A good crime thriller which lost its pace halfway through
Overview : “The good detective” started off pretty well, but the ending was not upto the mark. A crime thriller with an interesting plot which lost its pace in the middle. Out of all the detective / crime thriller dramas I have watched, I couldn’t find anything particularly unique with this series. The drama is neither too good nor too bad. It’s an okay-okay drama to watch. You can watch it once, If you are really into crime thrillers / detective dramasPlus points : The bromance between the detectives and their bickering here and there was so interesting and good to watch. There were a lot of emotions and bonds throughout the series which got me emotionally connected with the drama. Though there was no romance in the drama, I really loved the bond between the leads which gave out a special vibe. The casting was extremely good - each and every actor had done amazing justice to their roles. The music was pretty good but not exceptional.
Minus points : I personally felt that the drama was really dragging. It would have been good if it was upto 12 episodes. Unnecessary dragging with a lot of revelations, flashbacks and recurring sequences was a major turn off. I wanted to drop off in the middle, but I really wanted to know the ending and that’s why I competed watching it. Though I know that if there was romance, the drama would have been offtrack - still I was hoping for a slight romance between the leads as they were so good. I felt disconnected halfway through the drama as it had lost its pace in the middle.
Conclusion : Overall, the drama was okay. The series doesn’t have much of a rewatch value.
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Good start, great potential, but...
There is one thing I am grateful with the Good Detective: once you have watched it completely (all 16 episodes), you will be able to watch ANY other kdrama from romantic-comedy to fantasy to thriller/detective etc. and find MOST of them excellent, well acted, well executed, well produced, well directed, well written, etc. You will be so happy to realize how much any random kdrama is in fact quite good and wonder why you did watch the Good Detective.Well, it has good material and potential at the beginning, but for some reasons (probably lack of budget or internal disagreements between producers, directors, writers ??? or maybe just boredom of being forced to work on this project, or pure and genuine boredom), everything become so incoherent that you keep thinking "oh! maybe it is just a joke from the actor because he or she wasn't happy with his or her salary..." or "oh! maybe it is just a joke from the writers becase they didn't feel they were paid correctly..." etc. until you reach the end of the drama and realize that all of it was no joke, no twist, nothing...just the fact that all the characters become really stupid. The transformation for the many characters of this drama is that after going through all the twists and turns of their stories they all get a formidable transcendance and become less intelligent that they were at the beginning, less fair and less right that they were. I guess that was what the drama was about: if you want to do something good you cannot, but if you really want to become a good whatever, just become stupid. Yes, just become stupid and act as a coward, don't think before you talk, conclude just based on your blind anger and feeling and so on..., just become really really - but really ! - stupid so you then really think you did something meaningful and good.
Anyhow, the first half was kind of interesting to watch meanwhile waiting for a new drama. The second half was kind of okay but it became gradually unbearable as there were too much nonsense (or stupid thinking from most of the characters). But, come on, I did watch it till the end in case the common sense and judgment would come back miraculously in the story. That was not the case.
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This review may contain spoilers
Good watch but pace slows down and doesn't pick up
Story: great beginning with a funny scenes thrown in. The struggles of being a detective, and a police officer at that are well portrayed. There's a good fast pace as they rush to save the death row convict's life. Then things trickle down when they fail too. I think they reveal all the cards too early in the drama and where they aren't, it is too easy to guess 'who-done-it' which kills the suspense. Feel like Ji-Hyeok's childhood trauma wasn't brought out as well as it could have been which made it hard to really empathise with him.Acting: commendable acting all round, can't really fault it. Do-Chang and Ji-Hyeok make a great time . Seo-Kyung did a great job with her role, didn't feel cringey as is common with many FLs in K-dramas. Jong-Tae is not the cliché psycho killer common in many drams which is refreshing . The Violent Crimes team two is also good fun to watch, especially Dong-Wook's baseball scene.
Summary: enjoy the first nine episodes or so to follow the story. It makes for good lazy Sunday afternoon watch after that.
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Whatever
All I have to say about this series is that every single female character was written to look bad. The sister, the female reporter, the female witness, the daughter, and the female investigator. In the end, the good guy gets executed for nothing because the women couldn't get their sh*t together.I honestly held out hope that one of these women would pull a Hail Mary but none of them did. Whatever the writers have against women, they obviously didn't care much for them to give them any stronger roles or saving grace. There wasn't ONE single likable female on this show. It's really pathetic the female reporter wept tears for the person who actually murdered an innocent detective rather than the innocent guy who got wrongly framed for his murder and she didn't do anything to help in order to preserve her job. Not to mention how she constantly drinks away her sorrows.
No one gets actually punished for the murders and cover-ups they all actually did. Not the murderers, the corrupt prosecutors, the higher-ups in the police force, no one. All the innocent people who died, none of them gets real justice.
Whatever.
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Exceptional Crime and Life Lesson Drama - Thank God for Season 2 -- Cannot Wait!
Indeed an exceptional drama, subtle but with a loud message. It only takes one good detective (Jang Seung Jo) and person to affect change and help others realize they each hold within them the change they want to see around them. My biggest takeaway from this drama is that only when you experience injustice do you realize how invaluable justice is -- justice is the sum of all moral duty and that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. This drama revealed that the enemy of the truth is blind acceptance, and no matter what path an individual chooses the truth will always be the truth, even if no one believes it, and a lie is just a lie even if everyone chooses to believe it. Kudos to excellent penmanship, directing, and impeccable acting by Jang Seung Jo, Son Hyun Joo, Oh Jung Se, Lee Elijah, Seung Hyun, and all the others. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this refreshing drama and if you decide to watch it I am sure you will enjoy it as well. See you in Season 2Was this review helpful to you?
Enjoyable But Nothing Stand-Out
Has funny moments, somewhat engaging storyline, cute relationships (Dochang taking care of Eunhye, Eunhye being a friend to Jaeung? Or whatever the little boy's name is). I always love Korean shows and movies with a small shitty detective office where the group inevitably has multiple scenes chasing criminals down on foot in groups of, like, 7. They're so unprofessional and run-down it amuses me every time somehow.However, the acting is sometimes rocky, the storyline convoluted, people always yell for no fucking reason, and some main characters I just don't fucking care about. The short haired middle aged woman? So fucking annoying. I don't care about her and Ms. Jin becoming girl boss besties. Please bring us back to Dochang and Jihyuk.
The show does make Dochang morally grey in a way that he can still manage to be likeable. Jihyuk is a bit boring and too clean but whatever. He's the eye candy side kick. I'll let it pass. Eunhye joining family was cute. Jaeung's mother getting him back was wholesome. Ms. Jin and Jihyuk whistle scene was adorable. Was really happy with the ending.
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High Quality Across the Board
What a wonderful series! Everything about it was excellently done, entertaining, and engaging.Story: Nicely written with well-timed plot development. It was a complicated story to tell and each new aspect was revealed with enough time to digest it and incorporate it into the preceding events. There was' very good continuity of logical progression and a skillful, smooth meshing of plot and character development. Very good dialogue - appropriate to each character, and there were nuances and details in the wording that were placed naturally - which can be tricky to do.
Acting/Cast: Almost every role was cast perfectly and acted with accuracy, depth, and skill. If there was a flaw, it was in the sister of the main character, but for me, not being intimately familiar with Korean culture, she seemed overly dramatic and shallow - not up to par with the rest of the company. I truly enjoyed watching the characters come to know each other better, to start trusting one another first with a little trepidation and then unhesitatingly. Each had normal human flaws - another breath of fresh air.
Music: The only time I pay attention to the music is if it annoys me - otherwise the best I can do is say it was OK.
Rewatch value: I'm giving it a 10 because there were twists and turns and layers to how the plot played out that merit a rewatch to better appreciate the intricacy of the story development and how smoothly the actors handled it.
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This review may contain spoilers
An interesting way to start and end the drama. We go from an innocent man being framed for a murder he didn't commit to an evil man who ended up framing that innocent man being framed himself for a murder he technically didn't commit. Karma anyone? Same with the police. Thinking they did right in the beginning but was wrong only to do wrong in the end but ended up being right because that was the only way to get the villain, play at his own game.There are 2 sub stories in this drama but the amount of attention of these stories are pretty much ignored until the very end. In a way it bothers me because I see importance to these sub stories. These sub stories could've led to character development for some of the characters, including the 2 male leads but at the same time, you wouldn't want it to overpower the main plot of this drama. While one of the sub story does have a little connection to the main plot, the other doesn't. I rather the writers not mention this at all if there wasn't going to be much focus on these sub stories.
Romance? More like Bromance. You just see the developing bond between the 2 male leads from start to finish. They really do ended up being close as bros, not just with each other but with their whole detective crew as well. I will admit it, I am disappointed how there weren't more scenes with Ji Hyuk and Seo Kyung. They had the connection & chemistry with the little scenes of them together. I mean the writers even threw in a monkey wretch at the last episode, showing the viewers there was something there between Ji Hyuk & Seo Kyung. There scenes were cute. I'm just sad that their relationship didn't evolved as much as I would've liked to see.
Only one character that really stood out to me and that was Eun Hye. She had a good character development from start to finish. From being hopeless and depressed to having hope and living her best with dreams. Through all of her issues, she managed to overcome the hurdle she's been stuck in for so long.
To summarize: This drama focuses on 1 case so there are no other cases that play a role in the plot other than a past case being connected to this only case. While this drama seems serious, there are a few comedic moments that will give you a laugh. No big romance between the ML & FL but a big brotherhood between detectives is definitely present. Plot is easy to follow, OST music is pretty absent in this drama, & a good twist in the final episode, a lot different from your usual crime investigation dramas. I say this drama is average but good enough to watch.
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Detective bromance
If you are going to watch a crime detective drama you expect a detective to be handsome but with some problems, strong bond with an investigation team, corruption in the higher level of the police, nasty villain, blood, chasing, sacrifice.“The Good Detective” has all of these and adds some more depth and nuances.
We all love a younger handsome detective with problems in his life and the older detective with his problems. Yes, Jang Seung Jo quite well plays a cool detective. He is a hero who defends women and children and hates the criminals and he beats bad guys very badly. But the real gem of this show is the performance of Son Hyun Joo. His older detective is so authentic, strong and vulnerable, with lost dreams and hope, so human.
Both detectives create fine duet and it’s entertaining to watch them. Their humor, loyalty, chemistry, bromance are great. And that’s why you could be a bit disappointed by the rest cast. Even the perpetrators are not so absorbing.
Since the drama focuses on the brotherhood between detectives, it’s extremely difficult for a female character to act properly and show something interesting, even beautiful Elijah is not able to escape from stereotypes and low level of the scenario for her.
Probably there are too many criminal cases, suspects, too many names that you can feel lost about episode 13th. And I’m afraid Oh Jung Se will remain autistic Moon Sung Te from “It’s Okay to not be Okay” forever. Can’t help. I can’t see him in a different way.
Behind the scenes creators of "Good Detective" ask us if the death penalty is right. And you, what do you think?
You can watch this drama when you are tired of silly romances. Actors and director did a good job.
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The Incompetent Naive Detective
Regarding season 1, I liked the earlier episodes and I was looking forward to the upcoming ones but things didn't go as expected. They had a really poor mix of investigators and journalists/reporters working on the case. Not even the involved characters from that side were appealing to watch. You often hear in any police/investigation drama how they keep information away from journalists/reporters to not hinder the investigation, it turned out they were right. I liked how Oh Ji Hyuk didn't stand out as a main lead too much to allow those around him to have a space, he blended in nicely. Him and Do Chang had a nice dynamic but they started to drift apart a little bit later on. Moving on to season 2, the main case was definitely less interesting. The involved parties were boring. The investigation was slower and much simpler. There was barely any tension, not much action and thriller anymore. Most of the time they were slacking around. Less budget maybe? Throughout both season there was a very small side plot in the background regarding Oh Ji Hyuk and finding a meaning in living but the writer didn't allow for such development and, eventually, after 2 full seasons, everything boiled down that he found a meaning in life through being a workaholic detective. The way they handled that after 32 episodes was the most disappointing thing about the whole thing.Was this review helpful to you?
They are good detectives indeed!
Likes:1. Whew! The never ending twists and turns just made the ending satisfying. The first couple of episodes were confusing to me, because it felt like there were too many characters and too many people involved that i didnt know where the story was headed. But once you get past Lee Dae Chul's case, the story becomes clearer.
2. There were still some moments where it gets frustrating because i wanted the team to find enough evidence to catch Jong Tae and Guk Hyun and everyone so bad, i also felt like them, that i just want to manipulate the case to get this over with.
3. The team worked really hard to solve the cases (and there were a lot!!). I would say justice has been served to the bad guys (in some way or the other).
4. I appreciated how the stories and characters were written. Most of the characters were complex. As much as i would like to hate all the bad guys, the writers show us a different side to them, not to like or forgive them, but to understand their motivation. The same way that we also see that the good guys are not always so good. They also make bad decisions that can have great consequences. And then there are people who are neither good or bad, but goes with the flow in order to survive. I guess that's just how we are as human beings.
5. The show mostly was dark and gritty, but once in a while there's some humor that lightens the mood (mostly from the VC team 2), and a subtle romance between Jihyuk and Jin, which balances the story drama.
6. Also liked how the story delved with Dochang's and Eunhye's relationship. Although i didnt really like the sister and didnt care for her story, i loved how they built their own family in the end.
Dislikes:
I thought that Superintendent Moon and Yoon Sangmi werent punished enough. Just because they repented and moved to the good guys side do not give them a free pass from due punishment.
Rating: 8.5/10
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A fangirl review over why you should watch this even if its just for one character.
I literally started this drama because it was recommended to me on Netflix since I just watched Familiar Wife, a show that also had Jang Seung Jo as a cast member. I totally didn't notice him as special in there but OH LET ME TELL YOU.I never write reviews. I think i only wrote one before? I'm not that good at them, but since The Good Detective has become my comfort show I HAD to say something. Actually also a thing that I don't do is rewatch shows, heck i had no clue what a comfort show was or ~felt~ like.
This one tho, I couldn't NOT rewatch it and I'm pretty sure I can rewatch it over and over again and not get bored. I'm gonna tell you why exactly that is.
The story is good, not super special, but a good watch and not boring at all. The thing that makes this drama epic, and I'm gonna be a super basic ass fangirl here, is Jang Seung Jo. Or specifically Oh Ji Hyuk. If you like bad boys, this is your guy, if you like good guys, this is your guy, tsundere? this guy. broken boi? this guy. I tell you I watched this drama months ago for the first time and can still fangirl like day 1. His character is the perfect chaotic neutral tsundere with a ~past and ~issues. And if that didn't convince you yet, hes good looking aswell.
The funny thing is, Jang Seung Jo is an amazing actor. In his other dramas he is totally different (signs of a good actor ofcourse, i dont get why hes not more popular) You can really see he has different personalities in his other dramas which is great.
On the rest of the show:
The other characters are great and have depth, the women in this show are strong (personalities and physically ;') which makes this drama even better. The only criticism I have about the story of the show is that the end 'revelation' of what who when and where isn't as spectacular for the whole drama to revolve around. Its something you already predicted and figured out slowly. There are a lot of medium-important characters to be confused about. Doesn't make the drama worse though.
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