May It Please the Court, K-drama looks at justice and the law

May It Please the Court is a complicated legal drama from Korea. Two excellent lead characters pull viewers along with a story about righting wrongs, seeking revenge, and the quest for justice. There are 12 episodes of an hour or more each. Plenty of time for keeping secrets, revealing surprises, and finding a path to truth and justice.

May It Please the Court begins with Noh Chak-hee (Ryeo-won Jung) winning a case for a big law firm and not caring who she hurts along the way. We are made to believe Chak-hee is heartless and aloof, but we quickly learn there’s more to her than a first glance reveals.

Ryeo-won Jung is outstanding in the role, a fine actress with a great range.

For political reasons, Chak-hee is sent away from the big company run by Jang Ki-do (Jin-yeong Jeong). He has political ambitions and a checkered past he wants to hide from the public.

Chak-hee’s new job is as a public defender working with Jwa Si-baek (Lee Kyoo-hyung). They mostly have a contentious relationship. As the series progresses they learn to respect and admire each other, but a full-out romance does not develop between them. There are hints, but it doesn’t go there.

Si-baek is a soft hearted pushover of a lawyer, at least in Chak-hee’s opinion at first. He helps people for free and does all sorts of kind things for clients.

These two get involved in a series of revenge murders of well-known and rich men. All the murders involve torture with water. The killer uses a distinctive knot in the nylon rope he ties them with. Each victim is forced to his knees in a begging position before dying.

It takes a long time for the police to grasp that there’s a serial murderer. The way the cases are related isn’t obvious at first. Slowly we learn that Si-baek is connected to these men and others in his family are as well. Chak-hee is also connected to this group of men. Those connections are revealed bit by bit.

The secrets go back 30 years to when the men were involved in something bad and Si-baek and Chak-hee were just children. What happened all those years ago still affects them and has a bearing on how the story turns out.

K-dramas are tediously slow and soapy. They are also compelling and full of interesting characters. This one wasn’t as interesting as some others I’ve watched, but the actors were excellent. It takes the story a long time to get all the answers and reach a conclusion that feels more about justice and right than about revenge. Chak-hee digs out more of the answers than the police. She smart and even devious when needed.

This series was originally on Disney + but has moved to Hulu now. Hulu has two versions – one in Korean and one dubbed in English.