The episode kicks off by throwing us back 10 years ago onto that fateful cruise ship. Black Pearl slips into a cabin expecting the Japanese general, but surprise, Bulgae is waiting there instead. He knocks her clean out and grabs the USD drive and diamonds, but Shadow immediately corners him. Just as things get tense, Beom-ryung and Gong-bok wander in looking for Black Pearl, only to find her unconscious on the floor. Bulgae and Shadow end up in a brutal brawl, and Beom-ryung jumps right into the chaos. Shadow tries to save Bulgae during the scuffle, but ultimately lets him plunge overboard, though not before planting a tracker on his backpack.
Cut to the present day, and Shadow and Bulgae cross paths again at Heaven Capital. Naturally, they throw hands instantly. While they are busy fighting, Nam-gil grabs the house deed, loads an unconscious Bulgae onto his scooter, and hauls him back home.
Meanwhile, Yeong-ae is digging deep into Black Pearl’s case. The Chief Prosecutor heavily reprimands her for reopening a closed file, so she plays dumb to get him off her back. As it turns out, the Chief Prosecutor is totally corrupt and in cahoots with Han Gyeong-wook.
Han meets up with Kim Jung-hyeok, the floor leader of the Saehanjin Party, to talk about turning Yeongseon Island into a massive international tourist hub. He dangles a ridiculous 25 trillion Won profit in front of Mr. Kim if they sell off pieces of the island. To seal the deal, Han hands over a historic, antique tea set. Let’s be real, it is straight-up bribery. Han wants the land on Yeongseon Island bought up by any means necessary. He has a crew of thugs doing his dirty work, though these guys are actually running a side drug trade right behind his back.
Later, Ye-sun (Bulgae) wakes up in a panic from a dream about that 10-year-old cruise ship fight. He has absolutely no memory of the brawl at Heaven Capital, even though his nephew Nam-gil won’t stop hyping him up for it. Elsewhere, Ho-myeong (Shadow) panic-calls Jo to run a license plate, and Jo reassures him that he’s on it.
Over at Heaven Capital, the boss utterly thrashes his goons for messing up. He demands they get the CCTV footage within three days, emphasizing that Chairman Do cannot find out about this. At the same time, Gong-dok wants to step up surveillance on Ho-myeong. He smells something fishy and suspects Ho-myeong is making moves for a reason, which sparks another argument between them.
Yeong-ae is busy tailing the Chief Prosecutor and catches him dead to rights taking a bribe. She uses the leverage to ask for a favor to run a license plate. Meanwhile, over at the Oran restaurant, everyone is visibly anxious. It turns out he couldn’t cover the tab this time either.
We then get a brief flashback showing what happened to Jo all those years ago. Han had tracked him down and threatened him to find the parcel, but thankfully, Jo was saved just in the nick of time. Back in the present, Yeong-ae’s digging pays off; she discovers the Chief Prosecutor received Han’s bribe directly through his secretary.
At the restaurant, Jo meets Ho-myeong to break the news that the license plate has zero ties to Bulgae. Ho-myeong slips away under the excuse of trying to drive up sales.
Back at Heaven Capital, the thugs manage to identify Gong-bok and Bulgae. The boss calls up a police officer—who happens to work in the same branch as Beom-ryung’s crush, and demands background details on the guys in the photos.
Ye-sun heads back to his job at Yeongseon Steel, still completely sore from his mystery fight. His coworker grills him about missing work the previous day. They start talking about his past, but the boss cuts them off to make them wash a car. While they’re working, the boss tries his usual bullying tactic and throws a baseball right at Ye-sun. But wow, Ye-sun’s pure survival instincts kick in, he violently kicks the ball straight back at the boss, leaving everyone absolutely stunned.
Ho-myeong stumbles upon some school bullies tormenting a timid kid. His original goal was just to identify the boy who rode off with Ye-sun on the scooter. When the lead bully gets cocky, Ho-myeong terrifies him into submission and walks away with the name he needed.
Over at the convenience store, Beom-ryung almost passes out from exhaustion, but the policewoman he secretly loves catches him. It’s an incredibly awkward, sweet moment. He had even ordered a special lunch box just for her. She accepts it and hands him some sleeping medicine to help him rest. Gong-bok witnesses Beom-ryung getting all mushy over his crush and totally neglecting their actual work. Gong-bok snaps and drops some incredibly harsh words, making Beom-ryung almost punch him before walking out.
The Heaven Capital goons track down Ye-sun and Ho-myeong. Unaware of the danger, Ye-sun is at home discussing the baseball reflex incident with Nam-gil. He asks his nephew to smack him in the head to test if physical trauma triggers his fighting state. Nam-gil hits him right as the thugs burst through the door! Instead of turning into a super-soldier, Ye-sun just blacks out instantly.
The thugs corner and capture Gong-bok at the convenience store. By the time Ho-myeong arrives at Ye-sun’s place, it’s completely turned upside down. However, he finds a solid lead pointing toward Yeongseon Steel.
Beom-ryung is brooding at home, thinking about Gong-bok’s harsh words, when his phone rings. It’s the Heaven Capital thugs sending a brutal photo of a beaten-up Gong-bok. That does it, Beom-ryung instantly reverts to his old gangster mindset to save his partner.
Back at the house, Ho-myeong discovers a wig, and his suspicions that Ye-sun is Bulgae are officially confirmed. Simultaneously, Yeong-ae interviews someone at Han’s old workplace, asking about Han’s connection to the ferry disaster 10 years ago. The answers she gets are pretty vague, but it’s enough to confirm her worst fears.
The Heaven Capital goons now have Ye-sun, Nam-gil, and Gong-bok tied up as hostages. They interrogate them but get absolutely nothing. They beat Gong-bok until he loses consciousness and then drag Ye-sun up next, desperately trying to trigger that insane fighting trance from the other night. Nothing happens.
Just as the thugs are about to literally chop off Gong-bok’s hand, Beom-ryung storms the building. He goes full beast mode, single-handedly tearing through the goons. The episode ends on a massive high note with Beom-ryung making a bold declaration to completely finish this fight.
The Episode Review
This second episode shifted gears perfectly and set so many moving pieces into motion. Watching Ho-myeong close the gap on Bulgae while Yeong-ae relentlessly digs into the past kept me glued to the screen. Every single reveal made the broader mystery so much more compelling.
Honestly, the highlight for me is how my curiosity surrounding Ye-sun’s past completely reignited here. Oh Jung-se is doing an incredible job portraying the absolute contrast of the character, he plays the eccentric, clueless everyday guy and the dangerous, instinctive Bulgae flawlessly. That baseball-kicking scene was brilliant.
The sneak peek for episode 3 looks intense. With Ho-myeong getting a brand-new assignment and Han moving forward with his shady plans to sell off Yeongseon Island, the stakes are clearly sky-high.
Fifties Professionals Episode 1 | Fifties Professionals Episode 3
