A Shop for Killers (2024)

I need a season 2 right now

Wow I genuinely really enjoy this show! I started watching it after seeing Lee Dong wook was in the cast and every show I’ve seen him in never disappoints- and this show wasn’t an exception!

The story was super entertaining and kept me hooked till the very end and got me emotionally attached to character even if they were only on screen for only a few minutes (Honda).

It has been a hot minute sense a show had me ugly crying as much as this one did. The story is so heartbreaking but that’s what makes it so entertaining.

If you are debating watching this show please do! The cast were amazing (10/10 acting), the story was amazing- ugh a lot about this show is amazing just trust me and check it out if you haven’t yet!

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LDW did it again!

I really love the casting! I gotta start with LDW 1st since he's why I even click watch here

I've seen him in lots of action, but boy...I've never thought that LDW as a mercenary is sth I needed to watch in my life. LDW wearing that vest, shooting and fighting, and talking with his deep voice, he is hot af! I'm glad they let him has those glorious scenes, because for the rest of the show, they make him look like an uncle who never sleep or bath, LOL.

At 1st when I see it's a high school girl, the image of the FL in Goblin came over and I got worried. Thanks God she is totally not anything like that! FL here is smart and strong, and really just cool to watch.

I also love Minhye. She is super badass with her action scenes and I find her really sexy too. Pasin, Honda and Brothers are all amazing casts too! Even the wicked robot is pretty cool, until it's not...lol

As for the show, it has pretty unique style of storytelling where it jumps timelines, but it's not confusing at all. It's just a little draggy in the middle when they are telling the story....But, i just skipped those parts then lol...

I'd love S2 just to have closure because im so curious over so many things. But, even without it, I personally am okay with the ending. Sometimes, we don't need to know every detail, just the overall would do.

I really enjoyed the show, kept me on edge for most part. As usual, LDW totally nails it!!

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LISTEN CAREFULLY...

I LOVED THIS DRAMA! What a tight plot with brilliant direction and script.

I stan every single character who was out there protecting Jeong Jian. Epsiode 2 was very triggering and heartbreaking to watch but the same episode made me want to stick around and see this drama to the end and seek justice. Jung Jian was frustrating at so many episodes that I wanted to yell into the screen to just get a grip and take action. She was brilliant in the initial episodes but towards the second half, I felt like she was second guessing and making it hard for other to protect her. But it's understandable that she would be doing the guessing work and not trusting anyone since she doesn't know what the hell is going on. Like us viewers she is also learning at the same time what all the fuss is about. And mind you, its all happening in a day. The entire 8 episode is a day's log. Though there is many flashback to support the story it never felt like we were diverted from the urgency of the present. All the flashbacks gave me answers which had me questioning in a previous scene or episode. So it was amazing to follow along where the show was taking us. I do have a question in the end, wondering why JJ faked his death!? Also, its understandable that he recovers in a day, but that one day is enough to make the whole world upside down.

Lee Dong Wook was insanely good. His cold mercenary uncle character was just captivating to watch on screen. I also have a girl crush on Minhye. Her fight and action scenes were briiliant and it was shot so well making it look so badass.

I dearly hope there is a season 2. I mean considering how Bale is still walking around freely there had to be. I hope it doesn't take long for season 2. I can't wait for the rest!

Rating: 9.9/10

P.S. Would've been a perfect 10 if Uncle had remained dead or someone gave an explanation as to why he faked his death. Not that I am complaining for him being alive but where the hell were you when you were most needed?!!!! A call would've been nice...sheesh!

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Worth watching for the characters.

Listen up, jeong jian. (*opinions are bound to be biased and subjective.)

A Shop for Killers is a character driven action thriller with a melodramatic tone. It is a non-linear narrative, focusing on a slow reveal of intentions, secrets and character. I find the premise very dark, where basically multiple groups of middle aged men, who are professional trained killers, are hunting down a seven/twenty one year old orphan girl to kill her.

I loved the part where the show heavily focuses on the characters and their backstories, immersing us in their experience, hardships and dilemmas. The pace slows down and it feels like a gloomy melodrama. I love how there are minimal cringy dialogues and scenes(except for a couple characters) and the lack of much dialogue in the flashbacks really leaves the viewers to put themselves in the characters shoes and guess what they're feeling, instead of endless monologues where the characters just put all their thoughts out and make cringe expressions. *cough* moving *cough* I LOVED the backstories of both jian and jinman and especially related to young and mute jian.

What do you do when there are trained killers after you, parked up in front of your glass wall, ready to shoot you in the head the moment you're in sight? You crawl past that wall and act surprised when they shoot you.

And what do you do if multiple drones surround your windows and shoot at you non-stop? You stand in the centre of the room, frowning and act surprised when your window is blown up.

And what the heck do you do when someone tells you that your friend who's right next to you killed your uncle and there's proof of it in the computer right next to you? You go to that computer, put your finger over the mouse and stop. Don't open that file. Instead, tell that person to leave and go help your friend up. And act surprised when that "friend" suddenly ties you up and tells you how they killed your uncle and are going to kill you next. For f*ckʼs sake, jeong jian!

I got attached to all characters except for jian. I was excited to see jian in the first couple episodes, where she's shown as this badass girl who knows how to defend herself. She even fights off some boys s*xually assaulting her friend alone. But when she has to actually defend herself, she's brainless and starts crying. It happens all the time. The "strong female lead" is Always a facade to attract viewers. With time you'll know that it is every other female lead, the one who makes the stupidest decisions, the FL that's been written, played and seen a hundred million times. Jian is no different, and finding this out was very disappointing. Poor writing.

Many plot holes and illogical things like jinman taking his shirt or whatever it was off to give it to minhye when right behind them are a bunch of clothes hanging. Jian & Co. doing stupid shit left and right, not to mention the ending where the main antagonist hasn't even been seen in a while, less alone defeated.

The antagonist is... very dark. He kind of creeps me out, which means the writing and acting was good. Something about a man who is a sadist, who likes inflicting pain on others and simply loves to kill is very disturbing to me. I hope there's a season 2.

i love the character of jinman. The only time i felt he acted out of character was when he just listened to a recording of jian and easily took his own life, which too turned out was a scheme of his. Jinman truly thinks before he moves and he moves fast. And i love him for that. All the other characters like minhye, pasin and honda were very beautifully written and acted. 10/10 for all these characters and their stories.

OST... was there any? I do remember hearing some drums so that was good.

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Solid action with suspense, left on a cliffhanger

Popular actor (Tale of the Nine-Tailed, Goblin) Lee Dong-wook shines in this gripping thriller drama as he smoothly transitions from a morally gray character to a man of ethics and family. He might have been killed off in the first episode, but the use of flashback sequences is enough to influence his magnetic presence on the screen. 
With multiple villains and arch rivals, A Shop for Killers begins with chaos and a slow pace but quickly piques the interest of its audience with a flashback monologue. Despite some vague sequences, loose ends or unexplained actions by the characters, this suspenseful drama is well rounded and executed when it comes to intense drama and vengeance. The dynamic uncle-niece relationship reflects a deep bond of trust and unspoken love between two lonely family members as they fight back the unscrupulous killers in their own way. Whether it’s the fight scenes or emotionally driven main characters, this thriller will keep you hooked and wanting for more even when it concludes Season 1.

My Rating : 8/10

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PERFECTLY EXECUTED THRILLER!

I love how the story is about things happening in a day. Jeong Jian (Kim Hyejoon), niece of Jeong Jinman (Lee dongwook), getting a call from police station informing about her uncles's death. The story then proceeds on Jian being revealed of what her uncle, Jeong Jinman, did for a living and how she has to survive all the fights caused by the consequence of Jinman's action.
Now that her protector Jinman was no more, she is being bombarded with bottles of information and is running to survive.
A survival thriller with amazing fight scenes and a fully packed cast. Both Kim Hyejoon and Lee Dongwook understood their assignment. The mix of past and present but still perfectly separating them made the series real good.
There was no beating around the bush, no romance. Just pure thriller!

Only thing i personally felt as a drawback was that, there was a lot of repeated scenes in episode 7 which was unnecessary and could have been easily incorporated in the previous episodes.

In general, personally, the series was a great watch and if given a chance to watch the series again for the first time i gladly would! :) (PS: would still rewatch nevertheless)

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Unique Story-telling That Fell Off

Will start off by praising the Writer's creativity and bravery in attempting a drama that is mostly focused on one setting (The raid of JJM's home). This isn't commonly done in KDramas as it's not easy crafting enough content to keep viewers engrossed without getting bored. Flashbacks were mostly appropriately spaced out in between the spectacular action scenes to provide some change of pace. Personally, I enjoyed the backstory and dynamics of JJE & Pashin - it was more relatable to me then the inexplicably strained(?) relationship btw JJE & JJM. As aforementioned, the action scenes are definitely the highlights of this drama despite some of the obvious plotholes/troupes that were haphazardly patched over (such as the miltary exercise cover, bad guys going 1-by-1 to die etc.).

Not surprisingly, the Writing is also the Con that let down this drama. In my opinion, too many side characters were introduced without a proper/believable backstory or use such as the Shadow Organization's Director, a random deaf "Brother", and the taxi driver... Many of the subplots were also not well-covered such as JJM's fake death, escape path that led back into the house (?), Bale's incredulous survival and decision to get revenge after many years etc.

The main gripe I had was how obvious it was that JJM wasn't really dead. I mean he is listed as the ML but only appeared spottedly in the first 5 eps in flashbacks... I found myself constantly awaiting his "heroic return" and thus felt episodes drag as it whiffed into the 2nd half. In general, the plot did not deviate from common expecations - no real plot twists (I'm not counting JJM's "revival").

Overall, I still think it is a very watchable drama - just based on the action scenes alone. Casting & Acting was also superb esp for JJE - she always looks so vulnerable. Just temper expecations and watch with an open mind (:

Final random thought: The repeated usage of "Listen Up, JJE" was seriously cringe for me. Felt they overplayed it way too much...

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It’s Thrilling but makes me so depressed?

A REALLY GOOD THRILLER ACTION DRAMA!!✨

watching this drama gives lots and lots of tension and you just can’t stop watching. every episode ends with cliffhanger in such a good wayyy. great storyline that can be digged & developed more for the s2. feels like there are so many unanswered questions for me.

Love the uncle-niece relationship so so muchh. the kind of relationship that doesn’t talk much, but we know how they can fight their life to “protect each other” — at least for jian, it is to protect murherhelp.

and i’m heartbroken for every Jian flashback episode. I’m deeply disturbed by that scene where Jian has to hide “with her mother”. the build up for the scene was so great.

for some scenes, it can feels like a little bit dragging and repeated. super intense on some scenes but i find one or two scenes (esp flashback ones) to be a lil bit boring - cause its too dragging.

but overall, A MUST WATCH BCS WE HAVE LEE DONG WOOK????

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VERY Strong start but...

Okay so going into this show I had zero expectations and hadn't heard much about it. I started watching and the pacing definitely caught me off guard at first but then it came together BEAUTIFULLY by episode 2. I loved where it was going. I love the whole concept of the show and the home invasion aspect was very intense. The throwbacks were also perfectly done (at first) and I was absolutely loving it. Episode 2 is one of the best I've seen in a while. The direction was AMAZING and so was the acting and score. Sadly things went downhill somewhere halfway. I could feel the momentum slowly fading away and it was honestly sad to see. The whole second half just felt kind of rushed like the original directors handed the project over to someone else or something. I would say episode 5 & 6 were still pretty good, but episode 7 was just very unnecessary and episode 8 was a HUGE letdown. VERY lazy writing across the board. None of the loose ends were tied together and even more questions were raised. The big bad guy didn't even show up for the fight??? Like where did he go... The ending was very anticlimactic and rushed. It was just plot hole after plot hole and I was so dumbfounded at how they completely dropped the ball. It just felt like the makers were told that they had to make another season while they were 80% done with the show...

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She was the only green left but why?

Story (8): While the storyline may not be entirely original, the execution was commendable. However, I found myself grappling with certain discrepancies, particularly regarding the inconsistency in the colors. Despite the expectation of red and yellow to play pivotal roles in supposed saving the green, that did not happen. Furthermore, the unresolved fate of the main antagonist left the narrative with an open ending, lacking closure or justice.

Acting/cast (8.5): Lee Dong Wook's magnetic presence is always a highlight, serving as a major draw for me. Yet, beyond his charm, the entire cast delivered stellar performances. This marks my second encounter with Kim Hye Joon after "The Kingdom," although I admittedly couldn't recall her from there until I consulted her profile on MDL. Nonetheless, her portrayal in this series was memorable, particularly in action sequences where her performance felt natural and unforced.

Music (5): Unfortunately, I can't comment on the music as it didn't leave a lasting impression on me

Rewatch value (5): Typically, I don't find myself revisiting action series unless prompted by the release of a new season or a lapse in memory regarding the plot. While this series wasn't lacking in entertainment, it didn't offer any standout moments that would compel me to revisit it.

overall rate: I'd rate it an 8.5 out of 10. Despite the familiar plot elements, I have an inclination for this genre, and the proficient execution held my interest. Lee Dong Wook's involvement also adds to the appeal, and I'd be inclined to tune in for a potential second season, largely driven by his presence.

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