Catch the Ghost (2019)

Catch The Ghost (2019) - I was scared watching this expecially on the train rails scenes that is why I don't watch this at night alone. It has fun scenes and I found myself laughing over those scenes. Although not a fan of Moon Geunyang, I acknowledge how good she is - both her 2 roles here is greatly portrayed. It's a decent crime drama for me, and I like the fact that most of the scenes in the drama really revolved around the train station - a first for me. Kim Seon Ho is also great her, but since Geunyang is so good already, I think he was overshadowed in terms of acting.

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As you guys already know, I'm on a Kim Seon Ho's vibe these days, and one of the dramas that I wanted to watch the most was "Catch the ghost". One thing that catches my attention was the fact of this drama don't be in any stream and don't be mentioned in the Dramaland as others. I heard that Netflix will add it soon, but we don't have any date confirmed until now. Considering my first impressions, I thought that maybe some gossip made the drama flopped, but I didn't found anything. I'll start with the fact of this drama doesn't fit any specific gender. If you look toward the posters, you will see that each one has a different perspective and theme. Comedy, action, thriller, romance... We can see everything here, but the comedy keeps stilling the scene. This is a drama for everyone who enjoys a good laughing but also an instigating plot. "Catch the ghost" tells the story of Go Ji Suk (Kim Seon Ho), the chief of the Subway Police, a calm officer that just do what his job tells him to do, and Yoo Ryung (Moon Geun Young), a patrol that dreams with getting a place in the same department. Both of them know each other in the subway, after a mistake made by Ryung, and when the officer applies herself to be Ji Suk's partner in the Subway Police, their lives are shaken by their extremely different personalities. The extreme care and wisdom of Ji Suk and the impulsivity and sense of justice of Ryung are a disturbing combination, but very effective. The officers do their best to solve the cases of their department, including the big mystery of the murders that are happening in the Subway by the criminal known as "Ghost". The main plot spin around the Ghost case, but in the first episodes we can see other small cases that shows up in the day by day of the Subway Police.

Let's talk about the characters:

GO JI SUK, THE SURPRISE BOX

The personality of Ji Suk is one of the high points of this drama to me. The way how he puts the care with your mom as a priority is something very impressive and remarkable, even with all the sadness that this brings to him. Ji Suk is extremely responsible, but because of the need to keep his job, he ends up as a rigid and lazy officer, losing his passion for the purpose of his role and turn into an accommodated civil servant, that doesn't want to get out of your comfort zone. The mother of Ji Suk develops Alzheimer when the detective was close to being promoted into Metro Police, making him chose a place less dangerous and with a flexible schedule to take care of his mom. In the first episodes is hard to see all the nuances of his personality, and only in episode five he starts to show what he really wants and thinks, and this happens because of Ryung's influence in his life. As I mentioned in the beginning, I'm all Kim Seon Ho these days, and I have to mention his performance. You debut too late, baby! I wish that he had all the opportunities that he deserves. Seon Ho is a great actor, and I think that this comic side is the gold for him. His expressions and comic attitudes aren't forced and I always laugh a lot when he does something funny because is so natural. If you don't know this fun side of Seon Ho, I recommend that you watch some videos of "2 days and 1 night". Besides the funny, he also delivers a great emotive performance, mainly when he is interacting with his mother. My heart was broken every time that he shows up all dressed up.

YOO RYUNG, THE NO SENSE

Okay, this character was a little hard for me to accept. The personality of Ryung isn't something that captivates me at the first sight. During the episodes, I started to understand her attitudes, but yet... I think that she acted many times with selfishness and zero trust for anyone. In the first episodes, we found that Ryung had a twin sister with autism and her suspects are that her sister was the first victim of the Ghost (this isn't a spoiler, is in the beginning). Because of that, Ryung passes through the rules and even the people, as Ji Suk, to get what she wants. I get so upset in some moments when the character just messes up everything to her chief and didn't show any regret about it. As I said, the traumas are acceptable, but yet I felt that she has no empathy with Ji Suk's feelings. But some high points of this character is the fact that she is very brave and determined. Her overkill did with Ji Suk got out of his comfort zone, bringing balance to both of them. Moon Geun Young is a remarkable actress in Dramaland, mostly because of her role in "Autumn tale", but I never had seen her perform before. This was her comeback after four years and I liked very much her performance, mainly with her job doing two characters and one with an especial condition. I hope to see her in other projects from now on.

HA MA RI, THE UNWANTED

Okay. Can anyone explain to me this character? Because I gave up on her from the beginning, and I got so mad because I hated a character that had my name. The detective Ha Ma Ri (Jung Yoo Jin) is the ex-girlfriend of Ji Suk and chief of the Metro Police. She was also the partner of Ji Suk when he acted in this department, but when he asked for a transfer to the Subway Police because of his mother, Ma Ri didn't accept this and broke up with him, saying that he was weak and with no ambition. In another hand, Ma Ri didn't have the entire fault because Ji Suk didn't tell her anything about the situation, but even so. Her posture in the episodes was just ridiculous. She didn't take any responsibility for negligence in the missing of Yoo Jin, and starts to act in a very offensive way with Ryung and Ji Suk, being just unbearable many times. We can't see regret in her posture, a change of thoughts... Nothing. She just goes with the road and starts to cooperate in some moments because she didn't have any choice besides that. Anyway, this character was totally unnecessary and terrible for me. Jung Yoo jin is amazing and I wanna see her as a female lead in a great drama soon.

THE DETECTIVE SQUAD

I not gonna mention one by one, but the detective team, Subway and Metro, was very cool for me. The subway officers were very funny and useful to the plot, making the story fluid and soft. I will do an honorable mention to Kim Woo Hyunk (Ki Do Hoon), that even with no chances in the love triangle, was a consistent and interesting character.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

I didn't like some details in the plot, mostly in the ending, but I won't give any spoilers here. If you wanna know about it, I'll let the link of my blog in the next post with this text in Portuguese and with the spoiler part. As I said at the beginning of this text, I thought this drama was underrated considering the story and the development. I don't think it is a perfect drama, but I also think is necessary to exalt the good points. I believe that the success of Kim Seon Ho will push this drama into the middle of Dramaland.

I will put this as a GOOD ONE (★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★)! If you are looking for something fun and at the same time intriguing, you probably gonna like this one.

See you soon!
XOXO, Mari.

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I was about to give up on this genre because they all seemed to go the same way, a strong start and then every reason why one started watching in the first place dwindles away. so ahhhh... this was a breath of fresh air after watching some aimless shows. it kept my interest from the first episode till the end. no plot holes, the ML and FL were fun to watch. This was definitely a well thought out storyline. no useless characters, everyone had a role to play in bringing this story together and I must say they did a good job. Definitely worth watching, a thriller with a little sprinkle of romance:)

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Male lead can catch my heart anytime he wants

This show was really good ! I kinda expected some supernatural elements with the title and the poster's general vibes so I was a little disappointed at first but it didn't last long fortunately ^^

I loved the female lead she was badass and funny and I understood her sense of responsabilty mixed with guilt towards her twin sister, it shows that nobody is perfect when dealing with an autistic relative... I'm glad the male lead could relate to her and defend her in front of the metro division (I was so angry with them !!) In fact some scenes were very emotional I didn't expect that (many tears were shed haha) The male lead was adorable, he often made me tear up whenever he was with his mother and his chemistry with the female lead was great too ! The actor playing the main villain was also fantastic (I was fooled until the very last revelation lol)

The only character I had a hard time with was the ex girlfriend, I could understand the pression put on her shoulders but her behavior with the female lead was just mean and unjustified. I would have liked it more if a friendship bloomed between them...

Overall it was a good show and I wasn't bored watching it. It was just a litle hard sometimes to follow their reasoning in resolving the cases but maybe I'm not smart enough xD I found the ending satisfying and the OST is very pleasant too so give it a try !

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Unexpectedly enjoyable crime scene investigation drama (with romance and comedy!)

I don't understand why Catch the Ghost isn't a more talked about drama! It was something that I came across and caught my eye in passing on complete accident. Overall, the plot and atmosphere are very similar to Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, but done like 1000% better! I wasn't a fan personally of SWDBS (I know, heathen, aren't I? :D) because the silly, slap-stick comedy and the Criminal Minds-like creepy, thriller, mystery moods clashed, giving me whiplash (and the creeps!). Catch the Ghost, while similar in plot, did a much better job in balancing the less silly, but still very entertaining, comedy with the creepier villainess scenes, which I was so grateful for.

STORY:
I really loved the story, which took me by COMPLETE surprise. I expected to just be "meh" about Catch the Ghost, but left and right, I felt surprised by how fresh the plot was. For example, Go Ji Suk's mother has dementia and he has been working his ass off to make sure she has everything she needs, with top notch care. He is such a good son and his decisions, while they might appear despicable if you don't know what's going on, are so endearing if you realize what fuels them. Yoo Ryung's story is also so incredibly unique - her twin sister, who has a cognitive disability, has been missing for 2+ years, with NO IDEA what has happened to her (fearing the worst case scenario); how often do you see this? Usually it's a parent or child. And because of these unique backgrounds, these 2 MCs mesh so well together! They understand each other and there's no pity, which literally makes all the difference for them both.

I also found the constant twists and turns in the plot to be well thought out on the writer's end. Right when you think you've figured out the "obvious" plot, you find out more details that change everything! I loved that! I was on the edge of my seat for every episode (especially since there was a sprinkle of creepy, with the ominous music, in every episode to remind us of the danger!). The real Subway Ghost and their story really isn't predictable (at least not for me!) and it's awful and tragic and unexpected!

I adored the supporting Subway Police detectives - their father-son relationship (literally, but not for real! XD) was HILARIOUS! They provided a great deal of comic relief outside of the MCs.

What I didn't like so much: Ha Ma Ri got on my nerves near the end of Catch the Ghost. She was so jealous. OF EVERYONE! And due to her inferiority complex, she was NASTY to everyone. She's the type of person who if she is reprimanded, she has to find fault in someone else and reprimand them to negate (?) her own guilt/responsibility. Every time her ugly behavior reared its head, I just felt like screaming, "And THIS is why Go Ji Suk left you!" (not the real reason, but still XD). She was "redeemed" in the end, but her behaviors up until that point just don't sit well with me. *shrugs*

I also do need to acknowledge that there were a couple of plot conveniences in the final 2 episodes that I can't look past because they're just too *convenient*. Like, I'm really glad we got a happily ever after, but at the same time, I found myself thinking, "that would NOT have just happened!" LOL.

ACTORS:
I've seen a lot of these actors before and enjoyed many of them in the past, so I'm not surprised that they were great here too!

A couple notable mentions:
I've seen Kim Seon Ho in a number of dramas (way more than I thought! lol), but this performance is what has me an official fan! His acting was great! I loved the way he was able to convey his feelings so well through his tone of voice and facial expressions.

I haven't seen Moon Geun Young in anything before, but she was good here! I'd definitely be willing to give her a chance in the future again!

The actor who portrays the murder (who will remain unnamed to remain anti-spoiler XD) also did a fantastic job in their role too! Really had me wavering!

OST:
I enjoyed the OST - it layered very well with all the scenes, especially the instrumental OST (the creepy ones were DEFINITELY creepy! Haha!).
My favorite vocal OSTs are: Highlight by Roh Tae Hyun, Wanted by ABRY (so catchy!), Feel My Heart by Kim Woo Sung
My favorite instrumental OST is: Lost by Young Ik Park (Perfect Run is the PERFECT investigative instrumental by the way, similar to the Mission Impossible theme song!)

REWATCH VALUE:
So the big question is: Will I rewatch this drama? Hmmm likely not just because I know who the serial killer is *now* (I didn't even look up spoilers in advance because I wanted to be surprised). But I will MOST DEFINITELY be rewatching scenes and/or watching MVs. The MCs are absolutely adorable together - who wouldn't want to rewatch that? ;D
I would 100% recommend this to people, especially if they liked SWDBS since this is way better! Don't miss out!

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Dragged everything out too much, but still worth watching

I went into this drama with mostly high expectations, especially given the amount of praise the comments and fans were giving for Kim Seon Ho, and the fact that the FL also appeared to have an impressive acting career. The biggest letdown of this show wasn't the acting at all. I think both leads did a great job of delivering.

--> The biggest fault of this show is the story.

The pacing started off well, but for me at least, up to ep 8 or 9 I began skipping. It was definitely around the halfway mark of this series. Everything gets dragged out, and episode 15 has to be one of the most painful eps to watch. I skipped every 5 seconds or so, and only stopped for crucial scenes, because they just dragged this out so much.

If they dragged everything out all the way up until ep 15, what became of ep 16, you may ask?

Episode 16 was anticlimactic. The romance between the leads, who had perfectly good chemistry leading up to this, just felt like that moment had been missed. The scene in episode 2 with the water (as much as I'll say) really gave many fans hope for the romance to come...! But all of that was dragged out, and so many little, unnecessary...contrived things got in the way.

For me, once I start skipping through more than 5 episodes of a drama, i've mostly lost that passion I had for it at the start.

And this seems to be a common thing with kdramas. They always start out good, but they always have to drag out things, and for episodes that are 60 minutes at a time, it gets exhausting. Drama watching shouldnt be a chore for me :(

I always start out with the negatives tho, cause I usually write these right after i'm done watching and im disappointed :^( but! The positives to this show are:

PROS
--->The acting is great. Besides the second male lead, who imo i think was kinda........unnecessary..? OOP that sounds mean. But the entire ensemble is pretty solid. Especially the main leads, the actresses for the mothers, the subway ghost, and even a few of the actresses they got to play the victims for side stories. I actually cried during one of the stories :"( that's how moving it was, so I totally salute both the writers, and especially the actors on their deliveries for such heartwrenching scenes.

--> the comedy is pretty good when it actually tries.like in the beginning episodes, i never laughed as much as a I did at some of the scenes xD

--> The male lead
Was Ko Ji Suk a saint in his past life or something? He's been wronged by the FL so much, but he is still so selfless and, really sweet :O Also, he's cool, but he doesn't know it, and when he IS cool, he gets nervous right after cause he mustered all his courage to do it. like damn where do u find such a healthy ML character in dramaland? Also, respects women? This sounds kinda sad now XD I was half-joking there, but Chief Ko is an all-rounder male lead. 5/5 stars.

--->The chemistry
It's not so palpable that ur feeling it through your screen, but you can tell the characters had mutual respect and...admiration for the other :D it was honstly so warm. It's a shame that their romance had to be so rushed in ep 16 since the screenwriters wasted so much time trying to make twists and turns with their choppy plotline ;-;

--> the message
overall i appreciate the message this show has. It has multiple, but the ones I got were along the lines of everyone carries their own pain, sometimes people become losers (xD) and that, im not sure, there's really no black or white to things. The one thing this show DOES go a job of subverting, is the whole black or white hero mentality. Each character, even the villain, had their own motivations. You can't agree with them, but you can see why they did it. And, that depth should really be a given in film, but still i appreicate the fact that this show also highlighted different themes like family, justice, and, really, you can leave a few episodes feeling good about yourself--even though you did nothing--because there's a lot of moral fulfilment you get from watching certain scenes. :"D


----------------------CLOSING THOUGHTS------------------------


SO, THATS WHY, OVERALL, DESPITE THE CRAPPY ENDING (>:D) this show still gets a high enough rating in my book.
Even though the ending was rushed, I'm used to unsatisfying drama endings by now. They can never seem to really wrap up things that well.

Even so, this Catch the Ghost is still a show I'd recommend to friends, and to you, whoever you are reading this :D I'm a stickler for romance, but if that's not your focus, and you just want a heartwarming story, (with a tiny bit weird ending, but a charming cast nonetheless) give Catch the Ghost a try :D Make ur own judgement. I'm just being bitter abt the romance smh xD

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I'm not sure why, but I'm usually not into Korean dramas, but I find this drama to be a strangely good mix of comedy, thriller, mystery.

In her quest to solve the mystery behind her sister's disappearance, Yoo Ryung becomes a police officer and manages to get herself transferred to the subway police department because she believes that her sister has been the victim of the subway ghost, a serial killer who has killed people and dumped bodies in the subway.

Fueled by empathy for the victims and their families, she goes after criminals with a passion, turning the otherwise mundane world of the subway police department upside down. The comic situations are rather funny at the start. However, the series does not go light on the crimes: some of them can be rather violent, and the series does not hesitate to show some violent scenes.

I wasn't expecting it, but the blend of light-hearted comic elements with more serious thriller elements and some heartwarming scenes is splendidly done. They do not feel out of place. There are even a few nice twists that do not feel labored. By the end of Episode 13, I was wondering how the series could have another 3 episodes, but it did and it was done well too. The last episode feels like it has some filler moments so that it can become a full episode, but it's still not a significant problem.

The series also manages to highlight social issues like the struggles of the poor and caregiver stress. There is also a recurring theme of parental love and the lengths (sometimes touching, sometimes frightening) to which parents would go for the sake of their children.

The series is not perfect, of course. There are some slight plot holes and the depiction of dementia in the series seems a little unrealistic. But these flaws do not compromise the quality of the series.

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I fallin for the supporting actors!

This is the first time for Kim Seon Ho play as a male lead, but the character is not as strong as Geun Young , i think. Maybe this isn’t popular but ji_seok — yoo ryung romance is not so well developed. Yoo ryung is too selfish for Ji Seok, and Ji Seok is too selfless! man that is toxic! 😜

The best part of this drama for me is the relationship between Ji Seok and his Mom! Kim Seon Ho is really an emotive actor, and everytime he did something for his mom, my heart fluttered, imagining myself having a great son as him. The climax scenes between them is so emotional so its torn my heart. What dissapointing is, the female lead, Yoo Ryung, seems didn’t care at all about Ji Seok mom. Reversely, Ha Ma Ri, the sad girl, was care so much, and really tryin to understood Ji Seok condition.


the other supporting role that i admire is the villain ___ the victim of people ignorance. He played his role perfectly, i almost thought that he was innocent! wow, because he is only a man with full of love to his daughter, oh i cry again for this man while write this review.

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Overly annoying FL

BIG WARNING TO ALL KSH FANS WHO WANTED TO ENJOY THIS DRAMA
The female lead got me all worked up
I'm normally a good guy that strongly condemn violence against female
BUT THAT FL made me feel like I wanna slap her every time she did things her own way without caring about the consequences on other people
The story might wanna write her as that "Strong female with unshakable sense of justice" but it just didn't work
She ended up being that "Self-centered person that only care about what she wants"
I stopped watching at ep 9 or 10 after she decided to not follow a case that the team was set up to, and drag her boss (KSH) into trouble cz she just feel like doing other case
That was the point where I was like "That's enough, she really deserve some big backhand smash"

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A victim's family ignored by an ambitious career woman

I dropped the series because of how ridiculous it was getting. Also I couldn't bear the mental abuse the FL had to go through because of the law enforcement officers. FLs request to include her sister got denied by investigator but when proven right, the investigator decides to rub it on FLs face that the FL is to blame.
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The plot isn't overly complicated.
A serial killer and a serial train thief is on the prowl and our passionate FL is determined to go above and beyond her orders in order to apprehend the criminal.

While labeled as fiction the neglect, limitations and lack of empathy from the police officers and their drive for results based on what they think is right in order to meet their qouta and obtain for themselves and their superiors the glory of "solving or closing" the case is definitely spot on. It cannot be denied that this happens in real life as well.

With this fact in mind you will be less frustrated watching the police officers and their bureaucratic red tape in this series.

I enjoyed this because of the different types of cases they got to handle. It's disgusting how the showrunners tried really hard to push the romance envelope between the leads and it was so cringe, uncomfortable and unnecessary - they should have just focused only on the investigation side and removed the romance element.

ML and FL did not look good together. I have to say MGY has not aged well and the way she smirked the whole time made it worse. Her acting is still top of the line of course but I think she should just stick to non romantic roles.

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