You can clearly see the American influence in this production and to be honest it doesn’t sit well. This is the Korean version of CSI/NCIS and it has all the same weaknesses as the originals. Instead of the more usual focus on the machinations of internal politics, the slow unfolding of a crime, the in-depth character interactions (imo the strengths of Korean crime dramas), we have a series of crimes dealt with in one or two episodes and some two dimensional characters whose personalities have been clearly modelled on the American versions. Everything skims along the surface, with no depth and no character deviation or development.

Crimes are solved in superficial and ridiculous ways in double quick-time and there’s a load of spurious criminal psychology. The convenient plot devices stack up and all credibility is trampled. The young female prosecutor seems to have inordinate amounts of time to hang around watching autopsies and never has to do anything boring like sit at her desk and work. She has a penchant for doing stupid things that get her into life-threatening situations from which she always miraculously escapes. Horrendous experiences abound with zero effect on characters who bounce back to what they were in as much time as it takes to run to the next scene. And just to increase the air of unreality, the director requires the actors to really ham it up…

If you like the style of CSI then you’ll probably like this. Personally I think it’s a really bad imitation of a bad American original.

What my rating means: 1 - 3+ Totally unbearable, but often compulsively watchable as you really can’t believe that it can be this bad.