"Taxi Driver" Korean drama season two: Episode fourteen 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 did quit as a driver for he thought his task at bring down Do-Gi was complete, did that come back to haunt him!

 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. Crime does pay for at the end of episode 13 it was announced Park would become the Seoul police chief!

 ****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 him 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.

Park Ho-San as Park Min-Jeon aka The Bishop.... Will just refer to him as The Bishop as that was the name used 100% of the time. The Bishop is the leader of the criminal Geumsa organization that has On and the police superintendent Park as the two main directors. This man is a true bishop and as you can see below does lead services for his followers. The Bishop has just returned to Korea after a long pilgrimage, not to look for anything religious but to find some new buyers for his lucrative drug dealing trade!

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.... Not every post needs to be read but don't have time to discuss a lot of what has taken place many shows before. So could help to skim through some older recaps, especially the previous recap to see where we stand. The stories last for two episodes though the sixth story ran from the eleventh to fourteenth episode. 

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

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

Episode nine .... Episode ten .... Episode eleven .... Episode twelve

 Shorter video and there are a lot for this episode. The scene took place at the Black Sun nightclub and there had been a rumble taking place! But more importantly than that it's when enemy #1 On discovers his nemesis Do-Gi is still alive!

 

 

 

 Thanks again if you've been reading these recaps which I think are easy to skim through and hopefully it'll make a few readers want to check out this series. If so you definitely have to view season one first and for the first six episodes of this season I had thought there was such a drop off compared to season one. But the last eight episodes have all been superb and I'm going to miss this series once the last two shows are recapped which should be at the end of next week. That'll make it 32 episodes I've watched this year as I didn't view season one until March and April, that's a lot of watching as a show is usually 65 or more minutes in length. Added in one new character to the 'Guest Stars' section which is a man only known as The Bishop and is the leader of the criminal organization Geumsa.

 The pair of recaps for today wrap up this four episode story. The ending of course was quite suspenseful though the two mechanics didn't feel the 'bad guys' were meted out enough punishments. Sure you read the above post and that ended with Go-Eun, along with the mechanics Choi and Park, saving Do-Gi from being hit by cars at a busy intersection. He had been drugged by the man in the second screenshot who is the manager of the upscale yet very seedy Black Sun nightclub, Yoo. The drug was GHB who leaves someone in a comatose state. Do-Gi had been shoved out of a car by Yoo's henchmen and would have been run over many times if it wasn't for Go-Eun and the mechanics. The following day Do-Gi woke up quite groggy in a hospital and couldn't remember a thing. But with help from his mates Do-Gi soon recalled a few things, one was major as he pulled a red pen out of his pocket. Go-Eun asked above if that wasn't a pen recorder and it certainly was. We had heard about this pen briefly two shows ago but didn't mention it in that recap as it was never discussed again. But it will play a key part in bringing down the Black Sun club and will have all of the details of the pen in this recap. Longer intro than usual and let's get to the conclusion of this four episode story. 

 The new character The Bishop is very key to this story and will get to him a bit further down. But first will talk about that pen which a quick thinking Do-Gi had grabbed while he was in Yoo's office. He was drugged at the time so surprised Do-Gi still thought of grabbing that key piece of evidence. Though we had heard a little bit about this recorder pen we viewers didn't know much else nor the true story of how the detective Choi met his death. We do now as Do-Gi told the story that the reporter Kim had told him, he related the tale to Go-Eun plus the two mechanics Choi and Park. Then the recordings from the pen filled in many missing details and here's the whole story which is so crucial to this case. Exactly a year ago the Hanbaek Daily reporter Kim had contacted Choi at his Jeongsam police station. The pair knew each other well, Kim would give Choi tips about crimes and Choi would make sure he could report the story first. A year ago Kim had wrote up a report about the shady activities at the upscale Black Sun night club which involved drug dealing, prostitution, tax evasion and much more as Kim had really done a superb job of investigating. Choi took the case secretly and he too had a lot of success but the problem was he got a little bit too close to the truth. The biggest discovery Choi made was finding out that his two comrades at the police station, Jang and Jo, had been stealing drugs that were to be incinerated and instead giving it to On which were eventually passed on to the Black Sun club.

 That PEN is key as when Kim gave Choi the report about the club he also gave the detective the pen which was a recorder and could tape for a few hundred hours. Choi had forgotten all about it until his end but he remembered it just in time and that act will help bring Black Sun down. After seeing what those corrupt officers were doing with the drugs Choi couldn't hold himself back and confronted the pair at Black Sun. The pair of Jang and Jo tried to enlist Choi onto their team but he was an honest cop and instead wanted to bring them down to the station.... under arrest! Some of that is above but during that scene Choi had been subdued and had much of that drugged whiskey poured down his throat. He was taped leaving the club alone in case Black Sun was ever thought of being suspects in Choi's death. Which happened shortly after, under the influence of GHB Choi drove to a secluded spot and shot himself in the head! So technically he did commit suicide but then again Choi wouldn't have done it if not for the drugs. The reporter had a clue of what happened but wasn't aware that his fiend Choi had been drugged. Kim then began investigating the death of Choi, he too got a bit too close to the truth. Kim ended up being framed for taking bribes and writing false stories for his paper, none happened but Kim was fired in disgrace. That was courtesy of the corrupt officers Jang and Jo, more on them coming up. So that's the story of Choi that Do-Gi and his mates assembled, when Choi had been drugged he managed to put that pen recorder in a spindle of other pens and very surprised that Do-Gi had seen it.... then again nothing he does surprises me!

 Bit of a long beginning to this recap but so much was squeezed into the first fifteen minutes, we still have more about the Choi story. On the pen recording was an odd message Choi uttered which he hoped Kim would pick up on, it had to deal with a person not exercising. By now Do-Gi had gone to Kim's apartment and brought the pen with him, what can Kim deduce from Choi's final message to his friend? Kim finally figured out Choi was talking about a gym locker which Kim had never gone to for he hates to exercise, a very sublime hint. In the gym locker Kim found a report from Choi detailing all of the Black Sun's illegal activities, think Choi knew there was a high chance he wouldn't survive against those thugs. There was a ton of evidence against the club in this report, now it's up to Do-Gi and his mates to use it to finally bring down Black Sun! The most major thing in Choi's report was how the officers Jang and Jo were able to steal the drugs that were supposed to be incinerated. The process was picking up the drugs that were at a police warehouse, they had been from drug raids. From the warehouse Jang and Jo would bring the drugs to a separate location to be burnt to a crisp. But during the delivery in their vehicle one of the officers would spray the packages of drugs with a flame retardant and though it appeared the drugs were burnt up they were safe and sound. Jang and Jo would return to the location for the drugs and deliver them to On, what an ingenious scheme which worked for years.

 But it won't be working much longer and that will be a scene worth reading about which will be in the next segment. In Choi's report it was also found out that the drug being used to put these victims in a comatose state was GHB which isn't as common in Korea as it is in other countries. But at least for now it seems that cruel act of drugging women and sending them to a hotel room has stopped for the time being and that's thanks to the actions of Do-Gi in the previous two shows. Now what the 'revenge squad' needs is a plan to take down everyone associated with all of Black Sun's illegal activities. As Do-Gi says above everyone needs to be brought down at once and how that happens will also be coming up. Meanwhile the drug trading between the Geumsa organization and Black Sun is expanding and a huge deal is in the works. On, in the bottom screenshot above, is the master mind behind these deals and has a huge one coming up with close to 200 kilograms(440 pounds) of drugs. At the end of the previous show the Korean police had made a raid where they stopped 200 kilograms of drugs from entering the country. But that was a ruse by the soon to be Seoul police commissioner Park. Him and On have set it up for the officers to get the drugs back, so the raid made Park a hero plus the Geumsa organization has the drugs back and will be delivering them to Madam Yang of Black Sun.

**** As mentioned before I just don't know how Jang's 'revenge squad' gets things set up so quickly. The drug trade will be made the following day but in less than 24 hours the team managed to do things that should take weeks to do and wish we saw more of how they went about that business.

 Mentioned The Bishop and that's him in the second screenshot above, though he runs a criminal organization the man truly is a bishop. We saw him in three short scenes but his character I think will be a very important one, especially in the final two episodes. The first time we saw The Bishop is when he was met at the airport by his Geumsa directors On and Park. The Bishop had been returning to Korea after a lengthy pilgrimage though it wasn't to study religion but do find new buyers for The Bishop's lucrative drug trade! After his return The Bishop did hold a sermon for his Geumsa 'followers' and his location in doing those is at an old closed prison. The next time we saw The Bishop is when his possible successor On visited him at the chapel, unless The Bishop asks to see a person the only way to meet with him is by going to confession! Which is what On had done and he explained some snags in the massive drug deal have come up and wants to delay the shipment. Which did infuriate The Bishop to an extent but he can keep his anger under wraps. Being such an important director of Geumsa brings some major responsibilities with it and On better see that there's no delays in this shipment to Madam Yang. On had to reluctantly agreed and why was he so worried about this trade as all others had gone smoothly? Before meeting The Bishop On had been at the Black Sun club, the head of security Jang was talking about his new guard who had suddenly disappeared.

 When On was shown his photo he practically had a heart attack as it was of his #1 nemesis Do-Gi! On knew him and his team were responsible for the recent mishaps at the club and you can see why On wanted this major drug deal postponed but it went off as scheduled the following day. The two corrupt detectives Jang and Jo did their usual routine of spraying the confiscated drugs with a flame retardant which made their superiors think the drugs were all burnt up. The pair then waited a while and brought this massive shipment to Madam Jang at the Black Sun club, On had made sure their security detail was doubled. So far so good for On but deep down he was still worried something could go wrong and who can blame him for that? The 200 kilograms(440 pounds) of drugs were of various types, mainly cocaine and GHB. Business was booming as there was such a line at Black Sun to buy whatever and it was a cash only process. The two mechanics Choi and Park were there also disguised as drug buyers but played no factor in what was about to take place. A few buyers had tried their cocaine to check on the quality and were they in for a surprise. The bags contained no drugs but instead was just regular Flour, actually not regular as it had been laced with some sort of knockout drug! Seemed like most buyers were foreign and before long began to pass out on the Black Sun's dance floor. Madam Yang soon found out what the situation was and stormed up to On demanding why he had fooled everyone?! Of course none of this was On's doing and he knew exactly what had taken place, he did have a wry smirk on his face as he knew Do-Gi and his mates had pulled a fast one on him. A lot of what took place is in the above and below screenshots.

 We're finally down to the final segment of this four part story. Did have fun writing these up in such a short amount of time, wish they weren't so long but there was no way around it. Besides the flour being laced with a sleeping drug Do-Gi's team had brought liquor from the manager Yoo's office. The same liquor that contained GHB and been given to those unsuspecting women. So most people at the club were out for the count and the ones that weren't began to have a massive brawl, all blamed each other for what had taken place. Do-Gi soon arrived at the club and from a balcony above was enjoying watching the mayhem. Noticing from the below floor was On and though he truly hates Do-Gi with such a passion he does respect his abilities and even clapped that appreciation to Do-Gi. We then had a brief flashback on what had taken place earlier that day and it explained how the 'revenge squad' set up many things. **** Some of what took place seems farfetched and as mentioned in the above segment how does Jang's team manage to do so much in such a short amount of time? The corrupt detectives Jang and Jo were scheduled to pick up the (un)incinerated drugs that afternoon, in the morning the two Rainbow Taxi mechanics Choi and Park posed as police guards and were able to enter the facility for a few minutes. They were able to get a quick layout of the building and how things were run. The key reason for their entry was to attach a small device that could be operated by Go-Eun in her van, haven't mentioned her name too often these last two recaps.

That device could disable the drug storage facility's alarm system for five minutes, returning soon to the building were the two mechanics along with Do-Gi. In less than five minutes they were able to steal the drugs that Jang and Jo were to deliver to On at the Black Sun club and switch it with the laced flour. May not seem like a big deal but it all had to be done within five minutes. After that the trio continued on with their mayhem against Black Sun such as somehow moving that laced liquor from Yoo's office to the bar at Black Sun. That's a brief look at what Do-Gi and his mates did, the mechanics often act so goofy but when a job needs to be done you can depend on them. That melee at Black Sun was still going on but not for long as an army of police were approaching the club, On slipped away and Do-Gi didn't even attempt to stop him as he knows there is someone higher than him. On reappeared at his secret mansion and so didn't the extremely corrupt and soon to be police commissioner Park who is now a wanted man! Wanted because the drugs that had been taken from the facility were brought to his office and the police had been tipped off about that! On knew that Park was now a liability and made sure his rival wouldn't be a thorn in his side anymore as On strangled the man to death! Once again back to the criminals from the Black Sun nightclub and Do-Gi easily could have killed everyone there but that's not his style. He also could have meted out some harsh punishments to this large group of creeps which he's done often but not this time around.

 That's because the reporter Kim wanted everyone involved in Choi's murder and the illegal activities at the club to stand trial. Which all did and the majority had received life sentences for their crimes, the Idol singer Victor only got a ten year sentence though. The disgraced reporter Kim was cleared of any wrong doings and was rehired by his old employer Hanbaek Daily, he even was allowed to be the reporter at the trial. His final bill for the case was $2,320 and surprised the 'revenge squad' even charged him. At the very end On met up with The Bishop who needless to say was furious with what had taken place. His henchmen could have easily killed On at The Bishop's HQ but was given a reprieve as On said he needs to get his revenge against Do-Gi, The Bishop will give his trusted director one more chance to redeem himself. The top seven screenshots below are more of what took place in the final minutes. The seventh screenshot ended the show and it was of.... The Bishop entering Do-Gi's Deluxe Taxi!!!! That finally brings us to the end of this very long and intense four episode story. But the story isn't quite done as there's two more shows to go and then sadly that's the end of this series. So will take a few days off until viewing those episodes so you may not see those recaps for about eight days, do recommend viewing the screenshots as they help you understand the story much better.