Circle (2017)

This is probably the best show I have watched that I couldn't predict! Just when you start to think you know what's going to happen, you don't. I about broke my neck there were so many plot twists, but I loved it!! I love how everything fit together and came together. It might be confusing or a bit slow in the first episode, but it picks up so fast to the point that you're practically running to keep up. I loved the story, the casting was on point, and so was the music. I wouldn't mind watching this again even if I know all the plot twists already. Since it is only 12 episodes it doesn't take that long to watch and it feels like it goes by so fast! All in all, I loved it and it's going on my favorites list!

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Korean television rarely does science fiction, so Circle has novelty in its favor. Unfortunately it tries to cram the entire genre into a mere twelve episodes. It dashes from alien encounters to mad scientists to dystopian utopias to cyberpunk hackers to clones without ever stopping to flesh out a single theme or develop a unique voice and production style. It raises some interesting questions about the role memory plays in identity and whether trauma is an important part of our humanity or an impediment to happiness, but it never digs into its ideas in a meaty, revelatory way. Plot points are introduced to provide “twists” and then discarded when they’re no longer useful. Characters often behave in unbelievable ways, and perfunctory directing leads to visual inconsistencies and hackneyed acting choices. Yeo Jin Goo is talented enough to be riveting anyway, but the rest of the cast suffers. The final result is a show that feels more like a sketch than a finished product. It’s fast paced enough to hold viewers’ attention but it doesn’t give either of its worlds or timelines the care and attention they deserve.

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