Hanah
This review may contain spoilers
Well-Crafted Melodrama
The key to this drama is managing expectations. While this drama has noir, mystery and thriller themes, at it's core it is a melodrama. It's not a bad thing; South Korea is excellent at crafting melodramas and probably my favorite genre of Kdramas. But since this a melo, not a crime drama, things like civilians openly conducting investigations along with the police or classic logic fails are par for the course. It's more about the drama, the story and the characters than accuracy or depth. Keep that in mind and the ride will go much smoother.
The absolute BEST part of this show is the acting. The leads absolutely nailed it. The glances, the facial expressions, the small movements, everything was on point. Certain scenes might not have packed the same punch if it was not for those two. They have brilliant what I call non-kissing chemistry - they can give the couple vibe just by being next to each other. The support characters also did a very good job and all the characters came to life.
Story: The story, for the most part was pretty solid. It starts off a little slow but builds up to a delicious and addictive flow. The writing for the last third was not as strong, but the story finished off to a respectable end. There was some shortcoming in the story-writing minutia and some personal things that frustrated me but overall, everything made sense in a satisfactory way. I will half a point off just because the show was initially presented to be very dark and thrilling with the theme of exploring morally grey characters but did not really go in that direction.
The highlight for this show for me was MCW's Cha Ji Won; she carried the show for me. From a story perspective, I appreciate her role as a active character whose actions directly affected the story line. As a character, I loved how she thought through things to make informed decisions and her strong love for her husband. I admired her perseverance, her compassion and her no-bullshit moments. LJG's Do Hyun Su/Baek Hee Sung was also very good and it interesting to see the character development he goes through. Something that really frustrated me was that he had a very subtle paternalistic side when it came to the females in this life which lead to him keeping secrets or not properly communicating with them. I honestly couldn't tell if this was done on purpose to show the background he grew up in or if it was the writer's bias seeping in. It is subtle and not directly related to the plot but did affect me enough to 1) notice it and 2) dampen my enjoyment.
The Baek couple was also interesting. They were not how they seemed at first and ended up being the greyest characters in the show. I wish we got to spend more time with the police team. Their interactions so natural with no forced team dynamics. I really liked Chief Lee despite his short screen time. He was so low-key I would initially have a hard time remembering he is the chief but he is the kind of leader I would dream of having. He knows when to push, when to let things go and how to keep his team together.
The music was amazing and really enriched the emotions of certain scenes. The lighting, camerawork and was also top-notch and another reason why this drama excelled. It has pretty good re-watch value.
Overall, this drama is a visual and auditory treat to watch with great characters and good plot. Go in expecting a very good Kdrama melodrama to come out satisfied.
The absolute BEST part of this show is the acting. The leads absolutely nailed it. The glances, the facial expressions, the small movements, everything was on point. Certain scenes might not have packed the same punch if it was not for those two. They have brilliant what I call non-kissing chemistry - they can give the couple vibe just by being next to each other. The support characters also did a very good job and all the characters came to life.
Story: The story, for the most part was pretty solid. It starts off a little slow but builds up to a delicious and addictive flow. The writing for the last third was not as strong, but the story finished off to a respectable end. There was some shortcoming in the story-writing minutia and some personal things that frustrated me but overall, everything made sense in a satisfactory way. I will half a point off just because the show was initially presented to be very dark and thrilling with the theme of exploring morally grey characters but did not really go in that direction.
The highlight for this show for me was MCW's Cha Ji Won; she carried the show for me. From a story perspective, I appreciate her role as a active character whose actions directly affected the story line. As a character, I loved how she thought through things to make informed decisions and her strong love for her husband. I admired her perseverance, her compassion and her no-bullshit moments. LJG's Do Hyun Su/Baek Hee Sung was also very good and it interesting to see the character development he goes through. Something that really frustrated me was that he had a very subtle paternalistic side when it came to the females in this life which lead to him keeping secrets or not properly communicating with them. I honestly couldn't tell if this was done on purpose to show the background he grew up in or if it was the writer's bias seeping in. It is subtle and not directly related to the plot but did affect me enough to 1) notice it and 2) dampen my enjoyment.
The Baek couple was also interesting. They were not how they seemed at first and ended up being the greyest characters in the show. I wish we got to spend more time with the police team. Their interactions so natural with no forced team dynamics. I really liked Chief Lee despite his short screen time. He was so low-key I would initially have a hard time remembering he is the chief but he is the kind of leader I would dream of having. He knows when to push, when to let things go and how to keep his team together.
The music was amazing and really enriched the emotions of certain scenes. The lighting, camerawork and was also top-notch and another reason why this drama excelled. It has pretty good re-watch value.
Overall, this drama is a visual and auditory treat to watch with great characters and good plot. Go in expecting a very good Kdrama melodrama to come out satisfied.
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