Connect (2022)

Great show with great casts from great director but I feel like something's lacking

I was having high hopes for this show because the casts are my favorites and the director is famous for his gory and violent scenes. I enjoyed watching the show because of excellent acting from my favorite actors and great cinematography.

Jung Hae In proves he is acting genius and master of genre, expressing various levels of pain realistically and perfectly acting with only one eye. Go Kyung Pyo’s acting as serial killer is refreshing and Kim Hye Jun facial acting is great but her action scenes are kinda lagging in some scenes.

But what I feel most lacking is maybe suspense/ tension/ story development? I didn't feel so much excited to know what would happen next (maybe because I got spoilers from behind the scenes videos that Disney+ released in advance before the drama's premier).
OST is nice with Haein’s sweet voice but using the same song repeatedly for many times (although it's necessary for the plot) made me bored.
CGI and VFX are great especially the tentacles used for regeneration.
The gory and bloody scenes are not that disturbing to me.
The chemistry between the casts is great but felt the kissing scene between DongSoo and Yirang is too early Lol.

At the moment of writing this review, people are making noise about the rear nudity of the actors which is nothing strange in acting field but it feels like they used stunt doubles for those scenes.
[Edited - Jung Hae In confirms that he used stand-in (body double) for nudity scene in an interview.
https://youtu.be/nAEMUGOsz4o]

The sex scene was unexpected haha but didn't expose too much.

The last fighting scene between DongSoo and JinSeop didn't help me to maintain suspense and the ending scene hinting for another season is unexpected.

Overall I enjoyed watching the great performance from my favorite actors but sense of satisfaction was not that much and probably I won't rewatch this show within a short period of time. However if there'll be season 2, I'll definitely tune in to explore their so-called new Connect World.

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Bloody mess

If you have watched some classic Takashi Miike films, you probably know what to expect. If you haven’t, I recommend you to check the tags and see for yourself if it is something that you can stomach or not.

What I liked:
- Opening credits: a gorgeously made animated intro.
- Cinematography and directing: nice camera angles, great color grading, some beautiful shots and well choreographed action scenes. Certainly a pleasure to the eye.
- CGI and gore: The CGI looks realistic enough and the gore scenes seem like they came out from a video game or a webtoon. As a result not only you can feel the influence from the source material, but at the same time the gory scenes are as bloody as they should be to not disturb the viewer. The gore and disturbing scenes are actually pretty mild comparing to some of his work (Audition, I am looking at you).
- Duration of the episodes: each episode lasts from around 37 minutes to 50, something that greatly helps with the pacing.
- Female lead: we finally have a strong morally grey female character.
- Easy and fun to watch: again, if you are not into violent and gory series, you will probably hate this, but if you like watching these type of shows, you will be entertained enough.
- Jung Hae In looking like an anime character: self explanatory. I am shallow, I know.

What I disliked:
- Lack of suspense: even though it is a fun ride, as a viewer I didn’t feel like I had to watch the next episode immediately.
- Plot holes and nonsensical scenes: unfortunately there are way too much nonsensical stuff (plainly speaking the characters' actions are dumb).
- One of the characters that appeared in the last episodes: I found that particular character very unrealistic (I know this is a sci-fi drama but still).
- Comedic relief: I felt like they added some elements as comedic relief and even though they didn’t focus on them, I found them unnecessary for a live action.
- Unnecessary actions between our two main characters.

What I found mediocre:
- ML’s character: this is just a personal thing, but I found the male lead to be a bit underwhelming at times. He is definitely not your typical hero, but his foolish actions and the fact that he could barely fight made some of the scenes a bit boring to watch.
- Plot: even though there were a lot of plot holes and nonsensical stuff happening, like I previously mentioned, the plot had potential and the concept was pretty good. I definitely had fun watching it, as I knew I had to think illogically to enjoy it.
- Acting: definitely more on the positive side, but certainly it didn’t have the great performances that I expected.

All in all, it was fun and easy watch that you can only enjoy if you know beforehand that you need to throw your brain out of the window.

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X-men meet serial killer

I was promised pain, gore and a bunch of pretty faces... and got pain gore and a bunch of pretty faces in this X-men meet serial killer...

What I liked was the visuals and the sound of connect... it felt cute yet bloody in a way. I also liked seeing Jung Hae In and Go Kyung Pyo + am crushing really badly on Kim Hye Joon who pretty much stole the show.

Go Kyung Pyo is an amazing priest type of serial killer, extremely well casted! There is something about a cold serial killer vibe that captivates me and keeps me interested. And well the execution here was flawless...

Jung Hae Ins character is kind of pathetic and though the acting was good I just did not fall for the character, he did not captivate me at all. Something that speaks poorly about the character since me not falling head over healls for a character played by Jung Hae In is pretty rare. Something that kind of drags down the score. I am however hoping that character takes on some other traits for the next season. That said I do like his look and find the missing eye adorable, but it did start a slight questioning of faith towards my fanhood towards Jung Hae In.

Kim Hye Joon is amazing I love her, she is going straight to the crush list if she is not there and I am hoping to see a lot more of her, here there,,, everywhere.

All in all a decent watch if you can take a bunch of violence and without a lot of substance...

P.S. the portrayal of organ transplants did not bother me at all.... And if you are expecting anything realistic back away and watch pretty much anything else.

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Compelling idea but lacking any real development

I'd been looking forward to this drama since it was announced and went into it really interested and excited. Unfortunately it didn't live up to what I expected.
Truthfully I wasn't really sure what to expect, but after the writers introduced the several plotlines in the first episode, I was excited to see what they would do, and then nothing really happened. Every single plot point (connect, organ traffickers, serial killer, etc.) was underdeveloped and didn't really go anywhere meaningful. Nothing was explained (I'm guessing they're counting on another season for that) and it just sort of ended.
I also had a hard time liking the characters, which makes it really hard for me to get into a series. The only person I did like was Ha Dong Soo, but even he was a little sad and pathetic that it was difficult to get fully onboard with him. Again, I think this is due to being undeveloped.
The actors did a good job, but I don't think they were given enough to work with. Or maybe it was just how the story was actually filmed/put together. I'm not really sure, but in the end the whole thing felt like it was missing something vital.

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I think I enjoyed it but not that satisfied. I've been expecting more because I know the director is good in this type of genre but I guess they limit themselves for this. Not that it has only six episodes but the story should have been explored more. I love the acting though and the vibes of this , a thriller kdrama with a little touch of japanese gore.

Anyways I'm still recommending it to watch this, for the fact hae in is here and he surely delivers. I'm not expecting a second season soon, but if there is I might watch it. That ending got me a little bit curious.

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Dark and gritty, not your usual k-drama.

Prior to watching Connect I never watched any of Takashi Miike's previous works so I didn't know what to expect going into it. The premise looked interesting and I am a fan of Jung Haein so I knew at least the acting would be good even if everything else fails. After all, the first batch of MDL comments was not encouraging. However, I was positively surprised.

Connect follows the story of Ha Dong Soo (played by Jung Haein) who is a "connect", member of the new superhuman race. His body can heal itself from any type of injury and reconnect with any severed parts. One day he gets abducted by the illegal organ traffickers and during the surgery both of his eyes get removed. His body, however, starts healing and reattaching itself and he manages to run away before he's caught by the traffickers. One of his eyes stays behind and later ends up with Oh Jin Seop (played by Go Kyung Pyo) who turns out to be the infamous serial killer. His new eye somehow establishes connection with Ha Dong Soo who starts having painful visions of the things Jin Seop is seeing. As if being chased by the organ traffickers isn't enough, Ha Dong Soo decides to find the serial killer, stop him from killing any more people, and retrieve his eye.

The story itself looks really interesting, it has intriguing characters and enough dark elements to make a good thriller. But, although it was entertaining and easy to watch because it has only six 40 minutes long episodes, sometimes it lacked suspense and some (supporting) characters made unfathomably stupid decisions. The visual aspects, sound effects and the acting were amazing. Jung Hae In was really good at playing the traumatized but somewhat brave superhuman who only wants to live normal life and be left in peace but gets entangled in human trafficking, kidnapping and serial killing cases. Go Kyung Pyo was compelling in the role of a cold and unhinged killer.
The drama is violent and gory, but compared to some other works famous for violence and goriness it wasn't that notable. I think. I wasn't grossed out while watching it but that could be me. Aside from the two MLs, there was also an interesting FL who had great chemistry with Ha Dong Soo.

The ending was open and left many things unexplained, but if they ever make another season I'll definitely watch it. If you're open to darker and more violent content give this one a chance.

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Hard to connect completely with the story.

The series is basically about Ha Dong Soo, a man who has been deprived of a part of his body by organ hunters and becomes 'connected' with a person who has received an organ transplant. He soon realizes the man who has his stolen eye is a serial killer.

Well, it seems that people have mixed reviews on this series, and I am a bit in this case.
The summary of the series is a good sales speech, and I must say that I really liked the idea.

I'm a huge fan of thrillers, so this series is perfect for me in principle, and honestly I've found my interest to climb as the episodes go by. The overall story is very simple, and above all we can predict the relationships of certain characters a little, on those of Ha Dong Soo and Oh Jin Seop (the serial killer), or Ha Dong Soo and Choi I Rang. And in that sense, I still think it was interesting.

The problem with this series is that it is bland. Just like the main character, Ha Dong Soo. He spends his time suffering and just running and getting angry. He was basically acting like an angry, self-righteous kid who didn't know what to do with himself. And unfortunately, I expected more charisma, something from his character as someone who can regenerate and who is immortal.
In contrast, Choi I Rang, also a "Connect" had more flavor. I see some people didn't like her character for their own reasons, but I think her character was really good. She just had "it", this thing that makes a character interesting, she was mysterious, knew how to fight and protect herself, she knew how to protect her family, she is unpredictable and fearless. Exactly what I would have wanted for our male character.
As for Oh Jin Seop, the serial killer, I must say that his performance is not amazing, it is neither good nor bad, it is just in the same range as the serial killer interpretations that we have in general, same with his arc throughout the season. The aspect that I liked however is his M.O. That of making his victims a unique piece of art that is beautiful, it was really well done.

I must say that for the plot, it's essentially the characters running around, trying to meet and find each other. There isn't really insane element to expect. I liked the regeneration scenes of the "Connect" though.

However, it's the last episode that intrigues me the most. Obviously they hinted that this was all originally an experiment by scientists - let's act surprised - but obviously with this ending it's hinted that more might be uncovered if a season 2 happens. And for me, the most intriguing part is to see what will happen to Oh Jin Seop, is it possible to become a “Connect” ? A “Connect” which is a serial killer, well that would be damn interesting for the sequel especially to see the interactions between Oh Jin Seop and Ha Dong Soo.

I would summarize this series as an appetizer, and the teaser for a sequel would really be the main course.

So I do recommend this series overall, but it's not the not-to-miss type, it's good enough for a sci-fi thriller and promising for the future.

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WORST Jung Hae In drama EVER!

The first thing that came into my head after watching 6 episodes in 2 hours is "What the freaking shit ball is this??!!". Trust me, this is the WORST Jung Hae In drama EVER! Like I can't figure out what the hell was going on and the story is a complete shit ball.

Nothing makes sense from beginning to end. There is this one weirdo, who is going around looking for his eyeballs like a TOTAL idiot. (Does that even make sense??) and there is this girl, who is playing the hero saving the damsel, by saving the guy going after his eyeball, then there is a serial m*rderer, I don't know what is even wrong with him??, and the most fking dumbest thing is, the serial k*ller's coworker even after finding out that he is a messed up k*ller, this dimwit of a woman confronts him instead of contacting the police!! Excuse me?? Did u flush ur brain down the toilet???!! What was she expecting??!!

Yes, I get that "Connect" is some messed up experiment and all, but it was not the main focus of the drama. Instead, it's all about the unnecessary bullshit that doesn't even make sense.

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Very Intriguing till the end..

Usually i don't like the original content which is directly released by the ott platform, most of them didn't satisfy me. But Connect was really intriguing till the end. Never expected that before watching.

I think it's from a webtoon, Apart from everything the story itself was really interesting. Actually from the start it keeps getting better and better by the whole six episodes. I don't want to enter into the story part by the way, because if you never saw the trailer or read the plot, then it will be a totally different experience for sure.

Acting is also top notch. Jang hae in u beauty. Just amazing. Definitely not for everyone, because it contains some adult scenes and violence is also creepy and brutal . Must need a season 2, because the way they ended everything was really a damn cliffhanger...

Waiting.....

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This is so Takashi Miike

Watching Takashi Miike once or twice and you'll recognize that bloody director anywhere. He really loves gore and to splatter blood everywhere.

I saw the drama in YT shorts and I was visually attracted, so that's why I watched. Who knew it has only 6 episodes, which end up being nothing more, but a LONG prologue. Tbh it's the same as if I've just watched the longest introduction to the concept of what is a Connect. Or a short series how a guy chased another guy with a phrase "return my eye to me".
I must admit, realizing that it ends with a huge cliffhanger I was pretty disappointed. Because the concept of Connect was pretty entertaining.
And what is "Connect"? Connect is an urban legend about an undying person. And it truly is so, even if they're cut to pieces their bodies seek to reconnect the parts. For the criminal gang it was like a big dream - they thought the guy will heal himself, though I think Connect doesn't work that way, they do reassemble, but I don't think they're capable of regenerating organs. Otherwise he wouldn't run around screaming - give me my eye back. After all whenever there's a cut those filament like tentacle act almost instinctively and immediately. Tbh partially this reminded me of the Parasyte -the maxim- anime, although connect doesn't have any alien form to exist in the human body, but the ability to transform body and survive is what feels alike.
And this Connect man is Dong Soo, a silent introvert guy who likes to stay low-key in the shadows and live his life quietly, fully aware of who he is and afraid of being found out, he was caught by criminals and although he managed to escape, but one of his eyes was taken away for transplantation. Little did he know that this way he was connected to another person, who happened to be the serial killer. The way he figured it out was also unusual, after all Connect is a special existence and due to the part in question being the eye, Dong Soo could "see" some of the images from the other person.
Also, I'm pretty sure many of us had seen those opening scenes with the human statue and that's why we got interested.
Figuring it out Dong Soo tried to find and stop the man (wonderfully played by Go Kyung Po), so there will be no more victims. But I must say that Dong Soo acted so suspicious at all times, he always acted as if he was on a wanted list. And because of this he stumbles a lot on his way to seek justice. So there were times when I wanted to ask him - don't you find your actions counter-productive? Maybe change something? Especially if you want to stop the dude.
The story itself follows three lines, one is just for fighting - criminal gang that tries to capture him; the line of the serial killer; third line is finding out that he's not the only one like this. But it's hard to name it a full story, because the gang was just chasing and fighting, the killer had a showdown, but it all ended interestingly and the number of connects grew by the end of the show. So the ending wasn't only the biggest cliffhanger, but a huge tease. And this is the biggest spoiler, but I'm still mentioning it, after all my curiosity grew when we find out that cut parts can be attached to others, not only, what if a bad guy becomes one of you and we won't get anything unless there will be a new season (or just go and read webtoon instead).

Emotionally the depth of this show is shallow and is not enough to cover your ankle. The only one who goes into dilemma is Dong Soo. His overall reaction to society should give you the idea that because of who he is, he can't live a life in the open, just a simple accident may blow his cover, like it happened in his childhood (the scene used once too often in the series imo). He stuck out like a sore thumb compared to others. You can't expect anything from Jin Seop. I Rang as we figured has her own agenda. The gang was responsible for chasing, screaming and coloring the screen red. And the way the storyline progressed also felt lacking and felt slow. Although what would you expect from Miike. As I said it's simply a long intro, after all nothing was truly resolved.

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just a short review for people who wanna watch

so i just finished this and after watching it i feel like leaving a review of reasons why you may wanna watch it and why you may not want to watch it. Plus my own opinions on the show as a whole. Ill try to keep it as spoiler free as possible.

WHY YOU MAY WANT TO WATCH:
1. it has good visuals and good gore. Looks realistic enough which adds to the gory/scary feeling of the series (its not a scary series though, just a little gory).
2. great acting which from all important characters, despite their not being many important ones. Especially the male and female lead did great.
3. The female lead in this is a rare one. Shes very cool and to not giveaway spoilers she gives off main character vibes. Shes one with questionable morals but strong convictions, a rare female lead in Korean dramas. Which makes her interesting as a character.
4. Interesting premise with a new evolutionary human species. Something you may have heard off but is not as common in television, which makes it unique. If you like a sort of "superior humans" kind off story premise, then id really recommend.
5. Short and easy to finish quickly, finished it in like a couple of hours (skipped some parts though).
quick and interesting start, catches the attention of the series quickly.

WHY YOU MAY NOT LIKE IT:
1. fast paced with a too complicated story line. Because its so short but the story line is more complex than that it makes the series feel sloppy and also creates plot holes as well as moments in the story were you're just confused. (probably the biggest con about this series).
2. Another negative aspect due to the short length of this series is the fact that you dont have time to connect with the characters. The mains even feel a little boring at times because you never fully become interested in them as their never explained too deeply as characters.
3. A semi boring main male lead. Quite weak for a male lead, and doesn't really give off the "main lead feel". Also this is furthered due to the fact as previously mentioned, we as an audience never really get to know him. Therefor he is never very appealing as a lead and gets boring fast.
4. SEMI SPOILER OF THE ENDING: open ending, so if you hate open ending you'll hate this show.
5. Underdeveloped antagonist. Could've done way more with the antagonist, feels boring and not as scary as the antagonist could've been built up to be. This point goes a little into point 1.

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:
loved the beginning and made me interested, but then after the beginning it felt a little slow and kinda boring. Even following the main lead was boring and also just the story line got so confusing, it felt to short and like everything happened to fast. The female lead was my personnel favorite because she was bad ass. Ending for me personally was underwhelming and didn't really hit in the so called "moral dilemma" the way the show wanted it to. Probably wont rematch since it felt so in cohesive, But loved the premise honestly, like totally something id enjoy, though a cooler main character would've been better. Lastly the pacing was 80% of why i disliked this, give it more episodes and i feel that'd be so much better.

Thanks for reading :)

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