The Veil (2021)

Relentless journey ...!

Story:
The story itself is pretty good. After going through the misery and tragedy both protagonist and villain chose different path to walk on, and that led this drama to go on. One walks on the path of justice and other creates his own reality after getting betrayed by the nation which strangles him down.
I liked how every episode ends with suspense which holds your mind to keep going on

Acting and cast:-
The Nam Goong Min shows never really disappoint, this goes same with this show too...except his "weird walk" which I can understand after going through a lot of training. And not to forget that, this is a action packed drama, so you get pretty good action scenes but the number of scenes are very few.

Ost:-
I liked the ost played at the end of each episode.

Overall all I got satisfied with this one. Might have next season coming too..! I liked yoo je yi's trust towards her sunbae and how he finally got a reliable comrade! Give it a go if you are looking for action, thrilled mistery drama.

Please let me know about any mistakes!. This is my first review and I didn't really have any idea how to write a proper one even after reading so many of yours.
Thank you!

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Wasted potentials (as always?)

It's really disappointing to see a drama with a good and enjoyable start just to wither away later on, that includes everything even the cast. As if every single person that was involved in making the drama got tired of the project. Although the earlier parts were enjoyable but I was rolling my eyes every single time Je Yi & Soo Yeon show up on the screen and broke the momentum. They were both easily the worst part of the drama in general. As expected, by the time we got to see the real culprit, it turned out to be a caroonish joker knock off with zero effort put into writing him. To state the obvious, Namkoong was doing an unbelievable amount of heavy lifting to keep this drama afloat. The OST was decent at the right time, while other times it was just some background noise. It's still a decent watch and the slightly shorter runtime was helpful but temper your expectations a bit.

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MUCH UNDERRATED DRAMA

This was a really fun journey, loved how it keeps you hook till the end the thing that made this drama so good was obviously it's solid plot, the acting of the actors and handwork of the staff but the chemistry between the leads was just out off the charts even without any romance they were able to deliver their bond which was more of a like soulmate type thing( The fact she(yoo je yi) was the only one who trusted and believed in him (han jihyuk) till the end and how he acknowledged it while telling it to her dad melts my heart this is much better then romance and confession idc) they indeed were very well written characters and hats off to the actors for giving their characters that justice...this drama should've been a hit

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Slow but engaging

A thrilling and mysterious spy series, packed with solid action scenes and excellent acting. Honestly, any drama with Namgoong Min is going to be at least a 7/10. The man is one of the best actors in the Korean entertainment business and his performance in this drama is no different. Female Lead Ji-Eun also delivers a believable and realistic character.

The series starts strong, lots of unknowns and the writer does a great job of unpacking of it through good dialogue, plot and character development. It gets a bit slow in the middle, but picks up again towards the end. The worst part of any Kdrama is when you can tell the writers get lazy and leave things to coincidence for the resolution to occur. This is certainly not the case for 'The Veil'.

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Nice thriller to discover.

The Veil is a spy investigation series that tells the story of a top National Intelligence Service (NIS) agent, Han Ji Hyuk, who during a mission that ended up with the death of his two colleagues and the revelation of many agents Korean secrets in China, disappeared and was presumed dead. A year later, he reappears without the memory of the past year.
He therefore begins to investigate to discover an internal traitor who wants his downfall, but he confronts a much bigger enemy behind a secret organization. He is joined by Je Yi, who is a young NIS agent with her own motives and becomes Han Ji Hyuk's partner.

The series is very mysterious, honestly we are suspicious of everyone, especially those who wish to "help" our protagonist, without forgetting that he himself because of his mental state makes us doubt his character.
Who is he really ? How far can he go to complete a mission ? What happened a year ago ?

It is really a complex character that plays Namkoong Min successfully. This character is cold, distant and determined, he wants the truth at any cost and has little pity for those who are his enemies, no matter how "close" to him that person was.
He quickly understands that he cannot trust anyone but despite this, he still goes from disappointment to disappointment.
I must say that the mystery thickens with the passage of time instead of the opposite, until the last episode.

I thank the writers of the series who did not want to invest in a ridiculous fast romance, so we were able to focus on the intensity of the series entirely without scenes made to satisfy fangirls in search of romance. And oddly, it makes the FL enjoyable, we can understand her motivations, and appreciate her character.
The series is dark, the tones are dark, the characters are all mysterious and complex, it is difficult to know who stands on which side, they all have multiple layers and even the antagonists are relatable and on the contrary sometimes we asks if our protagonists are that "good" and if they are not the "bad guys".
The action scenes, be it the fights, the car chases, they are all done with realism and excellent choreography.

The theme of the series revolves around the truth, the truth which is always different and altered according to the person, his memories and emotions. But also the series speaks of sacrifice, of those people who hold power and who according to them work for the country when in truth they only want power. The sacrifice of common people in the service of these people in power, ending up being nothing more than pawns and collateral damage, but also of the revenge that comes from suffering.
If there is cause for revenge, how should it be done ? On who ?
It's really a series that addresses these aspects of being human is this search for truth, for a goal to accomplish that could pull the most desperate people out of the arms of death.

I must say that this series managed to produce what it wanted as a result, it is impactful and intense.

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The dark side of the soul

I've loved so much this drama! Namkoong Min is perfect in this role and his acting is brilliant, and the whole cast gave a good performance. The story is complicated, there are twists and turns, but in the end everything is explained quite clearly.
I must say that there are very violent scenes that have upset me, but being a spy story I think they were necessary, we live in a bad world, and people struggle between the light and darkness of their heart.
Actually, the final episode hasn’t completely satisfied me, many key issues are told too quickly, there are unanswered questions, and the relationship between the two main leads is not clear. I’ve hoped so much for a love story between them! Are they in love with each other?
I look forward to the second season, will it be possibile? I hope so.
A suggestion to the writers and the director: please, give Han Ji Hyuk the courage to love!

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Watch the first half.

Main character has lost his memories and is being accused of crimes he didn't commit. Seen and done. But i gave it a chance(the cover convinced me).

The first episode sets really high expectations. The violence is brutal and has a lot of gore. What kind of disturbing things were going on there? The MC looks wild and animalistic. What made him like this? I was so intrigued. The plots twists were amazing though, had me grabbing my head.

The action scenes are very satisfying to watch. MC's walk did snatch some attention, it was bulky and... Idk kinda weird. I don't think he needed that much muscle as he had to do a ton of running and chasing.

NKM's acting was good as ever, though i found the dialogue delivery a little stiff and weird. Only his dialogues are overly dramatic and very cringe. I've seen a lot of kdramas but these dialogues still stood out to me, i think there is some writing error.

I love the theme song, it stuck with me and evokes a lot of emotion. I don't remember if there were any other songs and i think that says enough about it.

The only major thing The Veil failed with was the plot. In the first half, there's a ton of suspense and very little truth is revealed. It is made out to be this huge disturbing truth that will rip everyone's throat when revealed. Something so unexpected that it's unimaginable. But the second half totally falls flat and ruins all of that because guess what the sick truth is: Corruption. National politics. Just that. The murder reveals were interesting though, but it was definitely not enough for what they set the viewers up to.
The plot is so overly complicated that we only know who the Actual villain in this series is in the last two episodes. Multiple people are made out to be villains, only to be revealed later that it's someone else. Again. So many names, so many tiny subplots. I've seen complicated, but this one was a hot, incomprehensible mess.

The characters act like they're hiding the recipe for cancer. Something like

"you have no idea what's waiting for you. "

"do not go further, you can't face the truth. "

"Ji Hyuk, I... " *gets shot and dies*

No one had the braincells to talk like a normal person. Throwing riddles left and right. No one would tell him ANYTHING. And tell me why everyone in that agency was lowkey working for sangmuhoe. Everyone is corrupt. And that's literally the whole truth.

And the climax? Long lost father returns as a deadly criminal amd his daughter tries to fix him with the power of love. plays his favourite song. Puts herself in danger to see if he will harm his daughter. And somehow, the most feared man's heart melts. B*TCH HE'S THE MOST NOTORIOUS CRIMINAL EVER, THIS AIN'T A MELODRAMA.

I enjoyed the first half a lot. The rest was disappointing af.

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Mid Story-line with Great Actors?

Mid story with hella plot holes. I still can't get over CW (idrm the character's name, only the initials) dying in Ji Hyuk's flashback but then being alive in the present storyline. Idek if they addressed it. The back and forth memory loss thing was so draggy. Like yes, I get that's the premise of the drama but gosh. Namgoong Min's acting was as elite as ever. Never failed me before and never will.
The whole Sangmuhoe plotline was kinda shifty as well. There were like 6 different stories that were all intertwined which on a large scale makes sense if done CORRECTLY however that was the writer's downfall. They had all these storylines which made it difficult for them to keep track of and follow. Additionally, I spent the whole time trying to guess wbo the main villian was and when you find it out it was just meh. It wasn't exciting because the villain is exactly who you expected the villain to be. Yes, they tried to do a plot twist with Ji Hyuk being the one who killed his team mates but tbh I saw that coming a mile away.
Anywho, speaking of keeping track, I genuinely cannot name 5 of the characters. This was my first time watching and drama and not being able to list the main cast characters. There was soooo much happening that I was never able to slow down and build a relationship with any of them.
Going more in depth, Jae Yi's story with her dad was actually really touching and could've been a scene stealer if much focus was placed on their relationship. When we figured out who her father actually was and the story behind it all, it would've been really nice to be given flashback (seeing as the drama was literally built on going back in time to recall one's memories). The only really touching scene we get is in episode 12 when they're on the roof top after that bomb scare.
Another thing worth mentioning is Ji Hyuk's childhood. Why did Director Lee have the info regarding his parents death and kept it hidden for so long? He had trauma because of that incident and his trauma could've been relieved if even a tad bit of that information was shared much earlier. While we're on this topic... What was the purpose of his backstory? Like i get that it's to build a solid character and show that his trauma stems from something greater but looking at it his backstory was only shown like 3 times. There was not depth to it. So, that's that as well.
Finally, I just wanted to just say that the drama is a fun watch. Minus all the plotholes ofc. The action in this is one of the best I've seen in kdramas. It's literally on par with k-movie such as dare i say, Man from Nowhere. The hand to hand combat and the stunts that were pulled by NGM was top tier. The make up team did amazingly well, too.
So, if you're looking for action and want it mixed with a lot of CORRUPTION this would be best for you. Plus, you won't even have to look hard because the villians are literally right in front of you. So mid drama with elite acting.
7/10

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This drama had a compelling start, and one strong aspect it had was its well-executed action scenes. However, I feel that as the story continued to develop, it became convoluted with the introduction of additional characters and the amount of information that needed to be processed. I also noticed that nearly every episode had a misleading ending. For example, Episode 5 (spoilers ahead) ended with footage of Ji-hyuk shooting Soo-yeon, and Episode 6 (spoilers ahead) ended with Je-yi seemingly betraying Ji-hyuk. This pattern felt repetitive, and I think it stripped away the anticipation and suspense for me since I could assume that it was merely a false lead.

Nevertheless, although I feel a little disappointed by the writing's direction and the last episodes, I still think that this drama was a fairly enjoyable watch, especially for Namgoong Min and his acting. Without a doubt, he gave an impressive performance as Han Ji-hyuk.

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Intriguing, but a bit too clever for its own good in the end.

There’s a warning about the nature of memory in episode two that is worth bearing in mind. As someone who has dissociative amnesia I found that the way the show played with the individual’s experience of reality very resonant. Memory, and therefore identity, is not such a solid, real thing as we need it to be. The mechanisms of memory are also the mechanisms of imagination and are susceptible to both suggestion and doubt. The only thing we can really be sure of is what is happening right now and sometimes we are even mistaken about that.

To be honest, the first fifteen minutes of this drama did not endear itself to me. I’m not really convinced by baddies that are ridiculously evil—involving children— in the first five minutes, particularly when they look dirty and have really bad teeth just in case you might mistake them for good guys. And especially when the scene is organ trafficking, because let’s face it, if you’re selling organs on, the buyers expect uncontaminated product, not bits of offal left behind by marauding hyenas. Such a big bang beginning can signal an unnecessarily over-the-top approach that kicks you in the guts rather than credits your intelligence. But thankfully, this did not prove the case in this complex drama.

There was a lot of general psychotic nastiness in the first few episodes and some completely off the wall, over the top baddies. Had it continued unabated I would probably have given up as I’m not really a blood, gore and gratuitous violence sort of person and tend not to watch violent dramas unless they are offering significant brain stimulation as well. Which this one did. However, in an effort to alleviate the distressing effect, I took an unusual interest in how successfully the make-up department managed to convince me of the damage. They had a field day and most of the time they got the blood colour near enough, if not the consistency. Plus there were some believable after-effects on faces, even though they faded away too quickly. Something I hate is when violence is portrayed as having no visible effect. It amazes me that realistic kissing is censored on Korean TV, but hacking up bodies is fine… Something’s a bit skewed there.

I liked the way it was written. By keeping the dialogue realistic it didn’t over-explain but, in the main, moved at a pace that you could gather the thread by paying attention. And you do need to pay attention and remember. There are no throw away lines in this 12 episode drama, the shorter length has cut out the fat and each scene pretty well earns its place. Every nugget of information will be utilised. There were a few times, especially in the middle, when I did feel like I was clinging on by my fingertips, desperately scrabbling for a memory of where some tiny flashback happened and who was involved, or what some character had to do with anything. No doubt this will up the rewatch value for those who are interested enough. The cast was very large and new characters with small parts were often introduced, none of them are superfluous. (I simply love the cast list on MDL. Where would I be without it? Lost in a sea of who-the-f**k-is-he, that’s where…)

It was written as though doing a jigsaw rather than printing a picture. Things were not sequentially built over time. The disparate elements of the picture were built up individually before coming together. This may not suit everyone. It requires you to hold things in your head floating freely, not necessarily attached to other things that you have seen. So if you are someone who likes to slot stuff into place as you go this drama probably won’t suit you. You might describe it as haphazard. However, I’m OK about going with the flow and being in a state of suspended ignorance/confusion, so in the main I enjoyed the ride. But it it took off for the stratosphere at the end and I must admit, I stayed earthbound.

There were quite a few REALLY??!! YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME??!!! moments that were shoehorned in to serve the plot. You know the sort of thing: keeping someone alive when in fact they would just have been killed straight off; underestimating a known hacker; a psychiatrist spilling the beans on her client to a stranger, impossible information gathering etc. And sometimes the introduction of new threads was strangely convenient and followed no real logic. As a whole it required a fair amount of suspension of disbelief but the complexity rewarded you. I got some of the twists, but there were plenty of other things that I didn’t anticipate. In general I found if I left it too long between watching episodes I couldn’t remember the fine detail, but if I watched them close together there was no working-things-out time, so it kept me intrigued. Basically, if you like a challenge this is a good drama for you and maybe watching it with a mate would help—larger data bank to store all the information…

When the plot is the central focus, there is not really time for character depth and development, so in this genre stand-out performances are rare. This is the third drama I’ve seen Namkoong Min in and I’m beginning to realise that he plays characters pretty much the same way whoever they are. If you like his style it’s sort of comforting to know exactly what you are going to get. He is good at delivering it, but so far I’m yet to see his acting talents really stretched. He’s had a long career, maybe someone can suggest a part when he offers something different to the slow delivery, stern-faced thoughtful look. Even Hot Stove League was short on smiles. I liked what Kim Ji Eun did with Yoo Je Yi, however the script sometimes made her naive beyond belief.

There is an interesting aspect to the title and its translation. The original direct translation is Black Sun, which describes an eclipse, where something completely opaque crosses something bright and blots it out. The title, The Veil, is much more subtle implying semi-transparency. The memory loss of the protagonist is like an eclipse, but his journey of remembering is through a glass darkly — veiled. I noted that the cinematography followed the title and shot scenes of revealing secrets through “veils” such as clear plastic blinds, windows or reflected in mirrors. Often short clips were filmed from angles where the viewer becomes a covert observer.

Although I liked the music, especially the breathiness in the voice of the female singer, I’m not sure it married up well with the content. Nothing really stood out for me.

What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.

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