Feardorcha

The story does rely heavily on plot convenience and smart characters behaving stupidly. It's an interesting concept that is failed by a senseless script, which is unfortunate because the action is fun and the cast is good, and some character elements actually work well if you ignore the idiocy of the plot happening around them.

No. The same excuses keep cropping up for the series' poor writing. After finishing the series, it became clear that the reason Young Adult Ji Ahn was such a regressive version of her younger self is because the plot required her to be dumber in order to force the plot forward in a specific way.

There is a lot of general nonsensical stupidity required by both Ji Ahn and her Uncle for this story to unfold the way it does. It's a real shame.

I already understand its relevance to the story; it isn't complicated. I simply do not care.

I am struggling to get through this one. It has plenty of the stuff I love in action dramas, such as graphic violence, Wi HaJoon, and...well, that alone would be plenty to keep me invested. But it also has one thing I really detest in action dramas: romance.

I do not care about the love triangle, I am bored to death by insipid romance and the otherwise pointless female characters taking up even one second of valuable screen time that could be devoted to the more interesting parts of the story. Usually, romance elements in non-romance Korean dramas are so incidental to the story that you can FFW through every irrelevant scene and avoid the subplot entirely. However, the love triangle in this series is actually significant to character development, relationships, and motivations. That doesn't, however, make it any less of a deadly dull slog to sit through, even in a noir-style drama where passive, waffling women and dynamic, dangerous femme fatales are a time-honoured trope.

There are other aspects I find compelling enough to keep watching but I may end up dropping this one purely because of that one aspect.

If that were the case, she would've just left.

Her decision to not open the file had nothing to do with whether she could handle the truth; we saw her handling unfortunate truths just fine throughout the series, even when those truths were unfolding in real-time. She didn't open the file because if she had, the plot would've stopped doing what the screenwriter wanted it to do.

The series is just poorly written. It requires both Jinman and Ji Ahn to do nonsensical things, that often don't align with their characters as shown or discussed, in order to force the concept forward rather than support advancing the story. It doesn't even manage to make the parallels of decision responsibility work because Jinman was a trained, consenting mercenary making informed choices he understood in a world he knew; Ji Ahn was making blind guesses while under fire as a whole new reality was unceremoniously foisted upon her—a position she should never have been in because someone as brilliant as her Uncle wouldn't have decided she was better off ignorant and practically defenseless if the script hadn't force him to be so dumb.

In a calm moment at home during the decade-long ceasefire:

Niece: "I want to know the truth."
Uncle: "I'm not going to tell you the truth."

In the heat of an armed conflict in which hundreds of bullets are fired at her and she doesn't know why and isn't equipped to handle it:

Uncle: "You can stay and potentially learn the truth, or you can leave and likely never learn the truth."

That is not a choice; that is coercion masquerading as a choice.

For the sake of argument, let's say that what he's trying to do is let her "make her own choices".

He, the Adult, withholds information from her, outright lies to her, ignores her questions, and doesn't equip her with any of the survival tools he himself possesses to survive in the world they inhabit (a world she doesn't realize they inhabit because, again, he refuses to tell her about it). She's fumbling through her life with asymmetrical information; actually, less than even that, because she is 100% ignorant of everything. She has no idea who her Uncle is, she isn't aware that she's living in a fortified house above a killer-for-hire shopping mall, she doesn't know how or why her parents died, she apparently doesn't remember being hunted down as a child after witnessing a dismembering, and she can only barely physically defend herself only because she was desperate to get out of an oppressive, alienating home.

Jinman has functionally deprived her of any meaningful choice by withholding truth and skillsets. Further, the withholding of that truth and those skills places her in direct mortal danger. Equipping her to be able to function, with full awareness, in their world is what would've given her actual agency; instead, he essentially infantilized her. Even the requirement for her to strike his face in order to move out is evidence that he never treated her as an "independent Adult"; he exercised control over her, he simply never bothered to explain to her why he exercised that control, or its purpose. Did he want her to ultimately be an independent, self-reliant Adult? Yes, absolutely. But he really fumbled it, for no other reason than that the script said so.

A guardian's fundamental job is to equip their ward with the skills and knowledge they'll need to forge their own path in the world. Jinman fundamentally failed at that task.

To speak directly to your analogy regarding swimming: I was literally thrown into a pool to learn how to swim. However, before I was tossed into the water, my guardian took the time to explain to me that Human bodies are capable of buoyancy. I hit that water with the knowledge that I could choose to sink, float, or swim; I didn't even once flail. That's more than what Jinman afforded his Niece.

No, they didn't train her; they "trained" her. They let her stumble her way into incidentally learning a few things. She was seventeen-years-old before she began fight conditioning with Pasin, which she paid for and that she only began because she was eager to move out of her Uncle's home. What if she'd been perfectly content living there? Jinman showed zero signs that he was planning to teach her combat skills, ever (the girl couldn't even throw a proper punch after nearly a decade under his care). And Jinman didn't bother putting a gun in her hand until she demonstrated interest in being a better sling-shotter. She didn't miss that long-range shot because it was a difficult shot; she missed because the man who could've taught her to make that difficult shot failed to do so.

Further, she almost got herself knifed, shot, cut, and killed in a series of hand-to-hand interactions with the trained mercenaries trying to kill her, and each time she was saved by an outside force. Why? Because her Uncle didn't train her to fight their actual enemies, he trained her to battle a self-realization between the id and the ego. Even he flat-out told her that her combat training with Pasin wasn't good enough to handle a punk with a knife in an alley; what did he expect her to do when confronted with a bloodthirsty sociopath trained via conscription and hardened as a killer-for-hire?

It doesn't matter whether Jinman didn't want her to become a mercenary/be an assassin; that is completely immaterial to making sure she is capable of equivalent self-defense when violent, well-equipped, well-paid mercenaries/assassins are attempting to off her. And the excuse of he wanted her to live a normal life isn't even supported by the actual story; he told her upfront that he can't be her parent, and she developed a whole "get the hell out of this house" plan specifically because he deprived her of a normal life (for which he was not one bit sorry, as he reminds her that she should distrust surface presentation and probe deeper).

There was also no reason for Jinman to wait to have Ji Ahn make a "choice" about her future while she was actively trying not to die for reasons she didn't understand in a battle zone for which she wasn't prepared. There was absolutely no reason he couldn't have explained their situation to her while she was growing up. The child and teen versions of Ji Ahn we saw would not have spent life afraid of shadows just because they knew the truth; they would've lived deliberately, smartly, with the full knowledge of their situation and the proper preparation for handling it, whether that life meant staying and inheriting the family business, or changing her identity and cutting ties with Jinman forever (which was apparently an option all along).

THAT is the problem with the whole series. Jinman is the kind of smart where he would force immersive training and complete knowledge on his Niece because she'd need it to survive. In fact, given how the rest of their family was brutally murdered, in part, because they had zero knowledge of what was going on, it would be more likely that he would be even more insistent on preparing Ji Ahn to survive, even if she resisted it the whole way.

The only reason Jinman didn't prepare Ji Ahn to be able to contend with what she faced is because the script said so; the story doesn't happen unless Jinman makes the unbelievably idiotic decision to NOT provide the necessary level of training, education, or knowledge that Ji Ahn needs. It's an egregiously dumb plot device designed purely to force the story to happen the way it does, eschewing all logic and common sense in the process, and actively working against the character Jinman is presented as being (both by his actions and by how other characters describe him).

What would've made a better story: Jinman provides Ji Ahn with everything she needs to potentially be the victor, but Ji Ahn struggles with the idea that she could be a killer, that she could let others die for her, that she is capable of leading anyone in a fight to the death, or that she could in good conscience maintain a relationship with Jinman, who holds a level of responsibility for the death of her parents, her childhood trauma, and the uncertainty of her own future.

There was a lot of potential meat on that bone but we wasted time with such silly gristle.

Automatically awarded one star for having zero romance, one star for lovely bloody violence, and three stars for Lee Dong Wook.

Episodes 6 and 7 were the best parts of what could've been a fun if clichéd and predictable revenge actioner. Unfortunately, instead of a tightly-paced, sensible movie, we're left with a deeply disappointing and aggravatingly idiotic series that was somehow too short and entirely too long.

The major problem is that in order for the plot conceit to work, it requires the smartest character in the show to be a complete dumbass. Sure, you want your Niece to be a competent and self-reliant survivor; why did you not equip her with the skills and tools to be so? Trite philosophical musings are not training. When you joined the military, they didn't just plop you in a warzone with a copy of "Sun Tzu for Beginners" and tell you to figure it out. They taught and repeatedly drilled you on a comprehensive curriculum of combat skills, strategic and tacical thinking, how to efficiently use an array of weapons, unit leadership and coordination, and—this is a big one—they provided you with actionable operational intel.

You had at least ten years to prepare your Niece for this battle that you knew was inevitable. Ten years to provide her skills and knowledge, and maybe you don't want to blow her tiny mind with all your gory dark secrets all at once but you could've slow-dripped some of this massively critical information about people trying to kill her, why they're trying to kill her, the protocols preventing them from doing so while you're still alive, and the plan-of-action for keeping her alive once you're dead. Oh, and she could've spent some of those years thoroughly studying that handover manual and learning about your allies and network instead of being forced to panic cram a giant info dump while a legion of mercenaries with an endless military arsenal are trying to shoot her in the goddamn face.

What your lot did with Minhye? That. You should've done that with your Niece.

And if it was so easy to give your Niece a new identity and life, why didn't you just do that in the first place if you weren't going to bother preparing her to survive and thrive in your world?

Just what the actual fuck, Jinman? Your Niece is alive as a result of mostly dumb luck and tactical homesteading, you stupid bastard. If I were your Niece and you walked out of your grave after all that, I'd shoot you in the kneecaps.

And speaking of Ji Ahn, her character regression was confusing as hell. I was impressed by child Ji Ahn, and teen Ji Ahn had serious can-do gumption. Who was the trembling, screaming, skittish changeling that we were forced to endure in young adult Ji Ahn? I was ready to just let her die by the end.

Good grief, I am so mad at the both of them. Their combined stupid is also responsible for getting characters I liked needlessly maimed and/or killed.

Aigoo, this series was just one big headache...

How did Ji Ahn manage to get stupider with age? The child and teenage versions of her were clever, brave, assertive, and fundamentally capable. What the hell happened? Granted, I'm only on episode four and a load of truly traumatic shite has gone down but it just feels like Child Ji Ahn or Teen Ji Ahn would've pulled themselves together already and not be making such wildly dumb decisions.

Perhaps that's why they wrote in a line about her being "impulsive" rather than analytical like her Uncle but, frankly, Young Adult Ji Ahn doesn't seem impulsive so much as dim-witted and panicky. I am having a tough time squaring her current personality with the teenager we saw taking agency, working a plan, and refusing to be cowed into inertia by doubt or fear.

That's a valid interpretation but I'm not buying it for this character or this series. I can absolutely see the Uncle doing all that but Yi Ping? No.

I've pretty much settled on the belief that Uncle is funding his Nephew's lifestyle, until the show says otherwise and gives us an inheritance or dead parents insurance policy.

I don't get the hate about Soga's looks either. His personal style isn't doing him any favours, no, but he's quite obviously a good-looking man. Just adorkable.

"What in the 'Serbian Film' is this shit?!"

I just...

This fever-dream of a show is something else. If I wasn't witnessing it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it was real. Also, there's still a potential murder mystery going on, apparently. I keep forgetting about that part even though it's kind of the whole point of the plot, that's how batshit insane this series is.

Ok, now I'm 100% convinced Uncle bought him that house. He's apparently spent millions on a custom-built lovebot for his Nephew, floating a mortgage was probably a high school graduation gift or something.

Kaneko is the best. The man's pep talk had me ready to quit MY job, and I actually love what I do for a living. There is no greater gift in the working world than having a boss who truly believes in you, and wants you to see the best in yourself even when you feel like an utter fraud and total failure.

The only thing I find more tedious than weddings are children, so these last two episodes haven't been my favourite. Still, I love all these characters. If the end truly is near for Chief, it'll break my heart, but would be fitting for the nature of this series, and the ways it explores love, letting in, and letting go.

Speaking of, I sincerely hope Kiku moves on. He shouldn't settle for being anyone's third choice, and I'd hate to think of him living a life in the shadow of Izumi's lost love and infatuation with that love's doppelgänger. Kiku confessed his feelings and got revenge for his dead best friend—now is a good time to begin moving forward into a life without Izumi. And it would be nice to see at least one of these men actually, truly let go of an unrequited love.

I've been wondering all series what had Sakae so dickmatized over Soga, and now I'm confused about why or when Soga found a romantic interest in Sakae. "Opposites attract" is a fine trope but this is just so sloppy. What are we doing? Why are we bothering?

And if Sakae is dumb enough to go back to Mizuki, who is so obviously a manipulative asshat who uses people, then I may have to just wash my hands of this one. Mizuki is at least making things interesting, thankfully, but we know he and Sakae aren't going to be endgame, so what's the point?

A story about a terrible person trying to change, redeem himself, and win back the love he stupidly lost is a story I'd watch, but this isn't that story, so...what am I supposed to care about here? Because I certainly don't give a shite at this point if Sakae and Soga get together. I like them both as individuals but I cannot for the life of me figure out what they see in one another, even through the lens of opposites attract.

This story did not need nearly six hours to tell. It would've worked far better, been tighter, and able to maintain momentum in movie format; as a limited series, it's draggy and too predictable. You spend a lot of time waiting for the plot to catch up with you.

The relationship between the Captain, the Detective, and the Detective's son was the most compelling aspect and it wasn't even the main story. That story arc was astounding, gut-wrenching, and ultimately cathartic. It was like a one-act play unfolding beautifully in the midst of some dull murder mystery nonsense.

I couldn't care less about the pathetic FL or her problems (honestly, if you're going to be that passive and that much of a pushover, your misery is your own damn fault), and I was just mildly interested in the shenanigans of her family, only because at least one woman in that bloodline was exercising a level of personal agency. The FL just let herself get carried along, blaming everyone and everything except herself for the ruin that was her life. Her getting slapped across the mouth was the highlight of the show.

It's worth a watch if only for the story between the detectives and the performances of their actors; the subtle body language, the looks, the weighty silences between the outbursts—wonderful work. The rest of the show was rather meh.

Is it family money? Surely an inheritance of some kind, or an insurance payout. Did they confirm whether his parents are dead? Did his Uncle buy him that house? I'd believe that; Uncle appears to have quite a lot of authority at the leading robotics manufacturer, so he probably makes a lot of money. I just don't see a guy they keep telling us generally detests the company of people buying himself a ten-seater dining table, however large the kitchen. But I can definitely see Uncle "I'm determined to get you laid" kitting out that whole house with the idea his Nephew will make friends some day.

I quite enjoyed the first half of the series. Violent, humorous, stylistically engaging with an intriguing set-up. The second half of the series, however, seemed to have forgotten what it was about. The ML just vanishes for nearly an entire episode before fading into the background, and we don't ever see the actual character growth that culminates in the series' final scene (which felt like a nod toward a second season with him unapologetically owning his power).

Definitely worth a watch if only for the slick transitions, colour palette, Lee Hee Joon's performance, and the journey of the dog, who had one of the most compelling and stressful story arcs in the show. However, I likely won't revisit this one.