Awaken (2020)

There's quite a light hearted start to this excellent mystery, action drama, which lulls one into a false sense of security and misleads us about where this story will take us.
Namgoong Min gives another fine performance in his multi layered character, whose story opens up with every episode, right to the last.
Loved the character of Jamie Layton, so well played by Lee Chung Ah. Cool and quirky.
I wasn't particularly surprised by the story's development, but that's not to say it was dull ~ surprises were still waiting.
The 3 child actors who played the young versions of Jung-woo, Jamie and Jae-woong, were so good. I find most Korean child actors excellent.
I binge watched this drama and loved almost every second. Decent OST too.
I liked that dues were paid, one way or another, even though for one hateful character it wasn't witnessed, but the description of their demise was pretty gratifying.
I did feel for Jae-woong, although he seemed content with his lot.
Great watch and cast.

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A real good Sci-Fi Crime Suspense Thriller..

A real good Sci-Fi Crime Suspense Thriller, with really good actors.

Started out as a regular Crime-Suspense series w/the ML as the crime fighting hero, who's really good at his job even though he's a bit on the weird side.

As it turns out, the FL here is not a love interest, but his twin sister. She was separated with her twin and adopted really young.

This series touches plenty issues like the power hungry officials who seeks not only power but also immortality, doctors/scientist doing anything they want in the name of science, and as usual, the poor and the weak used as collateral damage.

The challenge with stories like this, is how to give it a proper ending. Writers did a good job, it has an open ending though. As the ML said, he will make things right again and he did in the end.

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My First Ever Korean Show ! If you like mind blowing mysteries, this one is for you!

This is the first Korean Drama I watched and I am shook!

I stumbled upon it on Netflix and the trailer had me hooked in minutes.

Going in, I had expected a typical crime or cop drama, but almost instantly you know that this isn't going to be that simple. Namkoong Min's Jung Woo leads a team but for all appearances, he seems to be somewhat careless and mischievous, not goofy. The characters are all mostly very intelligent and the whole reception to that is made as if: of course, they are. Good for them! The intelligence is utilized as they solve cases that look more like scattered puzzle pieces.

A tragedy that happened 28 years ago is resurfacing in various of the team's cases. But the curious thing is no one knows clearly, what happened 28 years ago. The perpetrators are unknown. The victims all appear dead. But nothing is simple or straightforward in this show. And as you get into it, everything seems inexplicably tied to that event. There's a lullaby that keeps being repeated over and over and it's chilling every time you hear it.

I truly loved Do Jung Woo. He was competent, humble, mysterious, cunning, manipulative, caring when the eyes weren't on him, and had a very obvious intelligence that he showcases many times over the show while explaining/teaching his subordinates. His character was very well written and well-executed.

Yoon Sun Woo's Moon Jae Woong appears very unassuming. He sort of creeps up into your notice, first as a ,"Oh, he's there", then it's intriguing, and when you understand, it's "Oh, well, wow"!

Kim Seol Hyun's Gong Hye Won is probably the emotional character on the show and she carries that very well.

The only thing I didn't like was Lee Chung Ah's Jamie Leighton. She was competent and good but I felt her emotions fell a bit flat sometimes.

The storyline is well written and more importantly well portrayed on the screen. You don't want to stop because every little clue makes want more. The chemistry between the teammates is so good and so is their comic timing. It's marvellous how they have managed to straddle the line between light-hearted humour and dark history and ongoing uncovered mysteries and maintained both enough that neither one is overwhelming.

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Pulls the audience right into the story

"Awaken" was a well-made mystery and suspense Korean drama. It follows the story of "Do Jung Woo" (played by Nam Goong Min) and "Gong Hye Won" (played by Kim Seol Hyun) as they try to solve a series of murders tipped by an unknown personality through codes.

The story was carefully laid-out as in each episode there were numerous twists and turns to keep the audience on edge and continually guessing. This also pulled in the audience into joining into solving the ever evolving mysteries.

I also praise the actors and actresses for their superb acting. They did not come to the show as "another character to act", it was evident that they assumed the identity of their characters and lived the way they would if they were real. From being police officers to being ordinary individuals with lives and worries, they successfully invited the audience to a suspension of disbelief the entire sixteen (16) episodes.

The soundtrack was good and were placed in key scenes which created an even greater impact. Finally, the production and directing were top-notch. They did not shy away from picking the right locations, the attires, and the tools needed to present the world of "Awaken".

An overall 9.5 out of 10 stars from me. I highly recommend this show.

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Intriguing Characters & Storyline!

I was very intrigued by the premise of this story with the mystery of the village and the complicated backgrounds of the main cast. The first 8 episodes were really good and kept me on my toes with the cases, but the episodes after that felt somewhat lacking. Some characters that I assumed were main characters were pushed to the sidelines and became weaker than they had been in the beginning. The main issue was the most characters' stories were written quite simply except for the main character, Do Jeong Woo. Other characters started to appear as an accessory to push his own storyline which made it less interesting to watch, though his story is the most interesting and the main plot. Though there were issues with the character development of the other characters, Do Jeong Woo's character was fleshed out very detailedly and NamGoong Min did an excellent job playing the role and delivering the emotions. He really deserved that Daesang.

It was disappointing that this plot and story had so much promise but kind of flatlined towards the halfway point. However, the OST and the superb acting of the leading roles made it worth the watch in the end. I would totally recommend it if you want to watch a drama with an interesting storyline and won't focus much on the character development.

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as expected from a nam goong min drama

9/10, i was actually contemplating to give it 8 but i feel like i'm betraying nam goong min's acting HAHAHHA

i love the concept, i think it was very new and refreshing. i especially love nam goong min's acting, too (is it even a surprise lol). Jung Woo and Hye Won's chemistry (i know this isnt romance but i cant stop myself) is EVERYTHING. i didnt expect for it to click on me that much, like i was literally screaming when they have moments together, no matter few are them. damn.

the other characters are just ok. tho i think it was one of the downside of the drama for me. since this is plot-driven, the other characters weren't focused that much. they did well with jung woo and hye won's character, but it was such a let down that the other kids werent given the same backstory as them. i was really disappointed with jamie's character. i was expecting more from her as the second child, but there's just nothing special with her. even her deduction skill wasnt much for someone who's a former FBI agent. the third child was good at first, but towards the end i feel like he was just abandoned — as well as the fourth one. i just hoped that they tried to give more focus too on the other characters other than Hye Won and Jung Woo.

that being said, the plot is amazing. the concept of immortality and the likes is great. there are pretty questionable parts that i think managed to be overlooked at because of the fantasy tag. the mix of science fiction and fantasy is just good for me. there are some unneccessary parts (product placements i'm looking at you) but it didnt really affected my enjoyment. it was very decent thriller, scifi and fantasy. and since nam goong min is here, i'm sure you wont regret it.

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Interesting plot, uninteresting characters

When you have a title that is this ambitious, it's hard to not compare Awaken to the ones that came before, and in my opinion, Awaken falls short.

Episodes 1-6

The plot itself is interesting. The story makes you not only wonder who are the good and bad guys, but also wonder if there are any good guys at all. The first 6 episodes are easily the most cohesive part of the drama. Even though you don't have a lot of answers, the writer feeds you enough to keep you engaged in the story. Since you don't know much about the characters, you actually care about them as they discover things at the same time as you. You never know if a character knowing certain information is actually good for "the good guys" because you're still unsure about their motivations and goals. Episodes 1-6 are done so well to keep you from discovering this and yet being interested, that even if you're not totally interested in watching this, I highly recommend you to watch ep 1-6 and then eps 15-16.

Episodes 8-16 (What happened to the characters?)

It's not about character development. Or is it? I don't actually mind when people turn evil in dramas, or if a bad guy has a change of heart. My problem with this drama is that apart from the main lead... no one does anything... like... mentally. One person has no moral compass, which is ok, but that's the only thing about her personality, another discover things that would make any normal being go nuts(which is basically her entire premise), and yet she has the same bare face all the time. I honestly thought that there was more to this than it was shown, but no, the drama ended and she's still showing that same face. And I honestly can't blame the actress because this is 100% the writer's fault. It's almost as she was forced to write that character. You could easily write the entire drama without her. She doesn't go under any development other than accepting that this is by NO MEANS a ROMANCE DRAMA. After all that happens, the character still got the nerve to say that "it's not too late". Jaime becomes just a side character after the second half, and I honestly don't like the supporting detectives who are too dumb to be working with the special team...even when there's no special team... if you know what I mean. There's one character who at the end could do some serious damage to "The Foundation" but in the beginning, was just a geeky character for was to laugh off. I mean, when did this guy become such a tech-head? We never see any sign of him hiding his intelligence. And even when that happens it was just for that scene and that scene alone. I honestly don't like when writers just create characters like that to help in just one situation because they don't have any other option. And the funniest part about this is the fact that this scene alone wouldn't need to exist because of what happened in the end (and was the main lead IDEA RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING). Oh, right, you need to have these two characters to do something in end, right? Ok then.



The bad - The Villains

Remember when I said that one of the interesting points of this drama was the fact that you didn't know who the bad guys were? Yeah, about that..... After some point, there are so many bad characters that the focus of the drama gets lost. I don't mind bad people taking on bad people, but the writer clearly used this to make a bigger and more evil enemy at the end (which fails by the way because you can easily guess what will happen way before the revelation). With so many bad figures in the drama, the "good guys" are obviously split into small side missions that have very little to the story itself, and that takes me to the good part of the story...


The good - The Music and Nam Goong Min

Nam Goong Min is one of the best actors working today, not only because of his acting skill but also because he knows how to pick a drama. Just go see his past works and you noticed how diversified they are and he nails in every single one of them. I will def check his next work as I will do the same for the actress who plays "Jamie". The music is amazing. Both the sounds created for the atmosphere in what happened 28 years ago to the suspense one whenever stuff goes down for the good guys. Visual effects were also good but the music takes the spotlight here.


Final Considerations

Awaken is a drama that falls short of other crime/thriller that we have seen in the few years. The lack of good side characters makes any time that one or two actually good characters aren't on screen painfully to watch, but it's delivered a good ending that makes sense using the rules it created. But the lack of characters makes me put it in a bar below its predecessors. It's interesting enough to keep you watching but makes you have no emotional attachment to the characters, especially everyone who isn't the main lead. Jaime is an interesting character in the beginning but then becomes another pawn in the story. In the end, you feel like the main lead could've solved everything by himself, which is kind of what happened here. Go watch Life on Mars if you haven't seen it.

PS. the relationship between the main lead and Woo Hyun is probably the best thing about this drama.

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Watch for Namgoong Min

This is a scifi drama so you need to adjust your viewing lens to enjoy this.

Likes
1. Of course Namgoong Min
2. I thought the premise was interesting, i loved the reveals about the night of tragedy, the relationship between Jamie and Jung Woo, the reason for the lab.
3. I like the Jungwoo's team and my favorite is Old Man!
4. Ending was a little underwhelming though at least the baddies all got what they deserved. I preferred a different ending for Jung Woo but it's good enough.

Dislikes
1. Several plotholes, lots of unexplained history and facts since we don't have time to fully setup the characters and story so need to accept them as they are or else you will hate this drama. While watching I kept asking "why?" "how?" but I didn't let it spoil my mood - i just enjoyed the ride since I wanted to know the ending.
2. Only Jungwoo and Hyewon were interesting, Jamie's character could have been better considering she is one of the leads.

I don't have a lot of comments because I don't want to spoil the story. I think this is worth watching at least once esp for NGM fans or if you like scifi.

Rating: 8.5/10 (8 for the story + 0.5 because of NGM)

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Despite the flaws, I personally loved this drama. Yes there could have been a lot more progression earlier on but I was just hooked in this the moment I started. The writer have written a group of strong characters partnered with capable actors in this drama. Where it falls through for me is the development for the most of them. There was so much potential for this to have been an excellent drama. It is already brilliant for what it is, but the potential of the first 4 episodes and the last episode further sheds some look into what more this could have been.

The romance between the characters, if we can even call it that, was a nice complement with the rest of the story at the start however it was clear later on that this was not going to progress into how it seemed to have looked earlier on. Again, could have been explosive but the reveal of the secret was flat to say the least. I was expecting there to have more angst in that regards but it was again obvious there was a lot more that needed addressing.

Overall, disappointing in some aspects but it was great overall. Every episode of this just flew by and despite things not always turning out to be as satisfying, every episode just flowed really smoothly. Each hour felt too short.

Looking at the ending, it has a potential for a season 2 especially with such a change in the atmosphere in the drama. But then thinking back to the main plot, there's nothing else that can defend a season 2 from that point of view. But again with how they put so much importance on the team's bond, I can see a season 2 ensemble focused drama, hopefully with actual romance there lol.

I really loved the cast especially Jamie and Jaewoong together. I also liked the reporter. Plus the OST, I wish they had more opportunity to have used it in the drama.

It made me feel so impatient waiting for this every week but I also enjoyed watching the episodes as they came.

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A NGM one man show ?

Well. Let's agree that all the ingredients were here to make an amazing show. Potential romance, mystery, great cast overall, very Interesting and sad story, superpowers etc...But delicious ingredients mixed up don't make a dish necessarily great.

I must admit, I was clearly hyped. This drama could have been the best show of this year but can't help to feel disappointed. I think it was very ambitious to begin with and if there is no season 2, it would have been a waste of a 10/10 show.

Negative things
- Some people can find the plot lacking.
- many interesting characters and actors deserved more spotlight or to be more useful.
-The show is too NGM dependant. If not his cool vibe of a smart officer and attitude, the show would not be interesting.
- The 2nd part of the drama was dragging. The vilain was not strong enough to be entertaining unlike the first one.
-Could have been a kind of Korean "X-Men" with this ambition but took the easy route.

Positive things
-The show was entertaining enough to be worth watching and easy to watch
- NGM and the scientific lady (of wnv) charisma
-The cast overall is quite good
-The story and music are very good.
- The end was satisfying
- No kissing scene or stuff like that but you can use your own imagination and guess that they might be one, either in a season 2 or in your dreams ;).
-The hope of a season 2 is there.

Watch it without hesitating but don't hold too much on the hype.

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First of all, I really enjoyed watching this drama, particularly because the plot was amazing and really easy to follow even though it was surrounded by a lot (and I mean A LOT!!!) of mystery which makes it really easy for the viewers to get hooked on the story, especially if you're a thriller kinda person (If thrillers aren't your thing, this might not be for you).
When it comes to the casting, the cast was all of great quality but I do have to give special props to Min Nam-Goong who I've been a massive fan of for years now and I really did enjoy the way he was able to portray his character perfectly.
With this, I do have to point out that I wasn't expecting to get hooked on this drama at the beginning because the first few episodes were a little slow-paced for my taste and I was feeling it would be a boring show, but I kept watching it, and it got way more interesting and believe me, it's real easy to get hooked on it. Aside from this, I'd also like to tell you that this show is not like any other crime-related K-drama. Usually, you know who's the good guy and who's the bad guy. Here, everything is so mixed up that you don't really realize who's the good guy and who's not.

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