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Many of us consider our identity as something stable. We take it for granted that we are the person we know we are and we rarely question ourselves about that. But what would happen if one day, we lost the one thing we believed it was irreplaceable? Or worse, what if we started doubting who we are altogether?

Mousetrap is a psychological thriller that centered around this premise. From the very first episode, the main character, Je Moon Jae, sees his routine crumple before his eyes after a series of different events. His phone didn't recognize his own fingerprint, his house had been sold under his name without him knowing nothing, his only friend disappeared and he learned that he had been going around, despite not setting a foot outside his house for three years. And to make matters worse, he is unable to prove that he is the real Moon Jae.

From the get go, Mousetrap sets up a terrifying sscenari. Having your identity stolen is a scary thought but not being able to prove you are you is even worse. The first episodes captured the feeling of helplessness perfectly and from early on, it was easy to sympathize with Moon Jae's struggle.

The first half of the drama covered Moon Jae's attempt to pursue his doppelganger with the help of Noja. Halfway through the series, it's revealed that the one behind the theft of Moon Jae's identity is an old classmate of his, Yu Min. The inclusion of the Korean folklore of the rat who turns into human after eating fingernails added even more layers to the symbolisms and the chase, raising a big question; who is the Rat and who is the Human?

Since I haven't read the original source material, I'll have to judge the story based on the kdrama only. The premise, which initially caught my attention, started off strong. I am a big fan of stories about double roles and double identities and I was curious to see what Mousetrap would offer. The drama had me question Moon Jae's identity and I was creating different scenarios in order to rationalize the bizarre events. It wasn't quite clear where fantasy and reality seperated or were mixed together, thus making the events unreliable, even if they happened right on screen.

That was the first project I watched with Ryu Jun Yeol and I think it was a strong introduction. He pulled off the double role of Moon Jae and the "rat" with ease and he portrayed the characters' different personalities and manners in a distinguished way. He conveyed Moon Jae's anxious and introverted character realistically enough, from the way he acted to the way he talked. His expressions shifted constantly from one character to another, I could tell if he was playing as Moon Jae or his doppelganger even if I had covered half his face on my screen. On the other hand, he perfectly embodied Yu Min's confidence and charm, making it even more believable that he was two different people.

I impulsively added Mousetrap on my watchlist for two reasons: the plot and Sul Kyung Gu. And the later one, did not disappoint, like always. I had a blast watching Kyung Gu as Noja. He was both fun and intimidating and although I was kinda annoyed at the mistakes Noja made, considering he was an experienced gangster, I quickly warmed up to him. Kyung Gu was very expressive in this role, he was both ruthless and yet almost caring when the story required it. Noja carried himself around with both confidence and caution and Kyung Gu encapsulated it perfectly.

It goes without saying that the chemistry between the main leads was one of the biggest highlights of the series. I was looking forward to Moon Jae and Noja's interactions but I didn't expect them to win me over so hard. Although their relationship was far from what one would describe it as "friendship", it was a nice partnership which revolved to something deeper as they spent more time together. Moon Jae and Noja got off the wrong foot but they eventually realized that in order to achieve their goals, they needed to partner up.

While their personalities and experiences couldn't have been more different (Moon Jae who had been living a secluded life thrust himself upon danger, while Noja had to protect someone who wasn't used to violence and who struggled with anxiety), they somehow made it work for the most part. The interactions between them were unintentionally funny at times (loved the scene where Noja just gave random medicine to Moon Jae in order to control his panic attacks) and both actors complimented each other, offering a visual feast.

The rest of the supporting cast did a good job as well. The roles didn't require any emotional depth but the actors did what was required. I was especially excited to watch Kim Sung Oh and Hyun Bong Sik, two actors who have climbed on my list of anticipated names and they didn't disappoint. Kim Sung Oh as Seung Gyu was scary even to watch, he nailed this villainous role and his character made me feel uneasy all the time.

One aspect the series excelled in was the direction. The cinematography wasn't always consistent, however, there were many great moments which captured the eerie vibes of the story. The camera work in particular was very intense, I appreciated the usage of first person shoots during the scenes where Moon Jae was having a panic attack, it highlighted the feeling of being suffocated. Moreover, this technique was also used during some scenes where the characters conversed with each other, making me get immersed into the story by "integrated" myself to it.

Unfortunately for Mousetrap, despite its interesting premise and strong, beginning, the writing was proven to fall short for this type of ambitious script. I detected from early on that the pacing was disjointed and too slow for a better progression but I wanted to wait and see if it would improve in the later episodes.

Alas, this didn't happen.

I want to clarify that I love slow paced thrillers. The feeling of discovering all the cracks to a mystery little by little is unmatched and I am a big fan of scripts which allow the viewers to take their time to adjust and digest everything. The problem with Mousetrap is that instead of an appropriate built-up, it wasted time by adding some fillers scenes and dedicating too much time on the investigation and the gangs instead of focusing on its initial priority. I understand that everything was connected to Moon Jae's case but having too many subplots take place simultaneously, without expanding on the characters and the plot, was becoming too tiresome.

One main issue with the plot was that it felt like it took much longer than it needed to to reach a breaking point. Even after the reveal of Yu Min, I didn't feel that the pacing had paid off and that continued until the end. There were interesting moments scattered around but the drama as a whole wasn't as tightly written as it should have been. It was plot twist after plot twist (and I could predict the majority of them) which made the story drag. This type of writing does not necessarily add depth and some writers need to realise that. I can't believe that I'm saying this since the series is already pretty short for kdrama standards but maybe, it would have benefited from an eight episode format.

Because of the messy writing, the characterisation got impacted, too. The secondary characters barely felt like characters, they served as plot devices mostly, which didn't work for me. Even the main characters sufferered from the writing. Park Sun Yong was presented as a complex character, who struggled to balance his duty as a father-husband and a police officer and yet the writers never explored this aspect of him in order for me to care enough. His character had constantly the same attitude and expressions and I really wish the script had required something emotionally stronger, to fully humanize Sun Yong.

Moon Jae, while complex and intriguing, still fell short in some areas, particularly towards the end. First and foremost, it rubbed me in the wrong way to portray his mental health issues as something which he interested from his mother. This is insensitive and extremely harmful towards mentally ill people. While the drama highlighted his issues and gave some hints at his backstory, he still wasn't explored enough. It was a wasted opportunity not to show more of his childhood and his parents, especially since that would have explained many of his future decisions. Considering the fact Moon Jae was the one who had stolen Yu Min's identity all along, I found the portrayal of his personality to be a little bit one-dimensional at times and in the end, he was mostly villainized all of a sudden, instead of being explored in depth.

All in all, Mousetrap was interesting enough to keep me hooked and curious about the trajectory of the story but in terms of writing, it didn't deliver what was expected. I would recommend it though to fans of this genre and if you're in the mood for something dark yet quick, this might be a good option. Proceed with caution and remember: your identity is never safe.