The Judge Returns / Season 1 / Episode 6
Season 1

Episode 6

Air Date: 17 January 2026 Duration: 66 minutes Rating: ★ 8.0/10

Episode Review

Episode 6 focuses on Han-young’s efforts to gain more influence while continuing to operate inside Shin-jin’s circle. He needs to prove that he can be useful, but at the same time he cannot allow himself to become trapped by the same people he is planning to destroy.

Woo Gyo-hoon’s family becomes an important part of the plan. Han-young uses information about Woo’s daughter’s drug scandal to gain leverage and gradually earns the trust of Yoo Se-hee and Yoo Seon-cheol.

The episode then shifts toward the Nammyeon District sinkhole case. What initially appears to be a tragic accident begins revealing signs of corruption. Han-young recognizes the pattern because he remembers how these events developed in his previous life.

Instead of sitting safely inside the courtroom, Han-young gets directly involved. He works to protect victims and expose the district chief responsible for the corruption surrounding the disaster.

This is an important moment for his character because it shows that his second life is not purely about revenge anymore. He genuinely wants to prevent innocent people from suffering because of decisions that he knows could have been different.

The courtroom element also becomes more dramatic because Han-young is willing to take the case directly to the scene of the disaster. It gives the episode a strong sense of urgency and shows how far he has changed from the judge we met in Episode 1.