Tae Ho
In the shining galaxy of A.N.JELL, Bangtan Sonyeondan & CNBLUE
You are definitely going in for a treat, especially if you have not seen the US original show. Initially, I was conflicted to start this show because of the rating, but I gave the first episode a chance anyway because I wanted to see Lee Joon Gi in something else (the first of anything I have seen him in was My Girl (2005), so this was a major glow up of him for me). To my surprise, the first episode was impressionable (more specifically the first two minutes opening) and it did hook me enough to make me feel curious about the rest of it.
In terms of the cases, I do find that they have picked the most unique and interesting cases in this drama so I did find myself very invested in the villain's acting more than the lead characters' acting most times. The most memorable villains to me were Jo Han Chul, Jung Tae Woo and Kim Won Hae and I might pick the episodes they appeared in to rewatch although those can be pretty gruesome because they are such amazing show stealers!
Although the cases were primarily interesting enough, there seem to be some noticeable problems in the editing room. For instance, in multiple episodes, the transition from the ending of a case to the next especially when it happens midway the episode instead of as an ending cliffhanger was rather awkward. For instance, in one of the later episodes, the case was frustratingly not properly concluded, and the scene just moved on suddenly to a rather jovial Nana Hwang in the office inviting her colleagues for a drink.
This scene could have been added to show off some camaraderie between the team members, but it was awkwardly placed, and very far off or little in-between. There was also some interesting backstories with the character Ha Sun Woo (the FL), but at the end of it, we are not sure if those were the only issues that made her character so cold/frozen in demeanour. Likewise, contrary to some viewers who thought the actors who played Lee Han and Nana Hwang were trying too hard to be quirky, I didn't find them that way at all, in fact, I really liked them for they are all so competent at what they do. The only problem here is that these characters were not given enough screen time to develop their personalities more and make them more engaging outside of their investigative roles.
Team Leader Kang and his subordinates are a great team, but I also understand when other viewers say they wished we managed to see more of Kang Ki Hyung-Kim Hyun Joon bromance beyond their supervisor-subordinate relationship, something like what WATCHER has given us in the relationship between Do Gi Kwang and Kim Young Goon. I also read somewhere that Lee Joon Gi's character in this remake is an addition to the original, so that may explain why some people find the character of team leader Kang a bit stiff/boring, since most of the kickass scenes were carried out by Lee Joon Gi himself (not that there were many of it). I also respected that the writer/director did not explore a deeper relationship between Kim Hyun Joon and Ha Sun Woo here, but I wished we at least got to see more of their friendship and not just some work-related stiffness. Well, the reason I get her character is that there are female investigators out there in real life who's demeanours are as stiff as a rock exactly the way she portrayed here or in the original, but I am not sure if that worked in favour of this drama given her character came out rather flat and largely uninteresting. Lee Sun Bin is a great actress, and more than just a very beautiful face; there's a specific episode here which proved that.
There were two directors actually for this drama and PD Lee quit before the first episode airing so the remaining of the show was directed by PD Yang. We are not sure at which episode of the drama did he quit, but many viewers seemed to note that the quality of the directing may have improved from episode 3 onwards. Nevertheless, I cannot testify to this, because the problematic transitional scene editing I mentioned above actually happened way later, in episode 15. But the middle part definitely had the most interesting cases in the entire series.
All in all, the more favourable reviews most likely came from viewers who have not seen the original, and the least favourable ones came from those who have. This show definitely had its multiple glaring flaws mainly of its lack of leads character development, the rushed process of criminal profiling itself (or some very rushed case's conclusion), the lack of showmanship of team members' chemistry as well as the miscalculated editing for some transitional scenes. That being said, these, in my opinion, were most likely issues with the episodes constraint, as they finished the entire drama in only 20 episodes, and many things felt rushed and could have been given more space to be explored properly had it was given more screen time, say at least 24 episodes or more. If only there were more episodes to this, I am sure THE FINALE SHOWDOWN COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER.
This is the first drama where I seemed to have picked up on the difference between the writing vs. directing of a drama, maybe hugely because this is a remake. My entire reviews to-date have noted more on the writing, but this drama seemed to have more noticeable flaws in the directing side. Therefore the marks I deducted off the story is actually for the directing, not writing.
However, definitely a drama worth the watch, because the great things that kept a viewer engaged were enough to make the viewing experience redeemable, bearing its obvious flaws. I leave the overall score very high because I remember really liking Hello Monster a lot as an overall story, but the crime part there was just not dark enough, and the cases here had the kind of brutality (read: realness and impact) that I like in a police-procedural series, so I favour this drama a lot in that sense of comparison. In all seriousness, the cases are really great though again, some profiling here felt rushed or appeared out-of-nowhere, but definitely a good homage to the US show, so all props to the scriptwriter of the original series!
In terms of the cases, I do find that they have picked the most unique and interesting cases in this drama so I did find myself very invested in the villain's acting more than the lead characters' acting most times. The most memorable villains to me were Jo Han Chul, Jung Tae Woo and Kim Won Hae and I might pick the episodes they appeared in to rewatch although those can be pretty gruesome because they are such amazing show stealers!
Although the cases were primarily interesting enough, there seem to be some noticeable problems in the editing room. For instance, in multiple episodes, the transition from the ending of a case to the next especially when it happens midway the episode instead of as an ending cliffhanger was rather awkward. For instance, in one of the later episodes, the case was frustratingly not properly concluded, and the scene just moved on suddenly to a rather jovial Nana Hwang in the office inviting her colleagues for a drink.
This scene could have been added to show off some camaraderie between the team members, but it was awkwardly placed, and very far off or little in-between. There was also some interesting backstories with the character Ha Sun Woo (the FL), but at the end of it, we are not sure if those were the only issues that made her character so cold/frozen in demeanour. Likewise, contrary to some viewers who thought the actors who played Lee Han and Nana Hwang were trying too hard to be quirky, I didn't find them that way at all, in fact, I really liked them for they are all so competent at what they do. The only problem here is that these characters were not given enough screen time to develop their personalities more and make them more engaging outside of their investigative roles.
Team Leader Kang and his subordinates are a great team, but I also understand when other viewers say they wished we managed to see more of Kang Ki Hyung-Kim Hyun Joon bromance beyond their supervisor-subordinate relationship, something like what WATCHER has given us in the relationship between Do Gi Kwang and Kim Young Goon. I also read somewhere that Lee Joon Gi's character in this remake is an addition to the original, so that may explain why some people find the character of team leader Kang a bit stiff/boring, since most of the kickass scenes were carried out by Lee Joon Gi himself (not that there were many of it). I also respected that the writer/director did not explore a deeper relationship between Kim Hyun Joon and Ha Sun Woo here, but I wished we at least got to see more of their friendship and not just some work-related stiffness. Well, the reason I get her character is that there are female investigators out there in real life who's demeanours are as stiff as a rock exactly the way she portrayed here or in the original, but I am not sure if that worked in favour of this drama given her character came out rather flat and largely uninteresting. Lee Sun Bin is a great actress, and more than just a very beautiful face; there's a specific episode here which proved that.
There were two directors actually for this drama and PD Lee quit before the first episode airing so the remaining of the show was directed by PD Yang. We are not sure at which episode of the drama did he quit, but many viewers seemed to note that the quality of the directing may have improved from episode 3 onwards. Nevertheless, I cannot testify to this, because the problematic transitional scene editing I mentioned above actually happened way later, in episode 15. But the middle part definitely had the most interesting cases in the entire series.
All in all, the more favourable reviews most likely came from viewers who have not seen the original, and the least favourable ones came from those who have. This show definitely had its multiple glaring flaws mainly of its lack of leads character development, the rushed process of criminal profiling itself (or some very rushed case's conclusion), the lack of showmanship of team members' chemistry as well as the miscalculated editing for some transitional scenes. That being said, these, in my opinion, were most likely issues with the episodes constraint, as they finished the entire drama in only 20 episodes, and many things felt rushed and could have been given more space to be explored properly had it was given more screen time, say at least 24 episodes or more. If only there were more episodes to this, I am sure THE FINALE SHOWDOWN COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER.
This is the first drama where I seemed to have picked up on the difference between the writing vs. directing of a drama, maybe hugely because this is a remake. My entire reviews to-date have noted more on the writing, but this drama seemed to have more noticeable flaws in the directing side. Therefore the marks I deducted off the story is actually for the directing, not writing.
However, definitely a drama worth the watch, because the great things that kept a viewer engaged were enough to make the viewing experience redeemable, bearing its obvious flaws. I leave the overall score very high because I remember really liking Hello Monster a lot as an overall story, but the crime part there was just not dark enough, and the cases here had the kind of brutality (read: realness and impact) that I like in a police-procedural series, so I favour this drama a lot in that sense of comparison. In all seriousness, the cases are really great though again, some profiling here felt rushed or appeared out-of-nowhere, but definitely a good homage to the US show, so all props to the scriptwriter of the original series!
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