Divorce Attorney Shin season 1 finale recap, review & ending explained

Open Go TV / April 10, 2023 / Reviews

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In the finale of Divorce Attorney Shin, Sung-han fights Jeong-guk and Yeong-ju in court to give Gi-yeong a better life. The episode is now streaming on Netflix.

Recap

Sung-han pays Chairman Seo a visit and tells him that Ms. Ma is only divorcing him to secure Gi-yeong’s share in the company. He tells him to give her the share and stay married to her, as he does not want her to make a sacrifice to protect Gi-yeong.

He reveals to Chairman Seo that his endgame is to file for the termination of Jeong-guk’s parental rights over Gi-yeong, regardless of Chairman Seo’s divorce.

Chairman Seo decides to give Ms. Ma her share and not divorce her, but his team of lawyers will fight Sung-han in Gi-yeong’s case. Gi-yeong refuses to tell Jeong-guk what he said to Sung-han.

On the other hand, Seo-jin is conflicted about taking the job at the radio because she knows it is a hard time for Sung-han and that he needs her.

Yu-seok gets the cafe that he wanted and considers it his severance pay. Sung-han figures out that Yu-seok was trying to threaten Yeong-ju by coming to meet Jeong-sik, and he got what he wanted from her.

Choi Jun is struggling to get Jun-hui child support because those cases take years in court. Jun-hui’s mother stole her mother-in-law’s recipe and started a franchise with her second husband. Sung-han advises him to hit Jun-hui’s mother where it will hurt her.

Chairman Seo thinks that Sung-han wants Gi-yeong for his inheritance, but Ms. Ma tells him that Sung-han agreed to negotiate with Chairman Seo on the condition that Ms. Ma would not give Gi-yeong her share.

Earlier, she was divorcing him for Gi-yeong’s sake, but now she truly wants to divorce him. She tells Chairman Seo that she will be going ahead with the divorce.

Choi Jun meets Jun-hui’s mother and stepfather. He brings along a childhood picture of hers and threatens to hold a protest outside their restaurant. He also plans to file a lawsuit for the ownership of the recipe.

He tells them that he will send this story to Seo-jin’s popular show to inform the restaurant’s customers about their deeds. This would affect their business, so Jun-hui’s mother agrees to pay child support as well as the overdue payments.

Sung-han meets Gi-yeong to explain to him that he will be very rich if he continues living with his father. However, if he chooses to live with Sung-han, he will have just enough to complete his education and get married, and Gi-yeong still wants to live with Sung-han.

In court, Sung-han presents Gi-yeong’s psychiatric diagnosis and gets Mr. Jung to testify to prove that Gi-yeong is suffering from a severe case of child depression because Yeong-ju failed to get him help in time, even though she was told about it.

He highlights how Mr. Jung, who spent more time with Gi-yeong than his own father, and Sung-han were separated from him. Gi-yeong is suffering because of his parents’ indifference and bad decisions.

Directo gets Gi-yeong’s new driver to lie in court about Gi-yeong taking her permission to see Sung-han to prove that he did not run to Sung-han because he was disturbed and unhappy. However, Sung-han proves that she is lying by showing the CCTV footage of Gi-yeong’s classroom.

Gi-yeong’s eating habits are also discussed in court. Sung-han once again proves that Gi-yeong has been binge eating because he has not been well.

Yu-seok is also called to court to testify. Before he goes in, Jeong-sik tells him that this is his last chance to come clean and live decently, but he dismisses him.

In court, Sung-han questions him about giving Ju-hwa’s psychiatric records because of which she lost Gi-yeong’s custody to Jeong-guk’s lawyers. Yu-seok denies even knowing about these records and breaking the law.

Sung-han also questions him about receiving the cafe as severance pay, which is much higher than what attorneys who are much better than him at Keumhwa are given. Yu-seok still does not budge, and Sung-han fails to prove that he was bribed by Yeong-ju.

Jeong-guk’s lawyer then attacks Sung-han and questions his ability to raise Gi-yeong better than his father. The court decides to send a custody inspector to Gi-yeong’s house and interview him before the next trial.

Sung-han is stressed and upset because the case is difficult to win. Jeong-sik sells his car and tries to pay Yu-seok in exchange for telling the truth in court, but Yu-seok declines.

Jeong-sik tells Sung-han about it, but Sung-han is mad at him; he is just upset. Sung-han cries with his friends. Sung-han meets Jeong-guk and asks him how can he call himself a good father. He also mentions Yeong-ju’s phone call that killed Ju-hwa.

Ms. Kim is closing the ramen restaurant and going to Europe for two months. Additionally, Ho-young, who holds herself responsible for what happened to Seo-jin, meets Sung-han and tells him that Seo-jin is not taking the radio job because she wants to support him.

Seo-jin receives hate comments while she is hosting her live show. She refuses to end the show because Hyeon-u had asked her to not be deterred by haters. She stands up for herself and insults the hater in turn.

Later, Sung-han also encourages her to take the job at the radio station and go back to being a DJ. She wishes him good luck, as he is going to fight again in court the next day.

Divorce Attorney Shin season 1 ending explained in detail:

Does Jeong-guk testify in court?

At the next session of the trial, Jeong-guk’s lawyer points out that there is not an adequate reason for the termination of his parental rights.

Sung-han argues that a child needs love and support in life, which Gi-yeong has not been receiving; he had given the same reason to Ms. Ma when she had asked him about fighting this case.

He implores the court and Jeong-guk to think about Gi-yeong’s feelings and what he wants. Jeong-guk had earlier asked Ms. Ma about what Yeong-ju had said to Ju-hwa before her death.

Ms. Ma had not told anyone about the phone call, but she finally told him that Yeong-ju had threatened to make Gi-yeong suffer and rob him of his share in the company if Ju-hwa did not get out of his life.

Jeong-guk had refused to answer Sung-han’s questions in court, but after this, he agrees to be questioned, much to Sung-han’s relief and Yeong-ju’s disappointment.

Is Yu-seok’s crime exposed?

Sung-han asks Jeong-guk about Ju-hwa’s psychiatric reports, and Jeong-guk admits that he retrieved them. He also tells the court that Yu-seok had told him about Ju-hwa’s reports, proving that Yu-seok was bribed, and that is why Ju-hwa lost Gi-yeong’s custody.

Sung-han asks him what would happen to Gi-yeong if he found out about his father’s actions one day; the things that he did to take his custody from Ju-hwa, his biological mother.

He also asks Jeong-guk if this is a suitable family environment for Gi-yeong. Jeong-guk is left speechless, but Ms. Ma approves of him finally doing the right thing.

What is the court’s decision?

The court decides to limit Jeong-guk’s parental rights over Gi-yeong, and Sung-han is declared his legal guardian. Sung-han gets the right to protect, educate, designate residence, and discipline Gi-yeong, along with other rights regarding his custody.

Sung-han is told his duties, and then he goes to pick Gi-yeong up. Gi-yeong is finally happy. He starts living with Sung-han, and the two are happy together.

What happens to everyone else?

Since the trial is over, Hyeong-geun decides to accompany Ms. Kim to Europe, and Seo-jin returns to the radio. Sung-han also helps Ms. Ma get divorced; she seems much happier now.

Meanwhile, Jeong-guk refuses to speak to Yeong-ju. He is willing to live with her only because they have a daughter. He deliberately asked for his rights to be limited and not terminated because then Gi-yeong would not have had a share in the company.

Now that their secret is out, Yeong-ju no longer needs to bribe Yu-seok with the cafe. Yu-seok is seen crying out in frustration because he lost the cafe. At the end of it all, Sung-han enjoys a bottle of wine, but not without his two best friends.

Review

The finale ends on a positive note for the good characters. Their issues get resolved, and they all move on in life, leaving their past burdens behind. It was a predictable finale but enjoyable nonetheless. However, the ending did seem a little rushed.
In this episode, Sung-han finally cries in front of his friends. With the fear of losing Gi-yeong looming over his head, the scene feels cathartic. It is a scene that needed to be in the finale.
The case in the episode seems worthy of the finale; it had just the right amount of tension. The dialogues, gestures, music, and timing were used judiciously to create suspense and evoke emotions.
The directors made good use of the space in the courtroom to depict that Sung-han is all alone in his fight against a powerful family. That changes when Ms. Ma enters the scene and sides with him.