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| Photo: Studio S, Mongjakso |
[By Kim Tae-hyung, Sports Today] Yoo Yeon-seok, disguised as a shaman, pulled off an audacious confession sting that helped unmask the real killer — delivering both a thrilling catharsis and a quietly moving emotional payoff for viewers.
Episode 6 of SBS’s Friday–Saturday drama Shin Irang Law Office, which aired on the 28th, followed Shin Irang (Yoo Yeon-seok), who was arrested on suspicion of murder and later released for lack of evidence, as he took a risky, unconventional approach to catch the true culprit behind a genius scientist’s death.
Shin Irang’s otherworldly performance sent ratings surging. The episode scored 10.6% in the Seoul metropolitan area, 10% nationwide, and peaked at 12.8% minute-by-minute, ranking No. 1 in its time slot and outperforming all other Friday and Saturday mini-series. It also topped all currently airing mini-series and set a personal best for the series for the third consecutive week. Among viewers aged 20–49 — the key demographic metric — the show averaged 3.5% and peaked at 4.22%, ranking No. 1 across all channels and programs for the week in that age group. In short, it dominated both average ratings and the key demographic, confirming its status as this season’s breakout drama.
Shin Irang had been detained on suspicion of killing Jeon Sang-ho (Yoon Na-mu), but forensic analysis showed that fingerprints on a glove, once seen as key evidence, had been transferred during the discovery of the body rather than during the crime. He was released as a witness at the level of the initial discoverer. Narrowly freed from legal peril, he rebuffed his worried mother Park Kyung-hwa’s (Kim Mi-kyung) desperate pleas and doubled down on his commitment to defend wronged spirits — insisting that listening to the unjust dead mattered more to him than money or fame.
Shin Irang, who channels the dead, and his deceased client Jeon Sang-ho initially suspected lab director Kim Tae-joon (Kim Hong-pa) as the killer, but the truth surfaced in a visitation room. While possessing Shin Irang’s body, Jeon confronted his wife Kim Soo-jung (Jung Ga-hee) and whispered their private love code. Stunned, Kim Soo-jung tried to leave but collapsed into tears. Jeon then confessed that he had admitted to the murder not because his father was guilty, but because only his father could care for his ailing mother (Park Hee-soon) — a heartbreaking revelation that shifted the investigation’s trajectory.
Meanwhile, Han Na-hyun (Lee Som) made a calculated decision. Not because she believed in ghosts, but because Shin Irang knew details about the crime scene from the start, she chose to use him as a key player to solve the case.
After apologizing for the earlier misunderstanding, Han Na-hyun teamed up with Shin Irang and began reconstructing the events. She focused the investigation after concluding that Kim Soo-jung’s unusually deep sleep on the night of the murder likely resulted from chamomile tea a senior researcher, Koo Hyo-joong (Eom Jun-gi), had given her. Based on the autopsy — which noted Koo’s overly detailed, irritated responses when not understood and repeated blows to odd places — they identified Koo, who showed pronounced primitive tendencies, as a prime suspect.
Through Shin Irang, Jeon Sang-ho revealed that Koo had long harbored feelings for Kim Soo-jung and knew the lab’s inner workings better than anyone. They also learned that Koo’s animal cloning research had been halted by Director Kim Tae-joon and that Kim’s resignation after Jeon’s death positioned Koo as a likely successor — details that deepened suspicion. After reviewing the autopsy, Shin Irang and Jeon singled out the metal rod Koo habitually used to strike animals as the probable murder weapon. But when Shin Irang and Yoon Bong-soo (Jeon Seok-ho) infiltrated the lab’s breeding facility, they found so many metal rods scattered about that identifying the exact weapon proved impossible.
Shin Irang then staged an audacious trap. He set Yoon Bong-soo up as a stand-in for Jeon Sang-ho, used an AI voice changer and other devices, and transformed the breeding facility into a staged “haunted” scene. Under pin lights, Shin, posing as a shaman, asked chillingly, “Do you still see me as a lawyer?” Terrified, Koo Hyo-joong broke down and confessed that inferiority and jealousy had driven him to commit the crime. Enraged, Jeon’s spirit again possessed Shin Irang and, through him, unleashed a raw, devastating rebuke — “After everything I did for you, how could you do this to me?” — delivering an intensely immersive moment. At the peak of the tension, Han Na-hyun burst in, released the kennels, and used the attack dogs to subdue Koo — a bold, girl-crush moment that thrilled viewers.
After the case was closed, Jeon Sang-ho used Shin Irang’s body to complete a treatment, and the drug helped Kim Soo-jung’s mother begin to recover from her rare illness. Having left his family one final gift, Jeon departed in peace. The case also pushed Shin Irang to grow, as he came to appreciate the people who stay by his side.
But at the episode’s end, just after he said goodbye to Jeon Sang-ho on the rooftop of the Okcheon Building, a mysterious, sorrowful presence enveloped Shin Irang — hinting at the arrival of another restless soul and closing the episode on a chilling cliffhanger that left viewers eager for the next installment.
SBS’s Friday–Saturday drama Shin Irang Law Office airs every Friday and Saturday at 9:50 p.m.
[Kim Tae-hyung, Sports Today ent@stoo.com]
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