Currently Watching: Bad Guys

When Bad Guys started airing I wasn't that interested. Yes, I fell for Kim Sang Joong in City Hunter and yes Ma Dong Seok impressed me in The Five and Shut Up: Flower Boy Band but they were not a sufficient reason for me to start a new drama. Not to mention that I had no idea who Park Hae Jin or Jo Dong Hyeok were. I know!! No, I'm not a newbie and yes I watched A LOT of dramas but I haven't seen them before. Then I read the plot and it intrigued me. What a brilliant plot! What a genius! So I decided to watch the first episode. And… Well, I shouldn't have; for my mental health. Oh My God!! They shouldn't do this to us. What's with one episode a week?! The waiting is driving me crazy! It's just AWESOME.

So, Oh Goo Tak (Kim Sang Joong), a suspended squad leader who isolated himself after his only daughter's murder, gets called by his old boss (veteran actor Kang Shin Il) to catch a serial killer. Oh Goo Tak is given all the freedom to choose his team members as long as they catch the criminal. Living up to his nickname, Mad Dog, he chooses three "mad dogs" to create his secret unit. The three are convicts: gangster Park Woong Cheol (Ma Dong Seok) , contract killer Jung Tae Soo (Jo Dong Hyeok) and psychopath serial killer Lee Jung Moon (Park Hae Jin). On the promise of reducing their sentences every time they complete a task, they start working as one team with the police.

And here's the fun part: A squad leader with a secret that hasn't been revealed yet, working with three convicts with secrets as well. They are Park Woong Cheol who receives an order to kill one of the team members (no spoilers!), Lee Jung Moon who forgets the time of the killing incidents and has no memories at all about the murders, Jung Tae Soo who was saved by a widow before getting arrested (while we are still not sure if he has to do with her husband's death), and a strict by-the-book officer Yoo Mi Young (Kang Ye Won). The three convicts find themselves in a rivalry. As they start saving people instead of killing them, the long-buried humanity starts sparkling. Looking from the victims' perspectives and catching criminals brought out a side of them they never knew. They strangely find themselves saving each other on the expense of the sentence reduction. The incongruous bromance that develops is so intriguing and beautiful it sends the chills down my spine.

The plot, the production and the acting are superb. Imagine that they actually show their real appearance. I mean, they don't wear makeup in the prison; thankfully!!

There is only a problem in my opinion, Kang Ye Won. Yoo Mi Young's role is just wow! But she's not living up to it. I can't help but imagine Kim So Yeon filling the role. That would have been the best thing ever.

Bad Guys is a drama that portrays the ugliest side of the human being but at the same time points out the dim light of humanity lying deep inside every one of us and waiting to be awakened. It spotlights the criminal inside of us that shouldn't be brought to life. It's about not judging and labelling people. It strips humans naked in front of their own humanity.