Halfway through the series, Juvenile Justice drops hints for viewers to connect the cases that will unravel past wounds, schemes, and more ruthless crimes in the series’ plot.
Judge Sim Eun Seok (Kim Hye Soo), Head Judge Kang Won Joong (Lee Sung Min), and Judge Cha Tae Jun (Kim Mu Yeo) had been dealing with one case after another in the first three episodes of Juvenile Justice. And as the trajectory of the storyline pushes further, viewers get to know more about the judges, the offenders, and how court trials are held.
Nathan Llantos watches Juvenile Justice on Netflix
What Has Transpired So Far In Juvenile Justice?
While continuing her work, Eun Seok receives a text message from Yu-ri. The message states that she will not commit crimes anymore and work hard. Despite Judge Sim Eun Seok’s indifferent demeanor, it was revealed that she talked to Yu-ri after the trial giving heartfelt bits of advice.
Soon after sentencing Yu-ri’s father for charges regarding domestic violence, Eun Seok and Tae Ju share a moment of peace. Tae Ju tells Eun Seok his childhood trauma. The next day, they both went back to work dealing with the pile of papers on their table, only to be swept away by a drastic turn of events.
Inspection Week
On the other hand, Judge Kang is busy handling a recurring juvenile case and preparing to join the National Assembly. He held a court trial to sentence Yoo Hyeon-Ji, who swindled another customer. At first, he gives her the judgment of probation levels 4 and 6. Subsequently, he changed his decision and asked the judicial assistant to put Hyeon-Ji in Pureum’s Home for girls once she is released from the Juvenile Classification home.
Head Judge Kang takes Judge Sim and Judge Cha to visit Pureum’s Home for girls. However, what was supposedly a usual juvenile center inspection unfolded a complicated case of rebelling girls and unaddressed family issues.
What is more, on their way to the foster care home, Judge Sim Eun Seok reviews the girls’ files in the facility once again. She finds out that the juvenile kids in the care home are placed there for their crimes involving prostitution, fraud, theft, and assault. Also, Tae-Ju and Eun Seok talk more about O Seon-Ja, the counselor running the foster care home.
The Occurences At Pureum’s Home For Girls
A disturbing phone call places youth counseling instructor O Seon-Ja under the judges’ scrutiny. Moreover, the girls in her recovery home confirm the child abuse claims and embezzlement against her. Hence, Judge Cha and Judge Sim get to the bottom of the accusation. On the other hand, Head Judge Kang leaves before them to meet with the National Assembly candidates.
Mrs. O prepared the books and other documents needed for the inspection. However, while she and her daughter talked outside, Judge Cha and Judge Sim had already started interviewing the girls in foster care.
All of the girls told the Judges how they preferred the Juvenile Classification home over Pureum’s Home for Girl. In particular, they individually laid out their reasons, such as Mrs. O having a bad temper and feeding them spoilt rice. Likewise, they claimed that they are living a nightmare in the care home rather than having the rehabilitation they need.
All Of Them Are Lying
Judge Sim and Judge Cha are caught in quite a predicament. After talking to the girls at the care home, they confronted Mrs. O about the real situation in the foster care center. The youth counselor told the judges how the girls typically behave during inspection day. She told them how she and her daughters are often at their wits end living with the rebelling girls.
After narrating how the facility was built and how she runs it, Judge Sim says she knew the kids were lying. She then revealed that the true intention of questioning Mrs. O was because the Yu-gyeong, one of the girls in the facility, was sent to the hospital.
The girls still claim that Mrs. O was violent towards her. Consequently, Judge Sim dared the girls to call the hospital for them all to see who was lying. Moreover, Judge Sim tells Mrs. O that they commend her for her efforts and sacrifices in the frontlines of Juvenile care.
But, there are still claims of embezzlement that need to be explained. Judge Sim believed that Mrs. O, who once had a clear set of principles, fell into the spell of money. She then told Mrs. O that her license was at stake and the court would handle the money embezzlement matter, causing the counselor to collapse.
The Search For The Runaway Girls
After meeting with Judge Cha and Judge Sim at the hospital, Mrs. O revealed why she used the foster care money. Afterward, Youth Counselor O Seon-ja returns to the Pureum foster home; she discovers that her daughter A-reum has wrecked the place and driven the girls out.
The juvenile girls are nowhere to be found. Fortunately, one of them, Min-gyeong, appears after clashing with the group’s leader, Yeong-na. Although it may be true that they stick close to each other in the facility, it seems that the girls are not all on the same page more, so they share an intimate bond.
Head Judge Kang was enraged when he learned of Judge Cha and Sim’s discreet investigation. To make matters worse, Eun-Seok and Tae-Ju are now racing against the clock to find the runaway girls. They finally found the girls’ location and discovered that Yeon-Ji a had been forced into prostitution by Yeong-na and the others. She’s been locked in a hotel room in chains and other unsettling implements.
Following the wild chase, they finally found the girls one by one. They are all gathered with their guardians at Yeonhwa district’s court. The episode ends after showing the juvenile girls of Pureum crying. In detail, Judge Sim requires their guardians to attend guardian education and counseling.
Additionally, she is transferring the girls to another facility where the guardian education session will be held. She then leaves her final words in the trial emphasizing the children must not grow alone. The weight of the crime should be felt by those who failed as their parents and guardians.
Meanwhile, Head Judge Kang meets with the Chief Judge and is handed the test paper leak scandal.
Juvenile Justice Mid-Series Musings
Superb Character Reflections
It is commendable how the screenplay writers consistently supply multi-dimensional characters in the storyline. In fact, in every case discussed per episode, the juvenile offenders involved are given such convincing characterizations. Not just that, but they are portrayed excellently by the actors and actresses.
In particular, the case in this episode gives the viewers an idea of how foster care systems work. Aside from that, the efforts and sacrifices and importance of social workers and youth counselors’ roles are highlighted.
To summarize, these two episodes of Juvenile Justice are enlightening. The dialogues are on-point, full of substance. Likewise, the premise of the case is something that is not typically addressed. Thus, it is excellent that these episodes opened the platform for bringing awareness to topics and issues like this.
Where The Story Heads To?
The following episodes will focus on Judge Kang’s schemes and background as a court judge for about 20 years. Amid the trial and investigation for a school scandal involving students from privileged families. Judge Kang gets caught up, and the National Assembly candidacy vacancy is at stake.
Additionally, viewers will know more about Judge Cha Tae-Ju’s past. On top of that, we will once more see how fierce and righteous Judge Sim Eun Seok is as she gets into action to solve the Descartes Group Exam Scandal case. With that in mind, viewers are in for a tension-filled ride full of revelations and conspiracies in the next episodes of the series.
Watch Juvenile Justice demonstrate how the law works for Juvenile offenders. All 10 episodes are available for streaming on Netflix.
Photos: Netflix
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