I love Taxi Driver. So it pains to say anything remotely negative about the series. But Episodes 11 and 12 were kinda Meh for me.
It’s obvious though that the series is gearing up for the season’s endgame now. Doing a lot more to flesh out the strange organization that Ha Joon is apparently affiliated with and introducing cases that relate specifically to Ha Joon and that organization rather than unrelated cases of the week.
So this week’s case (which actually mainly starts in Episode 12 and will continue into Episode 13) reminded me a lot of the “Hwang Seo Yeon” case in Episodes 5 and 6. At the time, I felt a bit disconnected to the story and case of the week. Even though afterwards, it ended up helping to reveal Ha Joon’s true identity.
But just the way the team gets pulled into such a case just feels different, so it instills a different kind of experience when watching the show.
Thankfully though towards the end of Episode 12, they were able to bring the case of the week back to what our Rainbow Taxi friends do best. And that is to help lift up those in despair and bring about the justice they seek. Before reporter Kim Yong Min (Baek Soo Jang) told Do Ki the story of his likely-murdered friend, I was fearing that these episodes would again fall flat somehow. But they were able to end Episode 12 on a strong note. And hopefully Episode 13 will bring about a satisfying conclusion.
At the same time, this “ripped from the headlines” story involving a popular high class nightclub and its seedy secrets is certainly a bit of a provocative case of the week to focus on. What’s been shown so far is just okay. So again, hopefully Episode 13 can pick things back up. And Ko Gun Han will be great as the singer Victor. He’s always good in supporting roles. And he’ll definitely be able to deliver a great performance playing a character obviously inspired by several real-life idol criminals
My favorite part of the episodes though was definitely the face-off between Ha Joon and Mr. Jang. That was really well done and both Kim Eui Sung and Shin Jae Ha were so good in that scene.
And Shin Jae Ha is really delivering some amazing performances now that we’re seeing just how crazy Ha Joon can be.
Now, the big question coming into this week’s episodes was of course finding out how Do Ki survived the explosion. We all knew that he wasn’t actually dead. So how did he manage this time? Welp, he just jumped out the taxi.
That was actually a bit underwhelming. Lol And the way the others immediately knew he was alive was also anticlimactic. I think the show could’ve been a bit more creative with the situation. Maybe have the team in hysterics thinking Do Ki was actually dead for a while longer before he eventually pops up and surprises them.
Or even keep us the audience in the dark a bit longer too. Have them go through the funeral before confirming to us, the viewer, that Do Ki was actually alive. The show could’ve had some fun moments and amusing fake outs with the scenario. But they simply went with the least effort, easy path to resolve the cliffhanger from last week.
Oh well. Overall, I guess this pair of episodes are the set-up for the final arc and endgame. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like there’s only four episodes left! It feels like everything is being prepared for a season 3. (Let’s hope we do get one!) But I also have trust in the Taxi Driver team. And I know that even with some missteps, they will ultimately deliver a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining series.
