TRIANGLE EPISODE 2

We left off last episode with Young Dal having unearthed a cache of money buried by Do Gi Chan, who was in prison. His plan was to borrow 100,000 of it, and pay Boss Gi Chan back before he could find out. This episode starts the way the last one ended. With Young Dal running. In his boxers. In slo-mo. Finally, he is caught outside town, and they try to bury him alive. He's saved by the local detective, and pressed into service as an informant for Dong Soo. After Dong Soo leaves,Young Dal is on a serious losing streak, failing at one game after another. The last of his money goes to a game of Hold 'Em (a poker variant) against none other than the chaebol Yang Ha, who wins big. Young Dal loses, and feels Jung Hee watching him as he leaves. When he gets the news that Do Gi Chan is dead, Young Dal is ecstatic -- all that buried money is his. There is a rumor the money belongs to some Filipinos, but they are wanted men; they can never come to Korea, right? After they unearth the money, a shadowy figure in a suit can be seen surveying the dig site.

We learn more about Jung Hee this episode. The official story is that she is the head of her family, working to support 2 younger brothers and her grandmother in the wake of her parents' death. There is a lot of financial stress on her as she is in debt to a loan shark, but this debt gets sold to Madame Jang, who puts Jung Hee�to work in her casino. Jung Hee�is told she'd be a dealer, and she is, but she also is expected to separate patrons from their money when they buy her drinks in hopes of buying her favor. If Jung Hee doesn't do as she's told, she loses her house.

Dong Soo continues his investigations. After setting�Young Dal up as an informant, he meets with Chairman Go, the mob boss (and real estate mogul) he mixed it up with last episode. Chairman Go subtly threatens him and tells him to mind his own affairs. Later, Shin Hye and Dong Soo are asked to investigate a homicide disguised as a suicide:�Do Gi Chan, who was involved in an illegal internet gambling case, is dead. Privately, Shin Hye implores Dong Soo to get therapy again, and he provides no answer. At a restaurant, Dong Soo gets a tip that Young Dal visited the homicide victim a few times, so they'll probably be heading back to Sabuk.

Yang Ha, the young rich man, is an arrogant ass. He corrects Young Dal on his English: "It's not race, it's raise." He appears smug when he wins and he offers Jung Hee a ride with a terse "Get in." Probably not the ride she was looking for. A far cry from the timid and rigid figure we saw last episode. Maybe with a few drinks in him, he gains a backbone? He's certainly quite skilled at poker. We still don't see much of him here. I'd like to know more about his character.

Taken as a whole, this series is interesting. None of the brothers seem to recognize one other, which makes me wonder how soon they'll find out. We don't see too much of their pasts, either; there's merely a nod to it as Dong Soo remembers scattering his father's ashes while�Yang Ha was a�mere infant at the time. But it's a short scene -- apparently it's more important to the writers of the show to concentrate on the here and now.

The characters are a little more complex than a few sentences can provide, and their moods seem to change. Yang Ha is a complete turnaround from last episode, and has an arrogant streak a mile long. His malicious smugness serves to make you hate him, and credit goes to Siwan for his performance as a thoroughly unlikeable character. I do hope something changes him, though. K-Dramas always seem to paint the rich as spiteful and even insane, and I would appreciate this show turning that cliche on its ear.

Now that Young Dal has all that money, I wonder what he'll do. He apparently is entirely shortsighted, not able to see past his next casino game. I'd probably use it to get the heck out of there, but I'm not him. And despite Shin Hye's advice about treatment, Dong Soo is very even-tempered here.

I'm pretty impressed overall. I can see some serious conflicts on the horizon. Where does Yang Ha live that he just pops into a casino in a small town? It seemed to take some time to get there from Seoul. If Yang Ha takes a liking to Jung Hee, I can see a fight between him and Young Dal happening. Yang Ha already took a lot of his money, so there should already be some bad blood between them. Young Dal's status as an informant, as well as an accomplice in Do Gi Chan's activities, could bring mob bosses down on his head. Who is the figure who saw the "money pit," and what is he likely to do? Dong Soo, of course, probably needs to visit Sabuk again and, with Chairman Go's connections, he may well arrange Dong Soo's disappearance.

Bear with me. Things are really starting to heat up!

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