Trolley Korean New Series Season 1
Episode 3 Recap And REVIEW
Episode 3 of Trolley begins at Jicheon High School, where we learn about the trolley problem. It comes from the old psychology question of what would you do to save a few VS a lot.
This leads to the present, where we stop Seung-kyun from committing suicide and getting kicked out of his apartment. A post-it note for “Killer Joong-do” highlighted in bold letters. Word of this quickly reaches Joong-don’s office. He also has a paternity test situation to deal with Soo-bin if he doesn’t have enough means to deal with it.
Woo-jae thinks that they should continue to have her stay with them for now, and that they should be grateful that she didn’t go the other way and make it all over the news. This could have been a terrible blow to Joong-don’s campaign. Still, it’s not easy for Hye-joo, who does her best to calm the girl down, but she has to let her know that she’s going to the hospital for a drug check. He agrees to go.
Before that, the pair stop at Hye-joo’s book repair shop. Soo-bin is impressed and mentions how Ji-hoon talked to her about the place. As a result, he watches Hye-ju while he works. He shows what makes him tick, along with all the tricks he’s picked up along the way.
As the reporters eagerly await all the details, Joong-do tries to craft a statement behind the suicide, intent on damage control. The thing is, the opposition intends to use this story as a weapon, as Assemblyman Kang points out how Joong-don attacked a poor student live on air. Of course, all this is a political ploy to direct public sentiment to his work.
After staying at the book restoration shop, Hye-joo drops Soo-bin off at Yeo-jin’s restaurant. The latter points out that family is more than blood, which explains why he is so close to it. However, they were all interrupted by news of a suicide with journalists covering Seung-Kyu’s death. Our sad grandmother sees this as a blessing and even gives Hye-joo many gifts to thank her for it. “I don’t have much to give you on such a happy day.” He says.
As for Joong-do, he heads into the upcoming debate with a statement all set and ready to go. He checks on his phone and it seems the online reviews are actually in his favor. Woo-jae warns Joong-do not to have any regrets here, considering it might turn people away from him.
As Soo-bin heads off to take a drug test, all roads lead to Yongsam for something that happened with Hye-joo in the past. This is especially evident when we look at another intertwining subplot, when Ki-young meets Seung-hee, a woman, and the pair make their way to Yongsam. They return to see their mother.
Joong-do arrives at the conference, but as soon as he gets out of the car, eggs are thrown at him. It’s Seung-kyun’s parents, shouting that he’s a murderer. After wiping herself off, she pulls herself together and shows up at the debate wearing Woo-jae’s jacket. Everything seems to be going well, and he eventually decides to cancel the rest of his schedule and go home. Seung-Kyu’s death weighs heavily on him.
Soo-bin is scared when she sees someone on the street and comes to Hye-joo to see her business. He also mentions that Hye-joo didn’t go to university, which Ji-hoon must have told him. It seems that Ji-hoon has talked a lot about her, including the fact that she was born.
Of course, that last part hits like a knife, given their relationship together. He sends Su Bi to get a bottle of water while he prepares himself. But Joong-do immediately loses control, pointing out that a child has died, feeling directly responsible for it. Hye-Joo has flashbacks that show more of Joong-Do’s history of how kind he always was, how he took care of his mother. Hye-Joo was spotted before and that’s how the couple met.
At Yongsam, the kids show up to see their mother, but she’s not too happy to meet Ki-yong. This works in direct contrast to the past, where in Hye-joo’s flashbacks, a grieving woman says, “My child died because of you.” It seems to refer to Hye-joo.
If that’s not a big enough shock, Woo-jae talks to Soo-bin in confidence, and we learn that her child might not actually be Ji-hoon’s.
Episode Review
Most of this episode tries to split political and character drama equally, with Soo-bin learning more about Hye-joo’s case while the latter continues to grapple with issues affecting her past. These issues seem directly related to the children and the mother in Yongsam, which explains what the seemingly disparate themes actually are.
It’s a great way to contextualize how important they can be later.
Elsewhere, we have drama involving Soo-bin, who constantly uses “because of Ji-hoon” in most of her conversations with Hye-jin. I’m calling him now – it’s Joong-do who is the father. I know that sounds totally crazy, but considering there’s so much emphasis on him being a “good guy,” it would be pretty skewed to throw in that.
It might have been a slower episode, but it’s certainly not without incident, and if this ending is anything to go by, tomorrow’s chapter should be quite an interesting watch!