Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Shit! This was a roller-coaster edition of ‘Good Boy’, which starts slow, making Dong-Ju’s (Park Bo-Gum) ‘athlete with the golden heart’ act a little cliched and tiring in the first half, before flipping the switch to ‘dark mode’, where things get bloody violent.
Recap of ‘Good Boy’ Episode 11
Well, the only thing you need to remember is that Dong-ju finally breaks villain Min Joo-Yeong (Oh Jung-se)! Thanks to Jong-hyeon (Lee Sang-yi) following up on some crucial leads, he is finally able to get imprisoned criminal Golden-Bunny to reveal the scale of Joo-Yeong’s clout in Insung City. Dividing themselves into two teams – Han-na (Kim So-hyun) pairs with Man-sik (Heo Sung-tae), while Dong-ju and Jong-hyeon form Team B – the Olympian cops start hitting various locations to find out where Joo-Yeong must be parking all his cash, which helps him keep everyone, from the Mayor to the police commissioner, under his thumb. The episode ends on a hilarious high: the cops finally discover all the cash, while Joo-Yeong is left screaming in defeat for the first time.
Episode 12: Foul
This edition of Good Boy should’ve jumped straight to the aftermath of the season’s highest point: the police team celebrating their victory after seizing trucks full of illegal cash belonging to Joo-Yeong, crippling most of his criminal activities. Instead, the episode opens with a flashback to Jae-Hong’s (Tae Won-seok) Olympic days as a discus thrower. Dude wasn’t even part of the group’s mission to nail the villain’s hideout.
Anyway, the first half of this episode overdoes Dong-ju’s “good boy” act, showing just how overtly sweet, caring, bunny-like, golden-retriever-level lovable he is, which of course Park Bo-Gum pulls off with charm, but it’s beginning to get tiring. Viewers don’t need constant, blatant reminders of how amazing he is. Besides, sorry, but Dong-ju’s decision to shoulder everything alone and not have the decency to tell his team and girlfriend Han-na about his health issues isn’t admirable, it’s selfish. I am getting Bollywood’s ‘Kal Ho Na’ vibes with Dong-ju’s failing health, where he’ll probably die in the end and Han-na will end up with the wealthier Jong-hyeon. (Gosh, that will be such a cliche, but not surprising for a K-Drama)
Oh Jung-se, as primary antagonist Min Joo-Yeong, is more dangerous, despicable, and entertaining in this edition. He no longer finds Dong-ju amusing, and this chapter focuses on him hitting back at the cops. He is done with playing with his prey and is coming for Dong-ju’s blood with all his wrath. With his ‘Punch Drunk’ syndrome getting worse, our ‘Good Boy’ hero cop isn’t as invincible as before. Although, like I said in a few previous episodic reviews, he continues to heal and rise like Wolverine.
With his cash gone, he falls back on Drug Demon’s (Lee Ho-jung) new candy for revenue. Lee Ho-jung’s brief onscreen interactions with Bo-Gum’s Dong-ju are delivering great, unintended chemistry. The Good Boy falling for the Bad Girl, now that would be spicy, but clearly, it’s not going to happen!
Overall, this edition was a mixed bag. The last half is tense, packed with disturbing violence that quickly dilutes the elation of the police team’s victory against Joo-Yeong, who is now bent on serious retribution. An interesting twist is thrown in during the final minutes, with the villains using their bag of tricks to corner and batter Dong-ju. It’s the trusty, reliable Jong-hyeon who saves the day, but the future looks very bleak for the team’s fight against Ilsung City’s mafia. Although episode 12 ends with a confident, furious Han-na swearing on getting some heavy payback!
Watch ‘Good Boy‘ on Prime Video.
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