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From Wikipedia: “Stranger” [“Secret Forest“ or “Forest of Secrets"”] is a South Korean crime thriller drama television series starring Cho Seung-woo and Bae Doona. Produced by Signal Entertainment and IOK Media, it was created by Studio Dragon writer Lee Soo-yeon and broadcast on tvN from June 10, 2017. The series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on August 15, 2020.
The series was a hit with both domestic and international viewers, and gained favorable reviews for its tight plot, gripping sequences and strong performances. It was featured in the New York Times list of Best TV Shows of 2017.
The drama and its cast won the following awards: Grand Prize (Daesang) from 1st Seoul Awards; Grand Prize (Daesang), Best Screenplay, and Best Actor (Cho Seung-woo) from 54th Baeksang Arts Awards.
How I wrote these episode summaries without spoilers
1. I assumed that you will be reading these summaries and watching the videos chronologically.
2. I narrated some of the main actions in each episode without revealing the plot’s twists and turns.
3. At the beginning of each summary starting with Episode 2, I placed in a table a recap of the major twists and turns of the previous episode. But because you have already watched the video of the previous episode, they aren’t spoilers anymore.
4. I followed this structure all throughout, except for Ep. 16 (Finale) where I included spoilers. Reason — most people want to know if the drama has a good/happy ending or a sad ending before they invest the time in watching it.
Episode 1
As a child, Hwang Shi-mok underwent an operation that left him unable to feel any emotion. At present, he has been working at the Seoul Western Prosecutors’ Office for the last eight years.
Shi-mok is supposed to meet Park Moo-sung, the CEO of a construction company, in his house. But he finds Mr. Park dead because of several stab wounds. The police later arrive at Mr. Park’s house to investigate, but having found out that the suspect works for a cable company, Shi-mok leaves the crime scene and hurriedly drives away. Not knowing who Shi-mok is, Lieutenant Han Yeo-jin chases him and blocks his way.
Yeo-jin arrests Kang Jin-sub (the cable guy) for Mr. Park’s murder, but to her annoyance,Shi-mok takes Jin-sub to his office. In the prosecutors’ office, Jin-sub protests that he didn’t kill Mr. Park and claims that Mr. Park was already dead when he entered the house. Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor orders Prosecutor Dong-jae to assign Young Eun-soo, Shi-mok’s junior prosecutor, to handle the case.
Eun-soo later gets the evidence that implicates Jin-sub, but Dong-jae takes the evidence from her.
Episode 2
| Ep. 1 recap:
Shi-mok finds the video from the black box of the taxi parked in front of Mr. Park ’s house; Dong-jae tells Eun-soo to present the video at the last part of the trial. But they lie to the judges about the video being only recently discovered. Jin-sub is found guilty of murder and is sentenced to 22 years in prison. But Shi-mok tells the Deputy Chief Prosecutor that there was a third party involved in Mr Park’s murder. While investigating another case near Mr. Park’s house, Yeo-jin finds blood smeared on a fence. At the police station, Sergeant Kim Soo-chan volunteers to take the blood sample and have it tested. Jin-sub commits suicide inside his jail cell. |
Shi-mok goes to the police station to look at the evidence in Mr. Park ’s murder case, including the call logs in Mr. Park’s phone. He also asks Yeo-jin about the blood sample that Sergeant Soo-chan brought to the NFS for examination.
After checking with the NFS, Yeo-jin confronts Shi-mok after his court hearing, accusing him of having manipulated the evidence against Jin-sub. But Shi-mok reveals to her about how Mr. Park bribed police officials and prosecutors with money and women.
The next day, the story of Jin-sub’s wrongful conviction explodes in all the news outlets. Reporters harass Eun-soo as she goes into the office, and the Deputy Chief Prosecutor warns Shi-mok that he will be kicked out of the legal profession after he’s subjected to an internal audit.
Episode 3
| Ep. 2 recap:
Sergeant Soo-chan lies to Yeo-jin, saying that the blood sample was that of a dog when it actually was Mr. Park’s blood. Later, Yeo-jin forces him to give her the laptop that he stole from the house. Shi-mok and Yeo-jin go back to Mr. Park’s house; while Yeo-jin tries to find out who reported the taxi driver, Shi-mok reenacts various scenarios of Mr. Park’s murder. Yeo-jin later says that if he had arrived earlier than Jin-sub, he would have been framed for murder. Yeo-jin leaks to the media that Jin-sub was wrongfully convicted. The Deputy Chief Prosecutor offers to pin the blame on Dong-jae and to promote Shi-mok to unit chief for his cooperation. |
The next day, Shi-mok appears in a television program and says that Jin-sub was unjustly convicted; he says that the real killer is still out there, and he promises that if he cannot catch the killer within two months, he will resign as a prosecutor.
Together with Yeo-jin, Shi-mok goes to the “jimjilbang” (traditional bathouse) where Mr. Park’s mother has been staying. Despite Yeo-jin’s caution, he harshly questions the mother why she lied about where she was on the day of the murder.
Yeo-jin traces the phone number of the person who Mr. Park argued with before he was murdered; the call came from the Civil Affairs Unit of the prosecutors’ office. But when Shi-mok checks the CCTV footage for the day when the call was made, the footage has already been deleted.
After studying the black box footage, Shi-mok traces Mr. Park’s movement before he was murdered; he goes to all the coffee shops in the neighborhood. But that night, a television program covering the murder features interviews from Shi-mok’s classmates and relatives who say that he was violent during his school days and even had to undergo an operation.
Episode 4
| Ep. 3 recap:
The Deputy Chief Prosecutor’s father-in-law says that they must provide a fall guy for Shi-mok’s investigation. Shi-mok’s former classmate is the one who has been posting vicious reports about him on the Internet. Dong-jae overhears the Deputy Chief Prosecutor telling Shi-mok how he will take over Dong-hae’s position as the unit head. In his office, he takes the picture of the woman who was given by Mr. Park as a sexual favor to the Deputy Chief Prosecutor several months ago. Based on his interview with the coffe shop employee, Shi-mok finds out that it was Eun-soo who met and argued with Mr. Park. |
In his office, Shi-mok remembers the downfall of Eun-soo’s father, the former Minister of Justice, because of a corruption scandal. As the controversies and accusations against him continue unabated on the Internet, he decides to visit Eun-soo’s father in the hospital.
Dong-jae and his team raid bars and other sleazy establishment on the anti-prostitution drive, but he’s actually searching for Min-ah, the woman who Shi-mok saw enter the Deputy Chief Prosecutor’s hotel room.
Yeo-jin visits Shi-mok in his office, and they exchange ideas about the case. Shi-mok asks her about the motivations of someone who could have helped the killer, while Yeo-jin wonders why the murder required such elaborate planning.
After their meeting with the Deputy Chief Prosecutor, Shi-mok follows Dong-jae, who goes to a salon and orders the madam to bring Min-ah to him. As Min-ah escapes, Dong-jae chases after her, but Shi-mok cuts him off with his car.
Episode 5
| Ep. 4 recap:
Shi-mok suspects that Eun-soo’s former boyfriend killed Mr. Park. Shi-mok sneaks into Min-ah’s apartment and sees a high school uniform; he realizes how Mr. Park was blackmailing the Deputy Chief Prosecutor. Dong-Jae shreds all his documents relating to Min-ah. Some high school students who snuck into Mr. Park’s house find Min-ah’s bloody body inside the bathroom. |
In Min-ah’s apartment, Shi-mok tells Sergeant Soo-chan about the high school uniform in the closet. Later on, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor assigns Dong-jae to handle Min-ah’s case.
Because of the fingerprints on the knife used in stabbing Min-ah, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor accuses Shi-mok of having tried to kill Min-ah. But Shi-mok also accuses him of having been blackmailed by Mr. Park for having sex with an underaged girl.
Based on the picture of the school uniform that Shi-mok gave her, Yeo-jin traces the high school where Min-ah studied. But to her surprise, the homeroom teacher tells her about Min-ah’s connection to Mr. Park.
Episode 6
| Ep. 5 recap:
Yeo-jin finds out from the high school teacher that Min-ah’s real name is Kim Ga-young and that she was born in 1998. The teacher is horrified that this incident happened in Kyung-wan’s house. Yeo-jin then remembers that Kyung-wan is Mr. Park’s son. In the hospital, somebody tried to disconnect Min-ah/Ga-young’s ventilator. Eun-soo finally confesses to Shi-mok that she met and argued with Mr. Park before he died. |
After going through the hotel’s footage during the conference a year ago and a frosty meeting with Dong-jae, Shi-mok goes to a cosmetics store. Yeo-jin sees him there, and as they have lunch, Shi-mok shows her the footage of Min-ah (Ga-young) in the hotel. Later on, they go back to the room salon to question Min-ah’s madam.
At her house, Yeo-jin is surprised to see Kyung-wan, who says that he was discharged from the army and wants to take his grandmother back to their home. When she asks him about Min-ah (Ga-young), he denies being close to her. But when she says that he must come to the police station to answer some questions, he furtively erases Ga-young’s pictures from his phone.
Episode 7
| Ep. 6 recap:
Yeo-jin identifies the man who met Min-ah (Ga-young) in the hotel as the police chief. After finding out that Dong-jae’s cellphone has the same ring tone as that of the person who answered Min-ah’s phone, Shi-mok and Yeo-jin pressure the madam to confess that she gave Min-ah’s address to Dong-jae. The Deputy Chief Prosecutor finds out about the operation that Shi-mok had as a child. Shi-mok and Eun-soo search Dong-jae’s office but fail to find Min-ah’s cellphone there. As Dong-jae confronts Eun-soo and Shi-mok, they find out that the Deputy Chief Prosecutor has been promoted as the new Chief Prosecutor. |
Chief Prosecutor Lee remembers his early days as a newbie prosecutor and how he justified accepting gifts from people he met in his work. He also remembers the first time he did a favor for Mr. Park.
Yeo-jin follows Dong-jae to a bridge where he gets ready to throw a bundle into a river. But when she yells at him to stop and he refuses, she reaches for her gun.
Someone secretly goes to Min-ah/Ga-young’s hospital room; the person removes her oxygen mask and uses a pillow to suffocate her.
Kyung-wan is arrested by Yeo-jin’s team. Later, Dong-jae meets with Chief Prosecutor Lee and the police chief; he says that the army’s division commander covered things up for Kyung-wan. The next day, Dong-jae holds a press conference where he condemns the division commander for using a soldier for his personal benefit.
Dong-jae goes to the interrogation room where Kyung-wan is being held; after sending the clerk out and stopping the cameras, he accuses Kyung-wan of murdering his father and assaulting Min-ah/Ga-young. Later on, Kyung-wan is brutally beaten up by Sergeant Soo-chan’s team.
Episode 8
| Ep. 7 recap:
Yeo-jin follows Dong-jae who goes into Mr. Park’s house and searches for something. Later on, she and Shi-mok find the cellphone that Dong-jae threw into the river. Instead of his regular army duties, Kyung-wan has been teaching golf to the division commander and his wife. The woman in high heels fails to kill Min-ah/Ga-young when the alarms go off and the nurse rushes to the room. Shi-mok and Yeo-jin catch Dong-jae trying to plant Min-ah/Ga-young’s cellphone in Kyung-wan’s room. Dong-hae exclaims that it was Chief Prosecutor Lee who killed Mr. Park. Meanwhile, in his office, Chief Prosecutor Lee deletes from his computer all his files on Min-ah/Ga-young and Mr. Park. |
Chief Prosecutor Lee suspends Dong-jae and orders Shi-mok to investigate if Dong-jae is involved in Mr. Park’s murder or in the assault on Min-ah/Ga-young. But he also extends Kyung-wan’s detention for two weeks.
Yeo-jin finds out that Kyung-wan was tortured. Despite Shi-mok’s appeal for her to keep quiet and lie low for the next two weeks, she refuses.
Shi-mok interrogates Dong-jae, and based on Chief Prosecutor Lee’s order, Eun-soo takes the memory card from the black box in Dong-jae’s car. After she leaves, Shi-mok borrows a gun from his assistants.
Eun-soo calls Dong-jae and accuses him of assaulting Min-ah/Ga-young. After checking the CCTV footage with their building’s security department, Dong-jae meets her on the street near Min-ah/Ga-young’s apartment.
Episode 9
| Ep. 8 recap:
Eun-soo pressures Dong-Jae to put all the blame for Mr. Park’s murder on Chief Prosecutor Lee and Chairman Lee. Dong-jae strangles her but stops himself from killing her. Unknown to them, Shi-mok is watching from nearby. The news breaks out that Mr. Park has bribed prosecutors and that Kyung-wan has been tortured by the police. Chief Prosecutor Lee appoints Shi-mok to lead the investigation on the corrupt activities of prosecutors. |
Shi-mok forms his investigation team, which includes Yeo-jin and his classmate from middle school, Jung-bon. He says that they will initially focus their investigation on Dong-jae and how he got Mr. Park out of being charged in a DUI hit-and-run case back in 2013. Later on, however, he adds Chairman Lee and his daughter Yeon-jae to his list of people to be investigated.
Shi-mok secretly talks to Eun-soo’s mother. But when Young Il-jae (Eun-soo’s father) finds out about it, he confronts Chief Prosecutor Lee.
The evidence mounts against Dong-jae; as an arrest warrant is prepared against him and the reporters are waiting for news about the investigation, he becomes dizzy and falls from the stairs; he’s rushed to the hospital.
Episode 10
| Ep. 9 recap:
Shi-mok’s team finds the evidence that Dong-jae hid inside one of the bathroom stalls. Tension arises in the dinner that Chief Inspector Lee arranged in his house for Shi-mok and the members of his investigation team. As Yeo-jin and Yeon-jae exchange some innuendos, Shi-mok and his team abruptly leave. Dong-jae escapes from the hospital and rushes to meet Chairman Lee; he tells Chairman Lee that Chief Prosecutor Lee is hiding something from him. In the hospital, Min-ah/Ga-young regains consciousness. |
To ensure Min-ah/Ga-young’s safety, Yeo-jin wants to transfer her to a secure location. While doing so, she finds out from the ICU nurse about the strange things that happened in Min-ah/Ga-young’s room; she goes to check the hospital’s CCTV footage, but Sergeant Soo-chan had already taken with him the hard drive containing the footage.
Prosecutor Yoon catches Kim Tae-gyun, the man who delivered the alleged bribe money to Young Il-jae, Eun-soo’s father, but Chairman Lee finds out about it. Later, Shi-mok interrogates Kim Tae-gyun and warns him that he could end up like Min-ah/Ga-young.
During a press conference, Shi-mok stuns the reporters with his report about the prosecutors who are about to be arrested and of the police chief’s involvement with Min-ah/Ga-young’s case.
Chairman Lee orders Chief Prosecutor Lee to shut down Shi-mok’s investigation. Soon after, Chief Prosecutor Lee is promoted as the Chief Secretary of South Korea’s president.
Episode 11
| Ep. 10 recap:
Kim Tae-gyun confesses to Shi-mok the bribery attempt on Young Il-Jae; Section Chief Kang and Dong-jae also confirm his story. When the police chief denies knowing Min-ah/Ga-young, Yeo-jin confronts him with pictures of him and Min-ah/Ga-young in the hotel. The ICU nurse confirms the identity of the person who went into Min-ah/Ga-young’s hospital room; later on, Yeo-jin goes to the house of Chief Secretary Lee to question Yeon-jae. |
After Yeon-jae denies knowing who Min-ah/Ga-young is, Yeo-jin says that she’s now a murder suspect and will be prohibited from leaving the country. But Yeon-jae simply laughs it off.
When Chairman Lee finds out about the travel ban against his daughter Yeon-jae, he contacts Dong-jae. As they’re talking, Chief Secretary Lee arrives. He asks Dong-jae to wait for him outside and then tells Chairman Lee that he has stopped the tax investigation on Hanjo Group. Chairman Lee feels relieved, considering that he’s working on a trillion won business deal. To keep Dong-jae quiet, Chief Secretary Lee offers him a job at the Blue House.
Through Sergeant Soo-chan, Police Chief Kim finds out where Yeo-jin has hidden Min-ah/Ga-young. As Yeo-jin fights off Sergeant Soo-chan, Police Chief Kim takes Min-ah/Ga-young, who’s in a wheelchair, and rushes her to the rooftop.
Episode 12
| Ep. 11 recap:
In the ICU, Yeon-jae saw how Police Chief Kim tried to kill Min-ah/Ga-young. Through an elaborate scheme involving his female clerk and Yeo-jin’s fellow police officers, Shi-mok arrests Police Chief Kim after Min-ah/Ga-young identifies him. Eun-soo confronts Chief Secretary Lee when her request for a re-trial of her father’s bribery conviction is denied. After Eun-soo leaves, Dong-jae secretly records the conversation between Chairman Lee and Chief Secretary Lee. Based on Min-ah/Ga-young’s incoherent words about the numbers “0” and “7” and about being cold, Shi-mok and Yeo-jin decide to inspect the basement of Mr. Park’s house. |
Shi-mok visits Yeon-jae and pressures her into confessing that she saw Police Chief Kim try to kill Min-ah/Ga-young. But she pleads with Shi-mok not to tell Chief Secretary Lee about what she saw in the hospital.
Dong-jae and Eun-soo visit Min-ah/Ga-young in the hospital. Eun-soo shows her a picture of Chief Secretary Lee and asks her if she has ever met him; Min-ah/Ga-young, however, freezes when she recognizes Dong-jae as the man who chased after her from the salon.
Sungmoon Daily, the newspaper that published the exposè on the corruption in the prosecutors’ office, publishes another exposè, this time on the anomalous contract for the purchase of weapons entered into by the Ministry of Defense and the Hanjo Group. After Chief Secretary Lee calls him up, the Prosecutor General decides to disband Shi-mok’s investigation team.
Episode 13
| Ep. 12 recap:
Shi-mok reveals to the CEO of Sungmoon Daily the anomalous contract between the Ministry of Justice and the Hanjo Group. In exchange, the CEO says that the whistleblower used a high school girl to deliver the information about the corruption in the prosecutors’ office. When Section Chief Kang and the other prosecutors protest the disbandment of Shi-mok’s investigation team, the Prosecutor General has no choice but to back down. After trying to visit Shi-mok in his apartment, Eun-soo sees a man with an umbrella following her. In Yeo-jin’s bathroom, Prosecutor Yoon takes off his shirt, revealing a tattoo on his back which contains what looks like “07.” |
To the delight of Shi-mok’s team, the government cancels the weapons deal that was brokered by Chairman Lee and Hanjo Group. But Shi-mok and his team also find out that the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office has officially ended their investigation with Police Chief Kim’s arrest; they have only ten days to wrap things up.
Eun-soo avoids meeting Prosecutor Yoon by dashing into her office. Later, she overhears Shi-mok tell Yeo-jin that they can add Young Il-jae to their list of suspects.
Yeo-jin calls up Shi-mok, saying that a reporter broke into Min-ah/Ga-young’s hospital room. Prosecutor Yoon volunteers to go the hospital and check what’s happening.
In one of his first official acts as Chief Prosecutor, former Section Chief Kang promotes Shi-mok and gives him a new assignment — in the USA.
Episode 14
| Ep. 13 recap:
Min-ah/Ga-young and her mother disappear from the hospital. Eun-soo is found dead with her throat slashed. Beside her is Prosecutor Yoon with his hands covered in blood. |
Yeo-jin disagrees with the other team members that they’re dealing with a serial killer. By tracking Eun-soo’s movements, she thinks that Eun-soo was kidnapped on her way home. Later on, she finds Shi-mok unconscious in a hospital bed; from the scans, the attending doctor tells her about the operation that Shi-mok went through as a child.
During Eun-soo’s funeral wake, tension erupts when Chief Secretary Lee arrives and Young Il-jae hits him with his cane.
Shi-mok interviews everyone who had some contact with Eun-soo before she died — his clerk, Yeo-jin, and Prosecutor Yoon. He realizes that, after Eun-soo overheard his conversation with Yeo-jin about Young Il-jae having some kind of evidence against Chairman Lee, she must have gone home to find that evidence.
While Yeo-jin’s team members are trying to find where the knife used to kill Eun-soo came from, Dong-jae finds in Chief Secretary Lee’s office a plane ticket.
After he visits Young Il-jae, Shi-mok, together with Yeo-jin, searches Eun-soo’s room. He finds a notebook with a page ripped out; he uses a pencil to shade the page underneath.
Episode 15
| Ep. 14 recap:
The evidence that Young Il-jae had proves that Chairman Lee committed tax evasion by distributing 200 billion won among his children. Prosecutor Yoon tries to escape, but at the airport, he’s captured by Shi-mok, Yeo-jin, her team members, and the SWAT team. |
Yeo-jin and her team members search Prosecutor Yoon’s house; later, after finding air freshener in Prosecutor Yoon’s car, Yeo-jin remembers Min-ah/Ga-young’s seizure.
Chief Secretary Lee asks Yeon-jae to sign some financial documents for a foundation; after saying goodbye to her as she leaves to go to the USA, he calls up the CEO of a bank.
Young Il-jae visits the prosecutors’s office, hoping to see and talk to Prosecutor Yoon. There, he explains to Shi-mok and Dong-jae the elaborate tax evasion schemes of Chairman Lee and how Chief Secretary Lee covered them up.
Chief Secretary calls up an assemblyman who used to be a prosecutor and tells him that they should help each other. Meanwhile, after studying the CCTV in the airport, Shi-mok realizes that Prosecutor Yoon had an accomplice.
Episode 16, Finale (with spoilers)
| Ep. 15 recap:
Prosecutor Yoon became outraged when Mr. Park used his influence to get the bus driver and the company found not liable or negligent in the crash that killed his son. When he tried to kill Mr. Park years ago, Chief Secretary Lee stopped him. Prosecutor Yoon was at the airport looking for his accomplice, who killed Eun-soo. The prosecutor who handled the case is the assemblyman whom Chief Secretary Lee called up for help. Based on Yoon’s answers and Dong-jae’s confirmation that the man with the umbrella looks like Chairman Lee’s secretary, Shi-mok deduces that it was Chief Secretary Lee who’s responsible for everything. |
Shi-mok brings to Chief Prosecutor Kang the numerous pieces of evidence from Chief Secretary Lee’s bag. They contain records of the various financial crimes that Chairman Lee and the Hanjo Group have committed for the past two years; they also contain records of the Hanjo Group’s collusion with public officials.
As Yeo-jin and a teammate arrest Mr. Woo in Taiwan and bring him back to Korea, Chairman Lee is arrested.
When Yeon-jae accuses him of being responsible for Chief Secretary Lee’s death, Shi-mok asks her to read the suicide letter.
Police Chief Kim pleads guilty and is sentenced to three and a half years of imprisonment.
Shi-mok appears on the TV program where he had announced that he will find Mr. Park’s killer two months ago. He explains that contrary to what was published in the newspapers, Chief Prosecutor Lee did not collect the evidence because he wanted a way out for himself but because he wanted to stop the corruption he has witnessed.
Yeo-jin and her teammate are promoted for solving the murders of Mr. Park and Eun-soo.
After ten months in Namhae Island, Shi-mok is called back to Seoul by the National Assembly to investigate the allegations of corruption against the Prime Minister.
Historical / cultural backgrounders and other information
A. In Ep. 2, Shi-mok tellls Yeo-jin that Mr. Park is a “sponsor,” which refers to someone who gives gifts and extends favors to public officials. In two or three episodes, Shi-mok mentions the “Busan financially sponsored prosecutors.” He was referring to a scandal back in 2010 involving prosecutors.
From “Top prosecutors face bribery investigation” (Korea Herald, May 2010):
Two senior prosecutors involved in a widening bribery scandal yesterday went through questioning as to whether they received money or other services from a businessman.
From “Chief prosecutor confirmed central in sponsorship ring, but will not face charges” (Hankyoreh, September 2010)
The special prosecutorial team has been criticized for unevenly applying the law to different colleagues
B. Other articles about prosecutors and corruption in South Korea.
1. “South Korea’s president curbs the power of prosecutors” | The Economist
2. “Top Prosecutor Denies Alleged Passivity Toward Bribery Investigation” (KBS)
South Korea’s chief prosecutor denied allegations that he has been deliberately passive about investigating alleged bribery of prosecutors linked to a hedge fund case.
3. “Former South Korean Justice Minister charged for corruption” (January 2020)
On 31 December 2019, South Korean prosecutors indicted former Justice Minister Cho Kuk on corruption charges. The indictment came one day after the National Assembly passed a controversial prosecution reform bill, for which Cho had advocated.
During his presidential election campaign, human rights lawyer and former Chief of Staff Moon Jae-In vowed to tackle corruption and the widespread collusion between officials and the chaebols—the large, family-run conglomerates, which dominate South Korea’s economy. Moon promised to reform the country’s justice system which has been accused both of shielding the wealthy and well-connected chaebolites from prosecution and instead focused on prosecuting officials and politicians according to their political beliefs.
4. “South Korea’s Government and Top Prosecutor Clash Once Again” (November 2020)
5. “South Korea set-up anti-corruption investigation agency” (January 2021)
6. “South Korea’s Moon Jae-in reassigns prosecutors probing his government” (The Straits Times, January 2020)
Any expectation among the South Korean public that the personnel moves would hurt the investigations reflected the society’s deep mistrust of the prosecution system, a presidential office official told reporters Thursday on the condition of anonymity.
7. “South Korean government tainted with corruption allegations” (December 2020)
President Moon’s public support has plunged to an all-time low following a dispute between his justice minister and the head of the prosecution. Moon had secured the presidency by pledging to stamp out corruption.
8. “Wife of South Korea’s former justice minister Cho Kuk arrested in corruption scandal” (The Straits Times, October 2019)
The arrest of Chung Kyung-shim, a college professor and the wife of former justice minister Cho Kuk, comes as part of an investigation by prosecutors into Mr Cho’s family’s financial investments and his children’s college admissions.
9. “S. Korea takes long overdue steps to rein in prosecution service, but task far from over” (Yonhap News Agency, December 2020)
The prosecution, one of the most powerful yet also, according to many, most unreliable state agencies, was not considered up to the daunting task of ferreting out corruption among the establishment that includes prosecutors themselves.
Lessons in photography from “Stranger” Season 1 with analysis of its cinematography
Doors and their symbolic or meaningful uses in “Stranger”
A. Introduction
(1) I first noticed the symbolic or meaningful use of doors in “Stranger” near the end of Ep. 1. After realizing that Kang Jin-sub is planning to take his own life, Shi-mok rushes to the prison compound. He’s facing the camera, and as the elevator door closes, the shot goes into slow motion, with the door framing his expressionless face. From that point on, I watched out for scenes where a character entered or exited a door.
(Note: I first became aware in the 1990s of the recurring and symbolic use of doors in the Oscar-winning film “The Last Emperor” (1987) directed by legendary filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci. Here’s the video of the young Puyi, the emperor, trying to get out of the Forbidden City).
(2) I also noticed that in Ep. 2, when Shi-mok and Yeo-jin leave Mr. Park’s house after reenacting the crime, they’re no longer in the frame, but the shot lingers on, with the camera pushing in almost unnoticeably. That focused my attention on the door in the center of the frame, making me (and probably other viewers too) think there’s something important behind that door. Well, in Ep. 4, we find out that it was a foreshadowing when a high school student opens that door and sees Min-ah’s bound and bloodied body. That Ep. 2 scene illustrates what’s called “Chekhov’s gun” (setup and payoff) in screenwriting.
I’m not saying that every scene where doors are used in this drama is designed to present a symbolism or meaning; only certain scenes involving doors are meant to convey symbols or meanings beyond what our eyes see.
B. The symbolic and narrative uses of doors in films
(1) In its article titled “How These Oscar Winning Films Use Doors To Tell Better Stories,” Studio Binder says: “By incorporating the doors, entrances/exits, and thresholds of your location into the scene, you will be able to communicate additional information about the characters and themes of the film, while also utilizing your location in a simple and impactful manner.”
The article cites four ways doors are used in films:
(a) to represent character relationships;
(b) to represent escape;
(c) to exemplify a separation of worlds;
(d) to communicate with the audience, that is, subtextual communication.
The Studio Binder article was inspired by the video essay “Doors In Film | A Mashup” by Darren Foley.
(2) This video essay was also cited in “What Can We Learn About Storytelling from over 50 Examples of Doors in Films?”
The article says: “There are countless ways to use doors as a narrative device -- to communicate power/weakness (who’s allowed in and who’s not), to communicate emotional/mental states (open doors vs. closed doors), and to elicit a few laughs (The Dude barricading his door the wrong way).”
(3) “Doors and doorways play a key part of tales in literature, theatre and film” (Fab Festival)
(a) Doorways in literature and film often represent barriers that need to be overcome, often only by those who have passed a test or shown their worth.
(b) Movies also play with the idea of doors as symbols of safety - or not.
(c) Doorways are also used in literature and film to represent turning points.
(d) Films also use doorways to represent life and death.
C. Relevant article: “Frozen: A Song of Doors and Windows”
D. Besides the uses of doors as cited above, I think “Stranger” uses the opening and closing of doors in the following ways:
(1) To show a character’s dilemma, emotional state, or turning point:
In Ep. 5, Yeo-jin urges the doctor to save Min-ah’s life because she’s a vital witness in a criminal case. But the doctor rebukes her, saying that he will try to save Min-ah whether she’s a vital witness or not.
After the doctor leaves, Yeo-jin seems to have been planted on her feet, with the doctor’s words ringing in her mind. I think, based on the Fab Festival article, that was a turning point in Yeo-jin’s career as a police officer. In Ep. 10, Yeo-jin tells her team chief to stop badgering Min-ah and then speaks calmly and reassures her.
In Ep. 10, Police Chief Kim has been summoned to appear before Shi-mok’s investigating team, and Yeo-jin’s teammates ask her if she can handle questioning her own boss. She hesitates at the door and exhales as she enters to see Police Chief Kim glaring at her.
In Ep. 12, Eun-soo sees the tattoo on Prosecutor Yoon’s back; that tattoo reveals to us the viewers that he was the man who attacked Min-ah and possibly murdered Mr. Park. He entered the door earlier as a reserved and dependable member of Shi-mok’s investigating team, but when he goes through the door to return to the party, he’s now the principal suspect in two brutal crimes. And the way he glares at Eun-soo, he could be contemplating another crime.
(2) To show a character’s doubt or distrust of another character:
In Ep. 11, Section Chief Kang takes Shi-mok and the other prosecutors to visit the newly appointed Chief Secretary Lee. As the prosecutors leave, Shi-mok looks back at Chief Secretary Lee as the door closes.
(3) To show a character’s personality, nature, motivation, or inner thoughts:
Sergeant Soo-chan is in the elevator, but Dong-jae stops the elevator from closing and enters it. As the door closes, Dong-jae is shot with a close-up, in the middle of the frame, and with a sinister look in his eyes.
(The subject is shot with a close-up in the middle of the frame ... hey, that’s Darren Aronofsky’s cinematographic style!)
(4) To show tension, conflict, or division between characters:
In Ep. 6, Eun-soo makes up an excuse with Dong-jae’s secretary so that she and Shi-mok can search the office for Min-ah’s cellphone.
In Ep. 7, Eun-soo is startled to see Dong-jae inside the elevator; she backs out, but Dong-jae grabs her hand and forces her into the elevator.
In Ep. 7, Shi-mok and Yeo-jin emerge from doors as they catch Dong-jae trying to plant Min-ah’s cellphone in Kyung-wan’s bedroom.
In Ep. 7, Yeo-jin goes home to tell Kyung-wan’s mother that he was arrested; she hesitates to enter and, from the door, looks at Kyung-wan’s mother, who smiles at her. She closes the door fully, and we can only imagine what she said and how much Kyung-wan’s mother cried.
In Ep. 11, Yeo-jin visits Yeon-jae to question her about how she tried to kill Min-ah in the hospital.
I may be reading too much into the last two scenes above, but notice that in Ep. 7 (Yeo-jin and Kyung-wan’s mother), Yeo-jin closes the door, while in Ep. 11 (Yeo-jin and Yeon-jae), she doesn’t close the door. It may be because of her previous frosty conversation with Yeon-jae during the dinner, or she is being rude and blunt towards Yeon-jae whom she suspects of having tried to kill Min-ah.
E. As I said above, not all scenes that have doors in them are designed to be symbolic of something. With the scenes below, I’m not sure if the doors are meant to symbolize something. Those of you who are more imaginative or more insightful than me can probably explain if these doors are meant to symbolize something.
Scene from Ep. 9: Yeo-jin questions Shi-mok why he didn’t tell anyone in the investigating team that he called Eun-soo’s mother as a witness. He replies that he didn’t want that information to be leaked out by anyone among tgd track members. When she asks if he is investigating her as he has investigated everyone else in the team, he says that there’s no need, implying that he implicitly trusts her. She smiles, pats him on the forearm, and exits the door. He follows after her, with what looks like a smile on his face.
Scenes from Ep. 2: Shi-mok rides an elevator up to the 10th floor of the hotel; with him is Min-ah. He exits the elevator, walks toward his room, but hesitates at the door while glancing at Min-ah. After entering his room, he turns back but hesitates in opening the door to look at where Min-ah is going; he finally decides not to open the door.
F. Superb editing of certain scenes
(1) Whether the scene in Ep. 2 of Shi-mok hesitating to open the door and see where Min-ah is going means something, I must say that the scene is superbly edited. The cuts — from Shi-mok to Min-ah, from Min-ah turning around to Shi-mok turning to avoid her gaze, from Shi-mok’s hand touching the door handle to a close-up of his face — create a tension-filled moment.
(2) In Ep. 12, Eun-soo leaves something for Shimok at his door. As the elevator closes, she sees someone come out of Shi-mok’s apartment. She pushes the button to open the door, but the person retreats into the apartment. The cuts — Eun-soo entering the elevator, the door closing, the man coming out of the apartment, Eun-soo pressing the button to open the elevator, etc. — create a suspense-filled moment.
G. Frequent use of converging lines
From “Use Converging Lines to Improve Your Composition” (Expert Photography):
“Converging line are a great way to add depth to your photos, and lead the viewers direction to a certain part of the frame, much like diagonal lines do.”
“When you place your subject in the foreground with lines converging behind them, you create multiple, contrasting points of interest.”
From “Image Composition: Converging Lines” (Pentax Forums): Uses of converging lines - create depth; draw attention to an image element or the subject; keep a viewer’s eyes in the photograph; guide a viewer’s eyes through a photograph; and add meaning to an image.
The GIF below shows some shots from the drama that use converging lines combined with Dutch angle:
The GIF below shows some shots from the drama that use converging lines with the subject near the vanishing point:
The GIF below shows some shots from the drama with converging lines behind the subject:
The GIF below shows some shots from the drama with converging lines that use imaginary instead of physical lines:
Lessons in photography from “Stranger”
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| Natural frames |
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| Out of focus highlights |
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| Background blur |
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| Diagonal lines |
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| Dutch angle or Dutch tilt |
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| Linear perspective |
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| Lines of direction |
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| Symmetry and balance |
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| Low angle shot |
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| (90-degree) Dutch angle or Dutch tilt |
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| Low angle shot |
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| Foreground blur |
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| Dutch angle or Dutch tilt, converging lines |
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| Converging lines, silhouette |
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| Converging lines |
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| Baroque Diagonal (Dynamic Symmetry) |
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| Converging lines |
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| Foreground blur, Dutch angle |
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| Foreground blur, converging lines |
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| Background blur, natural frames |
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| Converging lines |
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| Leading lines |
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| Symmetry and balance, low angle shot |
