Bad and Crazy (2021)

a crime series with a unique twist

The story is unique but there are flaws in the logic and some plot holes. There also aren't many (unique) plot twists. Despite that, "Bad and Crazy" is an interesting and enjoyable watch. The characters all have great background stories of their own (though side characters' stories are not as much explored). The writers did a great job at making the main characters relatable.

All actors portray their characters perfectly, I really enjoyed the acting.

The music was good - it matches the "concept" of the series and I personally really enjoyed the intro on every episode.

To sum up, this is a well-acted crime series that I enjoyed and would recommend to everyone who likes comedy but still wants serious topics (e.g. drug dealing) to be talked about.

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When you’re watching a drama and out of your mouth comes the words “We need a hero……!!!” you know you’re waaay too into the drama. ...

Ryu Su-Yeol is a renowned detective in the Anti-Corruption Department of his Korean police agency, known for his ability to solve cases and resolve matters to the satisfaction of the police commissioner. Due to trauma in his past, he unknowingly developed an alternate identity. This identity, named "K," has a hero complex and wants to punish the bad guy, regardless of the law. But K also acts as Su-Yeol's savior again and again, as Su-Yeol can't seem to keep himself out of trouble while chasing criminals. K also has a good instinct for identifying others who are noncorrupt, and pushes Su-Yeol to help keep those people safe. Su-Yeol faces his past, as well as the reason that K was born, when a psychopathic psychiatrist, a corrupt official, and a drug ring all tie together to create havoc in Su-Yeol's life. Su-Yeol and K work together to solve crimes and keep themselves and others alive.

While I never really understood how the drug ring tied into the psychiatrist except by chance, I can't be sure if that was because of plot holes or because of language barrier/translations. Regardless, I was a little confused by how everything tied together. Also, the level of physical violence and blood was unnecessary to the story. Although some violence was definitely required, it could have been toned down and still have told a good story. Still, it held my attention. I never had to skip through scenes.

My favorite scenes were the ones with K. He provided comedic relief and Wi Ha-Joon played this character amazingly. He and Lee Dong Wook had a very interesting chemistry (a true "Odd Couple") and played off of each other well. I don't think another actor could have effectively pulled off what Wi Ha-Joon did in this series. I would guess that Wi Ha-Joon improvised some scenes and reactions, as they seemed too good to be scripted. The rest of the actors were well cast also, and they worked hard to fulfill their roles.

While I liked this drama, I also think that it could have been shortened to a 6 or 8 part mini-series and still have been effective. Either that, or lengthened to 16 episodes to explain better some of the reasoning behind certain actions. The acting itself and the 'edge of your seat' situations will maintain a good rating from me.

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This drama is as mad as a box of frogs but that's OK

First of all - this is like nothing I've seen before - very original, and interesting to see it incorporating mental trauma as a central feature of the plot. The exploration of that element was interesting, and the device to depict it was effective, but in fact most of what it says about mental illness and manipulation is pretty inaccurate. However, the entire plot depended on it, and mostly the madness was shown in a benevolent way, so I could forgive the nonsense.
There are massive plot holes, numerous plot twists, which I eventually found both predictable and a bit annoying. Seen worse though.
Acting was as always fantastic, music was good too. The star of the whole show was the developing relationship between So Yeol and K. It was both hilarious and touching and developed into a real (and unsurprising, really) attachment and eventual integration. Very nice. This drama made me laugh out loud, which is rare, but it was also a very forceful thriller. Completely unrealistic of course. The performances of DongWook and HaJoon were outstanding, and their chemistry unmatched - while the other characters were great, I wanted to see more of this pair together. Watch this for them if for nothing else.
The baddy is truly evil. Truly. Well imagined, and well-portrayed. At first appears very benevolent, but I spotted him almost immediately as the most qualified to do what was done. Not sure if that affects the enjoyment or not - he was actually officially "revealed" a little while after that - to my quietly smug satisfaction.
The details on exactly how he is brought down were not exactly clear to me - I don;t think that was me either - I think they really glossed over it. Quite a few other things were only just sketched in, and we had to take them on trust. Depending on the balance of those details with the forward thrust of the drama, that's a bit of a weakness for me. However that probably kept the drama quite short and avoided episodes dragging or being slow, so it may be not a bad thing.
Overall, though I found it a bit frustrating I enjoyed many aspects of this show - especially the two male leads. I would quite like to have a benevolent K in my life too.

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Ready to fall in love with SuYeol and K in this action-filled crime-comedy drama?

First, I would like to highlight the great chemistry of Lee DongWook and Wi HaJoon. I watched this mainly because of them and I wasn't disappointed at all. Their on-screen chemistry of superb. I'm not really that much of a critic but their action scenes looks flawless to me. Scenes are mostly well executed. The chemistry of the team overall is also cute and family-like. Even though they bicker sometimes, they got each other's back.

I must also admit, this is a fresh portrayal of DID/MPD wherein instead of one lead assuming both identities, they visualized it through different person/actor which is refreshing to me. It wasn't as realistic but I guess it works in making this unique. I have minor issue though with the overall plot of the drama. It was exciting on the first two episodes then it lied flat in between then only got exciting as it was ending. I'm not really sure if it's because I've watched too many crime drama that this kind of feel saturated to me. I can't help but feel that the episodes feel draggy. It's just my personal opinion though as someone who have seen tons of crime dramas. There are twists every now and then though that you can look forward. If you're into action, corruption, psychological crime stuff then you'd probably love this.

The OST kind of a bit too metal and rock for me but I guess it complements the fact that this is an action drama afterall. There wasn't much of a cheesy moment in it so the OST kind of makes sense. With mystery-thriller type of drama, I rarely re-watch it as the thrill isn't there anymore but there were lots of scenes that I love so I might scan through this series one more time in the future.

Overall, it was a good drama to watch and I enjoyed watching it (athough there were down times as well). Lee Dong Wook and WiHaJoon really stood out on this drama so if you're a fan, definitely watch this out. I still can't get over the transition of Wi HaJoon from a persistent cop in Squid Game into a crazy man in Bad and Crazy.

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Great Combo of Comedy and Mystery!

The chemistry between Su Yeol and K made this drama so much fun to watch! Honestly, I loved all of the characters, from Lee Hui-Gyeom, Yang Jae Seon, and Oh Kyeong Tae the whole team had such amazing chemistry and I’d even love to see a second season that focuses more on the interaction between the team members and their teamwork in solving the cases.

The drama-comedy aspect of the show made it even more entertaining to watch. The show went from comedic to serious in a very smooth way. They really used the dynamic between K & Su Yeal and the split personality aspect to enhance the comedy.

I usually don’t like when dramas have the Disositive Identity plot, since most of the time it's used cheaply and as a cop-out, but this drama did a good job at incorporating the two personalities into the plot. Especially the physical actor change, to represent K, was one that made the drama more immersive and created some really fun scenes and banter between the two characters.

In the second half of the drama it switches to a very serious tone, but still manages to keep the comedy balanced within the episodes, so I enjoyed the deeper plot elements in the second half, but also enjoyed the main case in the first half. I like how the drama is centred around two major arcs. Overall the pacing of the drama, within the two arcs, is done in a way that kept me wanting to continue watching to find out how it resolves. This drama had me belly-laughing and gripping my seat at the same time.

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So much action it buries the story

8.5/10 is my rating. This is a2021/2022 South Korean mystery, crime and thriller drama with comedy sprinkled in. There are 12, 65-75 minute episodes.

Fist I will provide a synopsis then review

Synopsis
Ryu Soo-yeol (Lee Dong-Wook) does not make friends with fellow police and ambitious politicians in his role as a detective charged with bringing up other officers who violate ethical or procedural rules. He has been known to look the other why for the right motivation. He has been promoted quickly for his willingness to accept play for pay. That is until his alternate personality “K” (Wi Ha-joon) makes himself known and forces Soo-yeol to do the right thing. It is a thrill ride of hijinks and hilarity as the two battle for control of the situations. K also has a thing for Soo-Yeol’s ex- girlfriend, Lee Hui-gyeom (Han Ji-Eun) and takes every opportunity to romance her when he is in control. This causes Hui-gyeom a lot of confusion as Soo-yeol’ blows hit then cold. Thus set along a serial killer who is mysteriously tied to Soo-reol’s past. What will become of this person who hosts two such conflicting personalities?

Review
If you are really into action dramas then you might enjoy this for that factor alone. There is a lot of action scenes. Almost too much for those looking for substance. The romance element is also very minimal and mainly used for comedic moments. If you are a fan of either of the two male leads this is a role you may not have seen them in so you may enjoy the novelty. It is good especially if considere among others in the action genre.

*Spoilers
My daughter said the absolute chaos and almost too much action was like a teen-anger wrote it. It’s like “I don’t know what to do here…more action.” The other thing was I don't think gas lighting lighting and Dissociative Identity Disorder mean what they thought it meant. There were times when the other personality took over and Soo-yeol was not aware of what happened thus the disassociate part of the title but there were other times he was fully aware and acted like it was another person which is more like an imaginary friend. It blurred the two so much it was hard to tell when the main guy was actually doing the thing or if he was just imagining it. But then he would be completely outnumbered in a fight and K would appear and suddenly they would win against impossible odds. Then there were things like the straight jacket, Houdini could get out of a straight jacket by himself but that is a very rare skill. So it would have made more sense if K was actually there. Then there was the over the top action that resulted in things happening that were out of bounds even giving artistic license. People got beat to the point you would think they would have lasting damage but then go right out and voluntarily get beat again. One of the characters made out like cops getting stabbed was a frequent occurrence and he must have been correct in their world as multiple of the characters were stabbed and seemed to recover in an unusually quick fashion because they are right back out there. It was so much action that I found I got bored. Never thought I could get bored from too much action but this accomplished it. In the end we were supposed to think of him as cured as he had a clean bill of health from a psychiatrist (or psychologist) and by the way officers are all a little crazy right? I mean PTSD. But the fact that he still saw K as a separate person showed his personality had not integrated and he was not “cured”. If it is more like an imaginary friend it would be the same - not cured. And the way the alternate personality developed is inconsistent with DID, it is usually slowly, over time during multiple instances of abuse and it did not show that. It was more like K saved him when the serial killer, killed his father. Appeared because of that and not because of the long term abuse from the father. Same with what they called gas lighting. That is usually something that does occur but where someone is then “gas lighted” to think it did not happen at all or what they saw was not what they thought they saw. There was some of that which would be consistent but then there was also they were not even there but convinced they were or this other event that never happened actually did and you are going to say or do this thing. Much of what they showed was more consistent with brain washing.

#BadandCrazy
#LeeDongWook
#WiHaJoon
#HanJiEun

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Not bad but kind of average with a lot of crazy ! Would have been better as a movie.

I liked the premise of the show even though I was able to guess very easily the 1st episode big reveal. In addition to this one, I was unfortunately able to guess all the twists of the drama. Overall, the plot was very conventional with not a lot of surprises. It was divided in 3 main arcs which were quite repetitive in their narration. The pacing made it difficult for me to keep my interest up over the 12 episodes. I'm therefore wondering if the story would have been better as a movie with a more direct focus and less repetitions. I would also have preferred for the romance to be totally absent from the plot as it was one of the less convincing part of the show.

Still, "Bad and Crazy" remains all along quite entertaining and fun, and manages (even if sometimes quite awkwardly) to balance its thriller and action aspects with some more comedic (almost slapstick) side. There is clearly some suspension of disbelief that needs to be done in order for the story to remain compelling. I must admit I had some trouble doing that.

Overall, the acting was good but with some misses. Lee Dong Wook delivers a solid performance as well as Cha Hak Yeon and Cha Shi Won whose both play characters in the police force. The relationship between those three cops was the best part of the drama with their ups and downs. Wi Ha Joon and Han Ji Eun did a suitable job as the remaining main roles but I did not find myself fully invested in their performances. It is a bit of a shame but I'm wondering if it not more related to the writing of these roles rather than linked to the actors. The biggest issues in acting are coming from the villains who are written as super caricatural leading to the cast playing them in a really lousy way with a lot of overacting in some scenes.

The fight sequences were a lot of fun and the OST added a nice touch to crazy and mad vibe. It was super amusing to watch some of the scenes with the soundtrack blasting some loud metal or rock songs in the background. However, regarding the central appeal point of the drama, I found that the filmmaking did not necessarily enhance well enough the impact of it on his hero and his entourage. I have seen other shows treating this much better in terms of reveal and of staging.

I would recommend this to people looking for a police drama with some psychological aspects and quite a bit of upbeat action scenes. Be aware that this show has an almost cartoonish / manhwa vibe with big shifts in tonality over its course, so it clearly is not for everyone.

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FREAKING AMAZING!

Yes! I gave it ten stars for everything across the board! The acting, the music and the story...everything! I do have just a few issues with the story itself but it does not impact how amazing and addictive this show is!

Spoilers ahead so beware. The issues I found are:
1. I felt like I was watching a completely different drama about halfway in.
2. Why did they write the lady drug lord and her henchmen like that? They just got roped in like that? I didn't like it.
3. Also, why would she give herself in so easy? That's NOT how she does. They wrote her like this untouchable character and she was dragged down to nothing by the end.
4. The end was then expected but I kinda wanted something more than that...like he finally gets out or he doesn't but she finds some way to get in the prison and kill him the same way.
5. I know it wasn't a romance but either you have it or you don't ...why leave it so up in the air? Anyways....

All aside, it was an amazing sow. Loved the length of it as well and the wrap up. loved the dynamic of the alter ego! LOL! They were so good!

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CRAZY!

wow this drama was really a whole craziness!! i was shocked almost every time

it really catch my attention and i laughed so much!
but there are just 2 things that made me rate 9.5

1- as we all know K is invisible because he doesn't exist as a human, right? but sometimes it didn't make sense like fighting scenes. K helped Suyeol beating other guys but isn't K and Suyeol the same person? so how at the same time Suyeol was fighting some guys and K was fighting other guys???

2 - I would like to see the end of Ju-hyeok and Boss Yong, cause apparently she killed him in the bathroom but it was too short they didn't explain how the situation turned out...

besides this 2 topics, i really loved to watch Bad and Crazy!! I totally recommend cause the way that they showed how gaslighting works and how it can confuse our brains it's really impacting.

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Interesting funny and an amusing ride

Extremely interesting and fun show. It is a little violent at many places but otherwise v nice.the bromance is 👌👌 all actors have done a fantastic job
The script is very engaging, at places it is predictable but the writer manages to complete the mystery. The bad characters are the worst and the good characters are the best and the crazy characters are the most entertaining. It’s a fresh show and completely worth your time.
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