I've never done this before, but here is a review/discussion on "Signal" for those who HAVE seen the drama.

WARNING: ESSAY AHEAD

As one of the highest rated shows here, it is impossible to miss “Signal.” If you haven’t watched it, you will at least try it out one day because the world won’t stop telling you how good it is. Nor will the reviewers stop reviewing. For some reason. Ahem. (But seriously, this review is addressed to those who have seen it).

However, after recently finishing the series, I went through reviews to try and find the words which described how I feel about it other than the extremes of “IT’S THE BEST” or “IT’S THE WORST.” Which, honestly, it isn’t either of those things.

Let’s be honest, though, it’s great. It’s a really well done show. Even if you haven’t seen it you KNOW that. So, as I seem to be doing to the popular things, I’m just going to discuss what is not so great. This time, with spoilers. All the spoilers ahead.

THE PLOT HOLE

Getting right into it, we have a bit of plot holes here which I’ve seen people mention exist, but no one seems to be really discussing what they actually are. And it is what the main one is which really impacts the ending of the season.

The radio transmissions. Obviously. The first transmission received is from Jaehan’s future—a future only made possible because of Haeyeong’s future transmissions. This becomes a whole “chicken and the egg” ordeal as it is supposedly Haeyeong which leads Jaehan to the latter’s death, when the show itself is constantly reminding us that the future only changes when the past is changed.

While their relationship’s beginning with Jaehan’s death adds to the suspense and weight at the end of the season, I did spend the entire time wondering when we would find out how the transmissions started in the first place. This curiosity was never satisfied—unless I missed something in which I would ask someone to explain (completely plausible).

CONSISTENCY

This show actually does a great job in keeping things pretty simple (though it certainly gets too simple as many have noted), but the second half also will make question the consistency of changing the past.

When the serial killer with ties to Soohyun gets arrested in the past, this results in several women surviving in the future. Haeyeong comments on this, but no solution is arrived at by the end of the season. When the previous case held drastic results for changing the past, this case ends up having no fallback. Rather, all the experiences the audience endured with the characters are lost, thus destroying the growth of the characters.

TIME

Where Jaehan goes through years of his life in the show, the present only seems progress in a few weeks—a month, maybe, based on the cases and conversations had between characters. Still, there seems to be a lot of room for character growth in this short period because so much heartache ensues in the current tragedies…until they are wiped away.

One of the “wait, what?” moments in the show for me was when Soohyun is able to address her trauma and finally catch the killer who tormented her…only for it to be erased from history completely. This growing period for her and other moments in the show are lost, leaving the audience to wonder about the cost of changing the past only to lose the strength gained from pain.

I do think that the last episode somewhat addresses this when *stuff happens* and the present changes in a nearly unrecognizable way. We see that all of these relationships Haeyeong built over the last several weeks are gone, and I wondered what he must have been feeling then—if he regretted it.

Part of the reason I believe audiences loved Jaehan so much is because he has all these years to grow and continuously show his devotion to people and his beliefs. His past never changes. On the other side, however, the present characters experience little change aside from Haeyeong. Even then, he is always in the middle of things and dealing with the new changes in the present.

Though I will say that even though I read how people felt the radio transmissions should have been utilized more, I would argue instead that the ethics of the transmissions should have been considered more. I am hoping that this will be addressed in the second season (if it ever comes).

ADVERSITY

I hope it doesn’t seem like I’m ripping this show apart, but I do also feel it necessary to talk about the villains. Despite the fresh take on crime, this show suffers from the usual “corruption” trope where we have these top dogs who love making the good guys suffer for seemingly no reason at all.

In fact, I feel like “Signal” didn’t even both coming up with a reason for our antagonists. They were just illogically against solving crime right and just wanted money and power for some reason. Super weird.

Interestingly enough, I don’t think “Signal” even needed some evil, corrupted, villain. Just this fight against time, death, and perps was enough to get my heart racing.

CONCLUSION

All in all, it was a great show. Many repeated flashbacks which were unneeded, but I still enjoyed that I could follow what was going on with the investigations rather than it just being a bunch of nonsensical jargon as sometimes happens.

I know I listed a bunch of problems it has, but I really did enjoy this show which is why I’m taking the time to review it like this. Oddly enough. It made me think and kept me pushing for the next episode because I just had to find out how they were going to finish all of this. I recommend it!

My rewatch value is my entertainment instead. And as always, I am so grateful to those who made this show available to us. The hard work that went into the making is evident if you take a look. Cheers!