‘Good Boy’ Episode 14 Review: Lead Dong-Ju is the ‘King’ of Violent Showdowns

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

It’s time for the final showdown between the athlete cops and Joo-yeong’s (Oh Jung-se) thugs in Korean action-comedy ‘Good Boy’. And there’s no way golden boy Dong-ju (Park Bo-gum) is not going to be a part of it!

Recap of ‘Good Boy’ Episode 13

While Dong-ju is recovering from his injuries, Han-na (Kim So-hyun) goes on a shooting spree at Joo-yeong’s den, missing the villain by just a few inches. Jong-hyeon (Lee Sang-yi) soon arrives as her backup and starts fighting the thugs. In a clever twist, Han-na live-streams Joo-yeong talking about his criminal activities through a police cam, sending ripples through Insung City, with the clip going viral. This spells doom for both Joo-yeong’s illegal operations and his political immunity. In a twist, Leo (Go Joon), the Russian criminal, comes to Han-na’s aide, after finding out his father was murdered by Joo-yeong.

Meanwhile, Dong-ju wakes up (Wolverine this ‘Good Boy’ is, I’ll say it a hundred times) and heads to the police HQ, where he slaps the police commissioner. And even though he’s a wanted fugitive at this point, nobody tries to stop or contain him. He then heads out to rescue Han-na with senior cop Man-sik (Heo Sung-tae).

Episode 14 of ‘Good Boy’

“You’ve been through hell, but you seem to be doing fine.”

Villain Joo-yeong says this sarcastically to Dong-ju when they come face to face again. Have truer words ever been spoken? The guy’s constantly brushing shoulders with death and somehow always survives. So episode 14 is aptly titled ‘Kings Never Die‘ and it better not be just metaphorical. I’ve been complaining that it’s going to be very disappointing if they kill off Dong-ju, so I am hoping the episode title is a prophesy.

Viewers get a heavy dose of violence, knife fights, fistfights, gunfire, and even grenade blasts. A few flashbacks reveal murders committed by a younger Joo-yeong, but with just two episodes left, the backstory feels undercooked. The glimpses we get aren’t enough; the series should’ve shown more of his rise from a nobody customs officer to the city’s underworld kingpin with truckloads of cash.

Tae Won-seok’s portrayal of Shin Jae-hong has been the dullest part of ‘Good Boy‘, and his role could’ve easily been trimmed or pushed further into the background to make room for more compelling arcs. For example, we still don’t know why Han-na broke up with her ex, even though both are key characters.

Unfortunately, Joo-yeong manages to slip away again, so the second half of the episode follows Dong-ju and his team as they try to track him down. The team is also on the hunt for a police informant who’s clearly been helping the criminals. So this chapter of ‘Good Boy’ is a little bit of everything, some action, some investigative work, comedy, and some romantic moments between lead pair Dong-ju and Han-na too.

As always, Dong-ju and Jong-hyeon team up for ground work, delivering some classic love-rival comedy, especially since Han-na has made her growing fondness for the boxer clear to her ex-boyfriend. Park Bo-gum and Lee Sang-yi’s onscreen frenemy dynamic remains one of Good Boy‘s most entertaining highlights.

The final few minutes go completely over the top, but yo, no spoilers here! All you need to know is that Dong-ju gets smashed to a pulp again, but he’s basically but he’s our Terminator, our Wolverine, our Superman at this point… so yeah, he better walk this one off too.

Watch ‘Good Boy‘ on Prime Video.

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