'Forest of Secrets 2' aka 'Stranger 2' Episode 3: Shi-mok and Yeo-jin do their best on opposing sides
'Forest of Secrets 2' aka 'Stranger 2' Episode 3 begins with Shi-mok (Cho Seung-woo) meet a new player who would be a part of the upcoming Police Prosection Council. This man seems to be a buddy of Chief Tae-ha (Choi Moo-sung) and their easy relationship is something that seems to make Shi-mok quite uncomfortable. The fact that they also force him to eat food that he hasn't tried before in the guise of being a caring boss comes across as inconsiderate. Despite all of this, Shi-mok is not bothered, because he has seen much worse in the past, to which we have been a witness. His charm is his objectivity even in the face power and that characteristic has come through in this season as well.
So when the two other prosecutors who also work on the Police Prosecution Council, continue to bond over delicacies, Shi-mok decides to get work done. The reason why he was brought over to the Police Prosecution Council team was that the Police team had initially decided to bring him on board as an advisor who would support their claims and add weight to their arguments. To stop this, Tae-ha has decided to work not only with Shi-mok but Shi-mok's former colleague Seo Dong-jae (Lee Joon-hyuk). He sees a way to use both of them and it begins with reinvestigating a case that was earlier closed as suicide.
A patrolling officer was reported to have died by suicide by his fellow officers and it was stated that the officer who died suffered from depression. The case was closed without conducting even an autopsy. So now, after a prosecutor who was investigating a corrupt bar owner heard about the speculation that the patrolling officer was killed by fellow cops who were being bribed by all the bars in the neighborhood that was being patrolled, the case gets discovered by Dong-jae.
For now, he speculates that the officer who was depressed was investigating the others for bribery. Further proof to the argument is provided when a few bar owners state that the dead officer had come by investigating the others. The fact that the body was found by the same officers who claimed that their colleague had depression was what rubbed Dong-jae the wrong way. Considering the police's involvement, Dong-jae also decided to make use of this case to get closer to the Supreme Court Prosecutors office.
While Shi-mok is investigating into this case, Yeo-jin (Bae Doo-na) has an objective of her own to fulfill. To get an officer who is a senior, but has also not passed out from the police academy be a part of the Police Prosection Council to add more credibility to the team that would be requesting authority on investigating cases. In the struggle to wrestle power from the prosecutor, the police are doing as much as possible and one of the biggest parts of their offense is their positive public image.
So Yeo-jin decides to bring someone she knows, trusts and fits all the criteria into the team and that is lieutenant Jang Geon. So the moment that she does bring him over to be a part of the team that will head out to the council, Yeo-jin had brought over someone who would be supportive of her as well. This changes the dynamics within the police team, but Choi Bit is not aware of any of this. The fact that Shi-mok also doesn't give in to higher authority just because they are his boss, is also something that Tae-ha is going to face trouble with and it looks like the two powers leading the police and prosecution side do not see what is going to be coming at them.
Even as we wait to see how Shi-mok and Yeo-jin manage on the opposing sides, what we can be certain of is that Hanjo is yet again going to be the conglomerate in the middle of a huge power struggle.
'Forest of Secrets 2' or 'Stranger 2' is set to premiere on August 15 and originally airs on tvN on Saturdays and Sundays at 9 pm KST in South Korea and can be streamed on Netflix.