One Ordinary Day (2021)

Leaves you with questions

I just binged this drama and here I'm with confused thoughts and a lot of annoyance. And yes that's exactly how the author wanted us to feel. Neither full nor empty. The ignorance of the police, the easy going case solving agenda of prosecution, the helpless poor suspect and the hair pulling audience. Nothing was clear up until the last few minutes and it give me a headache but that's how the story is. Not your typical extra thriller mysterious story that gives you full answers with details of the crime in the end. It leaves the audience to think about the whole thing that happened in the last few hours. Kim Soo Hyun SERVES. How he changes throughout the episodes, his behaviour, his looks and body language. His amazing portrayal of Hyun Soo and of course Cha Seung won's realistic acting is what made the drama worth watching.

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Guilty until proven innocent

Hyun Soo was in the wrong place at the wrong time and that was enough to make his life miserable. But not just that. So in advance, I want to alert you that this drama is not for everyone, it has blood, panic syndrome, violence, crime, death, drugs, etc. So besides all of that, it's shocking that the most perturbing thing happens to be injustice.

This drama is horrible and hard to watch because it's too realistic. We watch it thinking about how many people have their lives destroyed by law, bad luck, injustice, and unprofessionalism every day. And that's why this drama is so good. It makes you think, it makes you feel frustrated, it makes you angry, sad, and perplexed all at the same time. This is not like the others dramas about crime at all. The plot may not be the most interesting at first and may seem cliche, simple or common in the genre, but the way that it develops makes you want to keep watching.

The production and the cast were both amazing, Kim Soo Hyun's acting skills are no joke, I only have watched him in It's Okay To Not Be Okay before watching this and I was already obsessed with him, but after this, I have no words. The other actors and actresses are also pretty good, everyone is so intense that makes you feel like you are immersed in the history too. And about the production, I have no reasons to complain as well.

But, I do have some things to complain about. The lawyer suffers from some kind of skin condition and it affects his feet. The drama keep showing weird scenes of this, and in the end, they don't make sense at all, there's no reason for these scenes, it was unnecessary.
I also didn't love some points in the ending. I enjoyed the concept and some scenes satisfied me, but I wanted more. More explanation, more details, more information... I think they wanted to show that the essence and the importance of the drama were how the system is failed, but the murder was too important to not make at least 30 minutes of explanation about it.

Even tough the ending could have been better, all the aspects of this drama are too good to not be a 9/10.

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Innocent until proven guilty

One Ordinary Day (2021)

Likes
1. I loved the transformation of Hyunsoo from being a naive college student to a man forced to grow up fast in order to survive. Hyunsoo didnt say much throughout the drama but you can feel his desperation and loneliness though his eyes and his tears (although sometimes the crying was OA).
2. I love Shin Joong Han. He really tried his best to defend Hyunsoo, it's just that police and prosecution already made up their minds and it's hard to investigate all the possible suspects alone In just a short time. Still he was able to do it.
3. Ugh! I hated the prosecutor and chief of police! I know they really thought they had the right person and I'm glad they still had a conscience and let Hyunsoo go. What I didn't like was they made it seem like they were the one to investigated and found the killer and didn't even apologize to Hyunsoo. One got promoted, the other got an honorary retirement. How about Hyunsoo and his family? How can they move on after this?
4. Do Ji Tae was such a memorable character! He was so hot lol and was almost like a mentor to Hyunsoo. The ongoing fight with Dooshik was repetitive but was shocked with what happened!! I almost thought that Hyunsoo might takeover from Do Ji Tae and be the new lion of northern prison.

Dislikes
I didn't watch the BBC drama so I don't know how closely they followed it and if the ending the same. I don't think he jumped, I think he spent the day thinking about his life and what to do now. Can he resume being a normal college student? Did Do Ji Tae's death left a big impression on him? Will he follow Joong Han and become a lawyer defending innocent people like him? The possibilities are endless. Again he didn't speak much so we don't really know what he's thinking.

I saw that BBC had two seasons. Hope there will be S2 with Kim Yoo Jung!

Rating: 9/10

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Phenomenal Acting & A Story that Makes You Root for the Main Character

I didn't realize the actor and the main character's names were so similar but I need to start off by saying that the actor Kim Soo-Hyun, played Kim Hyun-Soo AMAZINGLY. This boosted him up to one of my favourite actors, I didn't realize he had such a wide range. When he started crying I would cry too because it felt so raw and real. Especially near the end, during the trials, where he says "I didn't kill her' he's so desperate to have people believe him that I was tearing up. JUST BELIEVE MY BABY PLS.

Overall the story was gripping and the main character was someone you just had to root for, he goes through a perfect development through the episodes as he learns to cope with the injustice of his ordeal. We know that he made a mistake, and initially, when I saw the first episode, where Hyun-Soo was leaving the crime scene, and cleaning the mess, I kept screaming NO JUST CALL THE POLICE! But then again, put yourself in that position, your mind would shut off, and you'd have no time to think it through. If you'd stolen your dad's car, your family was in poverty, had a one-night stand with a girl, and woke up to her dead--and not just dead but brutally murdered. Then of course your mind would run wild. He knows he did wrong by leaving, but it's very realistic to how a young college student may act in this situation. Just because he made a mistake doesn't mean he should lose his whole life.

That was the main thread in the plot, mistakes were made but that should not blind the police and make it so that they stop investigating just because there is a clear person to blame. Even in true crimes, we see this a lot, where there is evidence that points to someone, and instead of fully investigating, police instead cut corners to frame the suspect because it'll make the case tie up neatly. It's easier to blame it on someone who was there than to do your job and investigate, putting aside all biases to find only factual evidence. This is what Hyun-Soo faces, the chief police, from the beginning does not listen to the facts, he listens to only his hunch and then pieces all the evidence to support that hunch. In this way, Hyun-Soo is framed and a perfect murder case can be closed as fast as possible.

This drama wasn't perfect, some parts bothered me, like when Hyun-soo began to doubt himself and was becoming too much like Do Ji-Tae, but I think the drama dealt with that well by killing Do Ji-Tae, as to remind Hyun-Soo not to get too comfortable because living in prison means losing your life at any time. So although I had my gripes, they tended to resolve themselves or made sense to the character.

I actually liked how quick the ending was, a lot of people say it was rushed, and maybe it was, but I think the ending makes sense (although it could've been better, could've gotten 9 stars). In cases like these, that's really all it takes, a single piece of evidence that comes to light, one confession. After having his whole life ruined, Hyun-Soo is proven innocent in a matter of minutes. It's ironic and sad at the same time. He will never be the person he was in episode one, he's now filled with trauma and yet the whole time the person who did it was living freely.

Had the murderer kept silent, Hyun-Soo would just have easily stayed in jail. It shows how random these cases can be, but highlights one important factor: the police will construct a story based on what they want the public to believe happened, not based one evidence and it then takes a person who is willing to go above and beyond, like Shin Joong-Han, to find evidence, and for the suspect to wholeheartedly believe in themselves.

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Why?

Will there be a season 2?
Cos I need to know what later happened to the police officer, and the prosecutor.. it's not alright for them to go scot-free for what they did to an innocent soul.. The judge needs to be hanged also.. how can you sentence someone to life imprisonment after listening to the trial?..
Honestly, I'm not ok with the end.. if that's how the movie ended, then it's trash.. what happened to the lawyer that fought his best?..
No compensation whatsoever even from hyun Soo?... Na.. it didn't end well.
I'm soo pissed right now, and if I meet the producers of this movie..then they have some explanations to do.

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“Put this Drama on top of your List”

Superbly riveting, fast-paced, suspenseful, provocative - and it’s only been 2 episodes since it premiered. Even if it’s an adaptation it doesn’t come across as a poor clone or a struggling version of the original series.

Judging from the well-crafted scenes and soulful acting, I am certain that the high momentum will sustain or get even better! Kim Soo Hyun convincingly justified why he deserves to be South Korea’s highest paid actor. He really got down and dirty.

This drama series definitely has all the elements of a worthwhile watch.

Big tip: Don’t read the synopsis beforehand so that the suspense factor is not diminished. Let the story unravel naturally.

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Failure of Great Picture

This should be the first K-Drama which successfully give picture of the failure of criminal justice system, since it takes "Criminal Justice - 2008 (UK)" as story structure. Many aspect can be added since the original drama only last for 5 episodes, but again, the director and writer of this drama has failed. The title, "One Ordinary Day", only last for 20 minutes at the first episode, and the rest are dumb anecdotes.
When every character in a drama, looks like they were playing a "drama", then it's a failed drama.
It should be depth in every character, just like the original drama. "One Ordinary Day" has a shallow face.

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Kim Hyun-soo

One Ordinary Day. I think it is time to finally talk about this masterpiece and I think more people should be talking about it. Seriously, this is a bleak topic and I am even surprised that a big mainstream name such as Kim Soo Hyun will take on such role is just interesting for me but to say that I was blown away of his performance is an understatement but what is this show about. I think the way that we can describe this show is a thriller and a really good one at that. Kim Hyun-soo (I have to admit that I was a bit confused with the name of the character of Kim Soo Hyun here because it is just basically his name where the first and second were just interchanged. This is surprisingly my biggest issue with the show. I feel like they did not really do much here) is a student in his twenties. He is the usual kid who is studying while trying to enjoy his life but one night, he decided to be more of a rebel and take his father’s taxi without permission ad he also met this woman that he later hooked up with. It is a pretty normal night but things went awry when he woke up and she is dead beside him. They had sex and the girl had some weird shit that she did but things went south and he was caught. This is where a series of unfortunate events happened to the character and the story is basically a huge jab and blow to the justice system that they have. Let’s be honest as I am in that point of my life where there is nothing that the government can do to make me trust them as much as I distrust them now and this is applicable to any countries out there. This is why seeing how flawed the justice system works not just in my country but also in other countries does not fully surprise me but it also still infuriates me. I am not sure if this is making sense and I do get why he is the main suspect as there were so many evidences that are pointed towards the character but the blatant refusal of the head detective to not accept any other possibility to what happened to this girl bothers the hell out of me. I am seriously fucking gagged and gooped with how many details he did not take into consideration because he thinks that he killed her. I mean, I would also think of him as a prime suspect but the possibilities are right there up there noses and the evidence that really proved his innocence was already in there possession if they just really looked at the photo. The evidence to the crime committed was literally right there. We have a photo of who did it and that is just so heartbreaking to know and learn that these things do happen more often than not to people who cannot afford to properly defend themselves. Let’s be real here and that attorneys like Shin Joong-han are as uncommon as they will come in reality. He is a character that is extremely flawed but he is a character that is standing up for the good. You can see how hard he fought for this man to be freed from the shackles that he was forced to be in. It is nice to see Cha Seung-won portraying the role because he was able to play the character’s nuances and to give him the humanity that he needed to be interesting and relatable. The scene he had when he finally delivered the good news to Kim Hyun-soo at the end was just a beautiful moment but he had so many good scenes in this show as he acted as someone who really invested his time to help the guy. He is someone that we need more of. I just want to give a special shoutout to Kim Young Ah because I know that she only had few scenes and was a supporting character but she delivered one of the strongest scenes when she testified in court. She is such a marvelous actress. Another thing that we got to explore here is the inequal treatment of inmates in the prison system. This is a problem that we have heard of but since it is not affecting us directly, we have kept on looking away from it. The immersion of Hyun-soo in that place is where the important transformation in his life happened with the help of Do Ji-tae played by Kim Sung-kyu. He was like the person who helped him get his way there. He is certainly not perfect as he is running the prison cell but I love the depth that Kim Sung-kyu was able to put in this character. I kinda fell in love with him too but that is not the point here. He is someone who was wrongly accused and saw that in Hyun-soo too. I actually get why Hyun-soo started to get as confused with what is happening to him because it is hard to be in that position. His life is ruined and I have to give it to Kim Soo-hyun. I binged watch the entire show and what really struck me with his performance is the transformation of his character from a young boy to a more matured man. The crying scene in the first few episodes and to see them slowly be fading as he is turning into something different and more cynic about life is just sad to watch. I was struck with how this event have redirected his entire life. This is not something that he envisioned himself to be in and no one did but he had to forcibly redirect his life and turn himself into something that he never wanted to be just to be able to survive and I wish that to happen to no one in this life because you can see how this drastically changes everything in that person. You can see that young boy be gone in just a matter of months. At the same time, we are also shown how this drastically changes the lives of the family of the person. I do get and understand why Hyun-soo had to change but this affects so many other people too. It just hurts to know at the end of the day that he is not the one who killed her because I feel like his life was stolen from him and he will have a hard time to get it back. The scene at the end of him standing on the rooftop of the building does not fully say what he will do but one can just hope that he will try to reclaim his life. It is heartbreaking to know that these types of stories are not as uncommon today than it was. I really do hope that the justice system would be so much better that instead proving yourself to be right, we will do what is right. I think that the murder of Hong Guk Hwa was not even resolved immediately because of this. I feel like they have focused more on pinning Hyun-soo down that they have forgotten the true victim of the crime which is Guk Hwa. The injustice that she had to still go through even after her death felt like the true crime in all of this. There is a really thin line here and they all have crossed it. One Ordinary Day is just any other shows out there as it shines light on something that we prefer not to talk about. It shines light on something that we should be talking about. It shines light on these very dark cells and see how we sometimes create the monsters that we fear most of. The story of Do Ji-tae is a prime example of that and, even though Hyun-soo was able to get his freedom back, the real question still remains – Is he REALLY free?

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HEARTBREAKING

I just started watching this drama because I love Kim Soo Hyun's work. This drama is giving me such heartache that I have to stop and take a break from watching. It is heartbreaking to see what the character portrayed by Soo-Hyun is going thru. The heartbreak and emotions I feel while watching this drama is a testament to the spectacular performance of Soo-Hyun. Even though it is such a great performance I would rather see him smiling more than crying. I applaud him for his sensational performance. I will watch to the end and hope for a happy ending and seeing his beautiful smile.

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Dear lord, I hope it improves

Review after first episode: Okay, started this with lots of hope because of the genre, but I guess I’ve watched far too many ones which have set the bar really high that this intro failed to impress me. All the stupid decisions that Kim Hyun Soo takes would be believable if the victim was written better. Within the first few moments we are forced to see her influence on the ML and it somehow doesn’t click. From not giving him the time of her day to romantically running away instead of paying for their ice creams in the middle of a dark empty road was funny and not for the reasons they intend it to, if at all. The rest of the episode works on KSH’s remarkable acting skills, he really makes you feel for him even if you find that the seriousness which should have been there is missing in the drama, There’s too much of forcing the viewers to see the characters as someone rather than actually showing us. Anyway, it’s a fast paced enough intro. I’m hoping that it improves with the next set of episodes.

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(+) singkat. perepisodenya cuma sejam dan totalnya ada delapan episode, jadi bisa namatin dengan sekali duduk (si demen maraton)
(+) gerak kamera dan pengambilan shotnya apik! color tone & gradingnya juga ciamik
(+) actingnya kelas kakap. not biased but ngl actingnya ksh emang pantes diacungi jempol sie. acting jaksanya juga manteup.

(-) suaranya terlalu ganggu banget di telinga. scoringnya sih oke ya, cuma agak berdenging gt apalagi kalo pake headset─bikin ngilu. tapi kalo ga pake headset, suara nangis dan teriakannya ksh terlalu keras dan mendesah, bikin suujon orang di sekitar :')
(-) masih ga paham sama maksud dari eksistensi do jitae itu apa. dia dihadirkan buat jadi alat developmentnya hyunsoo kah? singkat dan kurang ada artinya karna cm 'mantik' doang, jadi kesannya cuma numpang lewat apalagi kematiannya yg tbtb kek─hah apaanda.
(-) twist yang membagongkan. terlalu buru-buru sie karna diabisin di setengah episode terakhir, sayang bgt.

tapi terlepas dari semua (-) itu, drama ini tetep worth to watch, apalagi buat klean yang ngefans sama kim soohyun.

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