However hard great actors try, and you’ve got to admit, Ji Sung is pretty damn good, they can’t quite hide appalling writing. Rather like an oyster creating a pearl from irritating grit, however magnificent, the grit is still there in the middle. This show is full of good actors (with one or two exceptions) wrapping up grit with varying degrees of success.

Cudos also has to go to the director for trying to help in the process by toning down some scenes which could have really got out of hand. But the banal and unintelligent writing drags them all down, again and again. The lines are often so pedestrian and obvious and either do absolutely nothing to reveal the interior emotions and insights of a character or, even worse, vocalise feelings in totally weird and unnatural ways. Stating the obvious is the go-to choice for imparting information and there are plenty of scenes where some of the antagonists behave more like naughty boys rather than credible, disturbed, human beings.

Then there are a whole slew of unfathomable motivations which have to be verbally “explained”, any number of clunky and repetitive plot devices aided and abetted by bad editing choices, an ever growing list of eye-rolling coincidences, an abundance of unbelievable twists and a complete abandonment of any sort of credible legal procedure. There was plenty of tension but the pacing just got slower and slower making it hard going through the middle and it really didn’t need two extra episodes.

The vagaries of memory loss seem to follow no rhyme nor reason. That memories are buried and hidden is something I have personal experience of, but the writer’s use of it coming and going just to serve the plot smacks of total convenience rather than reality. Further, the slow revealing of the crime doesn’t reflect recovered memories, adding to the sense of manipulation rather than suspense.

The actors have to do all the heavy lifting themselves, with body language, facial expression and tone and Ji Sung is the shining light here with a wonderful pearl of a performance that is the one good reason to keep going. His relationship with his daughter was very real and Shin Rin Ah also put in a great performance. Unfortunately though, Uhm Ki Joon and some of the supporting cast are only able to manage mis-shapen lumps of calcium carbonate with their parts.

The cinematographer created ambiance by the bucketload with the use of highlights and shadows. The scenes inside the prison were lit to perfection, utilising low levels to create an atmospheric, metallic, industrial feel in mainly soft golds and blues. There was also imaginative and meaningful use of the shadows cast by window bars and rectangular slabs of light offered by slots in doors. I also loved the opening credits sequence with its overlaid images and washes of blues and golds, picking up on the overall theme.

In the hands of a good writer this could have been a superb drama, because the basic ideas, acting talent and the production values are up there. But instead, all of that is undermined by weak dialogue and unconvincing plot execution, and I was left with a drama that I struggled through rather than enjoyed. In fact, I simply couldn’t get to the end and that’s saying something because when I commit to writing a review I finish the drama. So apologies, but I really can’t see anything salvaging this one!