Rescue Me

Rescue Me

6.5/10

Rescue Me

Genre:                                 Episodes: 16                          Year: 2017

Mystery

Thriller

Synopsis:

After a family tragedy, Im Sang Mi and her parents are drawn into a religious cult. Four young men who went to high school with Sang Mi see her in trouble and try to help her escape.

Cast:

Seo Ye Ji (Im Sang Mi)

Taecyeon (Han Sang Hwan)

Woo Do Hwan (Seok Dong Chul)

Lee David (Woo Jung Hoon)

Ha Ho Jung (Choi Man Hee)

Cho Sung Ha (Baek Jung Ki)

Jung Hae Kyun (Im Joo Ho)

Park Ji Young (Kang Eun Shil)

Jo Jae Yun (Jo Wan Tae)

Yoon Yoo Sun (Kim Bo Eun)

Jang Yoo Sang (Im Sang Jin)

Jang Hyuk Jin (Lee Kang Soo)

General Thoughts:

It's an interesting drama for sure, but I definitely wouldn’t call it fun. In fact, the first bunch of episodes were a bit of a strain to get through as they were so dark. The writers did a brilliant job at creating a heavy and mysterious atmosphere that was full of suspense, however for a drama that’s a full 16 episodes, I do think you need to balance the bleakness with a bit of light, which ‘Rescue Me’ didn’t do at all.

So very, very bleak

Dark movies can be successful as they only go for about 2 hours, however ‘Rescue Me’ was doom and despair for a whole 6 hours before there was even a hint that Sang Mi had a hope of finding a way out of the cult. On that note, I think the set-up and introduction of the series as whole just took too long.

I get that set-up is necessary- but it was a bit excessive

It was more than a third of the way through the drama before our main boys even cottoned on that Sang Mi was in a cult and needed help. I understand that we needed a solid background on how Sang Mi’s family ended up desperate enough to be drawn into the cult, but I do think the series could have set up the story faster, as the first 6 episodes or so felt a bit drawn out, especially as we were all waiting for Sang Mi to have some sort of actual interaction with Sang Hwan and Dong Chul after she’d been pulled into the cult. Once the drama had (finally) finished all its set up, the story became much more engaging, as did the characters. Sang Mi herself was pretty bland, but it worked more or less to the story's benefit just having her as an everyday sort of girl who found herself in a horrible situation. I was glad that Sang Mi wasn’t depicted as a needy or helpless girl, as that very well could have ended up being the case. Rather she was depicted as a normal girl who wanted to live a normal life, and who was willing to do whatever it took to get that. Despite how much I disliked the long intro, I did appreciate that the show bothered to show that Sang Mi had attempted to escape on her own before Sang Hwan heard her asking for help.

Immensely glad that she wasn't totally helpless

It showed that Sang Mi wasn’t incompetent or useless, and also showed just how far and deep Guseonwon’s reach into the community stretched. Having the police hand Sang Mi right back into the hands of the cult leaders was a hard moment to watch, but also illustrated perfectly why Sang Mi developed such distrust in people, and made her quiet plea to Sang Hwan much more dramatic and impactful.

Lady Officer not buying the cult's bull

As for the boys, rather than Sang Hwan, I actually found Dong Chul a more intriguing character. Sang Hwan’s inability to see his father’s corruption really annoyed me, particularly when his father screwed Dong Chul over so badly. After seeing his father fail to release Dong Chul from the detention centre as he’d promised, Sang Hwan’s trust in his father really should have been shot. Admittedly, it was enjoyable to watch Sang Hwan start standing up to his father and threatening him back, but by that point I was more invested in Dong Chul’s infiltration of the cult. Dong Chul’s story arc was an interesting one, as I fully expected him to have more of a fallout with Sang Hwan. I was glad that the show brushed over the topic lightly, but didn’t fail to address it. It kept the plot moving at a quick pace, while also addressing Sang Hwan’s utter failure to support his friend. The infiltration was extremely interesting, and kept the stakes high. As suspenseful as it was having Sang Mi trapped in the cult, we all kind of knew she would be rescued by the end (or else how sucky would this drama have been), but Dong Chul’s fate was far more unpredictable.

Dong Chul's plans were 100% better than Sang Hwan's 100% of the time

His double identity left a constant fear that he would be found out, and a fear of what would happen to him if he was. I also got slightly nervous that he might start buying into the cult for real, with all of the Spiritual Father’s weirdly accurate speeches on Dong Chul’s anger.

It's always the puppy boys that get put in danger

The characters in the cult were all fascinating characters themselves. As much as I hated Sang Mi’s father, he was a brilliantly written antagonist. Rather than the Spiritual Father, the one I was most afraid of and angry at was Sang Mi’s father. He had no clue about the horrible effects his decisions had on his family, and was constantly making terrible choices for Sang Mi under the guise of ‘protecting’ her. Not only was he making the worst decisions for Sang Mi possible, he also completely restricted her ability to escape. Had the Spiritual Father been the only one keeping Sang Mi in Guseonwon, Sang Mi’s escape would have been much, much easier. Sang Mi’s actual father has a level of legal control over her, and it was alarming how easily he could turn Sang Mi into a mentally damaged girl in the eyes of their community. Despite his inability to provide Sang Mi with a safe environment, his power over her as a father (both legally and emotionally), made it much harder for anyone to help Sang Mi.

K-Dramaland has a choice selection of crappy fathers, but you really take the cake

Sang Mi’s father was set up well, as even before he joined the cult, we were given glimpses of his poor decision making abilities and his blindly trusting nature. The drama opens on the family moving away from Seoul (because of what we assume is Sang Jin’s bullying), and the family loses all their assets due to Sang Mi’s father trusting a conman.

Here's a thought- maybe don't sell your daughter to the creeper

It felt natural for him to fall into the hands of people who were seemingly willing to help him and his family. He had the exact mindset that made it easy for him to be manipulated, and that was shown early on in the series, so it didn’t seem like an unnatural turn of events to have this man fall so heavily under the cult’s control. Apostle Jo was another terrifying, yet intricately interesting character to watch. His blatant lack of morals and willingness to do anything to make money (including protecting his cash cow Guseonwon) made him a total wild card and a threat to all of our characters. In a sense Apostle Jo was also more threatening than Spiritual Father because he was well aware that he was manipulating and taking advantage of people. Apostle Jo consciously used the weaknesses of others to exploit them, and of course had a total creep factor when it came to women.

Looks like an ajumma, acts like a psycho

Apostle Kang was fascinating as she was the only female character the show deeply explored that had bought into the cult. I almost wish we’d had a little more backstory on her shown on screen, as a lot was left up to viewer interpretation. Apostle Kang was interesting because she seemed much more desperate to believe in what the cult was preaching.

I'm not sure why being crazy reduces your scare-factor, but it kinda does

Despite being visibly uncomfortable with some of the things Guseonwon was doing, particularly in regards to the similarities in the way the cult abused Sang Mi and her daughter, she was so desperate to ‘save’ her and her daughter’s souls that she was willing overlook things that she was clearly unsupportive of. As for our main antagonist, I actually found Spiritual Father a tad lacking. Sure he was super creepy and super influential and a danger to our heroes, but I was pretty disappointed when it was revealed that he was buying what he was selling. I would have found him a much more interesting character had he, like Apostle Jo, been aware that he was taking advantage of all these people. As it was, having him be reduced to a crazy man who really thought he was a God was a bit of a letdown and actually reduced how threatening I found him.

Worst three amigos ever

Sang Mi’s Mum was an interesting character, as at the start of the series I thought she was the most useless person on the face of the Earth. I was glad that early on the show gave hints that Mum was being drugged, as it gave her a much more sympathetic standpoint.

Thank goodness for this scene else I would've hated Mum as much as Dad

Seeing that she was also being victimised by the cult, it made that much more sense why Sang Mi couldn’t try and escape on her own. It made Apostle Jo and Spiritual Father’s threats more frightening knowing that they were willing to harm a completely helpless woman who had been unwillingly drugged up on hallucinogens. It was rewarding to see Sang Mi’s Mum start to take her own small steps to try and break out of the cult, such as refusing to swallow her pills. However, I could never shake my initial dislike of the woman, as her weakness after Sang Jin’s death is really what landed her family in the cult in the first place. Like, yeah I get that his death was awful and horrific, but hello- you still have one child left to look after. The way the show was filmed played a lot into the suspense and the mystery of the series. Having intercut scenes of what was happening in the town and the cult’s worship sessions really gave off a sense that Guseonwon was deeply imbedded in this town and had connections everywhere.

Psychos en masse

The show was clever with its use of light and shadow and even with the colours that the characters wore- most notably being Spiritual Father being constantly dressed in white, and Dong Chul and the boys more often than not in dark colours. The soundtrack was an excellent accompaniment, though admittedly it did contribute to the overall feeling of complete hopelessness that the show was conveying. I don’t think there was a single upbeat or happy track.

What Was Great:

Acting:

I must say that the acting was all pretty superb. I’m not a fan of Seo Ye Ji at all, as I find it hard to warm up to her characters as she always seems a bit cold. Thankfully, Sang Mi wasn’t a character that really required any warmth. She was cool and hard and determined, and those emotions alone were enough to get me invested in the character.

Resilient isn't a trait that a lot of K-Drama heroines get

Seo Ye Ji acted out Sang Mi’s hopelessness and her deep desire to escape perfectly, and sold the character’s struggles and imprisonment. Woo Do Hwan did an astounding job as Dong Chul.

The real hero of the story

I was drawn to the character almost immediately, and he truly gave of a sense of loneliness and betrayal after his time in juvenile detention. He really made the character his own, and Dong Chul rapidly became my favourite character in the show. Woo Do Hwan was able to believable portray a different side to Dong Chul when he infiltrated the cult without making it seem like Dong Chul’s disguise was a completely different character. Even though Dong Chul was acting milder and more innocent, he always carried Dong Chul’s underlying sense of justice and showed glimmers of his disgust at the cult. And of course all the acting coming out of the main members of the cult was just superb. I adore Jo Jae Yun, so it was hard to see him play (another) evil character, but before long he had me hating Apostle Jo’s patronising smile and double faces. Park Ji Young did an excellent job at showcasing her discomfort at some of the actions of the cult without it feeling like she was losing her faith in what they were preaching, which is no easy task.

Fab job from everyone

One of the better performances of the show was Jung Hae Kyun as Sang Mi’s Dad. Unlike the rest of those involved with the cult, Jung Hae Kyun had the more difficult task of showing how a relatively normal

I like Taec's acting best when he gets to act goofy and/or dorky

(albeit weak minded) man got drawn under the influence of Guseonwon. He didn’t portray his character as being crazy right off the bat, but slowly eased into just how much Sang Mi’s father was being manipulated. Before long he became my most hated character in the show, and that was all due to the acting creating such an intensely dislikable man. The one weak point in the acting was unfortunately Taecyeon. He wasn’t bad by a long shot, but the rest of the acting was just so good that he seemed a little bland in comparison. Towards the end of the series Taecyeon settled into his character more, and he was far more believable as a character determined to right the wrongs of his father, rather than a boy who meekly went along with the demands of his father at his friends’ expense. 

Illusion of Imprisonment:

When most people think of cults and the idea of people being trapped in cults, I do think there is a mild confusion as to why people can’t just get up and leave or simply sneak off. What ‘Rescue Me’ did really well was showcasing exactly why Sang Mi couldn’t just walk out of the cult.

Trapped in more ways than one

For one, she was often forcibly detained, but the more important aspect was how far into the community the cult reached. Even if Sang Mi did make it out of Guseonwon’s grounds, due to the cult spreading lies about her mental stability she was unlikely to get far.

Escaped once just for the police to send her right back

Another interesting, though uncomfortable, aspect was seeing the exact amount of control Sang Mi’s father had over her as a parent. Despite Sang Mi’s unwillingness to remain in the cult, as her legal guardian Dad could exude his power over her as a parent and make discussions on her behalf. Another fascinating aspect was seeing how hard it is for authorities to intervene in a religious organisation. Although they could act if there was proof of any illegal activities, the show really nailed home how well Guseonwon covered up their criminal activities and how hard it was for someone to gain access to their secrets. In all actuality, infiltrating the cult the way Dong Chul and the reporter did was the only way to get any evidence. It was annoying, yet believable how untouchable Guseonwon was- I mean, technically there’s nothing wrong with people donating large amounts of money and changing their wills to leave their assets to organisations, particularly when the leader of that organisation believes in the same whacky religion as the rest of them.

Guseonwon had some mad psychological warfare

Using Jeong Gu early on to show Apostle Jo’s terrifying nature by having him murder the young boy really displayed just how much power Guseonwon had, and how far they were willing to go to cover their secrets. It made the threats on Sang Mi’s Mum feel like real threats, and added a sense that Sang Mi was trapped psychologically as well as physically. 

What Wasn’t:

Where’s My Payoff?:

The most disappointing aspect of this drama for me is that it was set up as a dramatic, hard-hitting story, but then the conclusion didn’t really live up to the rest of the drama. Technically there’s nothing wrong with the way the show wrapped up in regards to plot- everything (well, most things) made logical sense and our ultimate goal had been achieved- get Sang Mi out of the cult. However, the emotional satisfaction just wasn’t really there.

The final smackdown felt kinda easy considering how hard it was to do anything all series long

For starters almost the whole show is the set up to the actual escape from the cult, and yet the rescue operation itself takes less than two episodes. And these episodes were right at the end. Which unfortunately for us meant that we only really saw the beginnings of the villains fall- if they even fell at all.

Couldn't she have realised just a little that she contributed to this outcome?

Apostle Kang suffered no losses whatsoever. Even after being totally willing to give Sang Mi over to a creepy old man, after the fall of Guseonwon Apostle Kang sets up her own church/cult with herself as the leader. What I really wanted from apostle Kang was to have her realise that the cult had been fake all along and that her own decisions were what forced her daughter to take her life, and that she’d almost caused the same thing to happen to Sang Mi. Of course, because this show is dark and more realistic than most K-Dramas I didn’t actually expect this to happen, but I was kind of expecting Apostle Kang to face some sort of consequences, be they legal or emotional. I also felt that killing off Spiritual Father was a bit of a cop-out. Yes, it’s ironic that he died in a fire after touting that he was flameproof, but it seemed more like a quick-fix rather than an actual conclusion for the show’s main villain.

What do you do with a villain you're not sure how to resolve? Just kill him off, that's what everyone else does

For Dad I thought his resolution was fitting, being left alone to live as a crazy man, but I sort of wish that we’d been given a glimpse of Sang Mi and Mum actually leaving him and telling him what they really thought of him and his decisions.

Side note: Sang Mi's plan to go along with everything was super crap and I can't believe it worked

Sure, he would’ve just called them demons or whatever, but I was wanting a scene like that for Sang Mi where she could get her feelings off her chest and then walk away from her father freely with him having no power to pull her back. I also wish the show had cleared up why the detective chose to swap sides. He was always shown that he wasn’t 100% on anyone's side, but I was left a little confused as to why he was suddenly so desperate to bring down the cult. I also kind of wondered why the show bothered introducing Dong Chul's prison Hyung with his vendetta because at the end of the day he really did nothing. I was hoping that he'd be a bit more of a wildcard, so I was pretty disappointed when the show relegated him to being the detective's dog. At least he pulled through a bit in the end. While I suppose I'm sort of satisfied with the way the show wrapped things up, I just wish there had been a more emotional conclusion rather than simply ticking all the plot boxes. After how hard and intense it was to get our characters up to this point I was left feeling a bit like…that’s it? 

Recommend?

If you’re someone who’s into dark dramas this would be one for you. Personally, while I was intrigued by the story, it was a touch too dark for me to actually say I ‘liked’ or ‘enjoyed’ the drama. If you’re not ready for a good few hours of despair and creepiness- this series is not for you. 

More post cult scenes wouldn't have hurt either

Defendant

Defendant

7.5/10

Defendant

Genre:                                   Episodes: 18                         Year: 2017

Mystery

Thriller 

Synopsis:

Park Jung Woo is a prosecutor who won’t let go of a case until he is sure the criminal has been brought to justice. One day, he wakes in a prison cell with no memory of the last four months. Jung Woo has been arrested for the murder of his wife and child, and must work to discover if he truly is the criminal, or if he is being framed.

Cast:

Ji Sung (Park Jung Woo)

Uhm Ki Joon (Cha Min Ho/Cha Sun Ho)

Yuri (Seo Eun Hye)

Oh Chang Suk (Kang Joon Hyuk)

Uhm Hyun Kyung (Na Yeon Hee)

Shin Rin Ah (Park Ha Yeon)

Kim Min Suk (Lee Sung Kyu)

Jo Jae Yun (Shin Chul Shik)

General Thoughts:

It’s not hard to see why this drama was such a ratings success in Korea. While procedural dramas aren’t exactly my favourite thing (they tend to feel a bit same-same), ‘Defendant’ was able to give the brand a new feeling. The show never took the steps that were expected of it, and told a whole new story rather than just having the usual set-up and giving it new characters.

Where am I? Who am I?

The cast, directing and writing were all pretty slick and gave the show a real professional feeling. While all K-Dramas are professional, this drama seemed to go out of its way to make itself grab your interest with its narrative consistency and finishing touches. The soundtrack definitely added to the feelings of danger and tension, but I did find that it could be a touch overbearing at times.

Getting' ready to play dirty

The characters all made nice, logical sense (except for maybe one- I’m giving you some serious side-eye Joon Hyuk), and acted in ways that were consistent with the way they had been constructed. It was evident fairly early on that our main villain Min Ho had a huge weakness where Yeon Hee and his son were concerned, so it made sense that this would be what our hero uses to target him. I adored that our hero wasn’t above doing some things that were a smidge against the law as long as it got a favourable result. It can be a bit of a kicker when the hero is too darn righteous to do things that would capture the villain- but here I was convinced that Jung Woo was doing everything in his power to reveal Min Ho’s crimes. Jung Woo never did anything morally dubious, but rather he was ready to bend the rules a little to get what he needed. He was happy to send Chul Shik to Min Ho’s home under the guise of murdering them (totally not legal), but made sure Chul Shik was aware that the woman and child weren’t actually to be harmed or even scared (morals stay intact). It meant that Jung Woo was able to remain a hero as he never did anything awful, but he also didn’t end up frustrating viewers with his blatant unwillingness to play ball. But it seemed our hero used up all the awesome the leads were given.

The boys were definitely the main course...leaving Eun Hye as just a side dish

Eun Hye was barely present at all considering she was the main female lead. I’m pretty sure there were whole episodes were she was delegated screen time of 5 minutes or less. As a character she was pretty unimportant once she convinced Jung Woo to figure out the truth instead of moping around (which we’re all thankful for).

Awesome acting aside- this silent staring got old pretty fast

I was expecting Eun Hye to be doing a lot of work on the outside to help Jung Woo locate his daughter and find evidence, but she did very little and was only really called upon when a car was needed. As far as the plot went, it was just okay until just before the halfway point when it really hit its stride. Once the plot got into the bulk of the story, it was hard to turn away. Watching Jung Woo try and remember things he’d once known but had forgotten tended to be a bit annoying, but once it got to Jung Woo trying to outwit Min Ho and how best to use the evidence against him it became a lot more interesting. While most of the plot was pretty airtight, there were some aspects that I wish had been explained more. Such as Jung Woo’s amnesia. Okay, yes, it’s the drama’s whole catch, but the way it was explained didn’t really fit with Jung Woo’s personality. He’s a determined, intelligent lawyer who loves his wife and daughter, and doesn’t care about status or power- if you’re a bad guy he’ll bring you to justice. But then you want me to believe that he’s lost the memories of himself figuring out who the bad guy is (and who he suspects has his daughter) and all the evidence he hid away to catch him, and it’s all because of a self-defence mechanism that takes him to his happiest memory? Yeeaaaahhh, not really buying it, but I can let it slide because it was the initial setup (amnesic prosecutor doesn’t know if he’s guilty or not).

Maybe instead of wasting time living in a memory you could, I dunno, do something?

Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so annoying if it was possible that Jung Woo was the murderer, but no one thought that at all. Then there’s absolutely no explanation of who the hell Seok is. A young man is doing the clean-up for all Min Ho’s murders and even driving the truck-of-doom into more victims, yet he’s given no more depth beyond being labelled ‘henchman’- which is pretty sucky considering that Min Ho relied on this kid heavily to clean up his messes and keep him out of trouble. And while it was made very clear that Min Ho’s weakness was his love for Yeon Hee, I do wish it had been more obvious what Yeon Hee’s feelings were for him.

This woman is ambiguous as faaaaaark

I wasn’t sure if she hated him, loved him, or loved the memory of him but was hurt by what he had become. She was an enigma until the last episode during Min Ho’s trial when she had her (awesome) confession to him that ended up being his undoing. But on the bright side, these were all very minor details that were easy to overlook.

What Was Great:

Finale Build-Up:

The thing I personally find irritating about legal mystery/thrillers is that they can tend to be pretty heavy on the angst. Usually the heroes go through so much pain and suffering (about 14 episodes worth) and then everything gets tied up in the last few episodes.

Seeing the bad guy lose his cool is soooo satisfying

But with ‘Defendant’ there was a nice push-and-pull feeling. While the beginning was pretty heavily skewed in favour of the villain (because we need a story), from the middle onwards it was a pretty even playing field. There were enough small victories for our heroes that it doesn’t become an unbearable angst-fest, and there were enough times when Min Ho lost his cool that he felt like an opponent that could be beaten. Not to mention I really, really, really hate it when no matter what the hero does the villain just smiles in this really unconcerned way. I hate it. But Min Ho was outsmarted enough that he knew Jung Woo was someone to be cautious of- I mean, why else go to all that trouble to frame him if he can just buy his way out? I totally wasn’t expecting Ha Yeon to be brought back to her father before the ultimate showdown, so I actually loved that he stole her back before the last bunch of episodes. It was a great morale boost for our heroes and gave the feeling that it was a slow, gradual battle to overcome Min Ho- everything didn’t just happen at once. There were many smaller victories that added up to the final battle being won, and that’s part of what made the series so addictive.

I must say, this show makes prison look like a pretty fun time

The show gets two thumbs up for not being draggy for the last few episodes, as episode extensions have a way of slowing momentum right down. I actually felt the start was more dragged out than the ending, and the plot ran smoothly despite adding on two extra episodes. 

Acting:

All the acting was pretty fabulous. Ji Sung was absolutely amazing. The last drama I saw him in did nothing with his talent, so I’m overjoyed that this was a drama where Ji Sung could show what an accomplished actor he really is.

I like him best in serious roles

While he can be good in comedy, it really is angsty-determination that he excels in. His desperation, anger, and complete heartbreak were all so clear, and it wasn’t hard to tune into his emotions. Our female lead, Yuri, was nothing amazing, but she also wasn’t outright bad. While her acting did feel green next to the much more experienced cast members, her role wasn’t difficult so she was able to blend in easily enough. Uhm Ki Joon was dynamic as the villain and was able to flip between his character's two faces seamlessly. It was really necessary to have an excellent actor in the villain role as our hero was so well acted, so it was fabulous that the two main actors were on the same level. Shin Rin Ah is just pocket-sized dynamite. She’s explosive in whatever role she plays, and adds a tremendous amount of heart to her characters. Once again, I fell in love with her character quickly, and Shin Rin Ah had amazing chemistry with Ji Sung and Kim Min Suk, the two actors she interacted with most. While a lot of child actors can feel a bit like they’re just reciting the lines and actions given to them, Shin Rin Ah always makes her scenes and characters feel believable- as an adult actor does. I really think she’s a cut above other child actors, and I always feel confident that she’ll do an incredible job- which she did.

I love her in everything she's ever been in

The side characters were absolutely perfect. While the prison inmates were used mostly for comedic relief, they still felt like real people rather than just ridiculous characters (*cough*StrongWomanDoBongSoon*cough*). They added the lightness that the drama needed, but never overplayed the humour. And I have a bit of a Kim Min Suk bias I’ll admit (when will he get his own leading role? Wheeeeeen?), but he really was perfect in this role. He always tends to take on adorable puppy-like characters, so it was the perfect way to set up his involvement in Ha Yeon’s kidnapping. It’s a sweet young character being played by Kim Min Suk- I did NOT expect him to be a kidnapper (and nearly kid-murderer).

Why show, whhhyyyyyyy?

But of course he returned to his sweet puppy nature and gave us a wonderfully conflicted character to love. My only gripe is that his character’s death felt a bit unnecessary (Min Ho was so f*cked whether Sung Kyu lived or not). I fear he might have been collateral in the episode extension.

What Wasn’t:

Slow Start:

Oh my goodness, at the start of this drama I really couldn’t understand what all the fuss what about because it was so darn slow moving. Like, yeah, Ji Sung’s an amazing actor and he can move me with his awesome crying skills- but after a while I got tired of him being so mopey.

Why not put some effort into finding out how your wife died?

He had no desire to find out the truth, didn’t interact with anyone around him to find out what was going on (like he could’ve saved soooo much trouble if he confided what was up to his cell buddies), and the biggest issue was that he had no belief in himself. We were being told that there was all this evidence that pointed to Jung Woo being the murderer, and that it was enough to get him to doubt himself, but we didn’t actually see this evidence until much later on. Like, if I woke up in jail and was told I’d killed my family but had no memory of it, I’d be like ‘nope, no way’ (especially if my job involved getting on the bad side of criminals). But Jung Woo just kind of accepted that he killed the love of his life and his precious little girl. What up with that. Seeing Jung Woo stare at walls and try to figure things out by himself wasn’t all that entertaining, particularly when he seemed to have no desire to find out the truth of what happened. Maybe this slower start would have worked if the audience hadn’t seen who was so obviously behind the crime (hello crazy murderer on the loose with a vendetta against Jung Woo), and might have believed that Jung Woo actually could have been a psycho capable of murdering his own family. Once Jung Woo opened up, started getting help from those around him and made a real effort to discover the truth, the show got a lot more interesting. But up until that point…meh.

The prisoners were excellent and I wish Jung Woo had started interacting with them earlier

Lame Redemption:

I hate forced redemptions. I had a feeling that this one was going to happen as Joon Hyuk didn’t really do any crimes that went beyond covering up someone else’s, but he was still a huge jack*ss.

You, sir, are an a-hole.

He either believed his best friend killed his family or knowingly helped frame him- and both of those are pretty sucky. His character projection was understandable enough- he’s a slimy bloke who wants to get ahead in his career, but the things he did were enough to get him axed off any friend list. 1. Did not attempt to find the real murderer. 2. Knowingly destroyed evidence that could have been useful (CCTV footage). 3. Once he knew Ha Yeon was alive he made no effort to get her back, and actually told the crazy murderous criminal to go find her. Yeah, after all that if you hear about him hanging around your kid’s school you should probably tell him to f*ck right off, NOT try and mend the relationship. That’s just stupid. Redemption arcs can be rewarding when done well, but Joon Hyuk didn’t seem nearly sorry enough, and didn’t grovel and cry nearly as much as he needed to in order to earn forgiveness. Get that mofo out ma face and into jail.

Recommend?

100% yes. This is the best drama to come out of the first half of this year. Ji Sung and Uhm Ki Joon (and the rest of the cast) deliver spectacular performances in every single episode.

Prison break