[Movie] Big Mouth – K-Drama Episode 15 Recap & Review

The Mayoral Race Begins

Episode 15 of Big Mouth opens with Chairman Kang’s funeral, where Chang-ho threatens the mayor and his position. Joo-hee hears Chang-ho call the mayor by his real name, Cho Sung-hyun.

Prosecutor Choi gets Gong Ji-hoon a meeting with Chairman Kang’s attorney. Having received help from Ji-hoon, the attorney shows him the chairman’s will. He has divided everything among everyone. Ji-hoon is disappointed but the attorney is not willing to tamper with the will.

After Ji-hoon ignores a call from Chang-ho, he finds himself cornered by Chang-ho and his men in the parking lot. Ji-hoon refuses to continue working with Chang-ho. Chang-ho says that Ji-hoon himself will come begging for help soon.

At the venue of the will reading, Chang-ho and his people use repairmen to get a camera installed inside. They watch as a new attorney accompanies the old one and they reveal a new will, that the chairman made a week ago. It bequeaths most of the chairman’s assets to Choi Do-ha and Joo-hee.

Mi-ho gets a call from a hospital that says her blood test reports are bad and she’ll need to get more tests done. She lies to her father about it.

As predicted, Chang-ho finds Ji-hoon begging for his help. Chang-ho tells him the truth about Do-ha’s identity. In return, he wants Ji-hoon’s support in becoming mayor.

At the mayor’s house, Do-ha tells Joo-hee he wants to run for mayor again instead of the national assembly because he thinks that’s what the chairman would have wanted. He asks Joo-hee how much she trusts him.

Later, he makes the announcement public. He and Chang-ho begin their campaigns.

Mi-ho gets her test results at a hospital — she has stage four lymphoma and needs chemotherapy as soon as possible.

After celebrating Chang-ho’s increasing poll numbers, a drunk Mi-ho and Chang-ho take a walk on the beach. She tells him she knows he is Big Mouse and so does her father. She wants Chang-ho to be a good Big Mouse, one who will take down those who are powerful and take advantage of others. They talk about their happiest moment together and agree it was when they opened Chang-ho’s law office. They reminisce about the times when Mi-ho would bring him dinner at work.

Ji-hoon calls a meeting with the NR Forum but finds out they have all gone to meet Choi Do-ha instead. He rushes there and causes a scene but they have already pledged support to Do-ha, despite finding out about his real identity. A flashback shows us how Do-ha told Joo-hee about his identity too and convinced her of his well meaning intentions.

Ji-hoon arrives at Chang-ho’s office as the latter is preparing for a TV debate. He gives Chang-ho a flash drive with details about Do-ha’s special treatment towards the NR Forum while he was mayor. Chang-ho asks about the chairman’s son. Ji-hoon says he is in the US. Chang-ho claims they can use him to file an inheritance lawsuit against Chairman Kang’s will.

Back in his own office, Ji-hoon tells Prosecutor Choi to find the son. He also reveals that the son is a serial killer and someone else was sent to jail in his place.

Mi-ho gets a call that the death row inmate, Tak Kwang-hyun, is reaching the end of his life. She meets him in his last few moments and lies about his mother, saying that she is alive and well. After he passes, his sister confides to Mi-ho that he was innocent. He took the fall for a rich man who was a psychopath and the real serial killer. Mi-ho confronts Joo-hee about the truth. Joo-hee says exposing the truth doesn’t change anything and Mi-ho vows to prove her wrong.

As Chang-ho works through the night, Mi-ho arrives with packed dinner as she used to all that time ago. She tells him to see her more often and he promises that he’ll be by her side all the time after he deals with Do-ha. Mi-ho looks on wistfully as he works.

Jung Chae-bong gives Do-ha information on the cryptocurrency fraud case that Chang-ho was a part of in Episode 1. Later, Do-ha and Lee Du-geun meet the attorney in charge, who agrees to help Do-ha.

Meanwhile, at the TV studio, the candidates’ representatives are given the format of the show. It includes a section with impromptu questions by citizens. Soon-tae argues that this section wasn’t there before. Later, we see that the person in charge has set this up per Do-ha’s instructions.

News breaks that the cryptocurrency perpetrator paid Chang-ho 5 billion Won to lose the case. Chang-ho and the others discuss the effect on his reputation. He says he must face it head-on at the TV debate.

In the middle of the night, Mi-ho rushes to the bathroom. She thinks about the pipes in the work zone where the prisoners were sent.

After Chang-ho leaves for the TV debate, Mi-ho talks to Jerry. He looked into the fish farm the pipes belong to and found a suspicious amount of security. He says the owner of the fish farm used to be the head of security at NK Chemicals. Mi-ho and Jerry gather Chairman Yang and his people. She tells them that what they’re about to do will make or break the election.

The episode ends as the countdown for the TV debate reaches zero.

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The Episode Review

A mayoral campaign somehow feels a bit offbeat for this show. While the actors do an amazing job, it isn’t as compelling as the previous power plays. On the flip side, the reveal of the death row inmate having taken the fall for, presumably, Chairman Kang’s son, was fantastic.

Chang-ho’s drive to take down Choi Do-ha seems a little misguided. Wasn’t Noh Park’s daughter killed because of NK Chemical? And wasn’t Do-ha’s grandfather against that? Isn’t Do-ha taking revenge for him? Have his ambitions changed? If Chang-ho is still taking revenge on Big Mouse’s behalf, how is Gong Ji-hoon not to blame?

A few details just aren’t sitting right. Additionally, Choi Do-ha just doesn’t make as gripping a villain as the stoic Chairman Kang. They got rid of him too soon.

Another point of contention is the show’s treatment of Mi-ho. They seem to be following a K-drama trend of turning female characters into damsels towards the end. It doesn’t seem fair that after doing so much, Mi-ho should be relegated to a victim and her pain be used to further Chang-ho’s plan.

That said, the plot line did give us some touching moments between the couple. The walk on the beach and the scene where Mi-ho brings Chang-ho dinner are adorable and heartwarming. We even see a glimpse of the old Chang-ho which emphasizes how much he’s changed. Last episode, here we come!

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Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!