The Disciplinary Committee
Money Game is a Korean drama with a lot of potential. The characterization is excellent and the trio of characters taking centre stage play off the financially charged storyline nicely, as we see the fallout to the BIS Ratio scandal escalate and spill over to every part of this 70 minute episode. The ending certainly leaves things wide open going forward too and after a bit of a slow burn opening, it looks like we’re set for quite the thrill ride going forward. The episode opens with the country gearing up for the potential sale of Jungin bank. Chairman Heo tries to stabilize the ship by meeting with the President and imploring him to sell to a solid institution, whether that be domestically orinternationally, whilst trying to convince him the ratio report he originally submitted wasn’t fabricated. At the same time, Hye-Joon receives a text and visits Ma-Ri in Sejong city where she hands her an envelope full of money – the money her aunt promised to repay. While she has tea with her, Director Na figures out Hye-Joon was the one who leaked the documents from his office after printing them out. The police arrive and arrest Hye-Joon while Yi-Hun talks to Chief Jo and Joon-Pyo about Hye-Joon’s arrest and how they caught her exchanging the documents for money on camera. Meanwhile, Shannon and the others prepare for the bank branch to close, meeting with Heo who tells them that inspecting the President’s report will no longer be acceptable. News of Hye-Joon’s arrest winds up broadcasted on the news as her Aunt watches on. Hye-Joon herself watches the footage the police are using, that of her conversation with Ma-Ri in Sejong and tries to explain to them what’s going on. As the situation continues to escalate, Yi-Hun meets with Soo-Ho and tries to reassure him that Hye-Joon will get through this scandal and come out the other side unscathed, promising him he’ll do his best to try and protect her. Outside the station, Hye-Joon hurries out and informs Yi-Hun that she’s been cleared of all charges. He drives her home and winds up cooking her food, where the duo discuss what happened. Yi-Hun tells her she’s courageous and as she weeps, he leaves her to collect her thoughts while doing the washing up. The next day, Yi-Hun returns to work where he finds Hye-Joon in a conference meeting with Director Na informing her she’ll be given a disciplinary. However, Yi-Hun barges into the room upon realizing what’s going on, as she’s reprimanded by her seniors. Outside the room, Yi-Hun phones Sang-Mi and asks him for a favour. Before we find out what this is however, Yi-Hun is called into a meeting and asked to meet at a hotel at 9pm. As he pulls his car up, he follows Heo into the building and tails him, watching as the Chairman meets with Eugene, the man from the Bahamas. Waiting in the booth upstairs in the hotel, Heo approaches Yi-Hun and immediately asks if he was the one who stole the file. Staring him in the face, Yi-Hun tells him he’s not but Heo is relentless, constantly grilling him and trying to make him cave. The next day the disciplinary committee get together and discuss the document Hye-Joon took. As she’s grilled by the other members there, Yi-Hun rushes to the scene as the committee make their decision. Only, just before they do Yi-Hun bursts into the room and tells them he can identify the person who took the file… which is where the episode ends. Money Game finally starts to turn up the heat during this episode and after a slow couple of weeks, this one may finally be turning into a more exciting thriller. While the death of Byung-Hak hangs heavily over this series, and inevitably it’s something that’s going to be brought up numerous times this season, there’s enough with this banking drama to make for an endearing watch nonetheless. The expository text introducing each character every episode is a nice touch too and something I hope continues through the show given the number of characters here. Beyond that though, there’s some good acting and the different characters do well to bounce off one another but quite what will happen next remains to be seen. Still, we’ve got a good week to chew over this one and quite what the future of the bank holds, especially with both Eugene and Shannon looking set to get their grubby hands on this, leaves things wide open for the future.
