Predictions and Hopes

Let's fill in the time before the next season is officially announce and discuss what can happen (and what we hope may happen) since this next one will likely be the last season

Prediction: I believe we are heading to America for season 5. In season 2 they mentioned Japan several times because of do kang who's past and eventually in season 3 we ended up in Japan for the first few episodes. I think since the writer visited America to gather content and because we have an entire team from LAPD + Fabre labs being in california, this may be where we are headed. I also predict that the final season will link all of the villains to Fabre. So far bang je soo and kaneki are linked and with do bang min it is a strong possibility. Mo tae gu remains a mystery. I think he's linked too and that the doctor who arranged his death was a part of it as well. I think that would be really epic, showing us how everything comes together like pieces of a puzzle. 

Hopes: I hope we get a small cameo from jang hyuk as moo jin hyuk. Maybe they can show him helping the team for an episode or two? I'm also hoping to see a confirmation of team leader do being alive. If you see the last few minutes of season 3, the scene in which do kang woo is standing in a place unknown, many viewers assumed it was the afterlife. Atleast that's what I had heard from reviews before I started watching the show. But when I did watch the final episode I noticed how the landscape was strange and couldn't be an "afterlife" scene. There are street lamps, power cables, even the corner of a sign post. And it's not like these details are far away in the background. We seem them very clearly and very much right in our faces. I'm pretty sure the makers of a hit show like Voice could have easily found a place or shot the scene in a way without all of these signs of civilisation being visible. Then there's the presence of his scar. I mean most of the time afterlife scenes dont have characters carrying scars they had while alive. If there's one thing I noticed in voice is that everything in a scene has a purpose to it. Nothing is captured without reason. The makers Wanted us to see the cables, the street lights and sign board. So I'm hoping that kang centre finds do kang woo in America. We know his treatment was possible there. Again,  why mention the possibility of treatment if they meant to kill him off? They could have easily shown that no treatment was possible and that is why death would be the only escape for do kang woo. I'm not including this in prediction because this is a scenario I'm hopeful may happen but if scheduling conflicts happen it may not happen. But here's to hoping 

 Patty Koztowski:

Someone has the same thought as me. Kang-Woo is alive, at least for me. And I'll show you why I think of this possibility:

- The gunshot. It would have gone through the skull, and the blood would leak to the other side;

- He promised to Na Hong-Soo that he would do the treatment in the America;

-  And after everthing, they all seem too calm after his death. And he didn't even have a funeral... And the last scene, in the "beyond... too strange.

I'm sure everyone will meet in America. Do Kang-Woo in treatment, Moo Jin-Hyuk with his son, Kang Kwon Joo with Fabre, and Derick Cho with the L.A.P.D.

Apparently a scene was shot where they showed kang centre standing in front of a memorial/grave dedicated to do kang woo but was then cut out due to "time constraints" (or so they say). My point is that even if there were time constraints, then why not add the scene to season 4 as a flashback? Why continue to keep do kang woo's apparent death shrouded in so much mystery? 

Also head shots don't even necessarily mean death. My point is that it's entirely possible that even though the makers had originally planned to end do kang woo's character, the backlash from the netizens was so great that the makers decided to keep things as vague as possible so that they can bring do kang woo back easily. It's not unheard of to bring back a character on the demand of the audience.

I feel like the makers have an excellent opportunity here to end the series with an excellent finale by bringing back prominent previous characters. Especially do kang woo given his chemistry with kang centre. It's not even like lee jin wook is particularly busy since his drama bulgassal is airing and is hence done shooting . We don't know whether he'll be back in sweet home season 2 or not so if the makers have plans to air season 5 this year, this is the best time to rope him in.

Even a 5min scene just to show us that he's alive would be more than enough if they want to keep the focus on Derek cho. But in my honest opinion, SSH wasn't meant for a series as intense as voice. He worked hard there's no denying that, but some actors fit a certain kind of drama and some can fit any kind of character. SSH isn't the latter. He lacks the intensity of the previous two leads. Just like season 4 lacked the darkness and breathless anticipation of the previous 3 seasons.

 Echoineternity:

Just like season 4 lacked the darkness and breathless anticipation of the previous 3 seasons.

The one who was intense and dark in S4 was the chameleon SML with his hyperflexibility and identity disorder. That is what made it special-he was an antagonist but one that, unlike S1, you could understand better and feel pity for seeing them unravel the hellish background. The other reason I think they chose someone more normal for the partner was because KANG was dealing with all the aftermath of the Lee Jin Wook arc.  The show's really methodical in balancing the intensity of characters and circumstances. The criminal was a hellish custom kettlebell wielder in S1 and Kang and Jang Hyuk's characters were balanced. S2-3 had a turbulent ML/partner and Kang was empathetic and supportive, the main bad guy calm and collected seeming. S4 had Kang being in a bad situation AND a very chaotic mess of a villain who really was the central figure. The partner had a background of having to prove himself above and beyond in a racist hellhole (LA may have a quarter of a million Koreans, but it's not much kinder to them than places in the deep south, food enthusiasts aside) but still had quite a temper and his own issues to deal with that making his character overly intense, let alone dark, UPFRONT (he proved to have his own set of problems) would be pushing it a bit beyond the level where you could even beg for a productive team to form even with 50 hours of content, at least believably even within a drama's context. He had to be the standoffish 'carry my issues quietly' guy who was still protective and realized what the SK team had endured, etc.

The crazy situation on the island was where S4's real intensity was placed, and I loved it (but I love psychological thrillers more than regular crime thrillers overall though they're harder to find really great villains for). S1 was great because of both Hyuk and the villain being hellish while also being crazy sexy and having power/commanding respect from others. All the Voice villains (and "maybe a villain but being the lead probably means no?") have a certain charm/lure to them whether it's a hot sexy rich/powerful guy like S1, handsome and crazy partner in S2-3 maybe being a murderer while the bad guys were calm, controlled, and gained trust easily-a charm that makes people stop being wary of them... then S4 had the duality of the sweet friendly, soft-spoken, gentle and universally-trusted guy, the vicious monster, and the hyperflexible gender dysmorphic 'other Kang Kwon Joo' packed into one fellow which is honestly my fave-but I love the actor, too, in all his roles-I would've said LJW is my fave bc he looks like my spouse did when we were younger so I am contractually obligated to love him-and the psychological torment did a good job of tugging at my old lady heart)... they've had some staff who have had issues or BEEN issues on teams, too.

It's like the writers and director have a point system and look to have both episode-to-episode (more on the director's shoulders there to decide how long and intense any given scene will be/what to focus on more/less) but more importantly a sort of overall tally, like formulating this is their equivalent of crafting all the characters for a huge RPG to ultimately have the right amount of physical toughness (Song Seung Heon is the toughest by a long shot visually even though Hyuk is physically stronger from boxing etc; Lee Jin Wook's not as tough but was savvier), brains on both good and evil side, charisma totals, hurdles to overcome, near-losses with tough victories, etc.-It might be the single most formulaic show I've seen that managed to stay legitimately solid.  (Plenty of crime shows are formulaic, esp. multi-season ones; lots of medical shows, too, are, though Japan is better at making those quirky enough to last more than a couple seasons without making whole new stories. SK tends to build on the prior but have whole new stories like Voice, Partners In Justice [where S2 was mostly an improvement over 1] or medic drama masterpiece Dr. Romantic Teacher Kim, Hospital Playlist just a different format and feel pretty unique to that writer.) As long as they make the story independent enough from the other seasons-which is TOTALLY possible without people knowing all the backstories but obviously way better if you've been along the whole time!-I'd love to have a massive reunion of sorts... though it would mean Lee Ha Na is (possibly "finally" for her, who knows) moving on to other adventures and retiring Kang Center-nim. At least they kept the golden rule of good sequels, the main character and enough supporting ones staying the same. That's why it's held together so well (and why I'll never understand people JUST watching this or that season when there's so much backstory-goes for every seasonal show I watch, though, that ties them together at all-plenty don't, but most that don't are webseries basically just using the same name and throwing diff love stories of young people together with the same format). :)

 Jerome Lim:

Where can I watch the first show Voice (2017) with 16 episodes instead of only 2? Thank you.

Legally, it's on Amazon Prime Video, Viu (VPNs work with Viu for free programs), and some regions of Viki  and IQIYI (not N. Am for those last two, though). If you go into edit this page->services, you can see links to where it streams (some won't be on the home page depending on where your IP address is located).