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i started watching signal at a rather impressionable age. at one where i'd be easily blinded by enjoyment over everything as my primary factor for rating a title. then, it was a 10 for me. almost 3 years later, it's still a 10 for me, but now i've a bit wider vocabulary to word how i feel about this series as accurately as possible or even assess it.
this title greatly sticks out of the usual norm of korean dramas and, depending on the circumstances, it may not even be for everyone or, it might not be your cup of tea if you're looking for something light-hearted or totally opposite.
since i cannot summarize the story in my own way because of review rules, i will instead be vocal about my impressions on it, the other factors, and what i've disliked.
i don't have a particular preference when it comes to k-dramas but as i've said before, this one greatly sticks out of the norm. it is thought-provoking, it keeps you on the edge of your seat almost every time, emotionally, it plays with you and intellectually & methodically, it toys with you. events that happen during the series might not be immediately obvious to you, so that's why you have to make sure to pay attention so you don't miss anything. that's something i love about this series & observation is one of the key points of this drama, from a viewer perspective. the same goes for the plot hole of the series. what stops me from giving a 10 on story is the lack of information about the very key object of the drama, the walkie-talkie. what is it's origin, why is it able of doing what it does? those were the questions i've had near the end of the drama that eventually were not answered. although it would've been better for the general experience, it didn't stop me from enjoying the drama to the extent of giving it such high ratings.
onto the cast/acting. let's just say there's a reason why i gave a 10 on cast/acting. i've faced with most of the cast for the first time when i saw this drama, but i've had the fortune of watching tomorrow with you, in which lee je hoon was the main lead. i was impressed by his versatility & general acting. the cast chosen for this title is brilliant. they got into their characters remarkably well, i was very impressed. it was a tense & emotional run for me which is, for one, because of the cast.
onto the music. crème de la crème of this k-drama. music is very important since it takes part in setting the ambiance or, that might just be my opinion, i don't know. anyway. the ost is rather bitter & tearful and by giving it a listen you could have the general idea of what this drama would be like. the bgm is suspenseful & gloomy but right on-point too. i love listening to it sometimes, just for the reminiscing of it.
this concludes it i guess.
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I am speechless (in a good way)
My head is spinning ( just finished the last episode )first case ( 1-4 ish):
I was pumped, and full of adrenaline, it was crazy and the story was interesting.
I calmed and acted it got solved. And I kinda of didn't have the urge to watch the next episode right away.
The same thing happened with the other cases until around episodes 7-8 ( I think) where the cases got more personal/related to our main characters and I got emotionally attached to them so I was more invested in the drama. It's kind crazy how much I ended up loving the characters when I am not really that attached to the characters of thriller/mystery dramas.
The story was interesting and done well.
Though it made my head spin a few times, it wasn't that confusing.
The last episode was something, the drama suggested so many things, like how the transmissions could have gone to someone else and it was just crazy and I am really happy that he was alive.
I really love how all three main characters had some sort of relationship.
Even though this isn't a romance, the relationship and chemistry between detectives Lee Jaehan and Cha So Hyun was so cute and then Cha So Hyun and Park Hae-young had less of an implied romantic relationship but they had a hot sizzling chemistry and weirdly, I was shipping for both relationships.
( I don't usually ship a person with a lot of people)
I feel like they won't make a second season, but I wonder how they will do the story if they decide to, like there are so many things to touch on but I wonder what they will do the characters with)
I am not unhappy about the open-ended even though I was wishing for a reunion of all three of them but yeah, this is a good drama and it really made me cry especially when our main characters were on the verge of death.
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This review may contain spoilers
I, like some people watched The Tunnel first and loved that one. When I saw that Signal had almost the same premise as The Tunnel I decided to watch.For some odd reason I only made it to the first episode. The female lead messed it up for me. Her demeanor, and facial expressions made this less enjoyable to watch.
Someone stated that I should definitely watch so I followed their suggestion. To my dismay I really didn't like this too much. The male character who was in the past played his parts to where I clouded up a bit in some scenes.
To me the two male cops connected even though they never meet. Other cast members seemed to be disconnected from each other.
The cases that they dealt with was interesting but in my opinion it lacked intensity and depth. Especially the last episode. It caused me to be so disappointed with the days I spent watching this. Some of the dramas that I've seen know how to wrap it up in the last episode and a lot of dramas that I've seen don't know how to wrap it up and this was one of them.
The pace in every episode was extremely slow too.
I wanted to like this but unfortunately I'm one of the few who didn't care for this too much.
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Why then did I continue to watch this? Of course because things picked up immediately after that especially with the "Hongwon-dong case", enough for it to be nail biting until the end. But it is also true that such dramas don't tend to have much re-watch value for me since the suspense factor is gone once you have watched it completely.
Having said that, this was not your usual crime procedural, nor was it like your typical time travel/time paradox drama. This was different, in its plot and execution. It made me think more than usual about time paradoxes, and more than anything, how, you would/could probably never change some decisions, even if you knew, what the consequences would be. The central characters all left a lasting impression. Coincidentally, this was also the very first time I was watching Lee Je Hoon and Jo Jin Woong on screen, and both of them made me sit up and take notice of their acting. Throw in Kim Hye Soo, and this was definitely a seasoned cast at play, I would say! There were no trailing plot threads either and everything was tied up well together till the end. In that, I think Signal has won (hats off to the director, writer and cast).
Finally, the message I take away from this drama is that "If you don't give up, you can always change your future for the better", and I will probably be reminded of this whenever I face obstacles in my own life :) Also if ever there was a second season, I think I would not want to give it a pass!
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Which is why I ultimately felt the need to write a review to justify my rating.
An extremely detail-oriented drama with incredible and emotional acting is how I would describe it. Each episode felt like a rollercoaster ride with new twists and turns you did not expect nor have time to anticipate. Settings, props and extra characters were used so purposely and artistically that by the end of watching this drama, I looked around my study area to see what bits of evidence and signs of my daily life I leave behind each day. Of all the police/detective dramas I have seen so far, I've never truly wanted, NO wished more for these characters to be real, to come out from my laptop screen and solve the cold cases in my world.
As other reviews have commented, the acting was phenomenal. From the main cast to the very young actors portraying difficult roles to the nearly insignificant extras, the ENTIRE cast's acting was so palpable, so tangible and so utterly perfect.
I'd be hugely mistaken to leave out the script or the writer in this review. A part of why this drama is so beloved is because of the storyline. Everything is planned out in such organized detail I cannot even begin to imagine how long it took to come up with the script and how many times they must've checked it over and over to make sure everything aligned. All of the cases investigated cover the hot issues often involved in cold cases. These hot issues in part are a reason we as the public are so enthralled by cold cases. "How on earth did ____ get away with such a horrible crime?!" The drama does a good job of sticking up for the little guy, avoid victim blaming and placing responsibility is those that need it, all the while offering us a tantalizing investigative thriller.
Where could this drama improve? A very difficult question to answer, but one place they could start with is allowing their characters to have human memory. I noticed that the characters had very good memory (for the most part, excluding the depression-serial killer arch and the surviving witness...). In fact, their memory was so good that they were able to remember infinitesimal details in their surroundings that eventually gave them clues and leads. It was just jarring enough for my suspension of disbelief to fall through occasionally. But I suppose one could argue that they are detectives and are supposed to be on the look out for these kinds of things anyway.
One other thing, and this is just coming from my feminist nit-pickiness but Cha Soo Hyun, though a notable cop in her own right, was never all that critical to the storyline. In the beginning she had a substantial role but near the end she was almost just a love interest? If they took her character out entirely, the storyline as a whole would not have changed too much. She did not help propel the story forward substantially and acted mostly as a support role despite being a main character. I just wished she had as much impact as the two male leads did. (Message me if you disagree, would love a second opinion!)
I also did not give the re-watch value a ten because often times, investigative thrillers are so thrilling because you don't know what will happen next. But I still gave it a high re-watch value because there are so many other reasons for why it would still be interesting to watch a second time through, one being that you could notice the little details planted in each scene you may not have on the first watch.
Finally the OST: the signature old-timey theme was complemented so well with the musical choices and even now, weeks after having completed the drama, I still get chills listening to the theme song.
It's funny because this is a drama I kept looking at and saving in my "plan to watch," but never actually starting. I don't know why I was so apprehensive. If you are feeling the same way, just dive in. I promise, you will not regret it.
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A very good plot with decent social commentary
Okay, before I get crucified for the 6.5, I still did enjoy this. The three leads were fantastic, the social commentary was good, and as a lover of all time-related media, it was really exciting to see how everything was tied together.But I think my expectations may have been a little too high.
While the first episode did grab my attention with the mystery and tension it instilled, the pacing slowed down afterwards. I was most interested in the points where the stories were personal — the first case, the kidnapping reveal, and the overarching disappearance of Lee Jae-Han. While the social commentary was decent and well-written, it really does just scratch the surface and kind of just iterates the same commentary about corruption and power. As a result, I enjoyed the other cases but think they could've been shortened, which would have given us more screentime for the main plot about Lee Jae-Han and more importantly, more time to wrap up the story.
With that being said, I think my favorite part of time travel and time manipulation stories are moments where you get to see alternate timelines, and I don't think the show ever explored the possibilities to its fullest potential, opting instead for small changes. Instead, they did that common kdrama thing where they have the big plot point happen in the penultimate episode. It was only until the 15th episode where I finally saw what I wanted to see, and I didn't get nearly enough time with it.
Now, with THAT being said, the ending. I found myself, unfortunately, watching the clock the entire last episode, wondering how they would be able to wrap it up in the little amount of time left. As the minutes ticked by I started dreading that they wouldn't be able to. And yep — the ending unfortunately left a lot to be desired.
Ultimately, I didn't really emotionally connect to this story as much as I wanted, though I still definitely give the actors and writers all their flowers. Like I said, the three leads were great, but I didn't really feel the sense of camaraderie between the entire team (which I loved in other dramas like Tunnel and Life on Mars), and as someone who cares a lot about endings, it feels less like an "open ending that lets viewers use their imagination" and more like the show was missing an episode.
Overall, still a good watch, and if they do a second season, I'd be completely down for it.
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The Good:
Signal expertly weaves a story that spans decades. The writers use a circular narrative structure to pull the audience in while not revealing too much about the past while the audience and main characters are in the present. Had they not done this I don't think the time manipulation that is so central to what makes Signal work would have been effective. The plot in general is well structured and well crafted. Every episode left me waiting impatiently to start the next and the way the different cases were interwoven gave the audience much to figure out as more details were revealed. The cinematography too is excellent. The mood, tone, and ambiance of the drama is expertly achieved and adds to the storylines by alerting the audience to a scene's overall feel before any dialogue is spoken. The acting too is excellent on almost all fronts. The three main leads especially deserve praise for their emotionally impactful and gripping performances. Personally, I felt that Jo Jin Woong carried this drama. He was beyond amazing as Lee Jae Han and without his performance I don't think the drama would have been as successful and popular as it is.
The Bad:
My main gripe with this drama is with its villains. Early on there are hints of a bigger bad guy than just the perpetrators of the crimes being investigated in each episode. When he is finally revealed it was not shocking and that was okay with me as I felt that he has been built up and foreshadowed well by the writers and so the audience was already predisposed to dislike him. However, this character remains so one dimensional throughout the drama that I felt like I was watching a villain from an old James Bond film. I wanted to know more about his motivations, his character, and maybe see some growth or doubt. None of that came. The character remained stagnant with no deeper motivations or character traits beyond greed. The villain was also strikingly immoral in a way I feel that few actual human beings are. What made the villain stand out as being poorly written for me was how well the writers had done with portraying the inner worlds and motivations of the lesser villains. The perpetrators of the weekly crimes had more interesting backstories and story arcs than the antagonist. This was evidence to me that the writers could write bad guys well and simply failed to do so with our main antagonist. I also took issue with the way Park Hae Young's profiling technique was utilized. His prowess for catching the bad guy was almost otherworldly and to pin all this skill on his talent for profiling seemed highly unrealistic. He was just too good at his job for it to be realistic. I felt that Lee Jae Han's detective techniques and skills were much more realistic and better fit the realism of the story.
Overall Signal was great. It was well written and gripping. However, the antagonist was poorly written and plot devices to move the story along sometimes were too obvious. I would recommend this drama to anyone who likes both the crime and time travel genres. It is not a thriller but it is well paced and leaves you feeling satisfied with its conclusion.
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A masterpiece.
That's it. That's the review. Signal is a masterpiece. Anything which follows is flavour text.If I were asked to recommend a show to someone who had never seen an Asian drama before, Signal would be the recommendation. I'm at a loss for how best to even describe it, as I don't feel like any of the words I could give would do the series justice. In my opinion, Signal has one of the most unique stories I believe I have ever come across on television - definitely within the crime/detective genre, anyway - and it paces itself so well and so confidently that I'm worried it's set the bar too high for me to appreciate any dramas I watch after this.
Every single actor - lead, side or extra - gives every scene their all. You feel your gut wrench or your heart pound as characters are thrown again and again into these intense, impossible situations that sometimes do not have a fairytale ending. You may have seen other reviewers talk about how much they cried watching this, and I am no exception. Some of the cases the detectives are tasked to solve are harrowing, particularly when they are of personal importance to a main character. But the acting is so stunningly good that you cannot help but empathise completely with what each character is going through, regardless of the morality or soundness of their decisions.
For me, this series is a perfect illustration of why it's so important to give more older actors lead roles. The level of acting you are treated to is just unparalleled, and I firmly believe that this series would not have been the same without the seasoned, top-level performances that these veteran actors brought. The lead actress in particular won several national awards for her incredible performance in this series.
Although I wouldn't listen to the OST outside of this drama, I've given music a 10 as each song fit its selected scene like a glove. You can tell a lot of care went into the placement of the music throughout this series. Rewatch value is the only non-perfect score at 9.0, as to me the final episode started to outstay its welcome towards the end. However, this alone was not enough for me to drop any of the other scores from perfect.
TL;DR Signal is, to me, the true definition of a masterpiece. I enjoyed every second of it, and hope you do too.
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Signal excels the most in two categories: the plot and the characters.
The plot was surprisingly deep, well-written, and was executed brilliantly. The time manipulation aspect was not corny or cliched.
The characters took some time to develop and to understand completely. The show does a great job of showing perspectives of other characters and revealing backstories to create character depth.
The only weak aspect of the show was the slow pacing, which works well for character development, but not so much for plot progression. Some of the aspects of the main plot are easily forgotten after being dragged on for several episodes.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this show!! Check it out and let me know if there are any other shows that are similar.
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time travel emg memusingkan.
oke ini aku nikmati banget si. cuma aku suka sama yang kasus kasus beda gitu, lebih excited aja gitu rasanya dan juga time travel masih bisa dipahami walaupun kadang agak ga ngeh ini tuh jaman kapan. nah kalau untuk kasus yg utamanya, aku agk kurang suka. belibet banget karena time travel nya. aku gapaham, misal adegan 1 ni trus ke adegan 2 eh balik lagi ke adegan 1. jujur ak tak paham betul-betul konteksnya. trus terakhirnya ga terlalu dijelasin detail bgt kejadiannya. hppy ending sbnrnya cuma mungkin bisa ditambahin minimal mrk jumpa lah dan menurutku penulis mengakhiri hidup villain tu kurang tepat, ak sm skli ga ngarepin hal itu. aku harepin dia dapat hukuman di masa depan yang kek menderita banget. tapi setelah aku pikir” kl dia ga mati di jaman 2000-an, pasti banyak kasus yang diusik sm tu org. so yaudalah ak terima. but, terlepas dr main problemnya, kasus kasus kecil jg bagus jalan nya, ada plottwist nya juga.Was this review helpful to you?
