Private Lives episodes 9 and 10: Joo Eun and Jeong Hwan reunite and join forces against the shadowy GK group
By Bryan Tan
This review contains spoilers and covers episodes 9-10 of Private Lives, which is currently available on Netflix.
Finally things are coming together in the latest episodes of Private Lives. We’re starting to get a better idea of the motivations behind most of the characters, after multiple episodes of confusing plot twists and flashbacks that come back to the present without so much as an indication.
We learn that main baddie Kim Jae Wook (Kim Young Min) rejoins GK group’s Innovative Vision room (the codename for its covert, subversive corporate espionage arm) as deputy chief, with the nefarious purpose of taking down our main leads Cha Joo Eun (Seohyun) and Lee Jeong Hwan (Go Kyung Pyo), who have been thwarting his plans every chance they get.
GK’s Vision room has also been pulling strings behind the police in Seoul, arm-twisting them to close cases which may implicate the conglomerate. This begs the question – how far do their tendrils of power reach, and is there an overarching objective that they are working towards?
This remains unclear, even as Jae Wook now schemes to take down our leading duo. Thanks to his efforts, Joo Eun and Jeong Hwan finally meet after almost 10 episodes of sneaking around each other (involving a helmeted Jeong Hwan, with a badass Terminator-styled bike and a repertoire of hand-to-hand combat styles).
Their long awaited reunion begins with a resounding slap to Jeong Hwan’s face, which he graciously accepts. They then awkwardly interrogate each other, with Joo Eun first asking why he didn’t show up at the wedding, or if he even loved her (that escalated quickly). He sighs, which enrages Joo Eun, who assumes that he was just fooling around with her. It doesn’t help that he lied to her about buying a property when in fact he was just renting one, and borrowing money from a loan shark friend to pay for it.
Neither of them can get over the fact that they deceived each other about their real identities; Jeong Hwan, being a spy and the owner of a private detective agency, Joo Eun a con-artist. They eventually make the decision to not see each other again, but without first having angry, sobbing, steamy break-up sex.
I don’t know about you, but if I realised that my almost husband I thought was dead was actually protecting me this whole time as a mysterious biker dude, I would’ve just skipped to the sex bit. And I probably would’ve forgiven him too.
GK ramps up their efforts to take down our broken-up-for-now duo, profiling their entire team and even starting a gangster war against Joo Eun’s mafia ‘uncle’, Han Son (Tae Won Seok). Jae Wook decides that if you want something done, you need to do it yourself. He confronts his former mentee Jeong Hwan in a physical brawl, but not before blaming him for ruining their relationship for a con artist.
Of course, Joo Eun comes to his rescue, sweeping up the battered Jeong Hwan and tending to his wounds. The team now expands to include infamous swindler Jeong Bok Gi (Kim Hyo Jin), mafia ‘uncle’ Han Son and the newest addition, detective Kim Myung Hyun (Lee Hak Joo). They scheme to thwart GK’s plans as kingmaker, whose plot is to instate Kim Jae Wook as a politician, and even possibly the President of South Korea.
Read our other Private lives recaps:
Private Lives, eps. 1-2 : A family of con artists seeks to make their mark in the world of scams
Private Lives eps. 7-8: Jeong Hwan and Joo Eun discover each other’s real identities
