K-Drama Reaction: Miss Hammurabi

A judge’s life is difficult.

Minor Cases

The Civil Court Department 44 suddenly has to handle minor criminal charges (thanks to Presiding Judge Han Se-sang’s (Sung Dong-il) unwanted comment during their meeting). It leads them to criminal cases caused by drunk people. Im Ba-reun (Infinite L / Kim Myung-soo) has a strong opinion about people who caused inconvenience to others just because they can’t control their drinking behavior. Surprisingly, Park Cha O Reum (Go Ara) doesn’t yet have a strong stance on the matter because she knew she doesn’t have a good understanding of the issue.

I can actually relate to O Reum. I can’t completely agree nor disagree with Ba-reun as I know there are unseen details of each situation that should be put into consideration. But Ba-reun seems to be unyielding on the matter. I guess it was his turn to make some mistakes and learn from it.

Major Tragedies

O Reum is not the type who just sits and wait for the next thing to happen. She is proactive in every case she is in charge of. And because Ba-reun is now her solid partner in her missions, they both went out and seek a better understanding of their cases. They discovered the kind of environment where the defendants live in. They heard tragic stories that resulted in people wanting to drown their sorrows in alcohol. The trip made them realized there are really no evil people; there are just evil and ugly situations.

The story of weighing up punishment for people who are already being punished was really hard to watch. As Secretary Lee Do-yeon (Lee Elijah) mentioned, the court is filled with true stories with no happy ending. It is fascinating but it will take its toll on you at times. Ba-reun, with his strong sense of justice, thought the punishment he gave to a poor elderly drunkard was the best considerate decision he could give. But hearing a rich man getting the same sentence in an obviously more evil crime was hard for him to take. I also teared up watching him broke down in tears, seemingly blaming himself for what happened.

Neutral Feelings

This episode taught everyone that it is hard to keep biases away when deciding on cases. Ba-reun was usually the rational one in the department but it was O Reum’s turn to be a voice of support. Ba-reun needs someone who will tell him it’s okay to depend on others occasionally and that it is alright to share his pain with others. That short moment meant a lot for the relationship between these two main characters. We all know about Ba-reun’s feelings toward O Reum but that ending scene was a glimpse of her feelings. And I can clearly see she couldn’t help taking a step closer to Ba-reun.

Maknae’s Episode Verdict

You probably know by now how I love the dialogues in this series. Every word was well-written and the writer seems to know his characters very well too. It is effective in conveying the message it wants to say. It doesn’t let the episode end without the character picking up some lessons to their experiences. It’s the same with the audience. Each case they handle challenges my opinion and making me look at things from a different perspective.

Dongsaeng’s Afterthoughts

– Even this second couple’s story was well thought out.

– L looks like a boy when sleeping.

– For all the struggling writers out there:

“‘Even if it’s a story that clumsily written, the parts that seem real and appear to be based on feelings that the writer experienced never fail to touch your heart.’ Hearing that made me want to write about my own story regardless of whether it’ll sell or not. It made me want to go beyond just reading others’ stories.”

K-Drama Reaction: Miss Hammurabi | Episode 12

Published by maknaeahjumma

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