The Silent Sea

 The Silent Sea

8.5/10

The Silent Sea

Genre:                                     Episodes: 8                           Year: 2021

Mystery

Thriller

Synopsis:

In the future, Earth suffers from a sever lack of water. Water is strictly rationed creating tension between the different socio-economic classes. A team of soldiers and scientists are sent to a research station on the moon to receive samples that were left behind when the station was abandoned due to a radiation leak.

Cast:

Bae Doo Na (Song Ji Ahn)

Gong Yoo (Han Yoon Jae)

Kim Sun Young (Hong Ga Young)

Lee Joon (Ryu Tae Suk)

Lee Moo Saeng (Gong Soo Hyuk)

Lee Sung Wook (Kim Sun)

Jung Soon Won (Gong Soo Chan)

Kim Shi Ah (Luna)

Heo Sung Tae (Chief Kim)

Gil Hae Yeon (Director Choi)

General Thoughts:

This was a great show. I really enjoyed every episode and highly enjoyed the creepy atmosphere that was built throughout the show’s run. There’s so much in this drama that was made to grab attention and draw viewers in. Being a Netflix show, its reach was a little further than K-Drama’s that are only shown in Korea and on smaller streaming platforms internationally.

It's SPACE

Netflix gives a lot of people access to international content that they might not otherwise have had access to, and over the last couple of years you can really feel Netflix capitalising on Korean content. As well as being on one of the biggest streaming platforms, ‘The Silent Sea’ also had a handful of cast members that viewers would have seen before- also on Netflix. Bae Doo Na, who is the leading character of ‘The Silent Sea’ got a lot of attention when she starred in ‘Kingdom’ and ‘Kingdom 2’. The tone of both these shows are also similar- ‘Kingdom’ was a tension building zombie series, and ‘The Silent Sea’ was a tension building space mystery.

This is not her first Netflix rodeo

A lot of people who tuned in to ‘Kingdom’ would be the target audience for ‘The Silent Sea’. Gong Yoo, who plays the main male character, and Heo Sung Tae would both be familiar to those who watched ‘Squid Game’. And again, ‘Squid Game’ is a series that has a similar dark, mysterious tone. The casting of the drama was definitely a big draw card, not just for dedicated K-Drama fans, but also for newer viewers whose only experience with Korean content is through Netflix. A large budget and a large audience is a great way to start a show. Obviously I’m late to the party as ‘The Silent Sea’ aired almost a year ago now, but I still think it’s one of the better Netflix K-Dramas I’ve seen. I’ve mentioned before how a platform like Netflix gives K-Dramas certain freedoms that shows aired on Korean networks don’t have, and I think this show really hits that perfect middle ground of not being too conservative, but also not being too dark. ‘D.P’ is another Netflix release that was at its core a great show, but the themes were so dark that it wasn’t actually that enjoyable to watch. ‘Sweet Home’ is a Netflix release that I didn’t even make past the first episode- the horror themes were just too much for me. ‘The Silent Sea’ is great for me because it sort of dances on the edge of being horror, but never actually crosses over. I like being drawn in and I like being nervous for the characters and anticipating what is going to happen next. I don’t like being scared. I especially don’t like still being scared even after I’ve turned the show off.

It's the perfect amount of scary for people who don't like horror

This drama was fabulous because it was so great at drawing you into the moment and holding the viewer in these tense, highly suspenseful moments, but very rarely resorted to things like jump scares or gore to heighten the tension. Instead, there was always this slightly uncomfortable feeling that something wasn’t quite right, but it was hard to pick out exactly what it was. Things like lighting, small character expressions and music were excellent tools that this show used to create suspense and build tension. Another excellent way the show did this was to have scenes linger for slightly longer than they needed to.

A+ for atmosphere

A character would leave a hallway or walk past a door and the camera would stay focused on supposed emptiness for just slightly longer than would be normal, leaving the viewer waiting for something to happen- something has to be there right, or why else would the shot still be ongoing? It was a fabulous way of creating the feeling that something else was in the station with the team and that the team was being watched without actually having to show anything at all. The actual plot of the show was pretty slow moving. Not a lot was really going on in each of these episodes. You couldn’t really build these small moments and create this spooky atmosphere if a hundred other things were going on at the same time. I didn’t mind this payoff at all- there was enough in each episode to keep me hooked and the viewers were spoon-fed small pieces of the mystery in each of the episodes. One thing I will say about the plot, is that while technically not a lot happened each episode, I liked that the characters faced threats from different sources. As the story progressed deeper into the mystery, the threats the characters came in contact with were more varied. This certainly helped to up the tension and keep the interest in the story. The different threats were also hinted at early on so it never felt like they came out of nowhere. Right as the crew arrived at Balhae station they saw a dead mercenary and the dialogue was able to give some exposition on the group and why they may potentially cause issues with the crew. Which of course they did in the form of Gi Soon and Tae Suk.

Of all the ways you could die in this station, getting shot by a human sure seems the least cool

We also had Luna herself attacking the crew in the middle episodes in an effort to prevent them from taking the Luna Water away. And then of course there was the Luna Water itself that could instantly kill any of the crew if they came into contact with it. Having a range of threats and different types of danger kept the show engaging and suspenseful, and I enjoyed how it wasn’t an obvious enemy for the crew to go up against all the time. Much like the atmosphere in each episode built, the story built itself in a similar way, gradually upping the stakes and the tension until we made it to the final episode.

Is she a fish? Is she a human? Nobody knows!

The story itself I thought was good- we knew something had happened on the station and we knew it had something to do with the strange Luna Water, and enjoyed the gradual unravelling of what really happened at Balhae Station. I appreciated the final moral issue that the characters were faced with, and I didn’t feel like the viewers had to make too many assumptions about what happened on their own. I still have no idea what the hell Luna Water is or how Luna came to be the way that she is, but I’m not sure we are supposed to know those things by the end of the show. The lack of answers to the final issue raised by the drama is probably the show’s only weak point. I can see some people potentially being put off by the slow pace, but as I mentioned before, that was a price I was willing to pay for the creepiness in each episode. I also think the lack of explanation at the end may annoy some viewers and the science didn’t seem very science-y. The mystery substance just was and interacted with things we knew, such as people, just because the was what the show needed it to do. No reasoning and no explanation. I found this to be a minor flaw though, and it didn’t really have ay impact of my enjoyment of the drama as a whole. 

What Was Great:

Cinematic Experience:

This show is gorgeous. You can tell it had a high budget. The landscaping of the moon was absolutely beautiful and all the CGI with the space and violence and water was all very realistic. To add to the stunning cinematography, the acting was all top class.

The moon landscape was just absolutely stunning 

While the characters themselves weren’t exactly integral to the story, which was more focused on location and events, it certainly didn’t hurt to have actors of such high caliber filling out the cast. The score as well was done beautifully- the music added to the feel of what we were seeing on screen, both the setting and the characters, and certainly assisted with creating the dark, unsettling mood that the show was building. All the elements that supported the plot and storyline were absolutely top shelf, and gave the drama a clean and polished look that can sometimes be lacking from smaller budget shows. All the scenes and various locations we were shown as the story progressed felt so rich and real, and had great detail focus.

Spooky station with spooky lighting

All the areas inside the Balhae Station were populated with smaller details so that we knew where in the station we were. The smaller details all added up to build the bigger picture and add depth to the show. Each and every aspect of the drama came together to increase the foreboding atmosphere and worked together to build the tension that the plot of the drama was riding on. This show was a great experience all around, but visually it was really a cut above other K-Dramas. 

What Wasn’t:

Inconclusive:

As I've said in many a drama review- I’m not really a fan of open endings. While I understand it can be there to allow the viewer to imagine the story to go in any direction from that point, a big part of me has always felt that this is a slightly lazy way of ending a story. Sometimes I’m on board- such as the ending of ‘Inception’ where it’s unclear if the main character has made it back to his family or if he’s still in a dream.

We just kinda threw science away for that last episode, huh

Because there’s only two options and the story that we’ve sat through isn’t really impacted by which of those scenarios are true. But the ending here in ‘The Silent Sea’ was just too open. It’s unclear who is in the spacecraft that arrives for Ji Ann and Dr Hong. It’s unclear why Luna can live on the moon without the need for a space suit. It’s unclear if Luna is going to taken for more experiments and research. It’s unclear whether the moral quandaries the characters have experienced have any impact on wether the Korean government continues the research into Luna Water and if the cloning experimentation continues. It felt like the show spent all its time on uncovering the mystery of Balhae Station (which it did extremely well), but then did nothing with what was left after our characters had all the information. Is it setting up for a Season 2? I mean, probably but I don’t really like that either. Almost everyone from Season 1 is dead and any ongoing seasons are unlikely to have that same level of unsettling atmosphere and curious underlying mystery that made this series so good. Not a fan of open endings, and not a fan of banking on second seasons, so either way- not a huge fan of the way this drama wrapped up.

Recommend?

I would recommend this drama. Particularly for those that enjoy atmosphere building and the tension that comes from a mystery slowly unraveling. 

I sure hope they don't go back to Earth for a second season

Squid Game

 Squid Game

9/10

Squid Game

Genre:                                     Episodes: 9                  Year: 2021

Mystery         

Thriller

Synopsis:

Song Gi Hoon is a divorced father who is in serious debt. One day he is invited to join a game with a chance to win 45.6 billion won- if he wins 6 children’s games against the other contestants, Gi Hoon will be bale to win the cash prize.

Cast:

Lee Jung Jae (Song Gi Hoon)

Park Hae Soo (Cho Sang Woo)

Jung Ho Yeon (Kang Sae Byeok)

Wi Ha Joon (Hwang Joon Ho)

Oh Young Soo (Oh Il Nam)

Heo Sung Tae (Jang Deok Soo)

Kim Joo Ryung (Han Mi Nyeo)

Tripathi Anupam (Ali Abdul)

Lee Yoo Mi (Ji Yeong)

Lee Byung Hoon (Front Man)

General Thoughts:

Oh ‘Squid Game’. What a wild and unexpected journey. Not just in the actual show itself, but watching the traction this drama has gained has been a journey in and of itself. I have never in my life had this many people talk to me about a K-Drama before. Usually I have my two or three friends that watch K-Dramas that I am able to gossip and speculate and relive dramas with. Now suddenly with this one little show, that expanded to almost everybody I interact with.

And now everyone knows of Gong Yoo

People who two months ago would have scoffed when I told them I was super into Korean TV, people who I can’t imagine sitting down and watching a subtitled show- literally everyone is talking ‘Squid Game’ right now (well at least they were when I started writing this review a year ago). It’s amazing and wonderful, but also slightly baffling. Why this show? Why now? And I have to admit a little part of me is screaming out ‘I TOLD YOU SO YOU B*STARDS, I’VE BEEN ONTO THIS FROM THE START!’

Yup, no censorship here

And with everyone I know watching ‘Squid Game’ and a good few of them knowing I am a K-Drama addict, the question that usually follows is ‘what other K-Drama can I watch that is like this?’ And this is where I think this drama has really got its traction, because honestly the answer at the moment is ‘nothing’. Well not entirely true. The answer is ‘Liar Game’, but that drama was a different time and a different Network and doesn’t have all the super high production values that ‘Squid Game’ scored. But I think the fact that Netflix is the platform that showed ‘Squid Game’ is what really allowed the drama to rocket to fame. There have been a few other K-Dramas on Netflix that I have reviewed (and not all of them I have enjoyed), but for those who have never seen a K-Drama before and don’t really understand how the Korean networks work (which is most of the Western audience that is consuming ‘Squid Game’), they don’t quite see what an impact having the show picked up by Netflix is. For one- no censoring. Mainstream Korean networks censor the banoonoos out of their shows- knives, blood, needles. You don’t get more than an idea of nudity or sex- you get the lights turned off or the covers pulled over the actors. Of course, if ‘Squid Game’ had those restrictions placed on it, we wouldn’t have a show- just Lee Jung Jae walking around a lot of blurred out scenery. Netflix gave ‘Squid Game’ the freedom to do what it wanted to do, and that freedom allowed the writer and the production team to make a show that is widely marketable and easily consumable. Everything came together really well in this show- production value was high, the writing was tight, and the acting was brilliant.

Oof, this game was so brutal

The cast did a brilliant job at bringing the story to life. Lee Jung Jae and Park Hae Soo were fabulous at showing two sides of the same coin. Their characters were so similar and the two actors did an amazing job at showing how the pressure and demands of the game brought out different sides to their characters. Gi Hoon struggled immensely during the marble game when he was trying to fool his friend Il Nam, and Lee Jung Jae really sold that performance- it was a heart-wrenching scene for many reasons, but the way Lee Jung Jae delivered his performance was wonderful.

"I'd never betray my friend" say all the viewers from their comfy couches

While this was playing out, we also had a very similar thing happening with Sang Woo and Ali. Two friends, with one working to betray the other. Park Hae Soo certainly became a character that many hated after this scene, but he did it perfectly. His micro-expressions showed both his discomfort at having to betray a friend to his death, but also his convictions in what he was doing. Lee Jung Jae’s expressions and body language conveyed distress and guilt and confusion and gave the impression that if he could do it again perhaps he would have made a different choice, whereas Park Hae Soo very much used everything he had to portray that while Sang Woo was not unaffected by his own actions, if given the chance to go back, he would make the same choice again. This very same episode also gave us one of my favourite characters of the show and a total scene stealer- Lee Yoo Mi as Ji Yeong. She was able to give us such an endearing and loveable character in such a short amount of time. I’ve seen her in a few things before, but this scene in ‘Squid Game’ was really when I started to notice what an incredible actress she was.

'Thanks for playing with me' - and then everyone cries

While the other actors had episodes and hours of time to craft their characters and unveil their hopes and desires to the audience, Lee Yoo Mi was asked to do the same but in one episode. And she did it. Her character and her character’s journey was heart-wrenching, and most importantly, extremely memorable. The other actress I want to talk about is obviously Jung Ho Yeon- this was her first foray into acting! Ever!

His 'Hyung!' cries will haunt your dreams

She was very impressive with how emotive she could be, and she certainly didn’t have an issue keeping up with other actors who have an extensive list of credentials. It really felt like Jung Ho Yeon gave everything she had to the character, and she certainly made Sae Byeok a fan favourite. Another fan favourite was Ali, played by Tripathi Anupam. Similarly to Jung Ho Yeon, he had a very endearing character to act out, though Tripathi Anupam also gave Ali a layer of innocence which made him instantly easy to like and easy to root for. I have seen a few non-Koreans acting in K-Dramas before and they have been…not good (I mean, take a look at the guys who played out the rich villains at the end of the series). I get it, the amount of non-Korean actors who can speak Korean relatively fluently is probably not high. But Tripathi Anupam was amazing! His acting did not feel awkward at all- it felt like he was used to being in front of the camera and being in scenes with other actors. He did more than just give a passable performance- he absolutely excelled. He filled his character with heart and he had great chemistry with the other actors- particularly Park Hae Soo, which really helped to make the marble scene as emotional as was.

What Was Great:

Shock Plot:

‘Squid Game’ came at a time where hyper-violent twists where the happening thing in hot shows. ‘Game of Thrones’ was one of the starters of this trend and a lot of shows since have been using this recipe for success.

Games with a twist are the in thing right now

Having characters that people love and characters that people love to hate, and then having shocking and unexpected twists and turns seems to be a massive draw that keeps people from being unable to turn a show off. It almost seems to promote this fear of missing out in the viewers- this feeling where you have to keep watching because you can’t be the only one who didn’t get shocked by that big twist or can’t speculate on the show’s next move. Amazon series ‘The Boys’ follows a similar vein- a range of characters and big, shocking moments- often quite gory. Japanese Netflix series ‘Alice in Borderland’ had a similar idea and was also a smash hit, though not as much as ‘Squid Game’.

Ah, the illusion of choice

Heck, even ‘The Hunger Games’ is a toned down version of this sort of story! The timing of ‘Squid Game’s release couldn’t have been better- a few years earlier and it possibly could have been criticised for its violence and gore, and a few years later and it could have been too late to the party. While I would certainly call this show a violent one, I also wouldn’t say it is outrageously so. While a lot of that would depend on personal preferences, I did find that ‘Squid Game’ had enough in it to shock the audience, but it wasn’t so gratuitously violent that I couldn’t watch. Personally, I don’t like horror, and I don’t like lots of visual gore. I found that this drama hit a balance where it had the shock of the moment, but it don’t linger on it. This served to keep the intensity up in every scene and every episode, but by choosing not to linger too long on the actual aftermath the show reduced the risk of turning away viewers who, like me, don’t want to see every gory detail. The writers new that the premise was shocking, the plot was shocking, the situations the characters were in were shocking, and that sometimes even the characters themselves were shocking. They knew they didn’t have to rely on long, drawn out shots of blood and bones and brains to get that reaction out of the audience- it was well balanced.

Character Moments:

Speaking of being well balanced, you can have a shocking show with big twists and big deaths, but without engaging characters to back them up it doesn’t become as much of an addictive watch.

The characters are everything

Think the later seasons of ‘Game of Thrones’. When the characters' development dropped, so did peoples’ enthusiasm for the show. ‘Squid Game’ did a great job at inserting quiet character moments into the show, so that when the big twists came there was maximum impact.

Strong female characters are always a big win

Would Ali’s death have hit as hard if we hadn’t seen the family he was trying to protect and get back to? Would Sang Woo’s betrayal have had the emotional reaction from the audience that it got if it hadn’t spent time showing Sang Woo and Ali having small, quiet moments of bonding and camaraderie? Moments in the show were able to hit hard and get an emotional response from the audience because it spent time setting up the relationships between the characters. As each episode went on we knew a little bit more about the characters and a little bit more about their stories. The premise of the deadly games is what got people tuning into the show, but it was the interactions between the characters and watching the hard choices they had to make that kept people watching. 

What Wasn’t:

Stale Pale Males:

Old, rich, white men were behind it. Wow. What a surpri- oh wait no. It wasn’t a surprise really. Aren’t old, rich, white men always the ones behind everything pulling all the strings? I was hoping for something a little more innovative from the writer I will admit. It’s not a BAD idea per se- it’s just not entirely new.

Why are all rich men just such *ssholes

The rest of ‘Squid Game’ was so new and exciting and felt like something that had never been seen before, so for the whole thing to be an illicit gambling den for the wealthy and powerful men of the world just felt…kind of like a safe play? Sure, this is the outcome that made the most sense- the games obviously need a huge amount of money behind them to be run, but it also felt like it was an answer the writer didn’t have to reach far for. I don’t know, I was just hoping for something a bit more…well, more. 

Recommend?

Yes- I can’t not recommend a K-Drama that has broken so many barriers and done so many things for Korean Dramas moving forward. The fact that it’s a really riveting show with an addictive plot is another great reason to watch. I will say though that if you do not like violence, this show is not for you.

See you all for Season 2

Psychopath Diary

 Psychopath Diary

6/10

Psychopath Diary

Genre:                                     Episodes: 16                         Year: 2020

Thriller

Comedy

Synopsis:

Yook Dong Shik is a timid man who is looked down on by those around him. One day he witnesses a murder and picks up a diary belonging to the killer. As he flees the scene he is involved in an accident that causes him to lose his memories. Due to the diary, Dong Shik mistakingly believes that he is the killer. He draws closer to Shim Bo Kyung, a police officer who is investigating a string of suicides that she believes are actually the work of a serial killer.

Cast:

Yoon Shi Yoon (Yook Dong Shik)

Jung In Sun (Shim Bo Kyung)

Park Sung Hoon (Seo In Woo)

Choi Sung Won (Heo Tak Soo)

Kim Myung Soo (Shim Seok Goo)

Heo Sung Tae (Jang Chil Sung)

General Thoughts:

A lot of the time when reviewing K-Dramas I tend to find myself saying ‘I thought I would like this more than I did’. With this drama however, I’ve actually ended up thinking the opposite. Yes, it’s one of those rare times where I actually enjoyed a drama more than I thought I would.

I won't lie- I thought this show would be nothing but ridiculous

I went in with my expectations pretty low, and kinda just watched this show as a way to pass time while the dramas I was actually interested in watching were released (joke’s on me- I stretched my watching of this over many months and now I am once again way behind on shows). I thought it would be silly and fun for an episode or two before becoming a bit boring. But it didn’t! The first episode was great, but after that the momentum slowed a bit, and I’ll admit I found myself thinking ‘yep, here we go’,

Chill Sung made this show so fun

but then the storyline started to pick up again and I found myself being happily drawn in again. It’s not like I finished an episode and instantly switched the next one on because I was so curious to see what happened next- but I didn’t get bored in the episodes, and the episodes themselves were fun and didn’t feel long. There was an unpredictability to the show that made it quite enjoyable- you could never be sure where it was going to take you. I was surprised that we found out who the killer was so early on, but it actually worked very well in the show’s favour to do so. Seeing Dong Shik flounder around thinking he was a serial killer was funny, but putting that next to the REAL killer, In Woo, made it a lot funnier. The parallel between the two characters was a great source of humour, and the show drew on that further when In Woo thought he had found another person like him- he was so serious about it, but we the audience were very clued in on the situation and what an absolute muppet Dong Shik really was, that seeing In Woo believe he was a killer was really funny. Yoon Shi Yoon matched the character of Dong Shik extremely well- this type of character is tailor made for the over-the-top comedy that Yoon Shi Yoon so often delivers.

This is Yoon Shi Yoon's brand of comedy

If I’m being honest, I did find Yoon Shi Yoon’s acting to be a bit too much a lot of the time, but it did suit the character well. It’s kind of an old-school type of comedy that can take a bit of time getting used to, but once the drama set the stage as being one of extra, somewhat slapstick humour, it was easy enough to accept and just go along with it. It paired well with Jung In Sun’s more straight-faced, earnest character, and the show had a relatively breezy vibe over all. Even with the actual serial killer.

They made a fun pair

I don’t think Jung In Sun is the best actress ever, but she did well here and delivered an honest and endearing character. Bo Kyung’s hunches and dedication to her job made her an easy character to cheer for- particularly when everyone else in the police force was so weirdly determined to not catch the real killer. I mean seriously, did anyone think her mentor detective was a good guy? He just screeaaamed shady from the moment he stepped on screen. Our bad guy, In Woo, was played by Park Sung Hoon, who isn’t exactly a new face in dramaland, but I am fairly sure that he’s been relegated to pretty small roles previously- like a named friend of the hero or office colleague kind of thing. Well, he was so fabulous as our psychopathic killer. I won’t pretend that there was a lot of backstory behind In Woo’s character (chaebol son takes out frustrations by killing people, you know the drill), but he gave a lot of energy to the character. His smiles had such a way off coming of creepy, even in non-creepy settings. His chemistry with Yoon Shi Yoon was really fun and the two made for a really solid comedic duo, even if Park Sung Hoon played a serious character the whole time. The rest of the characters were all pretty stock-standard, but there were a couple of great side characters. Heo Sung Tae was absolutely brilliant as the gangster-turned-good, and his adoration of Dong Shik was both hilarious and adorable.

Long live this unexpected and hilarious bromance

Watching Dong Shik actually come to rely on Chil Sung was sweet and super entertaining- watching the two hapless fools bumble their way through a dangerous serial murder investigation just felt so fresh and had a load of comedy to draw from. Another scene stealer was Kim Myung Soo who played Bo Kyung’s disabled father. At first he was a sweet and endearing character that was used to showcase Bo Kyung’s love for her family and dedication to her job, and honestly that’s kind of how I expected him to stay- a sad backstory for our heroine.

Don't hurt Dad

 But then the show did something quite special- it expanded Kim Myung Soo’s role into being an aspect of Bo Kyung’s life that In Woo could take advantage of and exploit. The drama was so light-hearted that I was completely taken aback and got chills when In Woo threatened Bo Kyung’s father knowing full well that he was unable to speak out for help, and watching him keep the poor man helpless and under his influence through the hospital and drugs gave In Woo a massive fear factor that he hadn’t really had before. Kim Myung Soo played every scene perfectly- he was so sweet and defenceless that it really ignited a feeling of anger and desperation when he switched to the heavier scenes. For the plot itself, there was nothing really revolutionary going on, but it was more the interactions between the characters that was the draw of the drama anyway. The show wasn’t predictable, but it wasn’t exactly groundbreaking either- there were no major twists and it was easy enough to follow along even if you got distracted for a minute or two along the way.

What Was Great:

Lasting the Distance:

A problem I find a lot of K-Dramas have is that there just isn’t enough plot to spread out between the episodes. Plot-lines rise and fall and there tends to be a bit of a lull at some point in most shows. I was surprised to find with ‘Psychopath Diary’ that as the show went on it started to feel more engaging not less. The comedy found its footing and became a bit less slapstick based, and I just became plain interested to see how In Woo would get caught and how far along Dong Shik would get dragged.

Pre-psycho Dong Shik was painfully wimpy

I didn’t think the show would have Dong Shik kill someone while he thought he was the murderer, but I was never positive that it wouldn’t happen either. It was a good path to have Dong Shik decide that killing people was now boring, as it gave him an excuse to not go around killing people while also extending the period of time that it made sense for him to believe himself the murderer. Usually the hooks that draw you into a show, the special little somethings, become undone before the halfway point, so I was fully expecting Dong Shik to catch on that he wasn’t really the killer pretty quickly. I was impressed that the show kept Dong Shik in killer mindset for most of its run and crafted the story around that without defaulting back to a regular old ‘who dunnit’ when in actual fact we already know who dunnit.

I mean, I know which one I'd pick as being the psychopath on hairstyle alone

The show brought in enough little side stories as we made our way to the conclusion that the plot never felt dragged out, and the momentum was built nicely. With each side quest Dong Shik and Bo Kyung went on, they got a little closer to the killer. It was just plain fun to watch these two characters bumble their way into catching the most notorious killer of their time, and there was enough entertainment in each episode that it managed to fill all 16 of them without stretching the plot thin.

What Wasn’t:

Low Stakes:

Generally the downside of silly, fun shows is that there isn’t a lot of substance to them. It isn’t to say that this drama was insubstantial, but there’s only so much you can relate to dorky, slightly cartoonish characters that stumble through life. 

It's always the rich boy. Always.

There’s a level of tension you expect out of more light-hearted shows, and it almost a guarantee that no major characters are going to die or be greatly endangered. We all knew In Woo would get caught and Dong Shik would realise he wasn’t the murderer and that it would all work out in the end. And even if some characters did get hurt or die, there was very low personal investment in the characters, so while it would have been a surprise, it wouldn’t have been too heartbreaking. Also due to the fact that Dong Shik thought he was the killer, the show couldn’t then have In Woo going around killing more people- because then Dong Shik would know that he wasn’t the killer- because people would still be dying even though he was doing no murdering. So while In Woo was set up well as a scary and remorseless killer, he actually spent most of the show not killing people and just laughing about how Dong Shik thought he was a cold-blooded psychopath. 

Recommend?

If you want a silly comedy to not take too seriously then sure. If you’re after a more serious mystery or romance I’d advise you to look elsewhere.

The show gets props for an interesting twist on your classic murdering chaebol story