Tamal Kundu
Netflix’s ‘The Glory’ is a South Korean revenge drama series that follows Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo), who suffers vicious bullying at the hands of fellow students at her high school. Eighteen years later, she returns to their lives to exact revenge. Along the way, Dong-eun finds several people to help her. One of them is a plastic surgeon named Joo Yeo-jeong (Lee Do-hyun), who becomes her closest ally as she metes out justice on those who tortured her and burned her with curling irons.
It is revealed that Yeo-jeong’s past is also riddled with pain and tragedy. His father, a renowned surgeon and then-owner of the Seoul Joo General Hospital, was brutally murdered by a man named Kang Yeong-cheon. If you are wondering whether Yeo-jeong will be able to get his revenge against his father’s killer, here is what we think. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Yeo-jeong’s Quest for Revenge
As the writers of ‘The Glory’ neatly tie up most of the plot threads by episode 16, Yeo-jeong’s desire for revenge is one of the few things in the show that remain unfulfilled. It’s not that the series doesn’t address that, it does, but we don’t get to see Dong-eun and Yeo-jeong making Yeong-cheon suffer for his wrongdoings.
In comparison, with Yeo-jeong’s help, Dong-eun exacts absolute revenge on her tormentors. Son Myeong-o and Jeon Jae-joon die; Lee Sa-ra and Park Yeon-jin are sent to prison; and Choi Hye-jeong has a scar she will bear for the rest of her life, and her vocal cords are also permanently damaged. When she is done, Dong-eun says goodbyes to everyone that has helped her, including Yeo-jeong, and prepares to die by suicide, but Yeo-jeong’s mother, Park Sang-im, stops her. She tells Dong-eun that Yeo-jeong asked her permission to help the other woman with her pursuit of revenge. Park Sang-im now asks Dong-eun’s permission to save the latter’s life, pleading her to pull Yeo-jeong out of his personal hell.
Yeo-jeong’s father, Dr. Joo, was an idealistic man. Despite knowing that Yeong-cheon was a killer, he agreed to operate on him, as he knew if Yeong-cheon were to be sent to another hospital, he would also be a danger to the doctors and staff there. As Yeong-cheon later relates to Yeo-jeong, he decided to kill Dr. Joo after hearing him speak about Yeo-jeong. They were supposed to meet that night, but as he couldn’t make it to the appointment, Dr. Joo asked his staff to tell his son to go home and not eat ramen. Psychotic as he is, Yeong-cheon became angry, believing Dr. Joo was more worried about his son than him (Yeong-cheon). During the surgery, he woke up. One of his hands was free, and a scalpel was right beside him.
When Yeo-jeong finally got to the hospital, his father was already dead. Yeong-cheon soon started mocking Yeo-jeong’s pleas to his father to wake up. Yeong-cheon was later sentenced to death, but he showed absolutely no remorse. Since then, Yeo-jeong has been caught in the hell his mother speaks about to Dong-eun. He uses Yeong-cheon’s prisoner number, 3724, as the code for his home security. He is good at hiding it, but Yeo-jeong is in pain and desires revenge.
Dong-eun eventually shows up at Yeo-jeong’s home and promises that she will be his executioner, just as he had been while she was dealing with her bullies. They plan to transfer Yeong-cheon to Jisan Prison, a facility that is significantly worse than where he is currently incarcerated. Dong-eun and Yeo-jeong infiltrate the penal system, grow close to the prison population, and ensure Yeong-cheon’s transfer by having him beaten up by other inmates. As Yeong-cheon walks into Jisan Prison, he discovers that Yeo-jeong is there, serving as the facility’s doctor.
Just before the transfer happens, Yeo-jeong visits his father’s killer. Although the latter has been incarcerated and is waiting to be executed, Yeo-jeong tells him it’s not enough. The only thing that will make him happy is killing the other man with his own hands. Episode 16 ends with Dong-eun and Yeo-jeong’s arrival at Jisan. Although we are not shown Yeong-cheon’s death, given what we know about the two protagonists by now, it is a matter of time before they succeed. While dealing with Dong-eun’s bullies, they went after wealthier and more influential people. Even though Yeong-cheon is undoubtedly more psychotic than their previous targets, Dong-eun and Yeo-jeong know what they are doing. They are brilliant and intuitive and understand how the system works. Yeong-cheon has legitimate reasons to fear for his life.
