kretuzerwilhelmxiii
I was told it was great.
And surprise, it turned out to be great.
It's hard to say what this drama is about without spoiling the plot. So instead of talking in detail about a spectacular, might-blowing story that made me cry on several occasions(I don't usually get emotionally invested in fiction), I'll talk a bit about the form, without spoiling the content like I usually do in reviews.
And the form is, of course, amazingly done too. This drama has some of the best cinematography I've seen in Korean dramas so far. The music, acting and pacing all combine to deliver an outstanding series.
Though speaking of acting....I'll be frank, I don't like Kim Hye Soo. I know she has many fans, but I seriously dislike her plastic face that can only play with overly large eyes and slight tilts of mouth. This made it somewhat annoying to watch the series at certain moments, considering how much screentime her character has. The fact that her character wasn't particularly likable(though she was written like that on purpose, so it's not a fault of the drama) adds the fuel to the fire.
But I digress. Both male leads were great, and the villains were actually hateable. Yes, I usually sympathize with villains in dramas. Usually, they do something bad, then get severely punished by protags, and if they happen to have some sad backstory, it usually makes me empathize with them even further. The only thing that usually makes me root for protags, and not sympathize with the antagonists, is when the antagonists are shallow/overly black/saturday morning cartoon caricatures. But then that means what I really hate is bad writing, not the characters.
But in Signal, we have some villains that are psychologically deep, complexly written, with multilayered motivations behind their actions, yet....at no point does the show make me sympathize with most of them or stop rooting for the main characters.
I also liked how the ending sequences showed the previews for the next episode....by showing scenes that would only happen many episodes later, or not happen exactly as they were shown at all. This added to the entire time travel and chronology confusion feel of the show, by playing with the viewer on meta-level. Well done!
In the end, some things weren't explained. But perhaps they weren't meant to be explained. Thematically, the show is about not giving up hope when fighting for justice, and putting down those who feel beyond law and punishment and making a mockery of police and innocents. It's also about cause-and-effect, and how we might not always get what we want. These themes are executed to a satisfying conclusion, and that's what matters the most.
It's hard to say what this drama is about without spoiling the plot. So instead of talking in detail about a spectacular, might-blowing story that made me cry on several occasions(I don't usually get emotionally invested in fiction), I'll talk a bit about the form, without spoiling the content like I usually do in reviews.
And the form is, of course, amazingly done too. This drama has some of the best cinematography I've seen in Korean dramas so far. The music, acting and pacing all combine to deliver an outstanding series.
Though speaking of acting....I'll be frank, I don't like Kim Hye Soo. I know she has many fans, but I seriously dislike her plastic face that can only play with overly large eyes and slight tilts of mouth. This made it somewhat annoying to watch the series at certain moments, considering how much screentime her character has. The fact that her character wasn't particularly likable(though she was written like that on purpose, so it's not a fault of the drama) adds the fuel to the fire.
But I digress. Both male leads were great, and the villains were actually hateable. Yes, I usually sympathize with villains in dramas. Usually, they do something bad, then get severely punished by protags, and if they happen to have some sad backstory, it usually makes me empathize with them even further. The only thing that usually makes me root for protags, and not sympathize with the antagonists, is when the antagonists are shallow/overly black/saturday morning cartoon caricatures. But then that means what I really hate is bad writing, not the characters.
But in Signal, we have some villains that are psychologically deep, complexly written, with multilayered motivations behind their actions, yet....at no point does the show make me sympathize with most of them or stop rooting for the main characters.
I also liked how the ending sequences showed the previews for the next episode....by showing scenes that would only happen many episodes later, or not happen exactly as they were shown at all. This added to the entire time travel and chronology confusion feel of the show, by playing with the viewer on meta-level. Well done!
In the end, some things weren't explained. But perhaps they weren't meant to be explained. Thematically, the show is about not giving up hope when fighting for justice, and putting down those who feel beyond law and punishment and making a mockery of police and innocents. It's also about cause-and-effect, and how we might not always get what we want. These themes are executed to a satisfying conclusion, and that's what matters the most.
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