First Impressions: "Taxi Driver 3" Is The Vigilante Ride You Can't Help Cheering For
Team Rainbow Taxi is back, serving justice as they steer their way around the potholes of corruption to deliver their own brand of justice. In its third season, “Taxi Driver 3” continues to gather speed, cruising through the trenches of criminality and putting up a brave fight for fair play and morality. The Rainbow Taxi service is a mysterious organization that delivers vengeance on behalf of victims who are unable to get justice and those who have fallen prey to corruption within the system.
Lee Je Hoon returns as the daredevil Kim Do Gi. His punches land harder and his bite is sharper as he joins forces once again with his squad, including Ahn Go Eun (Pyo Ye Jin), Jang Sung Cheol (Kim Eui Sung), Choi Kyung Goo (Jang Hyuk Jin), and Park Jin Eon (Bae Yoo Ram). Together, they find themselves up against dangerous adversaries, navigating the toughest situations as they zip across locations from Seoul to Japan. “Taxi Driver 3” revs up the momentum under the swashbuckling Do Gi, who proves that neither criminals nor their dastardly acts stand a chance when they encounter him.
Warning: spoilers from episodes 1 to 4 ahead.
Kim Do Gi is wheeling his way across Fukuoka in Japan. He and his team are on a mission that pits them against dangerous yakuzas. We are introduced to Korean high schooler Yun I Seo (Cha Si Yeon), who makes a desperate attempt to escape her captors in Japan. Though her attempts fail, she manages to make a call to the Rainbow Taxi service from a payphone, leaving behind her student ID as a clue in the booth. Do Gi and his squad begin investigating what led to I Seo’s disappearance.
The drama reveals that Yun I Seo had been introduced to a video game by her best friend. Excited about the prize money that could help her grandmother get an eye operation, she takes the bait. The game tempts players to keep tapping to higher levels with promises of bigger rewards, but a loss means that you not only lose money, but you also incur heavy fines. It seems harmless at first, but the game is a trap that funnels vulnerable teens into the murky world of human trafficking.
Braving loan sharks and the masterminds behind the game, I Seo is forced into a month-long trip to Japan to pay off her supposed debt, otherwise she stands to risk everything, including her grandmother’s humble restaurant. Little does I Seo realize she has indeed bet with her life. Her best friend is guilt ridden, and it isn’t until Do Gi arrives in their school as a homeroom teacher that she spills the truth.
Go Eun, the cool techie and hacker, intentionally gets herself reeled in by the traffickers, leading the Rainbow Squad straight into Japan. Do Gi, the master of disguises, adopts the persona of a flashy gangster who intentionally picks a fight with low-ranking gangsters to get close to the boss. His extraordinary methods quickly become a point of discussion among the mafia and even the Interpol chief who is investigating the same case.
Do Gi’s cocksure energy and aggressive bravado intimidate the gang and impress the yakuza boss, who believes he has found a new blood brother. With his trademark nonchalance, Do Gi sets out to dismantle their operations, fearless and always playing by his own rules.
Yet beneath the punches and slick fights, we see glimpses of the man behind the vigilante. Do Gi has a strong moral compass, and even when he takes on the worst of humanity, he never compromises on his ethics.
After bringing I Seo back home safely, Do Gi finds himself facing another case back in Korea. His teammates Kyung Goo and Jin Eon fall victim to a used-car scam. Rainbow Taxi is soon approached by an honest taxi driver who has been scammed by the same gang, who had also issued him a suspended license, all at a high cost. The gang, led by failed lawyer Cha Byung Jin (Yoon Shi Yoon), sells damaged vehicles including flood-affected cars and traps unassuming buyers into contracts that drain their savings.
Do Gi infiltrates the showroom with his usual panache and is assigned a malfunctioning vehicle that nearly kills him. Soon after, he dons another disguise, this time as an endearingly gullible man with loads of money to spend and a love for used cars. With a lisp and a meek persona, Do Gi brilliantly plays the walkover, working his way deep into the scam.
Byung Jin believes Do Gi is no match for him, unaware that he has met his worst adversary. With smooth precision and unexpected hilarity, Do Gi exposes the entire operation.
“Taxi Driver 3” is a stylish, gripping ride that never loses speed. Beyond its stunts and expertly choreographed action, it is a deeply human story about people failed by the system and a vigilante team determined to stand up for those who cannot fight back.
From a generation manipulated by the digital world to ordinary people duped by everyday scams, Rainbow Taxi remains the vigilante ride you cannot help but root for. The show has heart, hurt, and heroes who rewrite the very idea of justice.
This season wastes no time reminding you why this franchise works: ordinary citizens pushed to the edge, failed by institutions, and rescued by a cab driver who refuses to look away. Lee Je Hoon slips right back into Kim Do Gi’s bruised-but-unbowed intensity, while the team’s camaraderie remains one of the show’s secret weapons. The missions are gritty, the antagonists are unsettlingly believable, and the action sequences hit with the polished confidence of a series that knows exactly what its audience wants.
And yes, it leans into its own vigilante fantasy—the satisfaction of watching justice being reclaimed, one clever takedown at a time. It’s the kind of world-building that feels both outrageously heroic and uncomfortably close to the truths we encounter every day.
Plus, Lee Je Hoon anchors the series with flair. As he slips into his many guises, his performance is pure gold, reminding viewers why “Taxi Driver” remains one of the most compelling dramas of its genre.
Start watching “Taxi Driver 3”:
Puja Talwar is a Soompi writer with a strong Yoo Yeon Seok and Lee Junho bias. A long time K-drama fan, she loves devising alternate scenarios to the narratives. She has interviewed Lee Min Ho, Gong Yoo, Cha Eun Woo, and Ji Chang Wook to name a few. You can follow her on @puja_talwar7 on Instagram.