Divorce Attorney Shin Episode 12 is the final episode of the show and explores what happens to Gi-yeong and Shin Sung-han and if they are able to overturn the parental rights.
The cast of the series includes Cho Seung-woo as Shin Sung-han, Han Hye-jin as Lee Seo-jin, Kim Sung-kyun as Jang Hyeong-geun, Jung Moon-sung as Jo Jeong-sik, Kang Mal-geum as Kim So-yeon, Jeon Bae-soo as Park Yu-seok, Han Eun-seong as Choi June, Cha Hwa-yeon as Ma Geum-hee, and Noh Susanna as Jin Young-joo among others.
Netflix’s synopsis of the show reads:
DRIVEN BY A PERSONAL TRAGEDY, A PIANIST-TURNED-LAWYER NAVIGATES THE COMPLEX WORLD OF DIVORCE — FIGHTING FOR HIS CLIENTS TO WIN BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
-Divorce Attorney Shin Episode 12 Review and Recap Contains Spoilers-
The episode starts off with Shin Sung-han going somewhere with a resolute expression & it surprisingly turns out to be Daenam Group Chairman Seo Chang-jin. He asks him if he really wants to get divorced from his wife Ma Geum-hui. While he replies that it’s what his wife wants, Sung-han gives him the option to preserve the marriage of many years.
He says that Geum-hui is doing all that to secure Gi-yeong’s future as she plans to put everything she gets, under his name. He tells the Chairman to give the share instead to settle & drop the divorce case. While the Chairman doesn’t think of it as a bad deal, he asks want does Sung-han really want. To which he replies – termination of parental rights over Gi-yeong. Chairman accepts his proposal but rather challenges that he will now see him in court for his grandson’s case.
Before the first trial, Sung-han asks his nephew if he will be fine if doesn’t have much money like right now but enough to live his life well enough. He tells Gi-yeong about the building he owns & how it will be enough to put him through school to his wedding. The response from Gi-yeong breaks his heart even more when he says that even though he is rich, he doesn’t feel good.
Also Read: Divorce Attorney Shin: All Trot Songs Featured in the Legal Drama So Far
During the first trial, Sung-han gives evidence that Gi-yeong is actually suffering from severe child depression, which his parents neglected even though the driver, Mr Jung told them about his overeating at the convenience store. Mr Jung testifies the same and tells how he was fired a week after sharing the boy’s situation with the stepmother.
From the defence, the new lady driver testifies and brings up Jeong-sik’s stalking in the court. To counter that, Sung-han brings up how Gi-yeong wouldn’t have tried to run away from his academy to come to his office if the new driver was actually caring for his wishes & taking him to places he requested for. He shows CCTV footage of the academy & how he hid his bag in the classroom & sneaked out.
Even the cook testifies from the parent’s side that the nephew is a picky eater & often has indigestion due to overeating his favourite junk foods. Once again, the CCTV footage of him forcing himself to eat food counters the claim that he has no issues. Finally, even Park Yu-seok come to get questioned by Sung-han, where he brings up how he got a job at Keumhwa after losing Ju-hwa’s divorce case & even received a cafe as his severance pay from them.
He tries to show that Yu-seok secretly worked for Seo Jeong-guk instead and that would be considered an illegal & corrupt act. He asks him about the psychiatric medical records of Ju-hwa from when she was in the US was the crucial information that led to Ju-hwa not getting custody. He asks if he knew about it & whether Yu-seok was the one to give Jeong-guk those records in exchange for a high-paying job at Keumhwa firm. But Yu-seok refuses all.
Towards the end, the defendant’s attorney brings up the example of Beethoven and his nephew. How Beethoven was obsessed with getting his nephew’s custody but the end result was disastrous for both of them. Also, leads to the question of how Sung-han can be a better father than the biological father. Although taking his stand, all of it leaves a toll on Sung-han who is escorted to get IV drips by his friends.
Meanwhile, in Jun-hui’s case attorney Choi June seems to be wracking his brain to find a way to get child support and with Sung-han’s advice decides to find the thing that would bother the mother the most – the right over corn sujebi recipe. While it’s obvious that they can’t claim the grandmother’s right over the recipe, since it was never copyrighted but he decides to threaten them by public influence.
He gets an old picture of the mother’s birthday & tells them that he will post their story on the internet & Lee Seo-jin’s show – telling how the mother stole her in-law’s recipe to open her own franchise & even abandoned her adolescent daughter. Fearing losing everything & public turning against them, the mother complies to pay 1.8 million won child support along with the past overdue amount.
After the first trial, Jeong-sik decides to help Sung-han in whatever way he can & sells his car to give Yu-seok money to cover the fine for breaching the law for leaking Ju-hwa’s medical records to the opposing side (if he will testify for it, he will be suspended & fined). But he strictly refuses any such thing & goes away. When he tells his other two friends about it, they realise how Jeong-sik has been feeling guilty for everything & not being able to find a way, even Sung-han starts crying.
While Rachmaninoff plays in the background, who himself had a hard life but didn’t give up till the end, even though the masterpieces of today were not considered the best at the time of their release. Giving his example Hyeong-geun asks both of them to give their best till the end & not lose their spirits as he joins them in crying & hugging.
During the second trial, the defendant’s attorney puts up the argument that termination can only be an option if the child is being abused, starved or not being given the basic necessities – which isn’t Gi-yeong’s case. Sung-han counters it by bringing up how classical music still moves us & makes us emotional but what would happen to a child whose emotional needs are not being met? Even if he is well-fed, he is not cared for or loved then he’s just a shell of a human with no emotions.
He says that the parent’s house is not an emotionally safe place for Gi-yeong. Meanwhile, we get a flashback where Jeong-guk is asking his mother about the phone call & what did Yeong-ju say. At the same time, Ma Geum-hui also comes to watch the trial & somewhat moved by Sung-han & his emotions speech, the father agrees to testify.
It’s like giving Sung-han a free chance to take the guardianship, as the first question he asks is how he got Ju-hwa’s medical reports. While the father says that he went to the hospital himself to collect but he got the lead about it from Park Yu-seok. This means Yu-seok conspired with him, even though being on the opposite side.
Keeping the unfair play in mind & how the father himself doesn’t seem sure if his son’s all needs are being met in his house, the judge gives the verdict in Shin Sung-han’s favour. He gives him full custody with limited rights to the father, like facilitated visits on Guardian’s approval. After the trial, the first thing Sung-han does is to get Gi-yeong out of the house.
While Gi-yeong is finally with his uncle, Hyeong-geun also decides to accept So-yeon’s request to travel Europe for some months. However, Ma Geum-hui decides to still get a divorce from the chairman, upon realising how rotten the person is in his power & money. Looks like Sung-han still has a case left to win against the Daenam group. Also, Seo-jin makes her comeback on 4 PM radio & held her head high in front of the haters.
While Yeong-ju finds her marriage on the rocks when his husband realises how cruel she really is & gives her a cold treatment. Things ended badly for Park Yu-seok as well, as he is found guilty of the conspiring crime while leading Ju-hwa’s case & even his retirement plan Cafe is taken back from him. Leaving him out on the streets with nothing.
Summing Up: Divorce Attorney Shin Episode 12
The show definitely tied up all the ends and gave us an emotional & heartwarming ending. The best part about the series was how the lead was not forced into a love story with Seo-jin as many would have expected. It was all about an ordinary man’s conviction to make things right and the supportive friendship that we all are definitely going to miss the most (step aside the Goblin pair bromance, we have a new favourite trio). Each character had their own story which found its complete arc in the end.
Sung-han doesn’t have to worry about his nephew, Hyeong-geun is out of a bad marriage & starting afresh, Jeong-sik can finally let go of his guilt and Seo-jin can live a free life with her son Hyeon-u. While the bad guys got what they deserved, if not less.
Divorce Attorney Shin is currently streaming on Netflix.
Also Read: Check Out All Our Divorce Attorney Shin Reviews Here!