Worst. Police. Officers. Ever.

When I read the blurb on The Girl Who Sees Scents, I was intrigued. However, I found myself getting frustrated at how badly the police work was written. I'm not a cop so this isn't a diatribe about policing. But there were common sense things that did not make sense. For example, subduing a criminal but not handcuffing him. Another example was breaking into people's homes and searching them, no cohesion about the old policeman, such as did he retire or did he resign. There was no real resolution about the killer's motives. The only bright spot for me was the acting of Namkoong Min as Chef Kwon. The slow, methodical way in which he played his character was the lone standout in this show to the point that I was rooting for him to win. It's a pity because just a little more attention to detail could have made this a better show.

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A bit farfetched in places, Namkoong Min saves the day

The Hot Stove is a K Drama about the offseason of the fictional Dreams baseball team, the worst team in the league. Baek Seong-Soo, a sport executive who never played baseball, is brought in as the team's general manager after another failed season. However, Kwong Kyeong-min (Oh Jung-se`), the team's president brought Baek in with the purpose of shutting down the Dreams because it is unprofitable for the Jaesong group.

The story: One of the nice things about the show is it explains some of the jargon associated with baseball which helps non-baseball fans understand what's going on. What I found far-fetched was that the star player Lim Dong-gyu hired thugs to beat up Baek and also vandalised his car when Lim heard he was being traded. I realise you need dramatic licence in shows, but this made no sense. Baek's family subplot was a bit disjointed and appeared to have been thrown in for dramatic sake. It is not clear until we learn of his baby's death that the woman was his wife. there is not explanation about why Baek's wife left him. Was it because of the death of their child? Was it because he was a workaholic? That isn't clear. It's unclear how his brother became paralysed from sliding into third base. At times it appeared that there were too many characters and the writers would lose sight of some and then bring them back randomly. Two glaring examples were Gil Chang Joo/Robert Gil and Go Se-hyeok the chief scout who got fired. Chang's character was central in the middle episodes but got relegated without much explanation. After Go tried to get his revenge, he was written out without fanfare considering he was a significant enough antagonist in the storyline.

Overall: As a baseball fan, I enjoyed the show. It was interesting to see how the team used traditional recruitment methods with more modern sabremetic methods. Namkoong Min continues to excel as an actor. The way in which he plays Baek was very nuanced and deliberate.

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One of the best shows in any language

My first foray into the world of the K drama was Signal and what a first impression it made. This show his wonderful from its writing to the acting to the haunting soundtrack. Cho Jin-woong was spectacular as Lee Jae-Han. The movie theatre scene is a sight to behold. It really rips your heart out to see how he suffered in that moment. Kim Hye-soo as Cha Soo-hyun was a true paradox of the hard boiled detective who was very vulnerable when it came to Lee Jae-Han. As the profiler, Lee Je-hoon was excellent as the conflicted police officer fighting with his own past and the death of his brother. Jang Hyun-sang as the main antagonist was great and made it more satisfying to see his comeuppance at the end. There isn't anything about this series I could fault.

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