Missing 9

Missing 9

5/10

Missing 9

Genre:                                 Episodes: 16                          Year: 2017

Mystery

Thriller

Synopsis:

After an Entertainment agency’s private plane crashes, most on board are rescued or confirmed dead, but nine passengers are unaccounted for. The nine survivors are stranded on an uninhabited island and must survive together. Four months later, Ra Bong Hee, one of the survivors is found. 

Cast:

Baek Jin Hee (Ra Bong Hee)

Jung Kyung Ho (Seo Joon Oh)

Choi Tae Joon (Choi Tae Ho)

Oh Jung Se (Jung Ki Joon)

Lee Sun Bin (Ha Ji Ah)

Kim Sang Ho (Hwang Jae Kook)

Tae Hang Ho (Tae Ho Hang)

Chanyeol (Lee Yeol)

Ryu Won (Yoon So Hee)

Yang Dong Geun (Yoon Tae Young)

General Thoughts:

I’m pretty sad that this drama turned out the way it did as large stretches of it were really interesting. The series really started to suffer around the halfway mark and it was just a downhill trend from there.

Try and drink away the disappointment

I held out hope that the end would provide enough satisfying conclusions to make the drama bearable- but it didn’t and it wasn’t. I once had a fish and I was so sad when it died that I didn’t throw it away for a couple of days because I held out hope that it was just sick or sleeping or something. But the fish was dead. Just like this drama.

His complete uselessness on the island was actually kinda cute

Much as I hoped the drama would somehow pull itself together and return to the gripping, fast-paced, adrenaline filled show it was in the beginning, it just never happened. Despite the disappointing aspects of the story, the cast were all brilliant. Jung Kyung Ho was just superb as our hero- I was on his side 100% all drama long. He gave Joon Oh a gentle heart wrapped up in false bravado and it was just glorious. His interactions with Baek Jin Hee were just pitch perfect. I love Jung Kyung Ho in romance, and even though this wasn’t exactly a romance drama, he really sold the deepening relationship and hints of romance between Joon Oh and Bong Hee. Just the way he angled his body slightly more towards her than anyone else and the way he leaned ever so slightly towards her when they were together spoke volumes. In fact, every actor in this series was pretty excellent at expressing emotion through body language rather than dialogue. As early as the first episode we were given pretty strong vibes about each of the relationships purely from how the actors positioned themselves in the scene, their expressions, and even how much eye contact was given.

Whole cast was fab

Baek Jin Hee didn’t grab my attention with her performance, but Bong Hee was a rather understated and overlooked character herself, and I think Baek Jin Hee showed that and developed it well. She was never bursting to be the centre of attention, but was always very present in the scenes and gave off a friendly, warm vibe.

But thumbs up on killing the resident puppy- I totally didn't see that coming

Chanyeol did a great job in his first foray into acting and I was quite looking forward to seeing him take on some meatier, more emotional scenes. As we know, this didn’t occur as he was killed off in the drama’s early days, but what I saw of Chanyeol’s acting I liked, and he seems like the kind of idol that will slowly expand his roles and develop as an actor before jumping into lead roles- which is nice as he definitely has potential. I absolutely adored Yang Dong Geun as our prosecutor. He was a nice, steady calm to balance out the drama’s craziness, and my goodness that man’s voice is smoother than silk and sweeter than honey. While Choi Tae Joon did a good job at acting out our baddie, his character’s motivations were kind of awkward and that kind of made a few of his scenes a little awkward. Like, I totally believed that Choi Tae Ho had gone completely crazy and was on a murder spree, but that made it hard to see him so normal once we were back in civilisation. I think it was more a writing imbalance than an acting issue.

I don't really understand you and your decent into Crazytown- but as long as it keeps the show interesting go for it

The writing never really expressed how the island and the need for survival turned Tae Ho into a murder machine, it seemed more emotional and personal than situational (no one else on the island had similar desires to kill anyone). I think the writers really needed to give Tae Ho stronger motivations to start knocking people off rather than just ‘oops, I accidentally killed one person, better just get rid of the rest too’. It would have made much more sense if the supplies had been dwindling and Tae Ho got rid of a few people so there were less mouths to feed or something, rather than fighting over a boat. Because the information behind Jae Hyun’s death was revealed to us later, it made Tae Ho’s rampage on the island a tad non-sensical.

Why stop at one when you can kill everyone on the island?

While I loved the emotional impact behind the reveal of Jae Hyun’s murder (and then the second reveal), this information probably would have been helpful in explaining why Tae Ho was so ready to kill literally everyone. What the writing did do well was the way it was able to play around with extra information. We were quite often given most of a scene, and then drew conclusions on our own (such as So Hee’s death and Jae Hyun’s ‘suicide’), only to find a couple of episodes later that there was more to the story that totally changed the reality of the situation.

It's a bummer she died, but So Hee was pretty high on the crazy scale too

It was very clever, and I never felt like the writers were trying to manipulate me, which can often be the case when drama’s attempt to add on more information in that way. There were quite a few times in the course of the drama where I found myself being surprised at the turn the story took due to 4 or 5 minutes of extra footage. Sometimes there were times when I felt some tonal imbalances in the series. Occasionally I really enjoyed the way a moment that should have been serious was played for comedic effect (such as Joon Oh stepping on a landmine), but there were also times when I thought that the attempted comedic tone felt wrong and detracted from the intensity of the moment (such as Joon Oh schooling Bong Hee on the correct way to throw a key when the villains were on their way up the stairs). Generally, I found the comedy fit more while our characters were on the island, but once the group returned to civilisation the attempts at comedy seemed to just miss the mark. The story felt a bit like that too- while we were on the island everything felt interesting and exciting, but once the characters were back in China or Korea the pace seemed to slow dramatically and I was less invested in the story. 

What Was Great:

The Island:

The island was an exciting place to be. I was never bored on the island. The brief lead-up to the plane crash was interesting as we were just starting to get a feel for all our different characters and their relationships, and the plane crash itself was extraordinary. The way the crash was filmed was just stunning- with the rolling, and the colours, and things falling down, and the water. It was really exhilarating to watch.

Being stranded is a nice way to open up the story for anything to happen

And things seemed to happen so quickly on the island- just when one conflict is resolved about a million more seem to crop up. The best thing about survival movies and series is that you don’t have to put in a heap of effort, but the conflicts are still deeply interesting. Simply having our characters being forced out of their comfort zones and having to try and survive together was wonderfully engaging.

Just look how intense things got

Of course, when you throw in the added information that one of these survivors gets murdered by another, it just becomes even more addictive. The relationships really blossomed on the island, and each character was given enough time to grow and develop- particular Ji Ah and Ki Joon who seemed to fade into nothingness once they were back in civilisation. The complication of having a psychotic murderer among the survivors was an interesting one, because there’s no clear answer. If you leave him alone he might kill you all. If you want to be 100% safe from him you have to murder him yourself. The show even went as far as to question if knowingly leaving a murderer alone with no supplies and no means for survival was also murder or not. Of course, the downside to having such an exhilarating time on the island meant that Korea seemed pretty boring in comparison. Once you’re used to approximately three fist-fights and a life threatening situation an episode, vague threats and searching for a phone containing clues for three episodes just didn’t seem very exciting. I loved the island and the ways the isolation forced our characters to interact and grow, and I wish we’d spent more time there. 

Civilisation just wasn't this good

The Colours:

It was an odd sort of thing that I haven’t seen in any other drama, but actually really enjoyed. I’m not sure if the colours used in the drama were supposed to serve some greater meaning that I just missed entirely, or if they were simply ways to make the drama more visually appealing. It took a long time for me to realise the monotone vibe of the wardrobe- with all the characters being dressed in beige.

I must say, it took me waaaaay too long to notice that everyone was wearing the same colour

Then once the survivors found the suitcases from the plane crash on the island things became a lot more colourful. It was nice that the characters were given one colour throughout the whole drama-

The survivors discover colour for the first time ever

it wasn’t a move that was so in your face that you questioned the reasoning behind, but was kind of nice once you noticed it, whether you assigned a greater purpose to the clothing choice or not. Joon Oh was always red- red jackets, red shoes. Ki Joon was green shirts, green jackets, green socks. Bong Hee was yellow and pink. It was a nice consistency for our characters that kind of linked their island selves with their civilised selves. Other characters and all the extras tended to be dressed in beige also, which only made our survivors stand out that much more. To go along with the colours, the drama had a really fabulous soundtrack. While I can’t remember it exactly, I know it when I hear it and it did an excellent job of adding tension to the series and enhancing the scenes.

Strong Female Characters:

By far one of my favourite things about this drama was the way all the female characters were portrayed. Our heroine Bong Hee may have been quiet and unassuming, but she was the solid rock that supported Joon Oh and prevented him from losing hope- both on and off the island.

And them being totally adorable together was just a sweet bonus

Not only did she have unwavering support and unquestionable loyalty, Bong Hee was also the most useful person on the island. Having her grow up by the ocean was a great way of ensuring Bong Hee’s character had the skills necessary for survival without it feeling too forced. Bong Hee was the one who gathered the food, cooked the food, lit the fires, and did almost everything that guaranteed the group's survival on the island.

I do wish she'd snagged a bit more screen-time

It was nice to see a heroine have some further purpose than simply being the object of the hero’s affections. We also had Ji Ah who was just plain tough. She always stood up for herself, formed her own opinions and made sure those opinions were heard. She was strong and independent in a way that was feminine, yet didn’t reek of ‘I’m so tough and better than the boys, and go girl power’. I think one of my favourite things in the show might have been Ki Joon gently kicking a bad guy after Ji Ah had already beaten him up. Hilarious. Despite being murdered fairly early on, So Hee also had a nice dose of individuality and strength. Her strengths came in a more sneaky way than Bong Hee or Ji Ah, in that So Hee would use information to try and twist situations to her advantage. She also had a pretty loud mouth, and while these traits combined were ultimately what got her murdered, I can’t deny that it made her one interesting character. Even the female head of the Investigation Committee was powerful and commanding, and wasn’t afraid to call the shots. It's not like the drama went out of its way to tout girl-power, but so many K-Dramas have female characters that are soft and nice and get walked all over that it was nice to have a drama with more realistic, more interesting female characters.

What Wasn’t:

Murky Motivations:

I really have no idea why any of the antagonists did anything in this drama. On the island Tae Ho just went full bonkers and started trying to kill everyone off- successfully killing at least four people (the pilot, Yeol, So Hee, and the reporter).

And yet Suddenly-Psycho Tae Ho was probably the most sensical bad guy

But that’s fine, it’s a stressful situation and some people go nuts in stressful situations- there was enough there to argue that Tae Ho was just trying to clear up his mess of murdering Jae Hyun. So Hee knew he helped kill Jae Hyun so he killed her, then tried to kill everyone else so when they were rescued no one would know that he was a giant murderer. Slightly ridiculous, but passable.

And did he shave his head specifically so people would know he's a villain?

Jang Do Pal was a bit confusing as I don’t really understand why he was so desperate to cover up for Tae Ho. I guess he was a super famous actor that earned the company a lot of money, but he was a giant liability what with his tendency to lose his temper and kill people. I get why Do Pal covered up the Jae Hyun case- it was messy and made things complicated if Jae Hyun survived the almost fatal attack from Tae Ho, plus getting Jae Hyun out the way made things easier for the band to split up and gave Tae Ho room to become the famous actor he became- which is obviously a cash benefit to the entertainment company. But I don’t see why Do Pal continued covering for him once he was off the island and there were so many people out to reveal Tae Ho for what he was- surely it would have been more beneficial to throw Tae Ho under the bus at that point? Similarly, I don’t understand why no one on the Crash Investigation Committee or any of the Prosecutors had any interest in actually finding out the truth. Sure, they just wanted a quick job and to get the plane crash and survivors off everyone’s mind, and I can see how for a time siding with Tae Ho was the best option.

It was like they didn't want to be ethical, but they couldn't quite be assed being evil either

When it was just Bong Hee’s word (only a stylist and virtually a no one) against Tae Ho’s (a famous, rich actor with connections and power), it made sense to side with Tae Ho. But once more famous people started showing up and it became clear that Tae Ho was a big ol’ murderer, I don’t understand why the authorities continued to take Tae Ho’s side.

Like, why are you all being so darn unhelpful?

I know it needed to be an uphill battle for the plot to be interesting, but the plot can’t be interesting if I’m constantly confused as to why characters are acting the way the are. Once it was clear that Tae Ho killed So Hee, there was less than no benefit for the authorities in taking his side- they had no deal with Tae Ho or his entertainment company and at an early point they all could have jumped ship onto team Joon Oh and Bong Hee and no one would have batted an eye. But they didn’t. They stayed on the obviously sinking ship with Tae Ho. The writers constructed the authorities so they seemed like nothing more than corrupt powerhouses who were completely self-serving and did nothing unless it benefitted them. And yet, here they were going out of their way and actively making more work for themselves trying to protect one murderous actor. Just, why?

Happy Ending:

Okay, I wanted a happy ending- just not this happy ending. Like, what the hell even was that? So the first half of the series was all exciting and stuff, and then the second half was less exciting but seemed to be moving towards our characters beating the system and getting justice. Only, they didn’t really beat the system.

I'm still not sure why President Hwang's testimony was 100 times more reliable than everyone else's combined

In the last 10 minutes or so of the final episode, the authorities that had been going against our heroes all drama long just decide to flip sides and save Joon Oh. The flip is not explained, nor are we shown how we got there. We go from Joon Oh’s trial where the prosecutors are against him to some other force arresting those same prosecutors. Why hello random other authority- where have you been all series when our characters were getting trampled over?

The brightness and happiness feels so out of place considering how many people died and how little jail time was given

Even though the drama seemed as though it was ramping up towards a final showdown, that showdown never came- we didn’t see what led up to the arrests of the corrupt prosecutors, and from what I can tell Tae Ho and Do Pal never even got arrested! I know! You can’t just kill like four people and not go to jail. That’s just silly. And cute as that last painting scene was, it really annoyed me that Tae Ho was included.

Joon Oh: Plz stop killing people. Tae Ho: Hm, kk.
No joke, that's pretty much how it went down.

In fact, it really annoyed me that Joon Oh forgave him at all. We weren’t given nearly enough backstory on the relationship between the two boys to warrant forgiveness. We never saw Tae Ho when he was a nice young kid, we only saw him once he went off the deep end. The forgiveness felt really forced, even for Joon Oh. It’s clear that Joon Oh’s a lovely man and that he cares deeply for his friend, but it just didn’t make sense. This guy has killed multiple people and you’re just going to ignore that? That’s not healthy for anyone involved. And the fact that the rest of them were all happy and laughing as well? Fat chance. All series long Ki Joon has been trying to protect Ji Ah while Tae Ho has actively gone out of his way to make sure her life was in danger. All series long Tae Ho was threatening Ho Hang with President Hwang’s life to ensure he stayed under his control. Tae Ho actually strangled Prosecutor Yoon’s sister to death and then tried to blame it on Joon Oh and Bong Hee. And now they’re all happy sitting together painting a wall as friends? What the actual f*ck- that was the dumbest thing I’ve seen in a long while.

Apparently we're all just going to forget that this happened...

The reasoning behind Tae Oh’s forgiveness was also pretty weak. I get that he probably would have been a completely different person if he’d known that he hadn’t been the one to kill Jae Hyun- but that totally doesn’t excuse his actions past that point. Sure, it’s sad that a bad man made you think you killed your friend, but that doesn’t mean you can just go around killing other people now, it doesn’t work that way.

I wanted so much more closure in this relationship

And while I was content that our characters were happy at the end there, it did bother me that their stories felt unfinished. Joon Oh and Bong Hee’s relationship ended really well and I loved the way they left it with them obviously liking each other but not acting on it yet- but Ji Ah and Ki Joon got no such closure. We didn’t find out anything about Ji Ah’s mum borrowing money or about how her relationship with Ki Joon was going. Although we were never promised any romance, it was still the only real story arc those two characters had, so I was disappointed when it didn’t come to a close. And Yeol. Poor Yeol. I wasn’t ever really expecting him to come back because he looked pretty darn dead in the scene he got killed in, but I kept the possibility open purely because nothing was ever mentioned about him after he disappeared (even though Joon Oh heard Tae Ho say he killed him). It was odd how they never mentioned finding his body, and only ever talked about So Hee being murdered when we all know that Yeol was killed too. And so was the reporter. But apparently no one cares about that.

Recommend?

I’ve changed up my structure here to ‘Recommend’ rather than ‘Re-watch’ because I was finding my answer was starting to be the same for every drama- if I had an infinite amount of time I’d watch again, but there are so many new dramas coming out and I really want to keep up. And to be honest, I’d rather watch a mediocre drama I’ve never seen than a fabulous one I’ve already watched. Variety is the spice of life.

I just don't have the time

So would I recommend ‘Missing 9’? No, not really. I like survival films, and while the island aspect of the drama was fun and interesting, it only lasted for around 10 episodes, and even then there was a lot of time allotted to Bong Hee back in civilisation. The later parts of the drama just weren’t as entertaining and actually boarded on non-sensical. So, unless you’re a diehard fan of one of the cast-members, I really wouldn’t tell you to rush out and watch ‘Missing 9’.

It's an interesting concept but it loses its wow-factor as the show progresses