'Stranger 2' aka 'Forest of Secrets 2' Episodes 11, 12: Shi-mok, Yeo-jin get punished for closing in on truth
'Stranger 2' aka 'Forest of Secrets 2' Episodes 11 and 12 see how Seo Dong-jae's abduction almost led to the ruination of the Police Department, but prosecutor Hwang Shi-mok (Cho Seung-woo) and Senior Inspector Han Yeo-jin (Bae Doo-na) stop an innocent cop from being accused of an abduction that he did not commit. A witness had arrived to claim that he had seen a man stuff another person in the backside of the car. This, the witness had claimed on the comments section of the video that was posted by Seo Dong-jae's wife begging for any witnesses to provide information in exchange for a monetary reward. When the evidence suggested that the watch at the scene of the crime was owned by a cop, the Chief of the Intelligence Bureau -- Choi Bit and her boss -- were worried.
Rightfully so, as the prosecutors were ready to pounce on this case as a strong reason as to why prosecutors shouldn't let go off their right to investigate and indict cases with the Police Department just being a supportive team that helps the prosecution in the investigation. This is the main plot point of the second season of the show which places Yeo-jin and Shi-mok on opposing sides as each police and prosecutor wrestle for power. However, beyond this, the fact that there is corruption on both ends and that not one side should have the ultimate power in indicting cases is the point that Shi-mok and Yeo-jin make. This is even before the two of them have learned the truth about the police and prosecution having already worked together to bury cases that they deemed were necessary to help them move up the ladder. We learned this when Shi-mok began digging further into the death of Chief Prosecutor Park Gwang-su in relation to the abduction of prosecutor Seo Dong-jae.
This case had many holes and the further that Shi-mok investigated, the more people associated with the case felt anxious. Surprisingly, the very people on opposing sides of the Council Choi Bit and Woo Tae-ha turned out to be the ones who had worked together to bury the case of Gwang-su's death many years ago. The prosecutor was on his way to the vacation home that belonged to Hanjo Corporation and according to reports, this man who had never had any drinks reportedly died due to a stroke caused by the alcohol that he had had before he had left for the day. However, the fact that Gwang-su had met people belonging to Hanjo is something that no one is aware of and Dong-jae had gotten quite close to finding out the truth.
After him, it is Shi-mok and Yeo-jin. However, when Tae-ha and Yeo-jin begun to get closer; they are stopped by their bosses in the guise of preparing for the council. By burying the two of them in the work to prepare their arguments for the Council, both Yeo-jin and Shi-mok's boss believe that they will successfully keep the two busybodies at bay from the case that is a record of corruption of higher officials in the police agency and the prosecution office. However, neither of them realizes that Shi-mok and Yeo-jin are individuals who put their beliefs before the cause and that is the reason why the two had even gotten closer in the prior season. Their thoughts and their ethics matched in a manner that was not common.
This holds true even in the current season as despite being told to stop investigating into the disappearance of Seo Dong-jae, both of them do not hold back and instead decide to push forward. They understand that the chances of Seo Dong-jae returning unharmed are less, however, they do not want to give up on the investigation. While the two of them are busy navigating through the Council meets and the investigation, Choi Bit agrees to meet Hanjo's current lawyer after realizing that there might be another player who knows what really happened to prosecutor Gwnag-su. However, Tae-ha doesn't let her meet the lawyer by herself. He is also the one to propose the plan to distract both Shi-mok and Yeo-jin from Seo Dong-jae by piling other work on them So he also manages to get Choi Bit to agree for a meeting with the lawyer in his presence.
Surprisingly, when they arrive at the location for the meeting, after a rigorous security check; both Choi Bit and Tae-ha are shocked to find Lee Yeon-jae of Hanjo Corporation waiting for them. Choi Bit has never met her before, but Tae-ha has met her and has also heard about her from her father while he had dealt with the Gwang-su case. So he seems a lot more comfortable in her presence than Choi Bit and at this point, we wonder, could it be someone on Yeon-jae's side who had kidnapped Dong-jae?
'Forest of Secrets 2' aka 'Stranger 2' originally airs on tvN on Saturdays and Sundays at 9 pm KST in South Korea and can be streamed on Netflix.