"Taxi Driver" Korean drama season two: Episode eleven 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: 14.5%

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 sixth story which is the only one that will last for four episodes. For the next recap will be adding in at least three characters, too many to keep track of!!!!

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. He becomes the sixth 'revenge requestor' for this season though that hasn't happened yet. Below is Kim who was so irate at Do-Gi from saving him from a beating by the Black Sun guards!

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 though we only saw her briefly in the eleventh episode.

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.

 This being a four episode story haven't met some of the characters yet or got to know others too well so will be updating this section as we go along, below is the Black Sun club,

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's when Do-Gi comes back to life though Jang and the rest of the 'revenge squad' knew he had never.... died!

 

 

 Thanks if you've been reading these recaps, know they can be kind of long at times but so much takes place in Korean dramas. Least I think they're somewhat easy to read or much easier than they were years ago. Drama and movie posts are not overly popular here but I like them quite a bit and those are the reasons this blog was started. There will be a pair of recaps for today, then in two days will have the next pair. This is a four episode story and will be the only one like that in this season, after the four recaps there will only be two shows to go. Am going to write the first third of this post up and then probably view the next episode. Nothing that took place was confusing but it may help this recap plus would like to give more details in the above 'Guest Stars' section. So much took place so think I will need one extra paragraph and will have it in this intro section which normally has two.

 What a shocking ending to the tenth episode and the story continued on into this show, as a matter of fact it may be something we'll be hearing about for the rest of the series. Those above first two screenshots are what took place in the tenth episode's final two minutes. Do-Gi was driving his taxi back to Rainbow Taxi after finishing the last revenge case, in a van behind him was the tech whiz Go-Eun and the two mechanics Choi and Park. Go-Eun was talking with Do-Gi via a transmitter when she began to notice come strange signals from his taxi, soon so didn't Do-Gi who quickly veered off the highway onto a secluded road. The van tailed Do-Gi and the trio was wondering what was taking place. About a hundred yards down the road we learned what that odd noise was from the taxi.... it was a bomb and in front of his friend's eyes Do-Gi's taxi exploded!!!! They were powerless to do anything as there were a few other explosions and was the main hero of Jang's 'revenge squad' dead? In the last recap mused about how there was no way Do-Gi would ever die and was correct, was also correct in predicting that he jumped out of the taxi before it exploded. 

 As you can see right above Do-Gi escaped unharmed and said there should be a funeral for him! There was which is in the top two screenshots but let's talk about what happened after the explosion, the scene with the funeral actually began the show. After throwing himself out of the taxi Do-Gi scurried over to Go-Eun to protect her from the taxi's shrapnel, needless to say she and the two mechanics were overjoyed to see their close friend alive. The taxi was lying on it's roof and the four could see the bottom of the taxi. There were a few explosion holes and according to the mechanic Park they were caused by TNT, a rare form of it that is mainly used by the police, armed forces and even terrorists! I was a bit surprised there was no kind of system in the taxi warning of a bomb or other dangerous device, perhaps there will be in future cars. As Do-Gi wisely says above the 'revenge squad' is becoming known and has some enemies which is what their leader Jang has been fearing for a while, that's him talking on the phone. Obviously someone wanted Do-Gi dead so why not act as if he is and with his enemies thinking he's out of the way it'll be easier for Do-Gi to investigate what took place. 

 So a few days later a funeral did take place, Go-Eun and the two mechanics Choi and Park did a masterful job with their mourning. The funeral home was packed with drivers and many others, the key person there was the newish driver On who is in the second screenshot. He acted as a mournful person though as we learned he was the person who planned for the death of Do-Gi and as he says above who was the mastermind behind him? Hard to believe On didn't think of Jang who I didn't notice at the funeral. Did see him afterwards though at the funeral home but his presence was felt as his team was hard at work while doing their masterful job of mourning their comrade. Jang felt whoever planted the bomb would make an appearance at the funeral and Go-Eun had set up hidden cameras everywhere to tape anyone who wasn't known. And she did catch a few of those as On also was using the funeral to check out for suspicious people and this drama is turning into a minor conspiracy story. If you've been reading these recaps you know On is actually a officer with the shady and unknown Geusma criminal organization. The group themselves don't commit too many crimes or at least we're not aware of them yet. But they do finance many other criminal groups and it just so happens Jang's 'revenge squad' has brought down four of them. On doesn't have any concrete evidence about Jang's team but had an inkling they were involved which is why he began to work as a driver for Rainbow Taxi. The man in the third screenshot above and the second one below is a superintendent for the Seoul police force and his name is Park who has been briefly mentioned before.

 Though Park is a higher ranked officer for Guemsa he tends to follow the orders of On who has had the chance to kill his mate in the past. It was On who ordered that bombs should be attached to Do-Gi's taxi and had told Park to have his men do it, unknown if that meant Park has some corrupt policemen working for him at the station. To Park and others in this criminal group it seems On's obsession in bringing down Jang's team has become an has gone overboard and above told On to stop playing games. But to On something doesn't feel right about Do-Gi's death and we know he won't quit that obsession with bringing down Jang's team. The name of the Bishop was mentioned by Park and it appears he could be the main director of Geumsa but to date we have no clue who this man could be. While that meeting was going on with On and Park there had also been another meeting set up that involved many members of the Geumsa organization, that's in the fourth screenshot. Have no clue who or what this group do and that's something I'm positive we'll be hearing much more about. Back to the funeral and Park had sent some men there to also check out for unknown people who attended. No one was noticed though these henchmen did grab anything the guests had touched such as cups to do a background check on them. In that first screenshot you will notice Do-Gi and during his funeral(!) had been doing the work of Go-Eun as he was taping what was going on at the funeral, obviously he has to stay well hidden.

 Jang's team had no clue who those men were that took that 'evidence' from the funeral but they do realize that they're still being hunted even though the enemy thinks Do-Gi is dead. The day after the funeral and that meeting with Park On has figured his spying on Rainbow Taxi is no longer needed and handed in his resignation, Jang's team as you can see above were a bit surprised at that. Before he left On did say a few unsettling comments to Jang, one he didn't hear was On mumbling under his breath that if he didn't like Jang he would have suffered the same fate as Do-Gi! While Go-Eun was at Do-Gi's funeral he was in her van tracking all of the guests. As mentioned a group of men had taken some items from the funeral home to do background tests on the guests and Do-Gi had seen the man who this 'evidence' was given to. However at the time there was nothing Do-Gi could do as he couldn't reveal the fact he was living! But a day or so later Do-Gi did see this man again and that was because of a unique tattoo and also ring he had on his left hand. Following this man Do-Gi ended up outside of a very upscale nightclub called Black Sun and what a line there was waiting to get in. Do-Gi wasn't dressed for success so just had to watch this unnamed man enter the club and this place from here on out will be the most important location of this story.

 Do-Gi reported his findings back to Jang and his mates but no one had ever heard of this club which is ultra exclusive. Gaining entry is so key for Jang's team as this man and probably many others he works with could be the answer to who put the bomb underneath Do-Gi's taxi and also could lead them to the men targeting the 'revenge squad'. The next evening Do-Gi was prepared to enter the Black Sun club but was advised not to as according to Go-Eun was dressed as a nerd! So weren't the two mechanics Choi and Park who looked even worse, they made it to the club's front door but weren't allowed to enter. This club's security is airtight, they may have twenty guards and the whole building is monitored by CCTV. But the mechanics failed entry wasn't a total loss as with the guards being distracted Do-Gi was able to slip in a back entrance but knew he couldn't stay there long. He made his way to the rooftop and before long observed two guards dragging an unknown man to the roof. They began to pummel him badly and that man is in the second screenshot above. Do-Gi just couldn't sit and hide while this man was taking such a beating and came to his rescue, two against Do-Gi isn't enough as he knocked these guards senseless. In an odd twist this man wasn't thankful towards Do-Gi from saving him and was actually quite irate. 

 He had a secret camera set up to film the beating and Do-Gi ruined it for him, this man quickly left but told Do-Gi his name Which is Kim Yung-Min and the next day Go-Eun did some investigating about him. Kim was a respected and award winning reporter for the Hanbaek Daily paper but had been canned ten months ago. He had been arrested accepting bribes and writing some false stories which were both bogus charges. That was the last we saw of Kim in this show but did view the next episode halfway through writing this recap up. His character will be extremely important and you'll learn much more about him in the next post. After what happened with Kim Do-Gi knew he had to enter the Black Sun club and did so the next evening, this time around he was dressed much better. This is such an elite club, even the table Do-Gi reserved cost $300 for a night and the top ones go for over $10,000! That woman Do-Gi is sitting with above is named Windy, she's the top agent/hostess of Black Sun. She knew right off the bat Do-Gi was no VIP but still sat and talked with him, for some reason she even gave him a lot of info about Black Sun. Such as there's three classes of customers, Slaves such as Do-Gi is, Nobles who are not quite elite but very respected and then there's the class of Royals who can't spend money fast enough and of course are treated like royalty!

 Black Sun is a huge club though most visitors don't have access to much of the building. Such as someone like Do-Gi who wasn't allowed to leave the main party floor as he was just a Slave. He desperately needs to check out some of the upper rooms and of course was able to sneak his way upstairs. Do-Gi was mainly looking for the manager's office as he thought that unknown man he tailed to the club could be found there. However there are so many guards at Black Sun, Do-Gi was about to be nabbed so ducked into a room. Where a festive party was going on with the big star Victor, he's in two above screenshots. When Do-Gi goes undercover he wears a very small transmitter in his ear so he can communicate with Go-Eun and she saved the day once again. Victor is a popular Idol singer though is close to thirty in age, he's a VIP regular at the club. Do-Gi said they trained as singers together and Victor replied he had never seen Do-Gi before and the guards were ready to throw him out. But Go-Eun was able to relay some obscure info about Victor to Do-Gi and before you knew they were talking about old times! After a while Do-Gi was able to slip away and one thing he noticed at the club were the amount of minors, he quickly reported that situation to the police. He then ducked into another room but was discovered when Windy and some other thugs found Do-Gi hiding out. The guards were just going to escort Do-Gi out of the club but the head of security Jang stopped the guards and told them Do-Gi had reported to the police there were minors in the club!

 So in the final three minutes Do-Gi was escorted out of the club but these guards wanted to teach him a severe lesson. These guards, along with Jang, began to beat on Do-Gi who didn't fight back and if he did would have made mincemeat of everyone! Watching from their van was Go-Eun and the two mechanics who had been told by Do-Gi not to interfere even if he needed help. What they couldn't believe is that there was a police cruiser watching this and didn't step in to stop it. They eventually did but not to arrest the guards but Do-Gi and charged him with obstructing the club's business! At the station these two officers questioned Do-Gi backwards and forwards but he ended up making fools of the officers. One soon called I presume the head of security Jang and now a new charge was added, Do-Gi was being charged with molesting a Black Sun female employee! So Do-Gi was thrown in a cell and of course what happens next with him will be in the recap for episode twelve which is the next post. In two screenshots above is Do-Gi's leader Jang who was investigating the bomb that blew up Do-Gi's taxi. He asked an expert who he had once helped on a revenge case, this man told Jang the only groups using that high level of TNT are elite forces in Korea's military or.... the police! So now Jang knows him and his team are up against the police and the conspiracy keeps expanding! Whew, quite a bit took place in this show and somehow even more did in the next episode!