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Title MBC Weekend Special Four-Part Mini-Series "Finding Dorothy"
Upate 2008-02-14 17:02
Families, who in themselves were the goals and happiness of life, have now become a boarding school for developing well-educated children. Kids whose sole purpose in life is studies and competition, and parents who play out their roles of mommies and daddies out of necessity rather than out of love and trust… What really is the true family and true happiness that everyone dreams about?

As the follow-up series for "Fireworks", MBC is presenting the four-part mini-series "Finding Dorothy" due to start broadcasting on July 15. This is an investigative drama where a couple at the point of divorce, set out in search of their daughter who has suddenly disappeared. In the process, they are able to recover their lost dreams and love.

Kim Yeong-ho performs the role of Captain Park, the head of the police special task force in charge of kidnapping cases, who works night and day to find Dorothy (The police team agree to refer to missing children as Dorothy. Why? To prevent the kidnappers from guessing what they are talking about, of course! All investigation teams need this sort of things). For the role of Police Detective Na, the self-proclaimed brain of the police team, and also showing a lot of interest in her Captain, is Park Shi-eun. She presented an admirable performance in the MBC drama series "Dr. Gang" as Hae-yeong, a widow raising her son alone after her policeman husband was killed by petty gangs.

The role of Seo Ji-su, the mother of the missing girl, Su-a, is performed by Ji Su-won. Seo Ji-su, a full-time housewife used to be a TV announcer with a promising future before her marriage. Lee Sae-change is cast for the role of Lee Hyeon-su, Su-a’s dad and also the news anchor for the "5 O'clock News", whose sole goal in life is to become the anchor for the "9 O’clock News".

Synopsis

A girl has disappeared! Ji-su and Hyeon-su are on the verge of getting a divorce, and the only trace and evidence of the past love they had for each other is their daughter Su-a. And now she is missing.

At the time of Su-a's disappearance after she left school, her mother Ji-su who has given up all her past dreams, was enjoying a date with her young swimming coach. Su-a's dad Hyeon-su, harboring dreams of becoming the anchor for the main "9 O'clock News" was planning a dinner date with his co-worker and partner, Mi-ran. Having been separated for over a year, Ji-su and Hyeon-su meet for the first time after their separation, but despite the seriousness of their daughter's situation, they can't seem to stop arguing with each other.

The police, on the other hand is already perplexed by the disappearance of three children, who went missing one week before. They have not been able to find any clues, and now the girl Su-a has become the latest case in the series of disappearing kids.

The Police Department urgently sets-up and dispatches a Special Investigation Team for Kidnapping. Captain Park and Detective Na are picked out for the team. Captain Park excels at intellectual crimes but carries painful childhood memories caused by his father who was also a police officer. Detective Na, the self-proclaimed brain for the Police Department volunteers to be Park's bodyguard. She has been cherishing secret affections for the Captain for some time now. They immediately set off for the scene of the crime.

One day, returning to Su-a's house, Captain Park discovers an anonymous manila envelope that could have been sent by the kidnapper. They open the envelope anxiously, only to find divorce papers and photographs of Ji-su's affair with the swimming coach that Hyeon-su had sent through an errands service. Once again, the couple has a big fight. Witnessing their unfortunate marriage situation, the investigative team decides to examine the case focusing on the extramarital relations of the couple.

Late at night, Captain Park hears from his father who is a part of the Yangjae-cheon Stream search team, that one of the three missing children has been found dead. At the same time, Ji-su and Hyeon-su watches the breaking news about the case, and blindly rushes to the scene. They let out a sigh of relief when they find out that the dead child is not their daughter, but everyone becomes saddened by the painful sight of the parents embracing and caressing their dead child.

With the discovery of the dead body at Yangjae-cheon Stream, the investigation enters a new phrase, but they still cannot narrow their views about the future course to take and tension increases all around. Keeping in mind that the disappearance of the three children and Su-a could be caused by the same kidnapper, Captain Park investigates both cases diligently despite interferences from his co-worker Captain Pyo.

Finally, second message from the kidnapper demanding a ransom of 10 million won is sent through a flower delivery service, and Ji-su and Hyeon-su go to the arranged meeting place with the ransom. Ironically, the place designated by the kidnapper is the cafe that the couple used to frequent before, and they look upon each other again with new emotions. Captain Park and Detective Na, under the watchdog eyes of Captain Pyo, wait for the kidnapper to appear, but to no avail. The kidnapper never appears and their first endeavor to make contact with the criminal fails.

Meanwhile, Coach Kang (Son Hyeon-su) persistently asks Ji-su to loan him 10 million won, and Ji-su momentarily suspects him since he had also shown particular interest in Su-a. However, just the thought that her infidelity could have led to present tragedy makes her deny any such possibility, and she does not inform the police of her suspicions. On the other hand, the police catch Coach Kang standing around the stationary shop in front of the school through a CCTV, and start an investigation on him. Then Ji-su sees the present her daughter received from Mi-ran, and concludes that Coach Kang is the kidnapper. Special Task Force Team of Gangnam Police Department is mobilized immediately.

Coach Kang is arrested on suspicions of kidnapping, and he is revealed to be a good-for-nothing playboy ripping off money from wealthy wives who come to the swimming pool. However, the fact that he was with Ji-su at the time of the crime acts as a decisive alibi on his behalf, which not only distresses Hyeon-su but the investigation team as well. Through Coach Kang, Hyeon-su realizes how lonely his daughter had been without a father, and also his wife being ignored by her husband. He is overcome with belated regret and guilt.

Ji-su was a stupid mom, making Su-a wander from one study academy to another, thinking only about her daughter’s future not her present, and Hyeon-su was a coldhearted dad, providing only material abundance and nothing else. Now, these two people start to open their hearts a little, in order to find their daughter Su-a, and to be good parents in the proper sense of the word.