Sky Castle

Sky Castle

8/10

Sky Castle

Genre:                                                 Episodes: 20                             Year: 2019

Melodrama

Synopsis:

Sky Castle is an estate where wealthy doctors and professors live. The husbands are determined to become the most successful, and the wives are determined to get their children into top universities.

Cast:

Yum Jung Ah (Han Seo Jin)

Jung Joon Ho (Kang Joon Sang)

Kim Hye Yoon (Kang Ye Seo)

Lee Ji Won (Kang Ye Bin)

Lee Tae Ran (Lee Soo Im)

Choi Won Young (Hwang Chi Young)

Chani (Hwang Woo Joo)

Yoon Se Ah (No Seung Hee)

Kim Byung Chul (Cha Min Hyuk)

Park Yoo Na (Cha Se Ri)

Kim Dong Hee (Cha Seo Joon)

Jo Byung Gyu (Cha Ki Joon)

Oh Na Ra (Jin Jin Hee)

Jo Jae Yoon (Woo Yang Woo)

Lee Yoo Gene (Woo Soo Han)

Kim Seo Hyung (Kim Joo Young)

Kim Bo Ra (Kim Hye Na)

Song Geon Hee (Park Young Jae)

General Thoughts:

Boy am I getting lucky with my drama watching lately! First ‘Kingdom 2’ was awesome, then ‘Sky Castle’ was awesome, and now it’s looking like the current drama I’m watching (‘Itaewon Class’) is going to be awesome too! What a nice little stint. When I first heard that ‘Sky Castle’ was becoming a raging success, I couldn’t really figure out why that was.

Ah yes, rich people sending their kids to university. Sounds...riveting...

The synopsis of the story just sounds so…dull. And it sounded like it had about an 80% chance that it went full makjang (aka- completely bonkers). While the story did at times have makjang elements (hello hidden identities, hello birth secrets), it weirdly fit in with the show, and the writers were able to present these events as something that seemed very realistic and plausible,

So classy, and yet...so scary

and not at all like some nutty way to get more viewers to tune in. By having the whole setting of the show be this elite estate where everybody was obsessed with being better, richer, happier than everyone else, all these strange actions started to make sense. And of course there’s a reason why so many writers use these over-the-top story elements in their shows. When they are done well and right (as they certainly are in ‘Sky Castle’) it makes the story SO interesting and SO twisty and SO easy to keep coming back for more. I couldn’t even contemplate not continuing the show, because I so badly wanted to know why Teacher Kim was such a creeper, and what crazy scheme Seo Jin would come up with to try and get her daughter into SNU, or how Hye Na was going to torment Ye Seo and her mother next. There was often so much going on in the plot, that these crazy turn of events weren’t the sole focus, which helped them seem like events that were happening naturally and authentically. Unlike most of my dramas that I watch (which I marathon in a few weeks), I watched ‘Sky Castle’ at a slower pace, which stretched the series over a few months- which put me closer to a live-watch experience than a marathon experience.

This is basically how my my Mum looked at me every time I told her I was too busy for an ep of 'Sky Castle'

I must say that I do think that this worked better for the drama and its pacing than a marathon watch would have. A fair few of the major plot points that were stretched out over the whole series could have been a bit repetitive had the episodes been viewed back-to-back, but by having more time padding out the episodes, when these ideas resurfaced,

I mean come on- she looks shady as all hell

it felt like it had been a while since we had visited the issue, rather than it feeling like our characters were mulling the same problems over and over and over again. Such as Soo Im’s decision whether she would write her book or not, or Seo Jin deciding whether or not she would fire Teacher Kim. The other thing that I thought the show did extremely well was managing it’s tone. There were some very heavy moments and heavy topics addressed in this drama (such as depression, suicide, image focus), and that could have very easily tipped the show into being too dark and too depressing (much like ‘Rescue Me’ which had a lot going for it, but was just far to bloody bleak). The writers of ‘Sky Castle’ perfectly laced a good dose of humour throughout each and every one of the episodes- keeping the show very much in the realm of enjoyable entertainment, rather than a dark and saddening look in on the struggles of pressured, over-worked students. The Woo family were predominantly the comedic effect of this show. While all the other families were having their internal strife, complications and issues, the Woo family tended to happily breeze on through- their complaints were rather minor, and their fallouts fairly minimal.

Thank you for your cheesiness and you humour

The snappy, snarky comments from the fiery Jin Hee paired with her husband’s much more complacent, don’t-rock-the-boat attitude made for a funny pair, and their loving attitudes towards each other were a nice break from the strained marriages in the Kang and Cha families. Another way the writers helped balance the tone of the show was to make sure that only one family had a catastrophe going on at a time.

If only this guy knew just how far he was going to fall

When the Kang family was dealing with illegitimate daughters and psychotic teachers, the Cha family were having some wins with Seung Hee finally standing up to her domineering and overpowering husband in order to protect her children (massive yay). When Seung Hee and her kids were being bullied and oppressed (and quite often verbally abused) by Professor Cha, Hye Na and Hye Bin were getting along and Ye Seo was doing well with her studies. There was never too much doom and gloom going around, and there were happy moments sprinkled throughout each of the episodes. Even in the final conflict where Woo Joo was in prison and Ye Seo and her mother had to choose between letting an innocent boy stay in prison or giving up their dream of SNU, we saw all the other families banding together in support of the Hwang family. ‘Sky Castle’ certainly doesn’t sound like he most exciting drama out there, but the simple synopsis masks a complex and compelling story about status and pressure in South Korea, and was an interesting look in on elite life. The writing, acting and directing pulled together to create something quite wonderful.

What Was Great:

Sociological Story:

So, I recently read an article about why ‘Game of Thrones’ fans loved the show initially, but then disliked the later seasons (I promise you this has a point that relates to ‘Sky Castle’). The short version of the article is this: the first seasons of ‘GoT’ (the ones that were following the book) told the story of a society, not of individuals.

Please excuse me while I ramble about this article- as you can tell it excited me a lot

The story had an abundance of characters and shaped them not only by their personality traits, but by the societal norms, events and other people around them. This sociological way of telling the story meant that people were able to identify with the characters even when they did terrible things. When the show outpaced the books, the showrunners went with a psychological way of telling the story- highly individualised character arcs.

Seung Hee was defs the most likeable character in this show

By switching the way the story was told from sociological to psychological, the show started to suggest that characters’ actions and reactions were due to their personality rather than the society around them. By telling the story this way, certain characters (*cough Cersei and Dany cough*) suddenly started to become difficult to identify with. Their actions could seem sporadic and non-sensical, and when they did things the viewer didn’t agree with, it could be hard to understand why. This dramatic shift is not really the showrunners' fault, as Hollywood doesn’t really know how to tell a story from any other view but psychological. They need their hero. They need someone to back. Sociological stories are few and far between, and that it what made the earlier seasons of ‘GoT’ so unique and so addictive. Now how does this relate to ‘Sky Castle’? Look, I’m not expert on the subject (I have ready exactly one article on the topic), but in my opinion, ‘Sky Castle’ had a lot of similar sociological elements in the way it told its story. Characters were not plain black and white- all fell in the murky grey zone.

Hye Na vs Seo Jin- I don't even know which side I'm on!

They were layered and multifaceted, and their actions were not simply a result of whether they were a nice or mean person. Ye Seo didn’t hate Hye Na simply because she was a nasty girl- she had been raised in a highly pressured environment, where she had constantly been told that she was superior and special, and only really felt the love from her parents when she was the top of her class.

She's mean, but I kinda get her

Hye Na was a threat to her success, and thus the love of her parents, so it was natural for Ye Seo to be scared and reactive to her. Of course, there were other aspects of the girls’ relationship also, but my main point is that the story was written in such a way that the viewer could put themselves in Ye Seo’s place and think ‘oh, if I’d been in Ye Seo’s place and grown up that way, maybe that’s how I’d act in that situation too’. This makes the characters so much more sympathetic, and much harder for viewers to write them off as completely dislikable. This wasn’t just the case for Ye Seo, but for every single character in the show (exceeeeept maybe Teacher Kim). In one episode I would be thinking that Seo Jin was a reckless and selfish mother, and in the very next episode I would be identifying with her struggles and feeling pity towards her character. Even Soo Im, who was originally painted as the less-strict, go-with-the-flow mother, was at times not entirely likeable. Her desire to get to the heart of what happened to the Park family could at times be very intrusive and nosey, and in my opinion, kind of rude. However as we learned more about the history of her character and the structure within the Sky Caste estate, we could empathise with her desire to protect the children, even if we didn’t think she was going about it the right way.

Everyone in this show is a little whack

Even a character like Hye Na, who in any other drama would be painted as the sweet, innocent victim had some darker tones to her. Realistically, a girl who had grown up in Hye Na’s environment and then made the discoveries she did was unlikely to be sugar and spice and all things nice. Having to be the sole support for not just herself but her sick mother also forced Hye Na to have a strong backbone and self-assured attitude.

I feel like I should feel bad for her but I just...don't

Sure, there were parts of her character that related more to her personality then environment (her slight vindictiveness), but these were enhanced and shaped by her environment, society and experiences, making her not an innocent victim, but also not an unforgivable aggressor. This way of telling the story meant that redemption arcs were much easier to handle when compared to other shows. Ye Seo and her mother’s eventual decision to testify for Woo Joo at the expense of Ye Seo getting right into SNU didn’t feel forced or unexpected, but rather a logical conclusion after their hard struggle with the situation and the choice they had to make. Doctor Kang’s breakdown and regrets could have felt like a complete character-flip had the story not been told from a sociological perspective, so instead of his choice to quit the hospital and his despair over Hye Na feeling random and from left-field, again it felt like the logical steps for his character. Sure, Doctor Kang had for the most part been presented as cold and calculating and willing to do whatever it took to get ahead in his career- but that was because most of the time we saw him was in the hospital where he worked, where this attitude was encouraged. The few times we saw Doctor Kang at home, he was a man who loved his two daughters and doted on them.

HUGE Cast:

There were so many characters in this show. And they weren’t a bunch of supporting characters either. Each of them had an important role to play in the story, and were most definitely the stars of their own lives. It gave the show a rich setting that was populated with realistic (in their own way) and developed characters.

The Mum Clique

It really felt as if we were dropping into their lives which had been going on long before we got there. The character of Seo Jin was basically the star of the show, with most of the drama focusing on her family, and she was at the centre of it all. Yum Jung Ah did an excellent job as the main mother in the elite estate, and she acted Seo Jin with a perfect balance of elegance and determination,

I sure wouldn't want to be on her bad side

making Seo Jin a mother who gave the appearance of having it all together, but while remaining a person you wouldn’t want to mess with. The other great thing that comes from having so many major characters is that it gives you so many different relationships to delve into. Each of the married couples had a different dynamic- Seo Jin and Doctor Kang were cool and professional, Soo Im and Doctor Hwang were understanding and supportive, Seung Hee and Professor Cha were strained and their relationship was starting to crack, and Jin Hee and Yang Woo had an easy, cute dynamic. Similarly there were so many relationships going on in the mother circle. It was interesting to see how their allegiance and loyalties to each other changed as events unfolded, and how they had to consider their husbands' positions when thinking about their friendships, as any waves caused between the ladies was sure to eventually flow through to the husbands. The kids were a little more sectioned off than the adults, which is fairly understandable. When I was in school, my older sister didn’t want to hang out with me and my friends either. 

She was actually quite cute with how she liked Woo Joo

Kim Hye Yoon was a standout among the younger cast, as she gave Ye Seo so much personality and fire, but was also able to showcase Ye Seo softer side- such as when she was crushing on Woo Joo. She also nailed Ye Seo’s descent into guilt and fear really well, and made it feel like a perfectly natural progression for her character, who had actually been quite self focused all series long. It’s a testament to Kim Hye Yoon’s acting ability (and the writing) that this progression felt smooth and natural, and not at all out of character. Most of the relationship conflict between the kids centred around Hye Na.

Boy, she is playin' you so bad

Hye Na used Ye Bin to get into the Kang household (though I wouldn’t completely rule out that she had some sisterly feelings towards her also), and similarly she used Woo Joo’s feelings for her as a way to antagonise Ye Seo, fully knowing that Ye Seo had a crush on Woo Joo. It didn’t make Hye Na the most likeable of characters, but man did she stir things up and get things happening. 

What Wasn’t:

Teacher Kim’s Reasoning:

One of the biggest mysteries of this show that continued for nearly its entire run was the question around why Teacher Kim got off on ruining the lives of all her students and their families. Even now, I’m still slightly unsure of why she did what she did.

What is your deal, lady?

Jealousy seems pretty lame a motivator for a woman who has indirectly caused suicides in two separate families. I kind of wish that we’d been given a bit more information on Teacher Kim’s situation and her motivations a bit earlier, as by holding all of her story back until the last few episodes, we were given very little time to wrap our heads around what was going on with her. Sure, we’d been given hints throughout the earlier stages of the drama- her husband was dead and she was suspected to be involved, and her daughter was mentally handicapped. But the hows and the whys were held back until the final few episodes. I don’t completely buy that Teacher Kim is doing all this crazy stuff because she can’t stand other parents having smart and gifted kids. While the idea isn’t completely implausible, it just seems a bit light on to be the reason behind why Teacher Kim was such a rift in the lives of her students’ families. Similarly to Teacher Kim’s story, I wish that Teacher Jo’s story had been unveiled a bit earlier also. He was so obviously uncomfortable with what was going on with Hye Na and Ye Seo that it was becoming perplexing as to why he wasn’t leaving this job and Teacher Kim behind.

Also, how is her track record so clean if she's messed up that many families?

He certainly didn’t seem the type to throw two young girls under the bus for a nice apartment. Had we known a bit earlier on that Teacher Kim had used him to cut the breaks on her husband’s car and that she had given him a new life away from the drugs and poverty he had been living in, his choice to stand by Teacher Kim’s side as she lost everything and destroyed herself (and him in the process) would have been a lot more understandable, and even a little heart wrenching. 

Not Divorcing Professor Cha:

I knoooooooow I mentioned above that the redemption arcs of the characters were good and believable. And that’s true. For all but one. Professor. Cha. I did not believe it for a second, and I remained bummed out that his wife and children believed it.

Yeeeeaaahhhh, he ain't gonna change guys

Sure, it all worked out in the end- but maybe it kinda shouldn’t have? Seung Hee’s whole storyline was about her learning to stand up to her husband and fight on her children’s behalf, as they couldn’t rebel against their father on their own. Her small victories with the study room and serving her husband instant ramen when he cut her card felt like monumental victories, and were a great thing to watch. These moments only increased once Se Ri was in the picture with her own rebellious spirit.

Drop him like a hot potato

All series long Professor Cha has stuck to his own principals and has never considered what either his wife nor children had to say. We were never given any hints that there was any love at all between Seung Hee and Professor Cha, so it seemed surprising that Professor Cha had back pedalled so much at the idea of divorce. For 20 episodes we have watched Seung Hee try (and fail) to convince her husband to see things from another perspective, and he refused and fought her at every turn. While I understand that divorce is never easy on the children, I can’t help think that it may have been the best solution here. Honestly speaking, how long can we expect Professor Cha’s new attitude to last? Once the threat of divorce fades, so will his fear, and he would once again return to the dominating, controlling man he was before to both his wife and his children.

So glad Se Ri came home and shook things up in this family

It felt like for the whole show’s run we were building up to Seung Hee realising that her husband’s attitude was severely damaging her sons’ mental health, and finally taking them and walking out. When she started threatening to do just that, it was an exciting moment that felt really empowering. Only the show then decided to undercut that with Professor Cha having a sudden revelation that he loved his family and would completely change his ways for them to stay.

I loved any time Professor Cha was knocked down a peg or two

Only not once in this entire show has he given us any inkling that he loved his family. The closest he got was his doting on Se Ri, but that completely disappeared after he found out she didn’t actually go to Harvard- which only further enforced the idea that Professor Cha didn’t care about anything but success, power and status. Which made the whole turnaround completely out of character and completely unbelievable. Perhaps if they’d spun his change as more of him being afraid of the gossip and stigma around divorce in South Korea I would have believed his change of heart more. While it was super cute to see him happy and singing and dancing with Se Ri, I just did not believe the journey the show took Professor Cha on to get him there. So yeah, it was a cute moment and all, but all I could feel while watching was ‘man, this family is going to feel so sh*tty once he goes back to his old, horrible self’. Because there is no doubt in my mind that he would.

Recommend?

Definitely. There’s a reason this show became such a huge hit. I can’t promise that it will be everyone’s cup of tea (I certainly didn’t think it would be mine), but it is very unique and very addictive.

What an interesting journey

Tunnel

Tunnel

7.5/10

Tunnel

Genre:                                                Episodes: 16                                       Year: 2017

Mystery

Thriller

Synopsis:

In 1986, Detective Park Kwang Ho is searching for a serial killer who targets young women. While chasing a suspect through a tunnel, Kwang Ho is transported to the year 2017. In 2017 the killer who was dormant for 30 years once again begins his murders. Kwang Ho works with a new team of detectives to capture the murderer in order to return to the past.

Cast:

Choi Jin Hyuk (Park Kwang Ho)

Yoon Hyun Min (Kim Sun Jae)

Lee Yoo Young (Shin Jae Yi)

Jo Hee Bong (Jeon Sung Shik)

Kim Byung Chul (Kwak Tae Hee)

Kang Ki Young (Song Min Ha)

Lee Shi Ah (Sin Yeon Sook)

Kim Min Sang (Mok Jin Woo)

Heo Sung Tae (Jung Ho Young)

N (Park Kwang Ho)

General Thoughts:

What a great comeback drama for Choi Jin Hyuk. Not only was the drama itself interesting and engaging, but Choi Jin Hyuk was plain perfect in his role. He absolutely nailed being a cop from the ‘80s. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think Choi Jin Hyuk was a policeman in the ‘80s.

Dat fashion tho

The way he handled himself was just brilliant. The way he talked, his bafflement at modern technology, and his inability to be the team’s maknae all made for one convincing male lead. I appreciated that the show didn’t try to make our hero complete perfection. In order to make the character convincing, the writers weren’t afraid to give Kwang Ho some not-so-desirable traits.

You're cute but your mindset is kinda out of date

It showed that the writers had faith that their character would remain likeable anyway, and added a great sense of authenticity to the drama- which helps a lot when you have such a heavily involved fantasy element such as time travel. Kwang Ho was charming and dedicated, but his attitude towards women was really quite dated. He didn’t really show Jae Yi a lot of respect, mostly because the idea of a criminal profiler wasn’t around in his his time, but another small part of it was that Jae Hi was a woman, and clearly Kwang Ho didn’t think women had any place in the violent crimes unit. Similarly, Kwang Ho just couldn’t seem to accept the fact that Sun Jae, who was younger than him, was his superior. Kwang Ho constantly acted as though he is Sun Jae’s sunbae simply because he’s born first, never mind the fact that Sun Jae’s position still outranks Kwang Ho even in his own time. It shows that our hero came from a time when women weren’t really involved in jobs outside of typical female occupations, and when people got promoted as they aged without young kids flying up in the ranks. Despite these rather outdated values our hero held, it never made him seem misogynistic or arrogant- that’s just the way things were in his time and how he’s used to things being.

He did learn though

To his credit, Kwang Ho did have these opinions softened as the show progressed, as he saw how well Jae Yi’s profiling worked and how competent Sun Jae was. Rather than being a dislikable stick-in-the-mud, Kwang Ho just became the slightly gruff, out-of-touch dad character- which suit him perfectly. As Kwang Ho was our main man, the other characters weren’t quite as complex or as interesting as he was.

What is this strange new device?

Not only is Kwang Ho an interesting character in his own right, but he has an added layer of importance as he was the only character that could travel through time. In saying that, it’s not that the other characters weren’t intriguing, they were just far more straightforward. Sun Jae was was your typical wounded individual searching for the man who ruined his family. Basic stuff really. Jae Yi is a bit more atypical in that she’s kind of an introvert and pretty socially awkward. On paper the characters don’t sound like much, but on the screen they were really fascinating. It was fun to see these two people who really had no interest in interacting with the outside world get drawn into friendships by our gruff Dad-Officer. The initial dislike between the two boys was a hilarious odd-partner situation, with Sun Jae being the sleek modern cop with his new methods and spiffy gadgets and Kwang Ho being the old-school detective with his tried-and-true manual techniques. It was interesting to see how useful technology has become in solving crimes in such a short space of time, but also how it wasn’t always the best option to rely only on that technology. The bickering between the two men was always fun to watch, and it was heartwarming to see the two draw closer as the show progressed.

They're so serious but it's so funny 

Kwang Ho could understand Sun Jae much better once he realised that he was the son of one of the victims, and Sun Jae just couldn’t escape the warm feelings that came from Kwang Ho’s sweet (yet gruff) desire to protect him and help him catch his mother’s killer. As for Jae Yi, it was just enjoyable to watch her figure out how to interact with those around her.

Well meaning but weird

While Sun Jae always had the potential for close friendships (it was just buried under a layer of anger and grim determination), Jae Yi gave off the sense that she was just a complete odd-duck who had no clue how to fit in or relate to people. Kwang Ho’s desire to keep her safe and look out for her was a real first in Jae Yi’s life and it was so sweet to see him continuing to seek a relationship with her even before he knew she was his daughter- he simply wanted to keep an eye on the strange agasshi who lived downstairs and make sure she was okay. Jae Yi’s complete rebuttals of his intentions were hilarious, particularly when we knew she’d warm up to him eventually. The relationship between Sun Jae and Jae Yi was unexpectedly sweet. Thankfully the romance was pretty light and wasn’t smashed in our faces, so we could enjoy it for what it was- two super awkward adults learning to be a little less awkward around each other. The whole thing only got better when they all realised that Kwang Ho was Jae Yi’s father. I loved the way Kwang Ho tried desperately (and in vain) to keep Sun Jae away from his daughter. The show hit a really nice balance of finding the humour in the situation and in Kwang Ho’s response, but without Kwang Ho coming across too adamantly against the relationship.

Careful- Dad's watching

I really enjoyed how Sun Jae’s developing relationships with Jae Yi and Kwang Ho started to open him up to the other members of the team as well. Sung Shik was just delightful as the forever-makne with his complete and utter devotion to his sunbae both in the past and present. It was cute to see him start to extend that warmth to Sun Jae as well once he saw how well Sun Jae and Kwang Ho were getting on. Tae Hee and Min Ha were mostly there for the comic relief, and I liked the lightheartedness they brought to the show. Kim Byung Chul and Kang Ki Young really pop as side characters and make you love the roles they’re playing even if they don’t get much screen time.

Excellent choice of sidekicks

The two added a lot of fun to the detective group and brought in a great sense of warmth. I was glad when the show let those two in on our hero’s secret as it really made it feel as though they were one whole team working towards a collective goal rather than just the main characters and the support. Story-wise there were some things that were really good and some things that were less good.

Poor Yeon Sook really got the raw end of the deal here

I liked that the time travel took on a slightly different perspective than usual. Most of the time we have heroes travelling to the future or past, falling in love in a different timeline, and the conflict comes from how their love is going to find a way to continue. ‘Tunnel’ took a different approach by having our hero happy, in love and married in his own timeline before being ripped to the future. Rather than trying to find a way to stay, our hero is trying to find a way to get back. As well as giving the show a slightly different feel it also added in the new heart-breaking element of the wife that’s left behind. It was tragic to see how Yeon Sook’s life played out while Kwang Ho was in the future- living alone while waiting for him before dying an early death and leaving her child behind. It added a great sense of urgency to the series as we all wanted Kwang Ho to get back to his wife and grow old with her. On he other hand, the show also thought it was way sneakier than it was. The reveal that Sun Jae was the same Sun Jae from Kwang Ho’s past really wasn’t a reveal at all. Like, I’m pretty sure that was in Sun Jae’s character promo material, so it was just a tad silly how long the show took to actually catch our hero up to speed that this kid was the same kid. It was kind of similar with Jae Yi being Kwang Ho’s daughter. It’s revealed pretty early on that she lost both her parents at a young age and moved abroad. Already that’s ringing bells.

How could you not see this 'twist' coming?

Once we know that Yeon Sook had a daughter it was basically a done deal- Jae Yi is legit the only continually occurring female character in the modern timeline. Literally she’s the only one. And she’s also the right age. So was anyone surprised when she turned out to be the unknown daughter? I wasn’t. And again, I don’t think there was anyone who didn’t pick that Jin Woo was the main villain before the show actually revealed it. You can tell purely from the amount of screen time he gets. What other side character is getting that much attention? Add that to the fact that he says a few weird things and that he plays chess (seriously chess is like the biggest giveaway- it's such a symbolic statement of two sides making moves and getting closer to each other and so many movies have it- 'X-Men', 'Death Note' etc.), and there’s really no other option.

Only bad dudes play chess with the heroes

The writers did a commendable job with throwing shade over to Ho Young, and while I didn’t believe for a moment that he was the murderer from 30 years ago, I was still interested to see why his modus operandi was so similar to Jin Woo’s. The writers also get props for making the ending unpredictable. I really couldn’t quite tell if Kwang Ho was going to make it back to his own timeline or not.

The ending we were all hoping for

Despite the moral ambiguity of taking a dead man’s identity, given how happy and comfortable Kwang Ho was becoming in the modern timeline I started to have fears that he wouldn’t make it back to the past. His return was what I wanted, for Yeon Sook more than anything, but I wouldn’t have been upset if he’d had to learn to live in the future, and for the show’s length that was definitely a possible outcome. The grittiness of the murders was also something I really appreciated. Some of the scenes were a little confronting, but it's a part of what made the drama stand out. I find K-Dramas tend to be pretty light when it comes to gore, which I’m fine with most of the time, and so it really makes an impact when a K-Drama goes pretty heavy with its murder scenes. The scenes themselves weren’t distasteful, but they gave our murderer a much-needed scare factor, added a sense of dread and tension to the series, and made us long for Kwang Ho to catch the killer in the past and save those girls (and save poor young Kwang Ho too!).

Baby Kwang Ho got in waaaaaay over his head

Overall I was really happy with the way the show progressed, how all the relationships developed and how the conflicts were brought to a close. It was an interesting watch that was nicely satisfying. I also loved the way the show was shot- it really solidified the differences between the past and the present/future. The colours used in the past were more of a sepia tone, with the lighting being yellow and a lot of furniture and props being wooden. In the future timeline we had a lot of white and blue light which gave those sections of the drama a much more modern feel.

Differences between timelines was nicely obvious, but not outrageously so

The costuming also helped solidify these differences- especially for our leading man. I’ve never lived in Korea and I wasn’t even alive in the ‘80s, but loose leather jackets and jeans with white sneakers are old-school in any nation. 

What Was Great:

Time Leap Logic:

Going into time-travel dramas I kind of expect there to be a bit of hokey-pokey magic going on. I was happily surprised with how much sense the time jumping made in ‘Tunnel’. I was happy to accept that no scientific reason was given behind the power of the tunnel- it’s just a random time travel phenomenon and I can live with that.

The tunnel is magic and I can roll with that

 The rules to operate the random phenomenon were pretty consistent, and the writers never pulled a magic solution out their ass. It’s revealed super early on that Kwnag Ho will be able to return to the past once the villain is captured in the present. It gets mentioned a bunch of times, so despite there being no actual evidence to support this claim I’m willing to accept it as truth. It makes about as much sense as it should- the ‘reason’ Kwang Ho jumped to the future was to catch the criminal, so it stands to reason that he can go back once he’s accomplished this goal. As the show progresses we learn that Kwang Ho is able to move between the two timelines simply by being in the tunnel at the same time as the criminal. It’s not overly complex, but it’s effective, it works, and it makes sense. I loved that Kwang Ho was able to go back to the past once before he caught the criminal in the future as it really solidified the rules of the time travel, and it served to show us how the two timelines were linked. Once Kwang Ho returned to the future, Jae Yi and Jin Woo had new memories which showed that this was a continuation of the past timeline and not a seperate timeline all together- that is to say changes that Kwang Ho makes in the past directly impact and change the future.

Time travel laws were simple and consistent and that's all I ask

It lets us know that there’s a way for Yeon Sook to live, Jae Yi to have a happy childhood, and a chance for the women Jin Woo and Ho Young murdered to be saved. I really think that unless you’re going to go all out with theories and complex mechanisms, sweet and simple is the best way to go about time travel, and that’s just what ‘Tunnel’ did.

Casting:

Everyone was fabulous. Choi Jin Hyuk was excellent as our leading man, and this really was his drama to shine.

Apart from all the violent crimes this seems like a great place to work

Lee Yoo Young did a great job as the awkward Jae Yi. While I found her a bit too strange and a tad insufferable at the start, her quirkiness really started to grow on me, and Lee Yoo Young really expressed that there wasn’t any malicious intent on Jae Yi’s part- her weirdness was just the way she was. She could do amazingly well at bringing in the cute when the story called for it, both with Choi Jin Hyuk and Yoon Hyun Min, and by the end I really liked Jae Yi as a character. Yoon Hyun Min did well to hold his own next to Choi Jin Hyuk, and I really bought into the emotions of his character. There was always a simmering dissatisfaction with Sun Jae, but Yoon Hyun Min did wonderfully at showing how Kyung Ho and capturing the criminal helped to ease Sun Jae’s hurt. The support cast in the police department were excellent and I loved every one of them. 

What Wasn’t:

Final Boss:

The only thing that really dissatisfied me with this show was the main villain. He was just kind of…lame. A bit of a has-been even. With dramas getting so slick and modern, I’m getting used to (and really enjoying) the range of criminals we get and their differing motivations.

You are kinda underwhelming dude

Compared to other recent K-Drama villains (like Park Bo Gum in ‘I Remember You’ or Lee Jae Kyun in ‘Wanted’), Jin Woo just seemed a bit…plain. I kind of wish he had deeper motivations than just being a bit crazy and finding women in stockings ‘dirty’ because of his mother.

I was just expecting something a bit more...thrilling is all

Like, his motivations aren’t awful, but it just wasn’t up to the standard of the rest of the drama. Older guys killing younger, weaker women is like Murderer 101 in TV, and I’m kinda over it. It’s like the mystery/thriller version of a Candy girl- it’s a scenario that works, but it’s been overused now. Another downside of the villain is that we don’t actually see how/if Kwang Ho catches him in the past. I was kinda under the assumption that Kwang Ho’s whole time travel journey was so that he could gather information in the future to use to catch the criminal in the past, and thus save many lives. And yet, we don’t actually see this happen- all we see is Kwang Ho having a nice life with Yeon Sook. Which is fine. That’s what I wanted. But I kind of would have liked a hint that Kwang Ho was actually working to catch Jin Woo in the past timeline.

Recommend?

Yep. It’s a great crime drama and a great time travel drama.

Choi jin Hyuk is totally the star of the show