'Phantom Lawyer' Episodes 5-6 Recap: Who Killed Sang-Ho? 

Phantom Lawyer switched tracks from comedy to way more serious drama in episodes 5 and 6, specifically because the ghost in these episodes is a scientist who doesn’t believe in ghosts. Don’t worry, the premise of the show hasn’t changed, but instead of breaking into a k-pop dance, this time around, I-Rang is battling with the tension of confronting people and making irreversible mistakes when possessed. I know a lot of us have the same question, how is this man making any money by helping these ghosts? I’ve been thinking about it too, and I don’t think the show is ever going to answer this question, but the best explanation is through the living family members of the dead? After getting their justice, the families might be making a donation to him? He isn’t even working for somebody, so really it doesn’t make sense he has any money at all. I don’t even think his mum will be able to support him much longer, but that’s my two cents. With that said, let’s jump into episodes 5 and 6.

Spoiler Alert

Who Is The Ghost? 

Episode 5 begins with a ghost looking at himself in disbelief. He’s a scientist who was murdered and doesn’t believe ghosts exist. So, for obvious reasons it’s a little hard for I-Rang to explain the situation to him, but after pointing out the facts to the man, and then the man possessing I-Rang, he does believe he’s a ghost. This guy is famous in the science community, so it isn’t hard for Bong-Soo and the priest to ID him. Turns out, he’s a scientist named Jeon Sang-Ho. Sang-Ho is also married into a family that owns a lab and does research work. Additionally, his wife, Su-Jeong has been arrested for the murder. Obviously, Na-Hyun is defending her. Why does every case that I-Rang works on get given to Na-Hyun? Very curious. Anyway, at court, Su-Jeong admits to having killed her husband, because the prosecutor believes she has an accomplice. For obvious reasons, the answer would be her father, Tae-Jun, but Su-Jeong insists she killed her husband alone. 

On the other hand, Na-Hyun wonders what evidence the cops had to arrest Su-Jeong. This is when she comes face-to-face with I-Rang at court. He pulls out a roller from her hair and hands her a handkerchief for her nosebleed. It seems she’s been working too hard, but he doesn’t tell her about the roller. What he does tell her though is that the murder happened in the bathroom, something nobody knows except the prosecutor and the cops. Na-Hyun obviously still doesn’t believe that the guy can see ghosts, so she pays no heed to him, but more importantly, she tells him to act like he doesn’t know her (ouch). It turns out Sang-Ho believes he was a bad husband, because he was always absent in his wife’s life, trying too hard to be a good scientist. Even when their son was born, he barely gave the kid any time, but more importantly, he was too afraid to do anything when he started crying. This is a little confusing, almost as if he’s saying it was right of his wife to kill him. But she didn’t kill him, so who did? 

Who Killed Sang-Ho? 

To get to the bottom of it, Sang-Ho and I-Rang try to figure out where the body might be buried. There’s a special spot Sang-Ho knows, and to nobody’s surprise, the body is there. Min-Hyuk has followed I-Rang and finds the body too, additionally, by this time Sang-Ho has possessed I-Rang and gone straight to his in-laws’ house, thinking it’s his father-in-law who killed him. However, as I-Rang is trying to break into the house, it starts to rain, and I-Rang’s mother shows up because she cut her finger, knowing it was a bad omen. Sang-Ho leaves I-Rang’s body, and he wonders where he is. At the same time, back at the lab, Na-Hyun meets a man named Gu Hyo-Jung. He’s supposed to give her a tour of the place and tell her what they do there, but he tells her that there’s only one man who could’ve killed Sang-Ho, and that’s his father-in-law. 

Turns out, Sang-Ho was researching the cure for a disease that Su-Jeong’s mother had. He was murdered when he said he would quit the research because he was struggling to find an answer and, more importantly, he and Su-Jeong were fighting a lot. Hyo-Jung makes it seem like Tae-Jun orchestrated the wedding just for Sang-Ho to do the research and save his wife. But actually, Hyo-Jung killed him because it would bring him closer to the position of chief. Additionally, there’s an animal cloning thing that Hyo-Jung was working on which Sang-Ho seemed to have been opposed to. For obvious reasons, Sang-Ho was getting all the attention. So clearly, Hyo-Jung was the guy who murdered Sang-Ho. Even Tae-Jun resigns, which makes Hyo-Jung the new chief, giving him exactly what he wanted. Now, we know who murdered him, but how does I-Rang prove it?

Does Na-Hyun Believe I-Rang? 

Well, Na-Hyun tells her boss that she’s going to use I-Rang because he knows random details about the cases that nobody should know. She still doesn’t believe him, but she thinks she can use him to get to the bottom of her cases. I think this means they’re soon going to start working together. I need this to turn into a romance, thanks. Anyway, in this case, Na-Hyun pretends to believe I-Rang and gives him the green signal to get a confession out of Hyo-Jung. I’m not sure this is legal in the real world, I guess, it’s something that works in this show’s universe. Anyway, I-Rang and his brother break into the lab pretending they’re delivering meat. They decide to make it look like Bong-Soo is Sang-Ho himself, because the murder weapon is a hook that there are multiple pieces of in the lab. Finally, I-Rang records a video of Hyo-Jung confessing to killing Sang-Ho because he feels like his ghost has come to get him (don’t know how that’ll play out in court). Na-Hyun is just outside, because she was the one who brought Hyo-Jung in to help I-Rang. After seeing how excited he is at having secured evidence, Na-Hyun seems to be believing the man again. 

What Is Min-Hyuk Planning? 

On the other hand, Min-Hyuk has caught onto how weird I-Rang is acting and has someone follow him. He even tried to get a cop to record his conversation with Su-Jeong but Sang-Ho saw what was up with the cop and warned I-Rang, so he recorded some nonsense on the pen and sent the audio to Min-Hyuk. For now, he’s got nothing, but he’s definitely going to keep going after him. 

Will I-Rang Be Okay? 

In the ending of episode 6, Sang-Ho possesses I-Rang one last time and finds the cure for Su-Jeong’s dying mother. It actually works, and I-Rang has helped yet another family. But earlier,  when his mother saw how much danger he put himself in, she asked him to stop doing this job and almost burnt down the talismans. However, I-Rang promises that he won’t let it get this bad, and if it does, then he will himself burn them down. He promised to himself that he is like his mother, more than his father, i.e he will not do wrong by his family. At the end of the episode, we catch wind of another spirit, but this time things are different. I-Rang can’t see the ghost, the talisman is white, not yellow, and something feels off about it. I wonder if it has something to do with his dad? But that wouldn’t come so soon. Anyway, with that said, we’ll have to wait for the next episode. 

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