SUMMARY: A prosecutor who has it all. A promising career with a loving wife and daughter. His last memory is celebrating his daughter’s birthday, and asking his wife to wake him up at 6 o’clock in the morning. But he woke up in a prison cell. He is prisoner number 3866 and they say he killed his wife and daughter. The wife’s body was found but the whereabouts of the daughter’s body is unknown. But that’s impossible! The prosecutor says he has no memory and he tells anyone and everyone that there is no way he’s a murderer. But the evidence against him is compelling. Compelling? Perhaps. But is it true?
The accused is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. But in “Defendant”, the accused, Park Jung-Woo, is guilty and his innocence is not even considered. They gave him the death penalty. However, it’s difficult to bring him to trial because he can’t remember anything! The prosecutors were so determined to wrap up his case that they even faked the crime scene reenactment by using someone else.
Another prosecutor, Seo Eun-Hye, noticed when reviewing the video that the person serving as the substitute was right-handed. She knew the defendant was left-handed. How did she know? One time he slapped her really hard. It was very humiliating and not a moment in her professional career that she’s likely to ever forget. Even so, she still wanted to be his public defender.
But what happened 4 months before Park Jung-Woo became Prisoner 3866 on death row? Cha Min-Ho a being investigated. His family knows him as the bad twin and the troublemaker. If he died his mother would grieve but his father would not miss him at all. Cha Min-Ho’s twin brother, Cha Sun-Ho, went to his brother’s apartment and asked him to turn himself in to the police. In the heat of the moment, Cha Min-Ho came up with a better idea. Kill his twin and trade places. Only Cha Sun-Ho did not die immediately. He was taken to the hospital and regained consciousness for a brief moment. Long enough to whisper his last dying words to Park Jung-Woo.
Park Jung-Woo suspected that Cha Min-Ho had murdered his twin brother, and took his place. But he needed proof. He was very close to getting the proof he needed when … he regained consciousness a Prisoner 3866. The memory of celebrating his daughter’s birthday with his wife is vivid and clear. Then there are bits and pieces like the sound of a doorbell. But no other memories are coming together.
Seo Eun-Hye convinces Park Jung-Woo to let her be his public defender. She believes she can help him piece together his memories and prove either his guilt or his innocence. Whether or not he’s innocent, she does not know. But she firmly believes that he has the right to a fair trial. If they fabricated the crime scene reenactment, there’s a possibility there are other flaws in the investigation and the real murderer is still out there. The fact that the daughter’s body was never found might also indicate the child could still be alive. One can hope!
My personal rating is the same as the Viki viewers.
I am more than happy to be very generous with my rating because of the two male leads: Ji Sung and Uhm Ki-Joon. The plot was very well-scripted and well-acted. I like the idea of the evil twin who murders the good twin and takes his place and a brilliant prosecutor who goes to sleep happy and wakes up in a hellish nightmare. Every episode was intense and captivating. One reviewer said this was one of their favorite series they re-watched during the COVID pandemic lockdown.
Review of Korean Drama “Defendant” | Chasing Carefree (“…gripping and intense thriller which made me suffer from anxiety attacks at times cos it was just so exciting!”)
Review “Defendant” a Korean drama: To unmask the truth! | just focus
Defendant (Series Review) | Drama for Real
Viu Singapore. “Innocent Defendant (피고인) Teaser #1 .” YouTube, 6 Feb. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egqQGhAlZiA.
♦
Copy and paste this URL into your WordPress site to embed
Copy and paste this code into your site to embed
