The dystopian and twisted trial begins in the opening week of The Devil Judge.
The Devil Judge threads on a fictional dystopian world wherein justice are served through a live courtroom show and the whole nation is involved.
This satire and action-filled drama will mind-twist the viewers. It took the justice system of Korea from every different perspective.
aith_clouds_of_gold_and_blue watches this on Viu
Opening Week Rating: 
The Devil Judge Opening Week Story
“No one is above our people, our people is power itself.”
The story starts with a party for the new national hero of Korea – Judge Kang Yo-han (Ji-Sung). He is adored by everyone because he creates a new kind of justice system where the whole nation is involved.
The party is filled with strong and rich people of the society, like businessmen and politicians. An organization called the Social Distribution foundation is also introduced. It is a foundation where the rich people give donations so that they could help the country. They also fund Judge Kang’s live courtroom show.
At that party, he promises to bring justice to the people of Korea. Even the president of the country trusts him in everything. However, he plans so much more than that.
“Someone has to be there. Someone who will keep his eyes wide open in this storm.”
Then we meet another main character. Juror Kim Gaon (Park Jinyoung). He’s an emphatic Judge and he has a mission to know what lies beneath this ridiculous live courtroom show.
His first trial with Judge Kang is a case of toxic waste management that leads to the death of many people from a suburban place. The toxic chemical is from a company called JU chemicals. That company is also the biggest contributor to the Social Distributions Foundation.
Ga On does not agree with how Judge Kang does things and that live courtroom show. He wants to serve justice traditionally and more formally. He then secretly investigates the cases because he wants to be on the side of the victims and he finds injustice in that case.
When it’s time for the trial. He seems agitated with how Judge Kang seems to be on the side of the suspect and not on the victims. He wants to speak up his mind and convince people that the suspect was guilty. However, he doesn’t need to do that because Judge Kang has a plan.
People who are watching the live program are already convincing that the suspect is guilty. In the end, the suspect pleads guilty and said that what he did is not murder but instead is professional negligence that causes death. The Ministry of Justice, which was the ally of the suspect. Teach them to plead that so that they can parole the suspect easily.
However, Judge wants to please the people so he plays his own game that didn’t cross the line and still by the law. So he still sentences CEO Jang murder. After that episode, the ratings of the show reached their highest ratings. No matter how successful the trial and the show are. The result is not satisfying for Ga-On. He thinks Judge Kang must’ve done a dirty trick in that trial but somehow manage to get away with it.
“Loan sharks lend hope and make them pay back with fear.”
Since the trial is a success, Judge Kang decides to treat Ga-On and Miss Oh (Kim Jae-Kyung) to dinner. There, Judge Kang and Ga-On throw shady banter at each other. He even mentions his parent’s tragic death. His father committed suicide because of his debt in loans. It is also revealed that Judge Kang’s family are loan sharks. This triggers Ga-On’s anger so he walks out of that restaurant.
We get a glimpse of his and Judge Kang’s past that somehow related to each other. But the only difference is it didn’t cause a lot of trauma in Ga-On that’s why he quickly recovers from it. After that, he still goes on in investigating the possible suspicious whereabouts of Judge Kang and the Social Distribution foundation.
“A prey, You’re just a bait. A fresh one, at that.”
Then we meet an arrogant and rude son of the Minister of Justice. He always drives his sports car recklessly and doesn’t care if he hits establishments or people. One time Ga-On saw him almost hit an old man. In their next encounter, he plans to arrest him with his best friend, Detective Yoon So-Hyun (Park Gyu-Young).
However, when they were chasing after him, another car gets in the way. It was Judge Kang. He then decides to race with that guy. When the race ended, he gets his sledgehammer and hits the bumper of the car. The guy is so angry and then he recognizes him. Judge Kang plants a drug on that car and made it look like it was from that guy. He promises not to tell anyone about the drugs if he promise not to tell anyone who ruined his car.
Feeling frustrated and angry, the guy once again ‘coincidentally meets Judge Kang. He threatens him to be careful because he doesn’t know what he can do or who he is. However, Judge Kang knows him all along and has an ulterior plan involving him.
Judge Kang, Ms. Oh, and Ga-On are invited to a charity event. Ga-On takes a raincheck because he is still secretly working on his investigation about Judge Kang. So only the two of them go to the party. As usual, he is still the star of that event.
When the Minister of Justice introduces her family to Judge Kang. Her son was surprised and didn’t utter a word then he puts on his devilish grin to him that makes him stutter in fear.
“Everyone is calling Yo-han a monster… The boy was a devil.”
Upon his investigation, he met one of Judge Kang’s classmates, who is now a priest. He told him all of the things Judge Kang did as a kid. There was a time where a bird flew inside their homeroom, everyone is scared except him, then he killed the bird without any sign of pity to the dead bird. After that, his classmates are calling him a monster and bullies him.
Then he seizes an opportunity when there was a new seat arrangement where rich kids sit next to a poor kid. His revenge is secretly taking or ruining the belonging of those rich classmates so that they would quickly blame the poor classmates for it.
While chaos is happening because of what he did. He just smiles and sits there like nothings happening. It was an eerie scene. The priest then concludes that Judge Kang is so much more than what people expect him to be.
The Devil Judge Opening Week Musings
This is an action drama that will put you on the edge of your sits. The anti-hero Judge Kang is a character that viewers will ‘hate to love. His role is critical and deep. Our other main character Juror Kim Ga-On is heroic and promising. On his first day at work, he experiences an accident and witnesses Judge Kang’s cold-hearted attitude.
Although the lead characters are cut extremely in contrast to each other, they somehow complement each other. There is also a possibility that their past intertwines with each other as well.
Another thing to point is the ridiculous live courtroom show. It was very fictional and witty. Although it may seem like an out-of-this-world idea, it isn’t. People in ancient times can view a trial and vote if a suspect is guilty or innocent. Ancient Rome practice this kind of justice serving system.
The Devil Judge has a dark theme and dystopian approach that will surely trigger excitement in every scene. It also has a realistic take on the unfairness we felt in our justice system today.
This drama also delves into the depth of “rich versus poor” reality. Interestingly, it also ushers a new horizon in the legal-crime genre in K-Dramas.
International fans can watch The Devil Judge on Viu and iQiyi
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Photos: tvN
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