Tunnel (2017)

I binged this in one go. I started it and only intended to watch a couple of episodes, then I blinked my entire day was gone. It is well written, the actors were amazing. I laughed. I cried.

So the story is about a detective from the eighties who is after a killer and wound up time traveling through a tunnel to the year 2016. I usually stay away from this kind of drama but someone told me it was better to watch than Signal. I did watch Signal but it has no ending.

Anyway, the storyline was amazing. Even though I guessed who the actual killer was around ep ten. It's still worth the watch.

Jin-Hyuk, I cannot believe I watched this entire thing without recognizing him! I'm a horrible fan girl!!! He was in Rugal which I love!

Hyun-Min is the only reason why I'll be watching MY HOLO LOVE. He is an amazing actor. His emotions were perfect and had me glued to my screen.

This is definitely one I'll be rewatching. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

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Review of "Tunnel"

- First of all, can we just take a second to appricate how the storylone is pure motherfucking gold!?! The concept of time-traveling in itself is always interesting to see but when it was used in such a way and the way it has such an impact on the storyline was brilliant. I personally would have never thought to use the concept of time travel in that way.
- One thing I personally love about this series is how everything just ties in together. All of the characters were brought together by some strange twist of fate that no one saw coming, all the dirty little secrets everyone had thought had been left in the past was coming to light and giving us some twist and turns we never saw coming, and we saw just how dark and twisted humans can be.
- For me the Sound track wasn't really all that memorable for me. I just finisned the last episode and I still cant even remeber the melody. When it comes to sound track I feel that it should be just as impactful as the storyline and acting should be, and here it just wasn't all that.
- Overall, lovely series would reccommended to others definitely.

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An Outlier

Much like a lot of asian drama watchers my preference tends to lean more towards romance and drama, but this particular drama has become an outlier; unlike all the others but I enjoyed it just the same.

To be completely honest I avoided this drama like the black plague because I am not fond of "time-travel" and non-romance related productions. However, every once in a while I get the craving for a good thrill, a tab bit of murder and all the mystery one can offer.

Browsing through "detective" related dramas I remembered that Tunnel existed and decided to give it a shot! I must say I am super glad I took a chance and fell for this story. It was so much fun to watch and I think Choi Jin Hyuk shinned in this drama. I loved his character, he was charming and likable, I really liked getting to watch him here. Now I will say, his acting is a BIT more dramatic and exaggerated than expected for this type of genre, but it was a fun watch nonetheless, I don't think this type of acting really took away for the story line or the personality of his character.

Other shining stars in this production are Kang Ki Young (the real maknae) and Jo Hee Bong (Chief Detective) their chemistry with CJH was wonderful, I laughed in pretty much every scene they were in. They captured the goofy and clumsy characteristics of their respective roles, well.

As for the rest of the cast, I wasn't that invested in the light romance line between Shin Jae Yi and Kin Seon Jae, I just felt it didn't quite fit or seem necessary for me. I did like the cute moments between CJH's character and Lee She Ah's character (Shin Yun Suk), it was just enough to find endearing and not so overbearing on the murder mystery portion of the plot. To clarify, I have nothing against any of these actors, I am simply commenting on their characters.

All in all this is a stellar watch if you are looking for a great murder mystery loosely inspired by true events. Tunnel is a great watch for those interested in a sci-fi, detective drama, but are not looking to have to pull their hair out trying to keep up with the story. Its neatly written, with few discrepancies in my opinion. As with every drama I could nit pick things I would have liked to see done differently, but as a whole it was a treat. Please don't be deterred by the drama genre or the comments on the ending you will find on this forum, this work is definitely worth a watch if it fits what you are looking for.

*Written with respect to all differing opinions and to all participating actors/actresses. *

-A.

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I had a careful think before I started watching this. I'm not always into anything "fantasy" and time travel can be a difficult thing to pull off. Combine that with serial killers and it could be a bit dodgy. I read a number of reviews before I made the decision to try this and many of those were to say the least, "mixed".
On the whole I enjoyed this drama, though it of course is not perfect. However, when I try to put down my thoughts and reactions, all I manage is a bit of a ramble that makes this sound worse than it was. But for what it's worth, here it is ....
The idea didn't at first appeal to me, but in fact I think that it was quite well handled. Someone said that they had Park Gwan Ho adjust far too easily into the 2016 world, and could have made much more of the culture shock, and I agree. They completely glossed over the impact of the mobile phone on a Detective who worked for 10 years with only paper forms, or police radio to rely on. They made no reference to the fact that in 30 years, laws and police procedure will have changed enormously. But that's not what this series is about, though I think there should have been more acknowledgement of it, and also appreciation of some of the "old-fashioned" skills.
The serial killer/police/psychologist triad is not particularly new, and it was all OK. Disappointing to see the tired old really boring device of the killer targeting the female profiler AGAIN!
I found it unbelievable that in 1986 Korea did not know about serial killers. I can believe that the authorities did not want them to get any publicity, but I absolutely believe that the police would have known about them. These were not stupid nor venal uncaring men.
Another issue really, for me, is the pacing. There were long pauses in dialog and plot. Lots of fists flying around in the dark where you can't really see what's happening, fruitless chases through twisting alleys. I'm not even going to touch on the plot holes, which I was happy enough to ignore. FF came into play a lot.
What I did enjoy was the tiny hints about 1980s attitudes rubbing up against the 2010s - really there should have been many many more of these - the nearest we get to any sense there is an issue is the joke that Gwan Ho needs to go for training (which he DID need, but never happens).
I also very much liked the "bromance" between Guan Ho and Sun Jae - and with the rest of the team too.
Lee Yoo Young as Jae Yi was endearing too, though I'm not sure there was much chemistry - it was OK.
There's not much demand for logic in the police investigations, either, and damn all thought given to rules of evidence or securing a conviction in court. This drama does kinda follow a 1970s The Sweeney interrogation roller-coaster, and there's a lot of men running around without a clear strategy ... going off at half cock. Brain not fully engaged. That got a bit frustrating. Hence quite a bit of FF, too.
There is, for my taste, a bit too much schmaltsy music conveying emotions that the cast are supposed to emote, in place of actual writing, but others may like it. Not me. The emotional 'departures' at the end were a bit too much for me and could have been improved with even a slight consideration to explore the uncertainty of exactly what would/could happen in the jolly old time-space continuum, and whether the future would actually be changed when Guan Ho's does NOT stay disappeared ...
Writing this, I realise it sounds like I didn't enjoy this story, there's such a lot wrong with it. But somehow I did quite like it, and I'm not really sure why. If forced to figure out why, I think the male leads especially, and investigative team have enough charisma to engage the viewer - well, me. There were elements of humour, as well as pain and a range of emotions, very nicely handled (though, again, a bit of FF - sometimes just a bit to slow paced for me).
The pacing is down to the Director and Writer, and yes, I think this drama could have been presented very well in as few as 12 episodes, maybe 14.
The alternative would be to include a range of other cultural issues and "educations" for Guan Ho, and show the kind of investigative skills required when you don't have DNA and technology to bridge the evidential gap. And I don't mean throwing a tant and beating people up, I mean, actually talking to people, listening and persuading them to talk to you and tell you stuff that even they may not know they know ... and then making the connections between apparently unrelated bits of information - we could have had a lot more of that! I wondered if that would make it a different series, but actually I don't think it would have, it would in fact have fitted very well with the premise and enhanced the story a lot.
But, yeah, still, overall, not bad.

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Thrilling and impressive cohesion

I went into this with middle-of-the-road expectations and was so blown away by it. Although it took me a little bit to get into it, it really grew on me.

Tunnel had a really good balance of humor and thriller, the time-travel aspect was used really intelligently, and character stories were tied together surprisingly well. That last point, with the characters, was probably my favorite part of the entire drama. I was so impressed with how characters fit into the timeline and into each other's lives.

I was also pretty satisfied with how the mystery was wrapped up. I still definitely wanted a little more — like wanting one more reunion, one last conversation, but overall I thought it was overall really well thought-out.

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He is devilishly handsome and has a quirky wry smile.

Review:-Tunnel (2017)
The music is so scary and their police methods so suspect. They go too far with their police interviews. Hitting people is just plain bullying. He is so bad tempered but good to his wife. He loves her so much. In the future time he was looking for her and didn’t know he had a child. She was distraught when he disappeared and returned to the tunnel to look for him while he was trying to get back to his own time. She heard him screaming out her name. This story is just fascinating.

Choi Jin Hyuk/Park Kwang Ho is so good at the scary science fiction fantasy stuff. So he is going to go into the future, wooo. Mind-blowing brain teaser, you can lose your space trying to figure it out. He was chasing a murderer in the tunnel who knocks him out when he wakes up he keeps going through the tunnel after the culprit and he went through a time warp 30 years into the future. So the perpetrator must be there.

When he heard that his wife remarried after 20 years. It brought tears to his eyes and he wept slow sad bitter tears but his love for her kept searching. He discovered what happened to her. He is going through an emotional mill.

Choi Jin Hyuk is as solid actor as these tough guy hard man and hard hearted characters. What a heart throb!! He is devilishly handsome and has a quirky wry smile.

This Lee Yoo Young/Shin Jae Yi as a psychology professor and profiler she is so great thorough persistent. A true nerd.

So he has come through the time tunnel to catch the serial murderer is my theory. Surely the forensic professor is not the killer? Getting so creepy now.

I have to keep rewinding so that I keep this story of mystery and intrigue straight in my own brain. It becomes stressful and more complex and thought-provoking as the story progresses. It one that you just can’t stop watching. It’s becoming a thriller. It was all full of facts and data in the beginning but now you are becoming emotionally involved. Half-way through on episode 8.

This is unfathomable and crazy. When he runs into the tunnel after the culprits strange time change happens.

I loved this drama so much.

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Most strangled female in a drama?

Short: Good action, nice "fish out of water" type storyline with the detective displaced in time with some of the humour that brings, as well as the contrast in various aspects of the two time periods. The ending is solid, but I thought it missed a couple of nice final moments that would have just been a perfect bow - but that doesn't negate the overall solid state of the story. Great acting, great cast. Definitely worth the watch.

Detail:
There's some great moments in this with the detective being a bit of a "fish out of water" as he's displaced in time, as well as struggling with being a great distance (in time) from his wife. The chase for the murderer is really good and works generally well with some trips to mislead the viewer until things shift into top gear for the final apprehending of the killer. I thought those aspects really worked well.

There wasn't anything that I thought worked badly, it was entertaining throughout - though I think Lee Yoo Young might qualify for the most strangled woman in a drama now though, I mean, you've gotta have a need for some psychiatric help after this story is over if you're her, surely.

Literally the only thing that I thought was missed was at the end - a couple of nice scenes could have been really good here - but i'll leave it for a spoiler comment in a moment to discuss the detail, so that this does not spoil anything if you haven't seen it yet :) Suffice to say that while these would have been icing on the cake, the cake was still very good indeed :)

In short, well worth the watch.

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I wanted to give this show a ten but refrain because one thing still grated my nerves after I finished watching. The part about how a time portal existed out of nowhere and somehow was only active for the main character. That part was just left up the air. I didn't like that.

Other than that, I loved this show. Plot and characters were both good. Choi Jin Hyuk is so very handsome. And such emotions when expressing despair for his wife and child's whereabouts. Great actor.

Music: Loved the OST. A 10+.

Rewatch - Yes.

Overall - great show. good ending. Glad it wasn't left open like other thriller dramas.

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This is an excellent crime

This is an excellent crime-solving drama but it is not for the faint of heart. The crime scenes are pretty graphic and disturbing. The great tension throughout the entire drama is the pursuit of catching a very elusive psychotic serial killer who only preys on young women but always seems to be one step ahead of law enforcement. The writers were clever by shrouding the real crime engine in an envelope of mystery, by surprising the audience with the capture of someone who was caught in the act of trying to kill a young woman and who fits the profile, but his capture did not stop the murdering campaign. The sci-fi aspect of this drama adds real intrigue to the story but the real "WOW" element was the slow reveal of how the main four characters (I am including Jo Hee Bong as a main character) were unknowingly connected to each other in the past but their connection is revealed in this surreal future where most of the drama takes place.
Choi Jin Hyuk, Yoon Hyun Min, Lee Yoo Young and Jo Hee Bong turned in stellar performances. The back and forth bickering and love-hate relationship between Jin Hyuk's character and Hyun Min's character were at times priceless and comedic. Lee Yoo Young was portrayed as a brilliant professor and criminal profiler but was a contrasting character in relation to the other main characters. She was dark and caliginous---cloaked in a very unkindly past which spurned her to want to study serial killers. Her quest for understanding the mind of a killer was really a deep cry from within her soul to solve her own past and hurts. The writers did a nice job in using the character of Park Kwang Ho to not only be the lead in catching the serial killer but to be the missing puzzle piece in healing the hurts of Kim Sun Jae and Shin Jae Yi. The healing aspect of this story was a nice counter-balance to the horror and intensity of trying to find a serial killer.
"Tunnel" is certainly an entertaining drama and one that will keep you a bit nervous through many of the episodes as the good guys get closer and closer to capturing the serial killer who hides in broad daylight.

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Recommend

Pendapat awam!
Jalan cerita:
Menceritakan tentang seorang detektif yang tersesat di masa depan dan harus menyelesaikan kasus masa lalunya. Sebenernya untuk konsep time travel ini lumayan menarik dan sangat saya rekomendasikan untuk ditonton.

Saya sudah melihat beberapa drama berkonsep time travel seperti longing heart ataupun signal. Dan yang menjadi kurang disini adalah waktunya tetap berjalan di dua tahun yang berbeda seakan akan berada di dunia berbeda. Dan ketika PKH kembali ke masa lalu dalam waktu sebentar, akan lebih baik kalau waktu di masa depan tidak berjalan. Ketika waktu dari tahun 2017 dan 1985 berjalan itu akan menjadi kekacauan.

Karakter:
Saya sangat suka hubungan antar karakter dalam drama ini. Semua karakter berhubungan dengan jelas dan semua hubungan ada alasannya. Semuanya dijelaskan dengan detail dan sangat baik. Namun yang membuat bingung, kenapa asal nama park kwang ho yang meninggal dijelaskan juga, karena itu terjadi setelah dia kembali ke masa lalu. Seharusnya belum ada memori tentang itu ketika dia ada di masa depan. Karena belum tentu dia bisa kembali ke masa lalu.

Terima kasih

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True Crime Lovers

This drama has a lot of cases that are very similar to real-life (true) crime cases. If you are someone who likes to hear those stories, this would be something you would enjoy. There are moments where you as a viewer would start to wonder who the killer is and be part of the detective team. If you guessed right, it's rewarding!

The beginning is slow and a bit boring, but things start to get interesting in episode 4. Lots of mini cases that creates up and downs.

there are a few emotional scenes, so if you are like me, you might cry a bit. Love how things start to unravels, and the relationship comes in piece by piece.

I'll recommend this but i personally am not in love with it.

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