We’re at the end! After eight weeks of madness, mayhem, and men who can’t seem to keep their eyes off each other, “The Devil Judge” ends the same way it began: with a bang. The show rises to meteoric heights of brilliant storytelling, packing so much into these last episodes. Alliances break and renew stronger than ever as Yo Han (Ji Sung) gears up for one last fight against the elite. But will he emerge unscathed when betrayal is so close?
Warning: spoilers for episodes 15-16 below.
1. Judas is betrayed
“The Devil Judge” hasn’t been shy about its use of religious metaphors. From the papal-inspired judicial robes, to Yo Han being framed as a god, it’s been evident from the beginning that Ga On’s (GOT7’s Jinyoung) role was akin to that of the biblical Judas: Yo Han’s biggest weakness; the one person Yo Han refuses to hurt. Which makes the betrayal so devastating. Ga On argues with his mentor, Min Jung Ho (Ahn Nae Sang) that Yo Han would never have killed Soo Hyun (Park Gyu Young), but he’s mentally fragile after so much bloodshed. So, when Ga On keeps finding evidence pointing toward Yo Han as having set the fire, killed his brother, and killed Soo Hyun, he doesn’t pause to question why all this evidence is cropping up now, or whether the Yo Han he knows would truly do such a thing. While Yo Han’s first instinct is to grab people by the neck, Ga On’s is to pull out a knife. And there’s no backing down from this impasse.
It’s painful to see Yo Han’s evident bewilderment at Ga On’s fury. He pleads with Ga On to see reason; they both know how easy it is to fabricate evidence.
Ga On wavers, realizing that something’s not right, but it’s too late. He’s called the police on Yo Han to arrest him for Soo Hyun’s murder, and with the police comes a betrayal that he never foresaw. Because with Min Jung Ho walks in Sun Ah (Kim Min Jung), and Ga On realizes he just sealed Yo Han’s doom.
This scene is absolutely incredible. Ji Sung pours his heart out as proud, beaten-down Yo Han finally breaks, begging Sun Ah to stop when she pulls out the CCTV footage of what happened the day of the fire. Jinyoung excels as a man in shock, realizing that he just got played by the bad guys and took down his partner.
And the awful truth behind the fire is finally revealed. Little Elijah (Kim Su Ha) unwittingly set the fire when a stray candle was knocked over. Unwilling to devastate his niece with the knowledge that she accidentally killed her parents, Yo Han took on all that pain and rage and made it his own. He planted evidence that would make Elijah (Jeon Chae Eun) suspicious of him, and hoped that she would survive, even if on hatred for him alone. It’s an act so selfless and so in line with the Yo Han that Ga On knows that he breaks completely, sobbing and begging the cops to release Yo Han, only to face the grim realization that they’ve all been bought by Sun Ah. The meaning behind the last of the show’s posters is made clear. Because for all Yo Han’s cunning, Sun Ah was always a step ahead from the beginning.
She used Ga On to blind Yo Han, so that he wouldn’t see her coming until it was too late. And she succeeded. Hating himself for what he’s done, Ga On can only watch in horror as Yo Han is carted away and Elijah is restrained. And Ga On finally goes mad.
2. The death of an icon
In this show, characters are defined not by whether they made bad decisions, but by how soon they correct them. This was the case with Oh Jin Joo (Kim Jae Kyung), and Ga On also immediately vows to right his wrongs. But he scarcely has the time to set his plan in motion before horrible news reaches him. Yo Han is dead.
In a fascinating pairing, the show parallels Ga On’s and Sun Ah’s reactions to the news. Sun Ah is visibly devastated in a manner we’ve never seen before. This is the woman who killed numerous people without batting an eyelash, who got blood on her dress and smiled sweetly — but she sinks to the floor in shock. In contrast, Ga On’s reaction is a masterclass in muted desolation: silent and numb.
But why does this show posit the reaction of these two people side by side? Why not Elijah? Why Ga On and Sun Ah? Because these were the two people who could never decide if they hated Yo Han or loved him, who couldn’t help returning to him over and over again even when they couldn’t see eye to eye. Yo Han’s enemies, his partners, and his soulmates. Sun Ah is who Yo Han would have been without Isaac. A child in an adult’s body forever seeking to appease her past self, to give that broken child what she yearned for so badly: a beautiful, shiny life with the beautiful boy who truly saw her. Only Sun Ah discovered that all that is gold does not glitter. A shiny life carries a deep ugliness within. But that beautiful boy became an even more alluring man. So she coveted him, chased after him, tortured him, all while yearning for him to look at her.
Only Yo Han never saw her — but he couldn’t stop looking at Ga On from day one. For Ga On, this is the man he got wrong, then got right, whose broken home he was in the middle of fixing. The man he cooked for, whose word he valued above Soo Hyun’s, his partner at home and outside. The man he failed and will now avenge. Ga On vows to die for vengeance, and Sun Ah packs a gun in her purse, both with blood on their minds. So it’s only fitting that the show parallels their horror and grief. Because at the end of the day, they both loved Yo Han.
3. Ga On’s revenge
With the country in a state of emergency, the press aren’t allowed to report on anything President Heo Joong Se (Baek Hyun Jin) disallows, so Ga On can’t go to the media. He tries the police and turns himself in for making a false accusation. He’s prepared to go to jail if it means that Yo Han is freed! But Sun Ah owns everyone, and the cop laughs him out of the station.
But Ga On’s on the warpath now. Enlisting Lawyer Go’s (Park Hyung Soo) help, Ga On smuggles himself into Sun Ah’s Dream Home project, where they find that Heo Joong Se is using it to gather the elderly and poor as guinea pigs for clinical trials. Ga On records everything, planning to create an event so newsworthy that the media have no choice but to report it, a takedown of the elites to turn the public back onto Yo Han’s side: the video paired with a murder-suicide with Min Jung Ho. It’s a colossal act of self-sacrifice because Ga On is ready to die just to give Yo Han a chance.
Even when Yo Han’s death is announced before Ga On can execute his plan, Ga On still goes ahead with blowing himself up. He fully means to do it, until…
Yo Han’s alive! He faked his own death! And their reunion couldn’t be more emotional.
And at long last, they’re both on the same page. Most tellingly, Ga On backs off his plan to blow Min Jung Ho and himself up the moment he finds Yo Han is alive, proving that he was fully planning to die for Yo Han. And Yo Han was equally fully prepared to die for him while racing toward a bomb to save him. But perhaps these two think a little too alike, because while Ga On’s vengeance is over, Yo Han’s vengeance has only begun. And like his Ga On, Yo Han has something explosive planned.
4. Yo Han’s revenge
Yo Han never forgives and he never forgets (unless Ga On is involved) so it’s to be expected that he planned one final hurrah in case everything went to hell. And it’s the exact same plan as Ga On’s: to bring down the courtroom where he set the wheels in motion, killing himself and all the elite trapped within. Yo Han’s done too much, gone too far in his quest for justice and revenge. The charges and accusations against him have risen to fever pitch and Yo Han is exhausted. He has to disappear for all this to end; so he can finally have peace.
So he orchestrates a replica of the church fire’s events — one door, one way out — but with an added stipulation: only one person can leave. He watches in amusement and resignation as the elite hit, kick, and tear each other’s hair out in an attempt to be the first to the finish line, and realizes that they haven’t changed and never will. But there’s one person who refuses to participate in that infantile scrabble. And it’s time for one final reckoning.
5. Sun Ah’s fall
There’s so much to be appreciated about the fact that Sun Ah’s end doesn’t come via Yo Han or any other man. She is the source of her own undoing. Focused on climbing her way to the top and reaching those shiny goals her younger self dreamt of, Sun Ah unwittingly became the exact kind of person her younger self would have reviled. Her power has always been as precarious as Yo Han’s simply due to the fact that she’s a woman. The same men who cheered as she slapped Heo Joong Se plot behind her back and badmouth her for being a strong, assertive woman.
She’s never safe, never secure in her position. And like Yo Han, she’s weary of this game. The fissures we’ve seen in Sun Ah crack once she beholds the bright-eyed girls she addressed at the orphanage tied up and used as experiments. For all her misdeeds, Sun Ah truly cared for those girls; for any woman downtrodden by society and men. For Heo Joong Se to use those people as lab rats, and kill Yo Han, was the final straw.
Tellingly, Sun Ah doesn’t panic upon hearing that she’s going to die. She brought that gun to the meeting knowing she was going to kill Heo Joong Se. And she sure does, right in the middle of another one of his long, rambling speeches. The other elites plead for her to kill Yo Han so they can leave the courtroom and save themselves. But Sun Ah is tired of this game, and for all the hurt she gave him, she could never kill Yo Han. Still, she won’t let him decide how she goes out. And so for the last time, she calls him what she always has.
And a woman who could have owned the world leaves it. Yo Han wearily looks down at her body and silently exhales in pity.
What a magnificent, lovable, pitiable villain, who to the very end felt like a heartbroken child. Kudos to Kim Min Jung for such incredible acting. Sun Ah, you will be missed.
6. Queercoding: a bond that will never be broken
It’s time to address the elephant in the room: queercoding. From Yo Han ogling shirtless Ga On and vice versa, to slow motion caresses during bomb defusing, this show has given us no shortage of romance between our two judges. It’s important to acknowledge this because representation matters (and the original script is out, where all the more explicitly queer scenes were cut). But this begs the question of how Soo Hyun fits in. If Ga On has romantic moments with both, then whom does he love?
The answer is simple. Soo Hyun is Ga On’s past love. Yo Han is Ga On’s present. From the moment Ga On met Yo Han, his interactions with Soo Hyun diminished. He was living in Yo Han’s mansion, cooking for him, and even Soo Hyun commented that Ga On’s been whisked away by some rich man.
Ga On’s heart was torn between his past love and present love and their different ideologies. He chose Yo Han, stayed with him, and disregarded Soo Hyun to the point where he asked for and promptly ignored her opinion regarding Doh Young Choon (Jung Eun Pyo). But that gets shaken up when past and present collide at the scene of Cha Kyung Hee’s (Jang Young Nam) death. Ga On’s shaken up and feels guilty for choosing Yo Han, so he retreats to what’s familiar. He has years of history, friendship and love for Soo Hyun so he believes he’s still attracted to her. But it was a child’s love, soft and comfortable. Ga On remained in Soo Hyun’s safety net until she died, then he went even deeper because she died. Because he really did care for her.
But at the end of the day, this show tells us that Ga On loved Yo Han more. Because Ga On did not attempt to kill himself for Soo Hyun, but he was fully prepared to go kaboom (twice!) for Yo Han. Ga On showed up with a knife to avenge Soo Hyun. He showed up with a bomb for Yo Han. Sure, Ga On tells Min Jung Ho that his death will atone for Soo Hyun’s death, but he drops that in a second when he finds that Yo Han is alive. His consequent actions upon hearing that Yo Han plans to die cement that the bond between them was romantic in nature.
Ga On rushes over to the court, uncaring of his own safety. He doesn’t bother telling Yo Han not to kill the elite; his only concern is for Yo Han himself, and when the man can’t be talked out of it, Ga On says he’ll die by Yo Han’s side.
Visibly moved, Yo Han says there only need be one devil, and by the time Ga On realizes what he means to do, it’s too late. Yo Han’s shoved him out of the courtroom. Ga On tries to go back in but it explodes with Ga On screaming Yo Han’s name.
Devastated beyond belief, Ga On ignores medical attention and wanders to Yo Han’s house, reminiscing about that time Yo Han ogled him without his shirt, the time he found shirtless Yo Han post-nightmare, and the first time he saw Yo Han genuinely smile.
It’s only when he spots floor plans of the court that Ga On realizes that Yo Han’s escaped! Yo Han’s housekeeper, Ji Young Ok (Yoon Ye Hee), cheerfully informs Ga On that Yo Han and Elijah have left for Switzerland, where they’ll stay at an institute that’ll help Elijah walk again.
Relieved, Ga On sets out to complete the last of Yo Han’s work: to ensure that no one like him rises again. Ga On’s a national hero now and Yo Han’s a national criminal, but Ga On knows there’s no difference between them. He’s still ignored over and over again by the new people in power, and wearily muses that nothing has changed. Which is when a hand strokes the back of Ga On’s chair and a gentle voice jokes that Ga On should do well, or he’ll have to come back.
The devil judge, the abyss, tearfully smiles at Ga On. And Ga On smiles back.
What a phenomenal ride. Rarely has a show been so incisive, offering commentary on political, social, and gender issues. It merits its own thesis! Rather than sugarcoating the ending, this show keeps it gloriously realistic. The world did not get better because Yo Han blew up the elite, but that doesn’t mean this was all for nothing. So long as people like Ga On and Yo Han exist, who fight for what’s right by every means possible, the powerful won’t get away with everything.
“The Devil Judge” says good and evil don’t exist. Rather, pure intentions and naivete can do more harm than good (Min Jung Ho), shattered dreams build shattered people (Sun Ah), the self-pity of the powerful is the only true evil there is (the elite), no wrong is too great to be corrected (Ga On and Jin Joo), and it is prejudice that creates devils (Yo Han).
Beyond the philosophy, the characters were brilliant. Riveting, slimy, and amusing, all the elites felt fully-realized, from minor characters like the Minbo Group CEO to boss queen Cha Kyung Hee. Jin Joo deserves an ode to her name, having stuck by her values from beginning to end. Sun Ah is a work of art, a Shakespearean tragedy. But where this show shone from beginning to end was in the powerful, palpable romance between Yo Han and Ga On. A show like this does not make artistic decisions lightly, and there’s no other explanation for the numerous, numerous romantic tropes used.
Even the ending mimics a classic melodrama where the hero and heroine reunite at an airport, and we got two full minutes of them just staring at each other with heart eyes.
At its core, this was the story of a man steeped in darkness meeting a man bathed in light. They fought together, apart, and against each other, but still tried to die for each other. They grew, healed, built a family with their teen daughter, and invited cute, snazzily-dressed villainesses for dinner. And they’ll continue to build together and apart (because Yo Han apparently hops on flights back to Korea just to see Ga On). Thus, they walked in sunshine, happily ever after.
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Shalini_A is a long time Asian-drama addict. When not watching dramas, she works as a lawyer, fangirls over Ji Sung, and attempts to write the greatest fantasy romance of all time. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and feel free to ask her anything!
Currently Watching: “Life,” “Suspicious Partner”
Looking Forward to: “The Veil,” “Lovers of the Red Sky,” Ji Sung’s next drama
