Connection (2024)

BOM DRAMA, MAS COM FALHA DE CONTINUIDADE…

Nota: O profissional de continuidade, também conhecido como supervisor de script, tem a função de garantir que os detalhes visuais e narrativos permaneçam consistentes ao longo das filmagens de um drama ou filme.

O drama teve uma boa escalação de elenco e um bom dinamismo em seus quatorze episódios. Temos que elogiar a escalação do elenco adolescente, que tem fisionomias muito parecidas com seus correspondentes adultos. A morte do garoto espancado e queimado foi o “efeito borboleta” de todos os envolvidos, direta e indiretamente.

Sobre a falha de continuidade mencionada no título da resenha: em um dos últimos episódios, o presidente confronta Tae Jin e diz que sabia que ele traficava drogas. Tae Jin ficou em choque ao saber que o presidente estava ciente. Contudo, nas cenas finais do episódio final, fica evidente que o presidente sabia que o promotor era um traficante e o promotor sabia que o presidente sabia há muito tempo antes, tanto que confabularam para matar Jun Seo.

Outra coisa que me deixou perplexo foi eles comemorarem a descoberta da senha verdadeira e do dinheiro que ganharam, mas o dinheiro em questão não era proveniente do tráfico de drogas que Tae Jin e Jun Seo iniciaram?

Enfim, não vou detalhar mais. Bom drama e seguimos para o próximo.

Read More

Solid Cop Drama Elevated by Exceptional Acting

The title really says it all.

The story was good. Not terribly new or original. As someone who was in high school when 24 was originally airing, this made me remember the season when Jack Bauer accidentally got addicted when he was undercover in a cartel. That aside, some aspects of the drug world and drug addiction felt very off to me. Like something between an overwrought after school special and a simple lack of factual information. It sounds strange to say that I felt like the drama was sometimes forgoing story for an attempt at educating civilians on the damaging nature of drug addiction. But it missed the mark a little because some aspects of drug addiction and the world of drug dealers felt a little inaccurate.

That said, most of the time I could dismiss all that with a "this is a fictional drug, mostly, and thus they can make it do whatever they want" and that's fine, too.

The real highlight here was Ji Sung, who is incapable of underperforming, it seems. Watching him in The Devil Judge finally made me understand what they mean when they talk able having "presence." That's not a large man, but he fills the entire room.

His depiction of a forcibly drug addicted cop was, frankly, incredible. In this regard, the drama was spot on. His constant, intense struggle was very true to the nature of addiction. The expression on his face when he was held down and given a hit said it all; combined anger, relief, sorrow, guilt, and finally pleasure.

This is somewhat of a mixed bag for me. The story was good, but not incredible. The premise lacked the backing of realism, thus its drama and impact were kind of diminished. But the characters and the actors were really, really great. I'd rewatch this just for the characters. In truth, I'd rewatch this just for Ji Sung's performance.

Read More

Watching this one instead of rewatching the devil judge

this one sits at the same table with beyond evil for me, they are making me dislike the genre of thriller and i blame the audience for that. who labeled these two as the best mystery thriller?

its boring 90% of the time and the reveals are so underwhelming. like even jisungs character, while being drugged and grieving his ex bestie, figured out the plot in the first episodes... this just shows how predictable the whole show is. ive skipped so many scenes i should be guilty of fraud for putting this in the completed drama list... it was really enjoyable at first, until ep 8 maybe, but then it became a burden to watch, if it was 16 episodes i would have already dropped it but i was too far into the show to stop... the worst thing is that nOTHing new happened in the last episodes, like nothing felt like a shock if only for the detective bestie taking the fall for jisung character and the villain getting killed like that out of nowhere. that was shocking tbh. but even all of that only happened in the last episode... overall, hated the unnecessary scenes that made this drama unnecessarily longer than it needed to, hated most of the characters, none of the friendships felt real to the point of absurdity, the lack of romance is the only thing i would praise this drama for but even that is just bc i kinda disliked the FL.

Read More

Masterpiece

Connection is the story of Jae Kyung. He is an ace detective who is hell-bent on his job and does not allow even the slightest emotion to come between his work. The wall of his room has been burdened with his past which is a clue to the secret the man has been carrying within him. His strong conviction takes a pitfall when his twenty-year connections with friends and foes question him about his own choices.
Being a huge fan of Ji Sung, this story has been my must-watch ever since its announcement. He brings nuances into his psychologically strained character making them intriguing. As the story keeps on going past while tackling issues of the present, suspense builds around what happened twenty years ago. Helmed by the man behind "Lovers of the Red Sky", a connection has severe darkness etched throughout. The character Yoon Jin portrayed by Mi Do is another mystery to be read along. Her Yoon Jin also bears a big baggage like Jae Kyung. The upright and assertive she is gets clouded by an unfair dismissal.
The task of a writer involves giving space and breakages to every character which builds a story. The way past and present clashes help in intensifying the connection between leads throughout. The use of black and white color outfits works as the element to exhibit what those cloth wearers are feeling inside. There is no color left in their lives. The drinking scene at the beginning where Jae Kyung mostly stays silent and only pours a drink to everyone describes his social ineptness.

The biggest element of a crime thriller is to maintain the pace. Director Moon Kyo did a terrific job of keeping the motion strong while bringing unprecedented twists with each scene. The gap between the present and past is what this connection is about.

Read More

Best thriller airing right now

Omg I was just holding my breath till the end of the second episode. what a fast paced series.. with lots of suspense and everytime leave us in a cliffhanger. Not to mention the acting, we all know the leads and their extraordinary performance. Ji sung my fav..
From the 1st two episodes, we can see friendship, revenge, love, death, investigation, fight and everything. This is a complete pack.
The plot also seems new to me. A detective from the narcotics team (jang jae- he is the main lead) who, after being forcibly addicted to drugs by some illegal drug dealers, finds unexpected turns in his life. And at the same time, his old friend commits suicide which he believes as a murder. The main plot twist is that, his dead friend left 5 million dollar worth insurance money to both our main leads jung jae and oh yun ( btw they were not so close to give them 5 million dollars lol). it's suspicious. Now our officer has many things to unfold, like.. the drug dealer, the murderer, and also the reason for his friend to take a life insurance worth 5 million dollars, all while hiding his addiction from everyone. The answer to the questions is all connected.
It's interesting to me atleast. But I can guarantee you.. you will all wonder what will happen next.. for sure
So go and watch this masterpiece

Read More

Who is the Doctor?

This is a good crime drama with a well-written plot and characters. The overlap between characters flows nicely, so it does not feel forced. The pacing is also smooth and well-controlled, preventing the series from feeling slow or boring as the audience learns new things and sees developments in each episode. To me, this is an A series; I give it a 9.

I assume I'm not dropping spoilers since what I'm writing here is my guess, as this crime drama plays with a detective theme. To answer my headline question, I'm guessing the 'real' or the 'first' doctor is already dead. Now, who is playing the 'Doctor'? (whom I call the new Doctor). The new Doctor seems to care more about money above all, rather than maintaining control and power. It could be the prosecutor, the widow, the loyal secretary, or the narcotics chief.

While from enemy to friend story is cute and heartwarming, friend turning into an enemy is devastating. In this crime drama, I particularly enjoy the exploration of a friend becoming an enemy, as in this story, they were classmates in high school.

Lastly, Jae Kyung seems to be one step behind. Although it's a bit blurry, someone appears to be reading his moves. Let's see if the writer or director isn't too shy to push this narrative. I believe someone in the Narcotics Team is involved, my bet is on the lady boss. If it's not her, then the head of the Anhyeon Police Station might have something to do with it.

Final note: I understand that it takes a really smart writer to pull off a crime detective story where the culprit is someone close and well-known to everyone. It requires well-crafted settings to cover the tracks without flaws. Otherwise, it will result in plot holes. It would be safer if the writer used a side character, who the main lead is not very close to, as the main culprit.

So, let's see!!!

Read More