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This review may contain spoilers
Is Everyone Dead Yet?
An interesting premise for the action killer genre helped out by the good actors but without a clear view of its identity.
The in-media-res approach rarely works for me and had I known so much of this show is flashbacks I might not even have started his one, so the first three episodes were a bit tough to get through. I very much enjoyed the 4th and 5th episodes before 6 kind of disappointed again even though I was waiting for the uncle's past to be revealed the most. My main reason for checking this out was after all Lee Dong Wook playing a psychologically struggling character again.
The twists, both the mid season and the end were very predictable, so this thriller feeling people are saying Season 2 doesn't have did not even come up for me here. It's a brutal action show more than a brutal thriller.
*Spoilers Start Here*
Which brings us to the action. Min-hye's action scenes were the best followed by Jian's fun training with Pasin and then Pasin's fight against the twins. The Jianman and Bale confrontation was alright, but overall the action scenes were rather short-lived, which is realistic but is that what this show needs when people keep surviving mortal injuries? Doubtful.
I expected more from the one-place-setting given it has been pointed out by commenters and reviewers. At the end of the season the house does not truly feel all that compelling, especially because it does not appear as a fortress in two out of eight episodes. The flashbacks turn the uniqueness of the present-setting obsolete and the secrets Jinman stored away within end up being minimal.
It's not a bad show, but it fails to play to its strengths. The most compelling elements were the tragic relationships, yet there's not enough room to let them breathe. Jinman returning in the last few seconds didn't feel earned, but rather like a way to use him again if a second season would be made and eventually was made. The viewer knows he isn't dead the second the camera didn't show his death, but given the whole setup is about Jian becoming the store owner and either leaving or committing to this life, Jinman's lackluster return ends up feeling antithetical to her story.
The in-media-res approach rarely works for me and had I known so much of this show is flashbacks I might not even have started his one, so the first three episodes were a bit tough to get through. I very much enjoyed the 4th and 5th episodes before 6 kind of disappointed again even though I was waiting for the uncle's past to be revealed the most. My main reason for checking this out was after all Lee Dong Wook playing a psychologically struggling character again.
The twists, both the mid season and the end were very predictable, so this thriller feeling people are saying Season 2 doesn't have did not even come up for me here. It's a brutal action show more than a brutal thriller.
*Spoilers Start Here*
Which brings us to the action. Min-hye's action scenes were the best followed by Jian's fun training with Pasin and then Pasin's fight against the twins. The Jianman and Bale confrontation was alright, but overall the action scenes were rather short-lived, which is realistic but is that what this show needs when people keep surviving mortal injuries? Doubtful.
I expected more from the one-place-setting given it has been pointed out by commenters and reviewers. At the end of the season the house does not truly feel all that compelling, especially because it does not appear as a fortress in two out of eight episodes. The flashbacks turn the uniqueness of the present-setting obsolete and the secrets Jinman stored away within end up being minimal.
It's not a bad show, but it fails to play to its strengths. The most compelling elements were the tragic relationships, yet there's not enough room to let them breathe. Jinman returning in the last few seconds didn't feel earned, but rather like a way to use him again if a second season would be made and eventually was made. The viewer knows he isn't dead the second the camera didn't show his death, but given the whole setup is about Jian becoming the store owner and either leaving or committing to this life, Jinman's lackluster return ends up feeling antithetical to her story.
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