo.

 A year ago Choi had been investigating the Black Sun nightclub and found so many illegal activities were taking place there, especially drug dealing. Kim wrote up a report about his findings for Choi who went right to work on the case and was working solo. Choi began to discover what Kim had said was the truth and got a bit too close for comfort. The two slimy officers found out about Choi's investigating and before you knew it the detective's body was found in his car in the middle of nowhere.... DEAD! The ruling was a suicide but Kim knew that was far from the truth as Choi was such a happy man who was married with a child. Kim accused the two officers Jang and Jo of playing a part in Choi's murder but couldn't prove it, he too started to get a bit too close to the truth. So Kim ended up getting framed for taking a bribe and writing false stories for his newspaper, Kim couldn't believe how he fell for this trap. So for the past ten months he's been digging for the truth about Choi's murder, he's discovered some things at the Black Sun club but not enough for a case. Kim is well known there and is refused entry though the guards have been told not to rough up the ex-reporter outside of the club.

 All of this Kim had told Do-Gi at his apartment, those flashback scenes are above and there's five more below of the conversation and what took place after. Kim feels so guilty about what happened to Choi and is seeking revenge but has hit a roadblock, not for long though. Do-Gi didn't say much during Kim's story, he soon left saying he needed to think things over. Do-Gi had left a decal for Jang's 'revenge squad' and the curious Kim called the number. Back at their secret underground HQ Do-Gi told everyone Kim's story, the reporter hadn't made an official request for the team to seek revenge but after hearing Kim's tale he also wants to find out what happened with Choi so Do-Gi suggested to the team that they should help out this man. The others readily agreed to accept this case though it will be a difficult one for if Black Sun is involved with On's Guemsa organization it could put Jang's team into even more danger. So the show ended with the 'revenge squad' getting ready to help Kim out and this case, which has already begun, still has two more episodes to go. In two days will have the next pair of recaps and needed to make this one a bit longer as so much needed to be discussed.