This review may contain spoilers
This K-drama's good reputation is well deserved. It achieves a lot with very little. The plot isn't actually very complex, but despite that, we want to know what happens next, right now.
It's funny to see the same synopsis as a Stephen King short story but with a completely different treatment. King Stephen takes the unique perspective of the elderly wife who discovers that her husband is a serial killer and talks about the collapse of her world, her fading memories, how everything was just a mirage, a life wasted with a cruel manipulator. In this series, the focus is entirely on the investigation, and the relationship between the investigating wife and the alleged serial killer husband serves only to add suspense and tension to the main story. It's the plot that drives the show. We don't even care about the victims ; they're just pawns.
There are a few flashbacks here and there, but they only make this couple seem even more unlikely. I don't understand how she can fall in love with a guy who is so dishonest, cold and distant towards her, and who takes five seconds to feign the appropriate emotion. He is described as a master manipulator, but frankly, no, not really. The guy is more suspicious than my cat in front of a glass of water on the edge of the table. And this is coming from an autistic little guy. (me) We're asked to believe in his good intentions after all the harm he willingly caused by hiding his past from his wife. Fortunately, this criticism comes from his colleague, Choi Jae Seop, one of the most interesting characters. And the last episode touches on it again without really confirming it.
The questionable aspects : several times we are denied information so as not to move too quickly, and that really annoys me. I had understood the involvement of the doctor's son some time ago (and I'm not very smart), but they drag it out for a looong time.
The sister could help with the investigation from the start, she wants to do so, but... we don't know, she takes her time, she has other things to do. A little hypnosis session to recover her memories ? Come on, let's believe in this psychobabble.
And the couple's daughter, Eun-ha, disappears when the writers don't know what to do with her anymore, and the grandmother is kind enough to take care of her.
And the journalist with round glasses who followed the sister everywhere and watched her at home and tried to break into her house at night, he gets away with it, which makes me anxious.
Finally, the same musics comes back far too often. It becomes redundant.
Not cool : investigator Cha Ji-won threatening to kill a suspect because the police sometimes kill people who resist arrest. And this is presented as positive and proof of her professional qualities. I'm not sure I agree with this kind of discourse when we're still being led to believe in ‘suicide by cop’, a myth invented by the police and repeated in TV series.
In fact, she is infinitely more badass when she traps her husband to push him into the corner of his own inventions. He has put himself in this absurd situation and doesn't understand what is happening to him. Otherwise, he could tell her the truth right away if he really loved her. He cares too much about his own comfort. The only time he expresses regret is when she corners him and he risks losing everything : a classic strategy to avoid having to face the consequences of our actions. But that's not what the series says. It says that he loves his wife tenderly, that he is changing for the better, and that love always wins in the end... This character's behaviour is really the big weak point of this story. We save him because the real murderer is even more odious. What's more, we're supposed to feel sorry for poor Do Hyun Su, who threatens his wife with a knife and then dares to complain that she gets angry. He makes her feel guilty after the hell he puts her through ? No, stop ! The last episode tries to make up for all this, but unfortunately, it didn't work for me. I didn't buy it.
I criticise, it's wrong, what a shame, I feel guilty ! I'm a disgrace to this universe. But I liked this series. Nevertheless, I think it's ranked too high, and 16 episodes ? Too long for what it ultimately offers us.
It's funny to see the same synopsis as a Stephen King short story but with a completely different treatment. King Stephen takes the unique perspective of the elderly wife who discovers that her husband is a serial killer and talks about the collapse of her world, her fading memories, how everything was just a mirage, a life wasted with a cruel manipulator. In this series, the focus is entirely on the investigation, and the relationship between the investigating wife and the alleged serial killer husband serves only to add suspense and tension to the main story. It's the plot that drives the show. We don't even care about the victims ; they're just pawns.
There are a few flashbacks here and there, but they only make this couple seem even more unlikely. I don't understand how she can fall in love with a guy who is so dishonest, cold and distant towards her, and who takes five seconds to feign the appropriate emotion. He is described as a master manipulator, but frankly, no, not really. The guy is more suspicious than my cat in front of a glass of water on the edge of the table. And this is coming from an autistic little guy. (me) We're asked to believe in his good intentions after all the harm he willingly caused by hiding his past from his wife. Fortunately, this criticism comes from his colleague, Choi Jae Seop, one of the most interesting characters. And the last episode touches on it again without really confirming it.
The questionable aspects : several times we are denied information so as not to move too quickly, and that really annoys me. I had understood the involvement of the doctor's son some time ago (and I'm not very smart), but they drag it out for a looong time.
The sister could help with the investigation from the start, she wants to do so, but... we don't know, she takes her time, she has other things to do. A little hypnosis session to recover her memories ? Come on, let's believe in this psychobabble.
And the couple's daughter, Eun-ha, disappears when the writers don't know what to do with her anymore, and the grandmother is kind enough to take care of her.
And the journalist with round glasses who followed the sister everywhere and watched her at home and tried to break into her house at night, he gets away with it, which makes me anxious.
Finally, the same musics comes back far too often. It becomes redundant.
Not cool : investigator Cha Ji-won threatening to kill a suspect because the police sometimes kill people who resist arrest. And this is presented as positive and proof of her professional qualities. I'm not sure I agree with this kind of discourse when we're still being led to believe in ‘suicide by cop’, a myth invented by the police and repeated in TV series.
In fact, she is infinitely more badass when she traps her husband to push him into the corner of his own inventions. He has put himself in this absurd situation and doesn't understand what is happening to him. Otherwise, he could tell her the truth right away if he really loved her. He cares too much about his own comfort. The only time he expresses regret is when she corners him and he risks losing everything : a classic strategy to avoid having to face the consequences of our actions. But that's not what the series says. It says that he loves his wife tenderly, that he is changing for the better, and that love always wins in the end... This character's behaviour is really the big weak point of this story. We save him because the real murderer is even more odious. What's more, we're supposed to feel sorry for poor Do Hyun Su, who threatens his wife with a knife and then dares to complain that she gets angry. He makes her feel guilty after the hell he puts her through ? No, stop ! The last episode tries to make up for all this, but unfortunately, it didn't work for me. I didn't buy it.
I criticise, it's wrong, what a shame, I feel guilty ! I'm a disgrace to this universe. But I liked this series. Nevertheless, I think it's ranked too high, and 16 episodes ? Too long for what it ultimately offers us.
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