Big Mouth (2022)

Solid show!

Just saw Big Mouth on Hulu.

Fantastic show.

This show puts the "H" in hybrid: crime thriller, legal drama, prison drama, medical drama, political drama and chaebol drama. I've never seen so many genres packed into a single show and it does it so well. The first few episodes move slowly as they're setting up the characters, but then it turns into a rollercoaster with so many twists and turns that you're on the edge of your seat to watch the next episode. I found the ending to be very satisfying, especially the last 10 minutes.

Lee Jong-Suk and Yoon-ah of SNSD do fantastic work here and Kim Joo-hun gives an amazing performance.

Highest recommendations!

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You know those dramas you love, but admit aren't perfect, but still give a good rating to?

Yeah, this is one of those. I watched episodes 2-15 in these past 4 days and was so excited for today's last episode. And was I slightly disappointed? Yes. But do I still love this drama? Absolutely!!!

ps. This is not an actual though out review. I just want to make physical proof of my feelings after finishing this so that I can look back on this later. I may re-watch this in the future and write up an actual review in the future though

****WHY I LOVED IT***
- love being in prison. loved prison playbook and one ordinary day for that setting. and it was the same with this
- love seeing a married couple (that didn't involve infidelity). Flower of Evil showed that
- an amazing antagonist. Not the typical rich and powerful guy who is trying to cover up his scandals. It's a guy who wanted a revenge but became evil because of it. And he also used his connections to become powerful.
- lowkey loved gong jihoon. (I saw another person call him the only winner and they're so right lol). He got the happy ending he wanted and didn't have to kill someone to get there (i don't think...)

****Some things that have me slightly confused:****
- thinking back, changho could have been anyone, right? wasn't he chosen on a whim because he was "incompetent". Also, at the end of the 1st ep, they made it seem like he was going to have a really big shift in character. And when that didn't happen in ep 2, I thought he was going to get shot in prison in his head and then it would mess with his brain and then his personality would change (because that is possible and it has happened IRL). So essentially, changho just had really bad luck which causes him A LOT OF PAIN - including his freaking wife dying!! OMFG
- the blood tests. Miho gave the fakes to Jihoon, but for what? He gave them to the elder but I'm not sure what impact they had
- the real serial killer son. He was mentioned at the end in regards to the autopsy, but that's it. And how the tf did they just let a serial killer run around America without being worried he would repeat certain actions?? He was never shown either.
- also, Changho got the old man in the care home released, but where did he go?
- where tf was Miho's funeral?? They could have made it 10x sadder is they showed EVERYONE (including the gangsters and even Jihoon sad and grieving at her funeral). And then, they'd have even more resolve to defeat Doha. and it was a bit sudden. like. she only got exposed to it ONCE. she hardly lasted longer than the boy who has probably been exposed to it multiple times
- and they just resolved everything in black and white montage at the end?? are you kidding? where was the satisfaction? the vincenzo killings at the end were satisfying. This? not so much. I was watching the last ep and kept checking how long was left because it was so rushed all of a sudden
- oh, and something about the way they killed off the OG Big Mouse pisses me off. He was doing this to avenge his daughter, and I don't think he got the justice.
- same with he guy who died at the start who wrote the paper. and also, that guy who killed his wife...wtf? I was waiting for him to panic and tell everyone but he didn't. And they didn't even find out that Doha helped cover the murder
- I just think there was a lot of unnecessary deaths, or at least when they died
- not really important but I don't see why miho quit her job at the prison. she probably could have gotten more info from continuing to work there

***
despite there being so many confusing things (and I'm sure there's more), the bad DOES NOT outweigh the cons. Still loved this. It also became a bit of emotional support for me, so maybe that's why I love it so much. I might also keep adding to this as I think of more things

Overall: 9/10

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Very much entertaining.

It's basically the story of Park Changho, a lawyer who is, we can say it, a loser in his job. He is a talkative person and, because of this people call him Big Mouth. He is involved in a murder case and he is somehow accused of being the criminal genius Big Mouse. Due to this, Park Changho ends up in jail.
Meanwhile, Go Miho who is Park Changho’s wife attempts to clear her husband's name.

I'll be honest here, I must say that this kind of show is really great to follow when they are airing, because not only despite the wait it's so much fun to try to guess who is the mysterious antagonist, but it's great to exchange so positively on MDL, week after week with those who like me followed the series. I love that this series managed to make us ask every week who Big Mouse is instead of us being able to guess it easily.

Big Mouth is more light-hearted type of thriller, there definitively more a family and romance theme even though they don't take much space, the production had rather intense tones while having also darker tones.

As for history itself, I think it is separated into two distinct parts.
The first where our protagonists meet, the situation and mysteries unfold, we learn more about Big Mouse. Then, there is the second part, where Big Mouse is revealed and the events accelerate for the conclusion with the development of several storylines at the same time.

I must say that there were a little criticism for part two coming from some viewers and I think it comes from the revelation of Big Mouse. The thing is, we are tricked by the show several times thinking that a character is Big Mouse when they are not, thus when the real Big Mouse appeared, people have continued to theorize on who is Big Mouse even afterward because for them, the revelation was disappointing, they couldn't believe it.
I'm going to be honest, in terms of script writing, the Big Mouse that we have revealed does make sense. On the other hand, in terms of character, I expected someone more charismatic to be honest. And this is where I realized that the series ultimately was not about "Who" is Big Mouse, but how it will link with Park Changho.
The series made us understand, and this from the start, that Big Mouse in truth is replacable, everyone could be Big Mouse, what is more interesting is how we go from there and how our main character blends in all of this. I don't want to give spoilers, but we quickly understand how the series will evolve after the revelation of Big Mouse.

This series is a "general public" thriller, although there are many elements of thrillers, it is still the genre that can be enjoyed by everyone and very entertaining. Now, the entertaining side is double-edged because clearly, that reduces realism.
There are so many scenes which are well played but which are purely fiction. While the series like "Through The Darkness" released this year, may be come across as less "entertaining", but it is a dark thriller filled with realism, it is not for all audiences. Same for "Insider", who by the way, has a lot of similarity with Big Mouth in the storyline, and the series is much more violent, with the inclusion of striking scenes of realism. These are thrillers that are not targeted or made for all audiences, I think Big Mouth is made for everyone despite certain scenes, and therefore its very entertaining aspect.

If I had to talk about the series, I would say that this one of the most captivating series of this year, we have been hooked from the start to the end, the writers did an excellent job to make us theorize during several episodes the hidden identity of a criminal, and not to mention the side storylines.
So I think that with Insider, Through the Darkness, King of Pigs, this might be among the best thriller series I saw this year - so far, maybe not the number one spot - but my opinion is biased by the fact that I like dark thrillers - but this series is definitely not to be missed.

Now, the acting et characters. Park Chang Ho is typically a character that will evolves quite quickly - maybe a bit too quickly for my taste, the evolution of his character is really entertaining though and it's one of the best highlights during the first episodes, we certainly don't get bored.
I want to mention Lee Jong Suk's acting, it's an actor that amazes me the more I discover him, and his roles are really varied in general. Here, his versatility was really incredible, he was able to show us many sides to his character, which I really enjoyed.

Also, I would like to mention Im Yoona, and although she didn't have as much depth as Lee Jong Suk, she managed to shine, and for once, I didn't dislike the female lead, she was able to be both strong and vulnerable, she was loyal, fierce and her character is really solid and consistent throughout the series, she supported Lee Jong Suk's character really well.

As for the rest of the cast, we have everything, endearing, captivating, detestable, funny, evil characters. No one, even the minor roles let us indifferent, we either love or hate them, but they are making us react to them.

Also, this series managed to make me hate characters that I loved at the beginning, and make me love characters that I hated at first, which to be honest is rare because I usually get dead set on my opinion on the characters. First examples, Jihoon and Doha. Jihoon is quite detestable at the beginning, and I must say that in truth, after a little hindsight, he was not that bad, just very determined. As for Doha, he is a fascinating character, and I didn't like to hate him in the end but he showed, I think the most change and complexity than all the characters in the series, even more than Park Changho.

Lastly, for part 2, because as I said, instead of revealing mysteries, the series created others plots, which at that time I thought was in preparation for season 2 or additional episodes, but no. So the only negative criticism I have is about the last two episodes. They wrapped up things poorly and quickly while the series was so well crafted until this point. The end was done in a matter of minutes, also they introduced the possibility for another character but in the end, he never made apparition nor given any time which is odd, so a lot of side plots are left in the wind. Plus, the stories of brillant characters ended badly while it had so much potential.

Do I recommend ? Yes, I think those who enjoy thrillers with few romance and comedic moments, while still keeping a violent aspect - do not mistake this series for a light-hearted funny drama either - then this is for you. I must say that the plots and mysteries are really good, from episodes to episodes, as I said we do not get bored and we want more.
It is still enjoyable to watch for those like me, who lean more towards thrillers without romance or comedy, with solid script and realism, you can watch it, it's good.

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IDK MANNN

tbh,when this drama came out,i ask my friends for a telegram link because i don't even know how to watch kdrama back then,i've only watch 1 ep then the telegram group got shut down,it's been 1-2 years and now i have sources to watch it legally

Let me get straight to the point,first 10 episode is quite good,i meant we all know that big mouse is like a big boss with big brain and strong af with strong mentality and minions,changho did everything to catch this guy and its so intense to watch it,i agree that this story is good asf when they were in jail,i'll give it like 10/10 with the story and plot twist

But everything is ruined when the real big mouse is exposed,like wtf man how did that "BIG BRAIN" leader got blown up like that,like bro that's too easy man,the untouchable big mouse didn't even get that much screentime after he got exposed and then boom LOL,not too mention there is too much things that unsolved,like chairman park's son,who tf is that? that dr's wife got murdered,what tf happen to her then? dr seo paper,what tf happen to that paper then? what in the world is that paper,how tf people murdered each other for just a paper that can be forged anytime,what happen to the inmate that got blame for murder 9 people but he didn't do it,i knew that chairman park's son murdered that 9 people and blame it on that inmate,how is that happen bro? chain gang's leader,who tf is that? how did he end up in jail.. choi doha drowned but his cousin took his identity,how tf he do that brooooo

not to mention the ending,fck that ending bro,i'll rate it 8 if the ending is good but nahh man the ending is more suck,where is the changho's "punish by law" lmao bro can murder that mayor in a minute but chose the harder path instead and that made her wife died,talk about her wife,how tf did that shít spread too fast,in a week then died? like what the hell bro,that doesn't make any sense,everything that happen after changho got out from jail is nonsense,the creator can make it more intense with made a season2 or something but bro chose to end it in 5 ep and that made the whole story ruined,fck the creator

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Great beggining, terible ending.

The show got me hooked since the first episode. I binged watched it in 3 days because of how interested I was at the beginning. But toward the end, it became dull, boring, and quite predictable. The ending was rushed and it was funny how ridiculously it all went out.

- Some of the things that I liked were the acting (of course). I mean even the side cast were great at delivering their parts so no complaint about the acting part.
- I also loved the OST, there were some of them who were quite memorable and I loved to hear them whenever they played.
- I truly enjoyed the whole mood of the show, camera settings, and angles, costumes. Evident how much work was put into them and I loved it.

- When it comes to the bad parts, we were introduced to so many plot points prior to the final episodes and so the ending was rushed. It felt as if the drama completely changed its tone after Chang Ho got out of prison - it became dull.

1- Jang Hye Jin? like excuse me but why did anyone care enough to search where did that poor girl go? Even in the end, we didn't see Dr. Han get judged for what he had done to her. It's honestly one of the most frustrating things about the show.

2- Where did the blood samples that everyone was obsessed with go? Doa was about to kill Miho, Chang Ho, and Jang Hye Jin for them. Yet suddenly everyone forgot that they still exist in the freakin drawer.

3- Why did the great Big Mouse who conned everyone got killed off in like 10 seconds?? Couldn't there have been a more realistic way for him to die at least? Because Big Mouse is the driving factor of this whole drama, of course when we reveal who the real Big Mouse is, it should be grand and climatic. But we ended up with Big Mouse reveal that was so underwhelming that it made me feel that there was more nuance to this, but sadly there wasn't and it was simply disappointing.

4- What was the main point of introducing us to the fact that the elder had a son who happens to be the be a serial killer. Not only that but we also got to learn that an innocent guy was framed in his place in exchange for money. Yet all of these ideas were never truly explored. We never got to meet the eldest son, nor did the innocent guy get justice. It was just a secret that we learned about and later died with Miho's death.

5- The elder was portrayed since the beginning as someone who got immense power just for him to simply die like that?

6- Miho's death was in my opinion too stretched out and quit unnecessary. There could have been other ways for Chang Ho to accept and become a good big mouth other than that. It was quite emotional and sad to see him lose her, yet it was lame af.

7- Why didn't we get to see the disgusting head nurse get punished for all of her corruption and despicable acts?

8- Just why tf did Choi Doha ie this easily!!!!!!!! Seriously I was so pissed at it. After all that had happened and him winning over Chang Ho in everything, it was a good build-up for something great that was about to come. Yet it all went down the sink and he did in about 7 minutes like wow quite anti-climatic.

So, these are the main points and questions that were on my mind. I will not be rewatching this drama again but overall it was a decent experience. Sadly the couple final episodes were what had semi-ruined my enjoyment and made it turn into utter frustration. Thanks for reading this far and I hope you enjoyed my first review :)

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A really good show... until it wasn't.

This show had some of the best cliffhangers of any drama I've ever seen. Plot twists you really didn't see coming. And although there were some minor flaws in the plot and lots of things left unexplained, the story made sense, went at just the right pace and was what I would call addictive.

But then we get out of prison... (for the final time)

And from this point onwards it slowly starts to go downhill. However, the show was still salvageable and could have been a good 9 maybe even higher. Only if it wasn't for the last 10 minutes of the show. These 10 minutes give a sentiment that oppose everything established in the show so far. It is not a good ending and it does not feel justified. All the build up and all the people we have got to know, get thrown away for a simple and senseless ending.


Explaning the problems this drama has in my opinion. !!!Warning Major Spoilers from this point onwards!!!

The main problem of the second part is that the real power of big mouse is never demonstrated. Park Chang Ho (PCH) was more like a little mouse (a prey). In the prison he demonstrated real power going from a nobody to a god, managing to outsmart even Big Mouse himself. But then he gets to live and from this point onwards, he starts to weaken. Maybe the man needs to live under the fear of dying to actually be able to perform.

So we get out of prison and the first main thing that happens is that he becomes the lawyer of big mouse and his main goal is to destroy the organisation of Major Choi DoHa and Chairman Kang. But from this point onward the opponents keep on getting the upper hand (I get it, we need it to keep the plot going, but it does not seem like the opponents get some unfair advantage or luck, they are just smarter than Big Mouse). This does not mean that the smart tricks stop entirely, but the power and reach of the organisation of Big Mouse is never really shown. The three main important guys from big mouse are the prison guard, Jerry and PCH's lawyer friend, but other than the fighting gang, we see like one outside guy actually able to pull some strings. Most of the things they do are giving PCH small information, but often Major Choi is already one step ahead and the 'friendly criminal and big force' Mr Gong Ji Hoon is needed to help Big Mouse but turns out he is just useless. The only time we saw the real influence of big mouse was with the police escort and allowing Ko Mi Ho to speak during the interview. But why couldn't they protect their witnesses like Jang Hye Jin (why did she even need to come back) and more importantly Hyun Ju-hee when se was supposed to testify. (Like they know Do Ha is a manipulative monster, but well he wouldn't do anything to his wife or something...)

The things I didn't like include Mr No (Original big mouse) dying in a stupid way as a big maffia boss. Also the backstory of his daughter was not really big enough to make me feel sad for him (It gets pushed to the background by all the other evil deeds of DoHa/NK Chemical and make that the main driving force of the battle of PCH). Then we have Ko Mi Ho getting terminally sick from the radiation, but continuing to fight and reveal the truth, but this was all for nothing. Also they did have no business putting her dead at the very end of the show and then justifying it by letting PCH kill DoHa by using the same water that killed his wife. You know this likeable guy who wanted to become a 'kind' big mouse and fight evil. Yes, he just killed the 'real' evil guy by doing the same evil stuff Do Ha has been doing the whole time (Yes it was revenge, but it would've been sweeter revenge if they just won in court.

Then the final issue: the rushed, unsatisfactory and inconclusive ending. We needed at least one episode more, or they could've cutted some of the shenanigans from the 5 episodes before it. The current ending leaves plot holes and makes me wonder about what the message is. How does the story continue from this point onward? DoHa is dead and some of the evil guys are locked away, but is the entire organisation of NK chemical really gone?? Is there a guarantee they won't come back, if they do will PCH just kill them all? What will PCH do now, just continue being a "normal lawyer" (he was really good at that lmao), or play Big Mouse and kill more evil guys "to save the world"?
Also what tf happened with the son of chairman Kang, why was the plot even introduced, why no lawsuit??? They could at least let Mi Ho have her revenge for Tak Kwang Yeon (the sick prisoner who took the blame for Kang's son).

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Excellent cast and direction; good series that flattens out

Wonderful cast and direction. But to me the series seemed to split, bog down, and then fall apart. When this happens, and the series has both a superb cast and fine director, then it’s either the writer or the promo people behind the scenes wrapping things up instead of coming to closure. Or both. At any rate, the first half is excellent and totally involving, quite intricate and an emotional roller coaster. Second half didn’t seem to match the tempo, and characters were flipped so much it was sometimes not very believable. But I did like the series, which is why I was disappointed by the pacing and seeming flattening out. Yet the cast is really great throughout. Recommended with reservations.

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SUCH BIG POTENTIAL WASTED

Title says it all, I just finished watching this and I don't even have the energy to rant because of the disappointment because of the amount of wasted potential and I really don't know how high the writers were cause like wtf is up with randomly dropping sub-plots of Hye-jin's death, Jihoon's 100 billion won + this drama was genuinely something that could've been a masterpiece, because the FL's entire arc in the drama was so promising and the way the rushed everything in the end, I may have been a bit too harsh with the rating it's just that the way they destroy everything they've built in the end leaves nothing much to salvage to cherish as a viewer, but well atleast they did a good job at ruining it disastrously well in the last episode, like worst closure ever 💀🤡👍🏽

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The BM was not as big as they told me.

Let´s start from the fact that I usually don´t write reviews. This is only to feel this space cause I´ll probably give some spoiler down bellow.

I can´t say this was a waste, the drama keeped me hooked till the very end (almost the very end). Now, did it end in a satisfactory way? Can I say I´ll rewatch it? I don´t know what to think about it now.


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Ok, I enjoyed it till half and a littler more througth ep. 16. I was expecting a BIG plot twist and it was that there were not plot twist, which is high disapoining considering the bunch of things they dropped on the first eps they could have turn into one.

I was waiting for the last two eps to fill some of our questions, but guess what. There were even more questions added and none of them was really solved. For me there is not plot hole until the drama is done, cause I believe in the end they can answer every question viewers can have. So, since this one is done I must say there where quite a lot of plot holes.

Here my complains:

-First of all Big mause was not big mouse from the begining and I´ll accept it.
-What was the reason for PCH childhood flashbacks?
-Who was the son of the chairman?
-How the heck did CDH died that soon? And why was the timing so convenient for PCH to come and witness it by himself?
-I googled it and google say a patient with leuchemia can live 5 years (aprox) after being diagnosed, but they died so soon. (I can be wrong in this one since I don´t have it, so I don´t really know).
-How did they found where CDH was hiding the gold? And where JH was?
-And the gold dumped in the hold at the begining of the show? what was it for?
-Everything was solve so smoothly, that is really the opossite of satisfactory.
-BM revelation? I was expecting more and holding till the very end waiting for them to tell me that was not it.

What was that end? I´ll ask that 1000 times cause I´m shooked and want to know.

I was expecting was MH death (not that soon) and they gave it to us. And that was all, like, that was all.

I was thinking this was a well writeng drama and how this came out like this at the end? I can´t say I did not enjoyed this one, but I won´t say that I recomend it or rewatch it either. Cause why? why would i?

They should made this into 20 eps drama if they did not have enough time to wrap things up.

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Good but could have been excellent

Overall I really liked this drama. Though the ending was sad, but it was justifiable. I do want to add some shortcomings,
1)The ending seemed rushed, it was like reading a novel , you are connecting with all character in each chapter but in end, there is one paragraph written with one line for each character, ending it in a good note, by this you don’t really connect to any of the emotion of protagonist.
2) In last few episode, a new plot was added, so till last episode I waited for a new character to appear, and none appeared, this was really un-necessary for the main plot…

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