Wannabe Smart Story

This is my first ever review in this site since I am awfully inactive here only when a series has really gathered my undivided interest that I am actually engaging in here. Also, this review should have been posted in the earlier days or so to say right after I’ve watched the finale but I decided to initially calm my disappointment down in order for me not to demonstrate excessive biaseness with my evaluation.

Almost two weeks have elapsed and my disappointment remains hovering around me thereby this sentiment has to be relieved into a long rant in the guise of an evaluation. Lol.

Here it goes...

The story presented a high potential marvelous series in its initial episodes. It was not only good and promising but it was everything you'll ask for a noir series therefore, I loved it to such degree and held it to high pedestal, which was a huge mistake for as the story advances and reached the second half of the series, it kicked off losing what it has promised to deliver.

My major dilemmas are: 1.) The writers spin the story around Big Mouse, who was introduced as a powerful, fearsome genius conman and a Gang Boss to whom none amongst the non-member of his organisation have seen nor could even distinguish his actual gender. 2.) They teased the viewers so much with Park Chang Ho's high possibility of being the real Big Mouse with how he was initially described as practically a dumb lawyer who's incompetent enough to win a case to becoming a dangerous and brilliant strategist in such a short amount of time. He transformed into a smart and cunning strategist that his enemies feared him. In addition, there's no precise background story provided for his character, which induced more viewers to assume. 3.) They threw in so many mysteries to be solved that I (we) assumed it to be so smart.

But it was all just a facade.

Second half of the series arrives and the direction of the story sets off changing into an eye-rolling-worthy anti-climactic revelations and occurrences. Then, the great and invincible Big Mouse was killed off almost immediately in such an easy peasy tactic that you begin to wonder if he's actually Big Mouse with how easy he was dealt with. On top of that, the then smart and cunning strategist inmate Park Chang Ho was reduced back to his unwinnable status who couldn't smartly conceive a cunning strategy to overcome Choi Do Ha. After which in the concluding episodes, he imitated the concept of Again My Life's finale plot where he rather settled on vying Mayoral against Choi Do Ha in which he predictably met his defeat.

After all the brilliant strategies he has mastermind behind bars I guess he exhausted his brilliant ideas as soon as he was vindicated that he even failed to think of devising his powerful organisation to his advantage. And as if it wasn't enough, he even chose the most unsatisfying fashion of making Choi Do Ha pay for all his preposterous evil deeds that cost his wife's precious existence.

Yes, I and several of the disappointed viewers were anticipating a brutal conclusion for Choi Do Ha. After all he's committed numerous acts of evilness that he didn't deserve that simple death.

Regrettably, there were characters and sub plots that were also introduced as the series comes to its end only for them to be abandoned devoid of relaying their useful purpose for the story. They were merely introduced for fillers which I would say is such an inferior manoeuvre for the conclusion of the story.

Majority of the characters here were vastly wasted, especially Hye Jin, Ju Hee and most of all, Mi Ho.

Hye Jin suffered and was dispatched for nothing.

Ju Hee was initially shown with high potential of having an impactful role but ended up just a mere wife who blindly loved her evil husband and only at the last minute was she useful but then her usefulness remained futile to finally nip his husband's evil doings in the bud.

Miho... the sacrificial lamb for this series. She's such a sacrificial wife, who did everything to support her husband and even walked into the lion's den in order to vindicate him. All of her actions were merely to lead to her demise to influence Chang Ho to carry on his Big Mouse identity to help the unprivileged.

Funny how all the female characters here were mostly done dirty. I am rolling my eyes! Lol

Oh, special mention for another wasted with high useful potential character: Jerry. The writers wrapped too much mystery around him only to make him a mere sidekick.

Honestly, the mystery surrounding Big Mouse is what majorly carried this series and after he was revealed the exhilarating mystery died down and everything commenced on deteriorating. Such a devastatingly wasted potential of what could have been a terrific noir series only to end in a terrible fashion.

This series should be watched without using your head and just simply absorb everything as it is because once you kick off analysing every mystery that the writers will throw, your expectation will escalate to which will cost you only with great disappointment in the finale.

In conclusion, the entirety of the plot is frustratingly plain but it was veiled in the mystery surrounding Big Mouse and its plainness was unsheathed when Big Mouse was finally identified and until the series ended.

Final words: Big Mouse was an ambitious series that attempted to be smart but failed miserably.

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