Nobody Knows

Nobody Knows

8.5/10

Nobody Knows

Genre:                                                   Episodes: 16                                     Year: 2020

Mystery

Thriller

Synopsis:

After her friend is murdered by a serial killer, Cha Young Jin becomes a detective in order to catch the killer. Her investigation is disrupted when her young friend, Ko Eun Ho, is involved in an accident. As Young Jin investigates Eun Ho’s accident, she comes to realise that the two cases may be related.

Cast:

Kim Seo Hyung (Cha Young Jin)

Ahn Ji Ho (Ko Ein Ho)

Ryu Deok Hwan (Lee Sun Woo)

Park Hoon (Baek Sang Ho)

Moon Sung Geun (Hwang In Beom)

Min Jin Woong (Lee Jae Hong)

Kwon Hae Hyo (Jang Ki Ho)

Yoon Chan Young (Joo Dong Myung)

Yoon Jae Young (Ha Min Sung)

Jang Young Nam (Jung So Yeon)

General Thoughts:

I had been anticipating this drama since I first heard it announced, as I thought it sounded quite unique. I missed the memo on the serial killer aspect, and was a little apprehensive when I saw it introduced in the first episode, as I couldn’t help thinking ‘ohhhh, another serial killer mystery-thriller’.

So much more going on than just another serial killer on the loose

Not that there’s anything wrong with serial killer mystery-thrillers- they just aren’t as unique as I was hoping this show would be. Boy was I soon realising just how wrong I was. Even though this drama had a serial killer at its core, that didn’t prevent this from being a unique or engaging show.

And all the mysteries centred around one kid

It’s been a little while since I’ve been really satisfied with a mystery show, and ‘Nobody Knows’ just hit that itch I’ve been trying to scratch for some time, that the last few mystery-thrillers I’ve seen just didn’t hit. ‘Nobody Knows’ had quite a few different story threads running through it that served brilliantly as smaller mysteries to unravel and solve before the finale of concluding who the Stigmata murderer was and catching him for good. And what was even more amazing, is that each of these smaller story threads wove together to become a part of the bigger mystery. The mystery item given to Eun Ho by Ki Ho, Eun Ho’s relationship with Dong Myung, the drug case, Eun Ho’s accident, Min Sung’s driver- all of these things had something to do with Sang Ho and came together as pieces of a bigger puzzle. Absolutely everything in this show was interlinked, and it was so addictive to watch how everything pulled together to be drawn into Sang Ho’s web that Young Jin was slowly unravelling. I think another part of what made this drama such a success is that our villain, Sang Ho, wasn’t untouchable.

Young Jin is buying exactly none of what Sang Ho is selling

In sooooo many mystery K-dramas the villain is so far ahead of the good guys, that it becomes rather frustrating to see the good guys floundering so bad. In this case, Sang Ho thought he was miles ahead of Young Jin and her team, but he woefully miscalculated, and it was obvious to us as viewers that Young Jin was slowly reeling him in.

Man, finding the killer in the first ep sure threw me for a loop

It became clear relatively early on that Sang Ho was the guy we were looking for, but the show never went so far as to confirm it beyond a reasonable doubt, which always kept a small layer of doubt present. The story then became more of a how we were going to catch the bad guy, as opposed to who the bad guy actually was. Revealing the bad guy early on can sometimes leave the mystery to become a bit stale, but in this case it allowed Sang Ho to feel more threatening. Most of the things that Sang Ho did were very reasonable and actually could be received as very caring and considerate. But once there was an undertone of manipulation and emotional abuse, all those nice, caring things Sang Ho was going around doing suddenly became very dark and dangerous. Because Young Jin was able to see through Sang Ho’s act so early on, us viewers never felt the frustration of our hero being blind to all the shady things the villain was doing. Sang Ho liked to taunt and brag a bit, and it was super satisfying seeing Young Jin’s expression show that not only was she not falling for Sang Ho’s sweet-talk, she was seeing it for what it really was. Young Jin was just a star of a heroine all round.

Gah- the way she protected all the kids was just so, so, so good!

She had just enough softness to see how Eun Ho and the rest of the boys felt safe and protected by her, and just enough toughness that it seemed reasonable that she would be able to catch the murderer and keep all the kids safe at the same time. Kim Seo Hyung  gave Young Jin a HUGE amount of charisma, and she was an excellent fit for the role.

She was just amazingly bad*ss

Occasionally I feel like actresses who take on detective roles, or typically ‘manly’ roles, feel like they have to give their character manly characteristics to sell the part. I loved that Kim Seo Hyung didn’t make Young Jin feel like a man in a woman’s body. While I certainly wouldn’t describe Young Jin as ‘girly’ she also wasn’t ‘manly’ either. It was great to see a character injected with a great amount of female charisma- she was amazing and so easy to root for. On the flip side, we almost had Ryu Deok Hwan doing the exact opposite. Sun Woo was a character that had a lot of love for his students and for his family, and I loved that this affection was presented as a strength and not a weakness. Sun Woo wasn’t any less manly for loving these young kids and wanting the best for them, and he didn’t have his masculinity threatened by having a strong, competent woman like Young Jin around. In fact, it was these same characteristics in Young Jin that Sun Woo admired and felt drawn to. I adored their friendship and their partnership throughout the show.

What a wonderfully cute team up

Seeing Young Jin slowly start to open up and ask for help as she needed it was a wonderful thing to see, and likewise Sun Woo started to trust Young Jin and rely on her so that they could work together towards their common goal. I love that she show didn’t feel the need to force a main loveline, as I preferred Young Jin and Sun Woo as platonic partners. While there was a hint that Sun Woo was developing a crush on Young Jin, I’m glad that the show didn’t feel the need to go much deeper than that.

This pairing was just...not great...

This drama knew what it was (and that wasn’t a romance) and stuck to what it was doing well. The rest of the detectives weren’t given too much screen time, but they were fleshed out enough that they felt like slightly more than recurring extras. Young Jin’s relationship with her team was an interesting one, as she relied on them in a sense, but she also preferred to fly solo. It was a great moment of character growth for her when Jae Hong apologised for being late and Young Jin replied that he wasn’t late, she just never waited. It brought an awareness to her actions that she hadn’t had before, and showed how Young Jin was learning to accept help from others, including her team. The one thing going on in the detective team I didn’t like that much was the weird rivalry going on between Jae Hong and Ja Young. It felt a bit strange and forced, and frankly I think the show could have done without Ja Young’s character as a whole (even if that would leave the female role count pretty darn low). The drama was really great at building atmosphere and creating tension. The lighting was used really effectively in shots to make the tone feel much more intense and dramatic, and a lot of detail went into creating a moody, mysterious atmosphere- Young Jin only wore black until the final episode when she switched to white to show her closure and moving past the stigmata case.

The calm after the storm

The music also added to this effect, helping to create a tense atmosphere and build emotion. The production quality on this drama was really high and gave the show an overall feeling of cleanliness and professionalism. 

What Was Great:

Sang Ho:

Man, I love a good villain. Nothing is worse that when you have a super lame villain and everybody is scared of him for no apparent reason. Or a villain that seems super easy to catch. Or even a villain that is so ridiculously over powered that it feels like the good guys should never be able to win! Sang Ho was none of those things.

He was super creepy ever since that first phone call

He was so brilliantly constructed that he had the perfect level of creepiness, without being downright obvious that he was the evil murderer man. His smaller interactions with the younger kids, including Dong Myung and Dong Myung's brother showed just what a competent groomer Sang Ho was, and use how exactly he had established this entire network of people who respected and trusted him enough to do shady things just because he was the one to ask them. Park Hoon played the character to perfection- he was dripping charisma all drama long, and at times made Sang Ho seem like a really fun and likeable man.

So scary, so scary

He found the perfect blend of charming and shady, and could flip his expression in an instant. Park Hoon had a way of drawing you into his character- even though we were fairly sure that Sang Ho wasn’t a nice guy, he was so interesting, and we as viewers wanted to know more about him. His manipulation was an interesting type of scary, as it’s not usually one we see in run of the mill villains- usually we get blackmail and threats, not coercion. The scene of Sang Oh basically convincing Sang Won (the initial stigmata murderer) to kill Hee Jung for him and then kill himself was just downright terrifying. The character was written so well, and Park Hoon's subtle expressions, such as a flash of hope in his eyes when someone agreed to his suggestions, really made Sang Ho a villain to remember. And yet, as much as he was a horrible, despicable man, there was still a level of sympathy for him. At the end when he had been caught and he wondered what his life would have been like if someone like Young Jin found him instead of Sang Won, my heart broke a little. His downfall was also wonderfully perfect. The way he tried to set things up so that Young Jin would end up killing someone (most likely Sang Ho himself) seemed like a strange way Sang Ho was trying to dodge responsibility for his actions- as if he was convincing himself that anyone could kill if they were presented with the right circumstances.

Man, the way he threw away his team was brutal

But Young Jin (as usual) didn’t fall into Sang Ho’s hands and act the way he wanted. She saved Sang Ho’s inner circle who Sang Ho had left to die, and even saved Sang Ho from falling over the edge of the very building where Eun Ho fell. And then to see him locked away in solitary, so similar to how he was first found alone and abandoned as a child, just felt like the most fitting punishment for this man.

Relationships:

There was not a single relationship in this show that wasn’t interesting to watch on screen. Young Jin and Eun Ho, our main friendship pairing, had a really sweet and endearing relationship.

They are too cute

I liked that they didn’t try to play it off like Eun Ho was the son Young Jin never had, or Young Jin was the mother Eun Ho always dreamed of- they were simply friends. Sure, they were different ages, but that didn’t prevent them from enjoying each others company and looking out for one another. Sun Ho’s relationship with Sun Woo  was also really interesting to watch develop. Despite Sun Woo being afraid to get too involved in a student’s life again, he couldn’t help but be drawn to Eun Ho.

Absolutely adorable 

His attempts to try and protect Eun Ho (misguided as they were because Dong Myung wasn’t actually bulling Eun Ho) were sweet to watch, and set Sun Woo up as an easily likeable character, even if he wasn’t always in the loop. Perhaps my favourite relationships of all were between the young school boys. They were so awkward and sweet, and bumbling in their ways of showing affection that they were really fun to watch. The slow reveal of Eun Ho and Dong Myung’s relationship was just perfect, and it only got more fun once we added Min Sung to the mix. The boys really looked to In Beom as a father figure, as much as they denied it, and it was so wonderful to see these young, vulnerable boys finally find someone who was able to look out for them, trust them, and protect them. The way all the relationships were developed in this show was really wonderful- no one was given a free pass, and everyone had to work to earn the trust of those around them- especially the trust of the younger boys who had been so mistreated. 

What Wasn’t:

Gloss Over:

The only thing I didn’t love about this show was the quick skim through it did of the map inside the special Gospel book. The show made such a big deal out of Ki Ho giving this book to Eun Ho, and then Ki Ho being the only one to be able to read and decipher the code inside it, that it was a bit of a let down when the drama just breeeeeezed right on past explaining or showing how Ki Ho actually found the evidence the the book was pointing to.

If it was so darn easy to find the evidence why did he find it sooner?

Like, if Ki Ho could figure it out without having insider knowledge on the book’s secret, then why couldn’t Sang Ho? It’s just as well that the detectives got enough evidence to charge Sang Ho without the tape of Jin Young’s friend’s murder being super necessary, because it felt like a total fluke that they even got the tape. For how much importance was placed on the book, it was actually kind of redundant.

Recommend?

100% yes! This is one of the best mystery-thrillers I’ve seen in quite some time.

Seriously so satisfying

Girl's Generation 1979

Girl’s Generation 1979

5/10

Girl's Generation 1979

Genre:                                                Episodes: 8                                   Year: 2017

School

Romance

Synopsis:

Lee Jung Hee is a high school girl in South Korea in the ‘70s. She has a crush on her senior, Sohn Jin, but the dynamics in her country town shift when Jung Hye Joo, a transfer student from Seoul, arrives.

Cast:

Bona (Lee Jung Hee)

Chae Soo Jin (Jung Hye Joo)

Seo Young Joo (Bae Dong Moon)

Lee Jong Hyun (Joo Young Choon)

Yeo Hwe Hyun (Sohn Jin)

Min Do Hee (Shim Ae Sook)

Jo Byung Gyu (Lee Bong Soo)

Kwon Hae Hyo (Jung Hee's Father)

Kim Sun Young (Jung Hee's Mother)

Park Ha Na (Jung Hee's Maid)

General Thoughts:

I didn’t love the show, in fact I barely even liked it, but I do think that’s partly my fault. I went in with pretty high expectations. It seemed like the sort of drama that would be widely ignored but would end up being a great little show with a small, yet dedicated, following. And that didn’t really happen. While the show definitely had its charming moments, I can't deny that the whole thing came across a tad more juvenile than I’d been expecting.

I wanted more friendships and less romance

I guess when you cast an actor that’s nearly 30 in one of the prominent roles (I actually even mistakingly thought he was the lead before starting) I’m just expecting a slightly more mature vibe than what we were given. I think my mistake in thinking Jong Hyun Oppa was our leading man got me off on the wrong foot for this drama. For 1, I was endlessly confused at how little screen time he was a getting and 2, I was put off Hye Joo’s crush for him because I thought that he was (somehow) going to go for Jung Hee.

As usual- looking great

I mean, I figured it out pretty quickly, but by that time I’d sort of got a feel for how I thought the drama would go, so it felt weird when it didn’t go that way. I freely admit that this is all my fault, as the drama in no way made it seem as if Oppa was the lead. On a side note, I was pretty annoyed at how little interaction Young Choon as a character got with anyone who wasn't Hye Joo or Ae Sook. For a show that seemed to be wanting the friendship of the girls to be its main selling point, I personally thought that the friendship wasn’t that great. I mean, for most of the show’s run Jung Hee doesn’t even like Hye Joo. While there were some cute moments between the girls, I never really felt them connect until right at the end. Jung Hee never really stood up for Hye Soo in school that much, and neither of the girls really communicated when things went wrong. A lot of the development I was wanting between the girls was actually happening between Hye Joo and Young Choon. Rather than going to her friend Jung Hee for help (as girls tend to do), Hye Joo was running to her crush, Young Choon. It did further the romantic development between the two, but I couldn’t help feeling that it was also barring Jung Hee from becoming a truly reliable friend.

I thought we were trying to build a friendship here people

All instances where Jung Hee was willing to put aside her jealousy and help Hye Joo out, Hye Joo never asked for help, and before long Jung Hee was growing jealous again. The jealousy was something I understood and I appreciated that the show went there. It risked making Jung Hee seem petty and selfish, but for me it made her character feel more real. It’s a general rule of thumb that high school girls don’t like new girls.

She's kinda petty and kinda rude, but I still like her

Especially when they’re pretty and smart. And definitely not when their crush is crushing on the new girl. I was looking forward to seeing what it was that would bridge the jealousy and bring the two together as friends. Hye Joo’s father being a communist and getting arrested was a pretty good start, but as I mentioned before, the girls never really got the opportunity to support each other through that on screen. While Jung Hee had some pretty prominent negative points (pettiness, jealousy, occasional rudeness), she was such a typical teenage girl that it was relatable. She thought the world revolved around her and anything that didn’t go her way was just the peak of unfairness. Most people, even if they’d like to deny it, felt that way when they were teenagers. To balance those traits, Jung Hee had a bunch of good personality points. She was loyal, spoke her mind, was wonderfully innocent, and disliked injustice. Despite how jealous she was of Hye Joo, Jung Hee never delighted in any of Hye Joo’s suffering. When she saw Hye Joo having a hard time she wanted to help and felt conflicted due to her initial dislike of Hye Joo.

I mean, who likes their romantic rival?

Even though Ae Sook gave her a hard time at school and pushed her around, Jung Hee spoke out against her father when he threatened Ae Sook and forced her to kneel. Jung Hee was perfectly realistic in her balance of good and negative traits. Cosmic Girls’ Bona did a wonderful job at giving Jung Hee life, and excellently balanced her character’s mix of traits. Jung Hee could have very easily been an annoying character, but Bona gave such a sweetness and innocence to the character that you couldn’t help but like her.

Equal parts cute and crazy

I also think Bona did well at expressing Jung Hee’s conflicted feelings regarding Hye Joo. Despite Jung Hee often doing nothing, Bona always made sure we as an audience knew that Jung Hee was seriously considering stepping up before deciding not to, and obviously feeling some level of regret after. I found Hye Joo to be a less fun character than Jung Hee. She was just too perfect. And I know that’s kind of the point, but she was perfect to the point that it wasn’t believable.

Cue exasperated groaning

She’s smart (like, top of the nation smart), pretty, and nice. All in the extreme. Like, she’s not just nice, she’s super, ridiculously, stupidly nice. No one is this nice. Except for maybe Gandhi, but she was way prettier than Gandhi. And to top it all off she was loved by everyone. Boys would flock to the girls’ school to get a look at her, her father adored her, and the girls (except for a few) idolised her. She was perfect to the point it was exasperating. She was constructed as such a perfect character that I actually had a hard time feeling bad for her when she was struggling, it was just kinda like ‘welcome to the real world, princess’. Which is mean yes, and wouldn’t be my response to a real person, but Hye Joo just didn’t seem like a real person at all. She was shown to have no negative qualities whatsoever. It’s hard to really say whether Chae Soo Jin did a good job acting Hye Joo or not because I was so disinterested with the character and didn’t pay much attention. The role wasn’t one that required a lot of effort or skill, as all Chae Soo Jin had to do was smile and act nice with the occasional tear here and there. I mean, she wasn’t bad, it’s just that she didn’t really add anything to a bland role to make it memorable.

She seemed pretty keen to trade in her father for a boyfriend anyway

The flip side of Hye Joo is Sohn Jin. While he was constructed with a similar sort of level of perfection, he was also shown to have flaws. While Jin was smart, cute and well loved he never really came across as nice. It felt like he liked the attention, and he liked girls fawning over him so he put on an air. Early on he was seen to be pretty possessive of girls’ affections, even when he wasn’t interested in them.

I didn't like him much, but he was an interesting character

Even though Jin liked Hye Joo and had no desire to date Jung Hee, he still didn’t want Dong Moon to date her either. He also had some pretty serious trouble trying to come to terms with the fact that Hye Joo didn’t like him. It was clear that he loved being loved, and that sort of arrogance and self-importance were enough to balance out his good qualities and make him seem like a real person. Yeo Hwe Hyun acted the character well, but similarly to Chae Soo Jin he didn’t really stand out. There was nothing that made the character uniquely his, and another actor could have done the job just the same. As for our hero, I won’t lie, I wasn’t a fan. There was nothing about Dong Moon that made him all that likeable. I found his persistence with Jung Hee was more annoying than it was cute, and I actually found him to be quite obtrusive. I guess you could say the same about Jung Hee in the way she followed Jin around, but I argue that Jin encouraged those sorts of behaviours whereas Jung Hee did not. Jin often spent time with Jung Hee, called her cute, took her out to eat, and always told her he’d see her again.

Master of keeping hopes up

However, Jung Hee repeatedly told Dong Moon she didn’t want him following her around, explicitly said that she didn’t want him interfering with her relationship with Jin, and drew a clear line in the sand. And yet Dong Moon was constantly crossing that line. While he was just following her for himself (which still sounds creepy), it was kind of passable, because it just came across as a dorky guy wanting to see his crush.

No means no and if you can't respect that we're gonna have problems

However, once Dong Moon started following Jung Hee so that he could actively interfere with her relationship with Jin it became far less acceptable. I mean, Jung Hee has clearly expressed that she has no interest in dating him, yet he still thinks he has the right to meddle in her love life? No thanks. The show was trying to pass Dong Moon’s behaviours off as cute and endearing, but they were just too stalkerish for my taste. If this drama was ‘Cheese in the Trap’ he’d be that weird creeper who stalked the heroine. Just because he’s the hero of the drama, it doesn’t magically make his mildly creepy moves into cute ones. And I just don’t think Dong Moon was consistent as a character. When we first meet him he’s dorky and all kinds of awkward with no real confidence. I have no idea where he got the nerve to follow this girl around and continue making advances on her even when she blatantly shuts him down. Like, that’s pretty bold for a nervy high schooler. As much as I didn’t like Dong Moon as a character, I will say that Seo Young Joo did a pretty good job acting him out.

But those glasses were hard to stomach

He was excellent at being the awkward dork, and did pretty well at making behaviours that weren’t exactly consistent with his character type seem more natural on screen. Although Dong Moon was 100% not my kind of hero, I can see why he, and the actor behind him, got a lot of love from some of the viewers.

I wish I was on board for this romance, but I'm just not

The person I was most excited to see was definitely Lee Jong Hyun (because I love him), but he was pretty non-existent here. The only time he really made it on screen was when he was helping Hye Joo with whatever she needed, and then I was pretty bummed because it was always at a point in the series where I wished Hye Joo would confide in Jung Hee. I wouldn’t say it was the best performance he’s ever given, but he was on par with everyone else in the show. But his love-line…I just wasn’t on board with it. It kind of annoyed me that he went from being so indifferent to Hye Joo to being completely in love with her. Especially because what first caught his attention was hearing that she was from a good family and a top student. It just felt a bit shallow. I was also a bit bummed that him liking her meant that Hye Joo got everything. Yeah her Dad was a communist and whatnot, but the show placed so much more weight on her crush that her winning Young Choon’s heart overshadowed her father being arrested. She was not only perfect, but she got to have her cake and eat it too.

I wish all the characters got a bit more development than they did

I could see how these personalities and situations would work in a manhwa, but I just think that nothing much was added when it was converted into live action, so the whole show just came off a bit cartoonish.

What Was Great:

The ‘70s:

I haven’t seen a lot of dramas that take place in Korea in the ‘60s or 70s. I think the closest I’ve gotten is ‘Reply 1988’.

Though some things don't change

For someone who’s grown up in a different country it’s so interesting to see the differences in culture. Sure, I wasn’t alive for the ‘70s here either, but I’ve seen it a lot through Brittish and American media. One of my favourite things about this drama was seeing what Korea was like in the ‘70s, because I really had no clue about it. The military inclusions in school were fascinating to see, as it’s something that I never would have thought of. The girls were learning how to march in lines, treat injuries in case of war, and spot communists. I had no idea that there was a curfew on regular citizens, and the extreme sexism was something that surprised me. This drama was only set about 40 years ago, and yet there were so many differences. It really highlighted how far the country has come in such a short time. I mean, Jung Hee and her mother didn’t even eat at the same table as her father and brother. It was these sort of inclusions that really made it feel as though this story was taking place in a different time. As much as music and dress can express these differences, it’s the small details that really sell the era.

The patriarchy was kind of shocking

What Wasn’t:

Crushes:

The whole plot of this drama centred around who was crushing on who, with not a lot extra thrown in.

It was aaaaaall about who liked who

Hye Joo’s struggles due to her communist father could have been something really fascinating to look at, and I think you still could have had that lighthearted, school vibe while also exploring a more unique topic. Despite how the drama was set in the ’70s, it really could have been a modern drama, because there was nothing in the plot that made it ‘70s- only the details. Which is a bummer, because as I’ve just mentioned, one of my favourite aspects of this drama was how it was set in the past. Instead all we got were school kid crushes. Jung Hee liked Jin. Jin liked Hye Joo. Hye Joo liked Young Choon. Young Choon liked Hye Joo. Jin switched to liking Jung Hee. Dong Moon likes Jung Hee. Jung Hee switches to liking Dong Moon. Boom. That’s the whole drama right there.

Recommend?

Look, if you like mildly silly, kind of childish shows go for it. I’d say if you’re the type of person who enjoyed ‘The Liar and His Lover’ (for the story not the music) this show would probably be right up your alley. Otherwise, I advise you read the synopsis, look at a few screenshots, and move on with your K-Drama viewing.

I wish there'd been more girl bonding