PrinceKoh
Had Great Thriller Plot Potential but the Romance Ruined it
Where to start with this drama? Plot wise this drama could have been one of the best thrillers but it failed due to....several reasons.
Honestly confused on what genre this was supposed to be. It played out like someone created a bad romance and decided to add a thriller aspect to it but it was too complicated of a plot to be kept as a background plot to a romance.
Pros - acting of all the characters besides the FL and ML was phenomenal. Child actors were the stars of this drama. D.O and Park Bo Gum is reason enough for a lot of people to watch this. I heard the Thai version of this drama had less romance so normally I would have gone for that version instead but these actors stopped me ( also, I found out after I nearly finished this drama). I will probably see if that version is better when I can wipe this one from my memory.
The plot - Had an interesting plot that could have been one of the best psychological thrillers if it focused more on why they did it, their lives and their relationships with each other rather than the romance. Very unique.
Cons -
The romance - There I said it - the romance sucked. The FL was one of the worst characters I have ever seen as a lead. The ML wasn't anything special either, but compared to the FL he looked leagues better. First of all, how are we supposed to get behind not only a romance where one of them is an actual stalker ( and not to mention a detective which means she knows everything she was doing was absolutely WRONG) but how are we also supposed to like her as a person, let alone as a romantic partner towards the one she was stalking? And before anyone says something like "well she wanted to know what he knows because of her father" bullshit, I would just like to say that she was a detective who could legally investigate and literally should have approached him and not repeatedly break into his house and follow him around. That literally accomplished nothing. I don't know what's with South Korea and having at least 1 detective being an absolute asshole (usually a male MC) that breaks laws/protocol and is never punished for it, but kudos to having that law breaking detective be a women this time I guess. Plus, the stalking - this must not be scene as a horrible crime in SK because I've scene no less than 3 women in dramas pull these stunts and end up with the guy and apparently no one sees it as a huge breach of privacy? Sorry, I just can't get over that.
The FL - She had no redeemable qualities. Besides stalking, she was a hypocrite and was a badly written 'strong fl' that was actually a damsel in distress. Brags about knowing police academy fighting abilities, yet gets the crap beat out of her after the first episode nearly every other episode and she never even gets a hit in. Tells ML he shouldn't be alone because its dangerous, then proceeds to do everything alone, never calls back-up and talks to people she knows are literal serial killers by herself because why? So she can get almost killed every episode that's why. Does not have one braincell. Please take out the genius detective part in the drama summary because she is dumb as hell.
The ML - He was an ass to genuinely nice people, and liked the one he should have been an ass too. He was bland. Could have been redeemable after he found out about Min - his brother - and was officially reunited because he did get depressed form knowing his brother blamed him, but he wasn't because the PLOT DID NOT FOCUS ON THE RIGHT THINGS! Also, not a genius because he missed a lot of these in front of him for no reason. Hated him for saying he wanted to find his brother like his life depended on him yet didn't do anything to suggest that he actually wanted too. It took murder to get him to finally start looking. If he actually cared he would have searched for him himself rather than depend on his guardian even after he became an adult that could get access to the case materials. He also made his name famous to the point where he would be easily findable, yet, he was never in Korea so how was his brother supposed to approach him even if he became free? For this reason I thought he was poorly written.
The plot - The plot should have focused on why they turned out the way they did (the serial killers) and it should have focused on their relationships with each other. ML found out about his brother too late and barely had any substantial conversations with him, like what it was like for him growing up etc. Tell me why he had more scenes with a girl he only officially met not too long ago than his brother who he supposedly wanted to find for 20 years?
The ending - I never understood why people were complaining that the serial killers got away and "what about justice?". What about it? I understand SK tends to have all their dramas advocate for justice so viewers don't get the wrong idea, but people need to realize that this actually happens. Serial killers are not caught, people help etc, and you can condemn actions but still like the story/character even if realistically you wouldn't. I like American shows for this reason. People don't watch thrillers/crime like Hannibal and go "this drama can only end if he's caught!!" No, viewers are okay with him always being free because its FICTIONAL which why them being free in the end was fine for me. Plus, I did pity them for having childhoods that would contribute to them turning out like that.
However, what I didn't like in the ending was Min. I'm a bit confused on how he is going to be living, and considering no one knew he was a killer (besides the MCs and there's no proof anyways) why did he have to go into hiding? Wasn't it enough for Lee Joon to start over? Why did ML go back to the FL when his brothers situation is unclear? Especially with her wanting Min to pay for his crime, realistically, their relationship wouldn't work bc ML wants to protect his brother while she didn't. That's a pretty significant difference of opinion.
I truly believe this drama could have been an amazing drama if the romance was taken out and it focused the the psychological aspects of the secondary characters and their relationships with each other than the romance and the side killer plots that took up half the drama.
Honestly confused on what genre this was supposed to be. It played out like someone created a bad romance and decided to add a thriller aspect to it but it was too complicated of a plot to be kept as a background plot to a romance.
Pros - acting of all the characters besides the FL and ML was phenomenal. Child actors were the stars of this drama. D.O and Park Bo Gum is reason enough for a lot of people to watch this. I heard the Thai version of this drama had less romance so normally I would have gone for that version instead but these actors stopped me ( also, I found out after I nearly finished this drama). I will probably see if that version is better when I can wipe this one from my memory.
The plot - Had an interesting plot that could have been one of the best psychological thrillers if it focused more on why they did it, their lives and their relationships with each other rather than the romance. Very unique.
Cons -
The romance - There I said it - the romance sucked. The FL was one of the worst characters I have ever seen as a lead. The ML wasn't anything special either, but compared to the FL he looked leagues better. First of all, how are we supposed to get behind not only a romance where one of them is an actual stalker ( and not to mention a detective which means she knows everything she was doing was absolutely WRONG) but how are we also supposed to like her as a person, let alone as a romantic partner towards the one she was stalking? And before anyone says something like "well she wanted to know what he knows because of her father" bullshit, I would just like to say that she was a detective who could legally investigate and literally should have approached him and not repeatedly break into his house and follow him around. That literally accomplished nothing. I don't know what's with South Korea and having at least 1 detective being an absolute asshole (usually a male MC) that breaks laws/protocol and is never punished for it, but kudos to having that law breaking detective be a women this time I guess. Plus, the stalking - this must not be scene as a horrible crime in SK because I've scene no less than 3 women in dramas pull these stunts and end up with the guy and apparently no one sees it as a huge breach of privacy? Sorry, I just can't get over that.
The FL - She had no redeemable qualities. Besides stalking, she was a hypocrite and was a badly written 'strong fl' that was actually a damsel in distress. Brags about knowing police academy fighting abilities, yet gets the crap beat out of her after the first episode nearly every other episode and she never even gets a hit in. Tells ML he shouldn't be alone because its dangerous, then proceeds to do everything alone, never calls back-up and talks to people she knows are literal serial killers by herself because why? So she can get almost killed every episode that's why. Does not have one braincell. Please take out the genius detective part in the drama summary because she is dumb as hell.
The ML - He was an ass to genuinely nice people, and liked the one he should have been an ass too. He was bland. Could have been redeemable after he found out about Min - his brother - and was officially reunited because he did get depressed form knowing his brother blamed him, but he wasn't because the PLOT DID NOT FOCUS ON THE RIGHT THINGS! Also, not a genius because he missed a lot of these in front of him for no reason. Hated him for saying he wanted to find his brother like his life depended on him yet didn't do anything to suggest that he actually wanted too. It took murder to get him to finally start looking. If he actually cared he would have searched for him himself rather than depend on his guardian even after he became an adult that could get access to the case materials. He also made his name famous to the point where he would be easily findable, yet, he was never in Korea so how was his brother supposed to approach him even if he became free? For this reason I thought he was poorly written.
The plot - The plot should have focused on why they turned out the way they did (the serial killers) and it should have focused on their relationships with each other. ML found out about his brother too late and barely had any substantial conversations with him, like what it was like for him growing up etc. Tell me why he had more scenes with a girl he only officially met not too long ago than his brother who he supposedly wanted to find for 20 years?
The ending - I never understood why people were complaining that the serial killers got away and "what about justice?". What about it? I understand SK tends to have all their dramas advocate for justice so viewers don't get the wrong idea, but people need to realize that this actually happens. Serial killers are not caught, people help etc, and you can condemn actions but still like the story/character even if realistically you wouldn't. I like American shows for this reason. People don't watch thrillers/crime like Hannibal and go "this drama can only end if he's caught!!" No, viewers are okay with him always being free because its FICTIONAL which why them being free in the end was fine for me. Plus, I did pity them for having childhoods that would contribute to them turning out like that.
However, what I didn't like in the ending was Min. I'm a bit confused on how he is going to be living, and considering no one knew he was a killer (besides the MCs and there's no proof anyways) why did he have to go into hiding? Wasn't it enough for Lee Joon to start over? Why did ML go back to the FL when his brothers situation is unclear? Especially with her wanting Min to pay for his crime, realistically, their relationship wouldn't work bc ML wants to protect his brother while she didn't. That's a pretty significant difference of opinion.
I truly believe this drama could have been an amazing drama if the romance was taken out and it focused the the psychological aspects of the secondary characters and their relationships with each other than the romance and the side killer plots that took up half the drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
