BORDER is an absolute treat. Not only is its production value high and crisp, it also has a great ensemble of actors with electric chemistry and interesting crimes-to-solve per episode. The starting premise of a passionate detective who can see the dead is a good hook enough, but add to that the difficulty of finding evidence for a crime when you already know who the killer is, and you have a remarkable series. Because Oguri's Ishikawa can talk to the dead, he often already knows who the criminal is - the challenge is proving it, and it's this unique challenge that adds drama to what could easily have been just another police procedural.

My only beef with BORDER is that it is too episodic. In the first episode, Ishikawa comments that he doesn't have much time for his personal life - in his free time, he only watches boring television shows and sleeps. While BORDER isn't in any way boring, it does have the feel of having no strings attached to a greater, more complicated narrative arc that requires more of the viewer's attention and investment. It doesn't really have One Great Mission that you, as the viewer, will look forward to completing with the lead. In that, it feels like a show you can just dive into randomly to watch what challenge Ishikawa is facing this week, and if you miss an episode, it won't be a problem, because you won't have missed anything in the greater scheme of things.

BORDER: Redemption offers a greater opportunity to explore a wider, deeper story arc, but my thoughts on that will require a separate post.