ltspada
This review may contain spoilers
If you are not focused just on the romance, it is a great supernatural series
9/10 is my rating. This is a 2024 South Korean Dark Fantasy, Action Legal thriller. With 14, 60-73 minute episodes.
First I provide a unique synopsis then a review
Synopsis
Judge Kang Bit-na (Park Shin-hye) is mysteriously stanbed to death in a park and erroneously winds up before Hell’s judge, Justitia (Oh Na-ra). Justitia does not like humans nor does she feel any empathy for the murder victim who was before her by accident so she sends her to hell. This angers Bael (Shin Sun-rok), a major demon who is essentially second in charge of Hell. To punish her, Bael forces her to inhabit Kang Bit-na’s body and identify ten evil amd remorseless sinners who do not get full punishment through the justice system and send them to hell. eternal punishment. She only has one year or her existence will be snuffed out by Bael. During the course of serving as a human judge, Justitia/Bit-na encounter Han Da-on (Kim Jae-young) a violent crimes detective, who becomes suspicious of the judge when he notices many of those who appear before her meet an early demise.
Review
This was a fresh take on sins and judgements and the role of supernatural characters such as demons and angels. It reminded me of a book series I read by Piers Anthony "Incarnations of Immortality" where every role, God, Satan, Grim Reaper were just jobs. I found the Hell's judgement aspect of this series very interesting. Who wouldn't like to think that those truly evil among us might experience an "eye for an eye" type punishment. It was entertaining throughout. Well-acted. And ended reasonably well. I might watch it again and highly recommend it to fans of the genre. It's not as strong in terms of the romance but very strong as a supernatural drama.
Spoilers
Like so many others my main critique was with the romance element. I did not dislike that it had a romance running through it felt like an afterthought in many ways. It would have felt more integrated if the ending had not been so nebulous. Does she love him enough to stay behind and be human or not? I thought the chemistry was fine between the leads but it was just hard, in general, to envision someone so strongly enamored with justice being okay with a partner that is essentially a serial killer. She was just doing her job and wasn't going after anyone that did not deserve it, but the absolute joy she exhibited in carrying out the brutal and grisly punishments was disturbing. It was like a serial killer that found a sanctioned purpose for what they already enjoyed doing. The main guy was so good that pairing him with someone who could kill anyone in that manner was just a hard match up to buy.
It also made no sense why she would be offered the chance to essentially send 10 to hell in exchange for becoming human. What did it benefit hell to grant her such a thing? She would have had to carry out her job whether or not she was rewarded.
They seemed to leave it open for there to be another season. It ended, they were together, but it could be only temporary (three years and she is on her last year when it ends) depending on whether or not she decides to become human. I don't like nebulous ending. I know streaming platforms like to do that so they have the option of additional seasons if it is popular. But it breaks what is great about South Korean shows where you know generally there will be one season. And there isn't this open-ended decision about future seasons or not.
#TheJudgeFromHell. #ParkShinHye #OhNaRa #ShinSunRok #KimJaeYoung
First I provide a unique synopsis then a review
Synopsis
Judge Kang Bit-na (Park Shin-hye) is mysteriously stanbed to death in a park and erroneously winds up before Hell’s judge, Justitia (Oh Na-ra). Justitia does not like humans nor does she feel any empathy for the murder victim who was before her by accident so she sends her to hell. This angers Bael (Shin Sun-rok), a major demon who is essentially second in charge of Hell. To punish her, Bael forces her to inhabit Kang Bit-na’s body and identify ten evil amd remorseless sinners who do not get full punishment through the justice system and send them to hell. eternal punishment. She only has one year or her existence will be snuffed out by Bael. During the course of serving as a human judge, Justitia/Bit-na encounter Han Da-on (Kim Jae-young) a violent crimes detective, who becomes suspicious of the judge when he notices many of those who appear before her meet an early demise.
Review
This was a fresh take on sins and judgements and the role of supernatural characters such as demons and angels. It reminded me of a book series I read by Piers Anthony "Incarnations of Immortality" where every role, God, Satan, Grim Reaper were just jobs. I found the Hell's judgement aspect of this series very interesting. Who wouldn't like to think that those truly evil among us might experience an "eye for an eye" type punishment. It was entertaining throughout. Well-acted. And ended reasonably well. I might watch it again and highly recommend it to fans of the genre. It's not as strong in terms of the romance but very strong as a supernatural drama.
Spoilers
Like so many others my main critique was with the romance element. I did not dislike that it had a romance running through it felt like an afterthought in many ways. It would have felt more integrated if the ending had not been so nebulous. Does she love him enough to stay behind and be human or not? I thought the chemistry was fine between the leads but it was just hard, in general, to envision someone so strongly enamored with justice being okay with a partner that is essentially a serial killer. She was just doing her job and wasn't going after anyone that did not deserve it, but the absolute joy she exhibited in carrying out the brutal and grisly punishments was disturbing. It was like a serial killer that found a sanctioned purpose for what they already enjoyed doing. The main guy was so good that pairing him with someone who could kill anyone in that manner was just a hard match up to buy.
It also made no sense why she would be offered the chance to essentially send 10 to hell in exchange for becoming human. What did it benefit hell to grant her such a thing? She would have had to carry out her job whether or not she was rewarded.
They seemed to leave it open for there to be another season. It ended, they were together, but it could be only temporary (three years and she is on her last year when it ends) depending on whether or not she decides to become human. I don't like nebulous ending. I know streaming platforms like to do that so they have the option of additional seasons if it is popular. But it breaks what is great about South Korean shows where you know generally there will be one season. And there isn't this open-ended decision about future seasons or not.
#TheJudgeFromHell. #ParkShinHye #OhNaRa #ShinSunRok #KimJaeYoung
Was this review helpful to you?
