Okay, before you come at me at say I am romanticising a villain, let me start by saying, I am not. In real life drug lords will always be a cancer to the society and he’s still a murderer. But this is simply an appreciation post for the complex character that Choi Mujin is. Had this series had a different orientation and character focus, for example same as Peaky Blinders, I believe a lot of people would root for him like they do with Tommy Shelby.


Set aside the moral issue of the illegal stuff he does, I do think he is a pretty decent character. He was not the kind of villain that is perversely evil or purely driven by greed and bloodlust.


He has a very strong sense of loyalty hence any betrayal really must have cut deep. Props to the actor for being able to show his conflicting emotions upon knowing of the betrayal. 


In my opinion, even with the betrayal he still showed mercy to Donghoon despite their apparent one sided brotherhood. It’s a given that death is for the traitor and since the betrayal is personal, the more reason he has to lash out. And yet the way he dealt with Donghoon was more with sadness and disappointment rather than revenge and anger. You can see the pain in his eyes when he shot him. Remember when Taeju said Mujin likes to torture his victims and watch life slowly drain from them, but with Donghoon he simply walked away as if he couldn’t bear seeing him. If he wanted to torture Donghoon, he could have also then and there killed Jiwoo and made him watch (considering how desperate Donghoon was to protect her daughter).


He also did not seek to extend his pain and anger over the betrayal to Jiwoo. It was Jiwoo who seek him out. He drove her out telling her to live a normal life. And let’s not forget that he did save her from those fake informants, which goes to show he was monitoring her after seeing how distressed she was over her father’s death. It’s debatable, I couldn’t say he did it out of concern (afterall she’s the daughter of the traitor) but I also do not think it was ever his original plan to use her. In the end, I think it was an opportunity that presented itself. It's also obvious that she'll ended up dying in the street by her recklessness if he didn't take her in.


I don’t think it was a sick game of his to use and discard Jiwoo. I believe Jiwoo was simply placed as a mole to spy about the police activity and not really to personally kill the captain, otherwise since the beginning, Mujin could have said it was the captain who killed her dad. He did care for her in his own capacity. Remember how he tried to take her out of the operations and retire her to the beach house, him personally looking and picking a suitable home for her as if he was her dad. He was willing to sacrifice an ‘ace card’ he had with the police in order to keep her safe. Also there was that time when he rushed to save her even with the risk of getting caught and involved.


When Taeju came to kill her was also not a direct order from Mujin. It was Taeju who was taking the matters in his own hand, perhaps seeing how now both father and daughter have flipped on them and Mujin despite his seeming indifference was emotionally disrupted.


It’s really rather complex. I feel like Mujin was just going with the flow of events. If the truth do not come to light, he truly do care and will protect Jiwoo. On the other hand, him giving her that knife and telling her to kill her father’s murderer is like saying ‘if things turn the other way and when the time comes, I’m willing to face death by your hands’. It seems like he still couldn’t reconcile his feeling over killing Donghoon, does his(Donghoon) betrayal justifies him using his daughter? or is this guilt of killing a person he thought of as a brother that is making him soft with his daughter?
You can tell in the end when things all went south that he was in no way desperately attempting to stay alive and hold on to his empire or even kill Jiwoo, choosing to ignore all other options and even leaving only a single bullet as if to say ‘I gave you my dagger, I thought you how to fight, maybe all of those is for this moment, let’s see how it ends’.


There are also some other scenes that shows character, like when he asked the elder store owner to buy him cigarettes so she doesn’t get caught in the carnage that was about to happen. And how he mourned for Taeju, looking back how he favored Donghoon more over him. It must have been so upsetting, the people he gave his 100% trust ends up betraying him. And that person he actually began doubting was the one who was the most loyal to him. No wonder in the end he lost the will to stay alive.


Again this is just a brain dump. I am not justifying the things he did or saying they are in any way right. In any moral ground, he’s still considered a bad guy. All my long post is saying is that it is not hard to emphatize with him and understand why he did what he did.

I agree with you 100%. It seems to me that he actually became attached to her and felt responsible as if he replaced her father. He also really wanted good things for her. But whatever one may say, he still used her for his own purposes, because he actually trusted her. After all, you will not introduce a person to the police whom you do not trust, this is not logical. And probably he was actually waiting for her to find out everything and come for him. The bandits also have their own laws and principles, and we all know about this. Of course, loyalty is the most important thing for them. And if you think about it, she never betrayed him. He knew that she will kill him and waited for her. 

And that he killed her partner was just because she changed her mind and wanted to go to the police. He wasn't expecting that. He wanted her to get her revenge. It was the only thing he could do, to make her more angry and furious. But this moment just broke my heart, I wasn't exprecting that. But I understand why it was important.  After all this is not a romantic drama with a good ending, It's something else.

I agree but  Moojin literally put Ji won in the same situation as he was previously. He was betrayed so she was.  At the end she choose the same as Moojin to not forgive and become monster 😢.

Yes, in the end she became a monster herself. It is not possible to revenge someone if not to understand this person and think like him. She became like him and excepted that. I think she regrets that she didn't kill him first, because if she would go right away to Moojin after she escaped the hospital,  Pildo would still be alive, but she maybe not. I think she would not have the strength to kill Moojin and would just give in. But after she saw how Moojin killed Pildo she became a monster in this moment. Now she has no one who is special to her, she is alone and have nothing to lose.

I think in one interview director told that the sex scene was more instinct love. 

I feel that  she just wanted to feel loved and he just happened to be there. She was more devastated when she learns the truth about Moojin. 

But for sure killing Pildo made the main actress return to her right track"

Sometimes I really just don't get it, why the producers and directors start to explain that some kisses or love scenes in dramas or movies, were just improvisation and not so important. For me it's like a lie. You see this characters showing feeling for each other, and the actors play it so real, that you think "Finally they are together!" and then they tell you that it is just your imagination. What the hell.

I think in  that interview  director replies because  people think that sex scene  was uneccesarry-for him it was needed. About the rest I m not  so sure. If I find it I will give a link

감독의 연출 의도를 물어보는 질문도 이어졌다. 특히 마지막 회차의 러브씬에 대해 물어보자 "시청자들의 의견이 완전히 갈리더라. 뜬금없다는 쪽과 이해된다는 쪽이던데. 작가도 이 장면에 고민을 많이 했는데 저는 꼭 필요했다고 생각했고 그 씬에 대한 후회는 전혀 없다."라고 답했다. 그는 "아버지는 죽인 사람이 누구인지 알게되고 멈출수 없는 걸 잠시라도 멈추게 하거나 생각을 바꾸게 할수 있는 행동이 뭘까 생각했다. 또 지우는 사람의 온기를 잃고 오랜 시간을 보내왔지만 완전히 괴물은 아니라는 걸 보여주고 싶었다. 그래서 두 사람의 러브신은 사랑이라기보다는 훨씬 더 동물에 가까운, 본능적인 감정에 가깝게 그리고 싶었다. 그 과정이 있었기에 지우가 다시 인간으로 돌아갈수 있었고, 돌아가던 길에 생긴 필도의 사건으로 인한 감정의 진폭이 설명될수 있었을 것 같다"라며 연출의 변을 밝혔다.
Here is original link 

https://www.google.com/amp/enews.imbc.com/News/ViewAmp/328142

I may interpretered it wrong 😅

"There was also a question about the director's directing intentions. In particular, when asked about the love scene in the last episode, he said, "The opinions of the viewers were completely divided. They said it was out of the blue and it was understandable. The writer thought a lot about this scene, but I thought it was necessary, and I have no regrets about that scene. ." he replied. He said, "My father found out who the killer was and thought about what actions could make him stop or change his mind, even for a moment. So, I wanted to draw the love scene of the two people much closer to animals and instinctive emotions rather than love. Because of this process, Ji-woo was able to return to being a human again, and the amplitude of emotions caused by Phil-do's incident on the way back was explained. I think it could have been,” said the director."

I think you understand everything right.  Now after reading this, I must restart my thoughts about the relationship between Pildo and Jiwoo. It makes me sad in some way, because I really thought she has feeling for him. Maybe she has and he too. But she just didn't realise it till this moment. And in some way it really was more like an instinct. She didn't show love or received it. And in this moment Pildo was so sensitive and real towards her, that she just wanted to live and love for this moment. I think Pildo would stay by her side till the end, and even in this time when she must go to prison. He is loyal. And maybe they would have a relationship in the future, but this is just a dream, because he is dead. Such a shame. He was so hot.

Thank you usernamenotfoundXX   
You said it beautifully.  I was conflicted by this character but he was very basic.
Loyalty was everything to him, plus bravery. 

I would be interested in a spin off about Choi Mujin alone. He is such a compelling and complex character that exploring it may be worth our while. 

 docrosie:

I would be interested in a spin off about Choi Mujin alone. He is such a compelling and complex character that exploring it may be worth our while. 

agree with youuu so bad

This is a beautiful piece. The interpretation is just on point.

I'm not a huge villain stan but I'm making an exception for him because he's well written and complex. This kind of character tend to be simple and they exist just to be hated but I couldn't bring myself to hate him.

I also think we have to thank the actor Park Hee Soon for this. That talented veteran actor brought the character to another level entirely.

Anyway  I have nothing new to say but I'm still not over this character and Park Hee Soon's stellar performance . 

He was such a good villain for the reasons you stated. I loved the complexity of his character. Not inherently evil, but not good either.  His protection over her made me swoon, I lowkey even shipped her with him and wished for the story to go another way LOL, I think I read too many mafia romances! Nonetheless, I'm really satisfied with how the story unraveled and I thought the ending was almost poetic.