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Give Oh Jung-se’s stellar performance as the bad guy in Korean action-drama ‘Good Boy’ so far, maybe it was high-time viewers did get a flashback to his origin story in the crime ring. And we do get served, even though it’s not as exciting or substantial! And it does sort of help explain his soft spot for the boxer-cop-protagonist Dong-ju (Park Bo-Gum) and why he hasn’t gotten him murdered yet, although his patience is running thin.
Recap of ‘Good Boy’ Episode 10
The Special Investigation Team comprising former Olympic athletes, led by Man-sik (Heo Sung-tae), is finally disbanded. Everybody is demoted except for Jong-hyeon (Lee Sang-yi), who is still recovering from his injuries after the dockyard shootout and asks ex-girlfriend Han-na (Kim So-hyun) if they can start over. The episode largely serves as a filler, with flashbacks and some lighter moments between characters. However, in the last few minutes, Dong-ju meets Min Joo-Yeong (Oh Jung-se), which inspires him with a new idea to hit back at the villain: he starts attacking his criminal businesses all by himself. The episode ends with Dong-ju making it to the news as an unknown hooded crusader taking down criminal establishments.
Episode 11: Countdown
This edition of ‘Good Boy‘ begins with a flashback of Dong-ju from his Olympian days in the boxing ring, where he talks about the best attack being one your opponent least expects. The story then shifts to the present, where Dong-ju hits another illegal establishment run by Joo-Yeong, taking on a mini-army of thugs by himself. His mentor Man-sik (Heo Sung-tae) quickly figures out that Dong-ju has been busting thugs, and so does crush Han-na (Kim So-hyun), who hasn’t been able to reach him. Jong-hyeon (Lee Sang-yi) gets discharged from the hospital and gains new evidence that might help the team get leverage against the villainous Joo-Yeong.
Just like the last episode of ‘Good Boy‘, this chapter once again features Joo-Yeong inviting Dong-ju for a meal, warning him to stop his activities or he’ll end up dead. But our hero cop obviously tells him to sod off, cryptically saying “the countdown has begun.” Most of the episode then follows the disbanded special team getting back together outside their regular cop hours to aid Dong-ju in his new strategy: find where Joo-Yeong is hiding his cash so they can cripple his power.
While the primary focus is on the good guys, we one again get a brief flashback into Drug Demon’s (Lee Ho-jung) past too, which frankly is beginning to feel unnecessary at this point and maybe Joo-Yeong should’ve gotten a more substantial back-story. Regardless, this is overall a very entertaining episode, which is slowed down only during a romantic moment between Han-na and ‘Good Boy’ Dong-ju, because their onscreen chemistry felt more awkward for the first time.
Kim So-hyun is given an emotionally heavy scene, but she doesn’t quite deliver it with conviction, which ends up undercutting the steamy romantic moment that follows. For the first time in ‘Good Boy‘, the romance felt unintentionally cringe-worthy. Ironically, it’s the awkward teamwork between love rivals Dong-ju and Jong-hyeon that turns out to be far more entertaining, as the two spend the second half doing some solid groundwork together.
Anyway, the episode is largely entertaining, with a generous amount of comedy, some of which comes from the cops trying to track down a sneaky Russian who works for Joo-Yeong. Park Bo-Gum is comically cute and endearing in the last few minutes, where he and Lee Sang-Yi’s characters keep looking for a “smoking gun” against the antagonist, and Bo-Gum’s ‘Good Boy‘ hilariously keeps sending selfies to taunt Joo-Yeong. ‘Countdown‘ ends with one of the biggest high points of the series so far, which is very satisfying. But since there are five more episodes to go, things are probably going to get bad soon.
Watch ‘Good Boy‘ on Prime Video.
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