howaboutafish
This review may contain spoilers
I will preface saying this: I have not seen many dramas, nor have I ever written a review. But this is a drama that I need to talk about. There will be no spoilers up until the end, I will have a segment for it, so you can read this review if you wish to watch the show.
STORY: 9/10
If you have seen the show, you will know that the story is just great. The only thing that I have to take away from it, is that it can be easy to get lost. As a non-Korean, who also does not speak the language, many names and places can get mixed up with one another. Although this is what you sign up for when you watching something foreign. Besides this, there are many plot points that you must follow, and I couldn't help finding myself wondering about the logic behind going back to the 80's rather than paying attention sometimes. I will commend the writing and the story direction for doing everything they possibly could to make a premise like time travel work. It is very hard to pull off in any sort of fiction and they did it.
CHARACTERS: 10/10
One of the strongest points of this show was the characters. It felt so incredibly nice to see the characters not only interact, but grow with one another. People say this about most great works, so it may sound cliche, but there is a reason that they say it about many great works. It was very easy to get attached to these characters, and I am sure it was the same for many others as well. I will go further into this on the spoiler section.
ACTING: 10/10
In many dramas I watch, there is at least one or two actors that seem a little off to me. For example, Lee Je-hoon, lead actor in Signal had many moments in which his acting felt strange to me. He did a wonderful job, do not get me wrong, but all actors have a few scenes like that. But with this show I never felt it. This had one of the best supporting casts I've seen in any kind of media. Even those who did not receive more than one line fit in perfectly. Even rookie actor Noh Jong-Hyun fit his role perfectly and did very well. I must give huge props to the main cast though. Jung Kyoung-Ho, Park Sung-Woong and Ko Ah-Sung were A M A Z I N G.
CINEMATOGRAPHY: 100/10
I can not tell whether I had just not payed attention to the previous dramas I've watched, or they just had terrible cinematography, because in this show it was amazing. I feel that with all the kdramas I've watched, great shots and great framing were never something I noticed. It may be because I didn't notice things like that back then, but even so, I most definitely noticed this time. There were so many beautiful and just picture perfect shots in this drama. And most of them weren't even landscapes or backdrops. It was usually just the actors together. I will go a little bit further with an example in the spoilers.
MUSIC: 100/10
Just like the previous, this category is up up and away. The music selection in this was amazing. At many points, it is just chilling, almost scary sounds. If you watch it, you will notice that. But that works perfectly. Like most kdramas there are a few select pieces of music used, each for a certain plot point, and that was used the same way here. But many times, this was broken, and you hear what is actually being heard in the show by the characters. We all have seen this, and it is nothing new, but its usage here was phenomenal. I will continue in the spoilers section as well here.
RE-WATCH VALUE: 7/10
This is purely because this drama is a mystery. I gave a it seven for the fact that I would re-watch this for everything mentioned above even though I knew what would happen anyway. Please do not let this discourage you from watching this, this part of the review is only if you want to watch it twice.
SIDE NOTES (SPOILER FREE):
Apart from the cinematography, many of the filming locations were just brilliant. The drama does a fantastic job at balancing story and comedy, which is one of the best selling points of this show, it is not often that I laugh at a kdrama, but this one had me chuckling and rewinding to watch something again.
SPOILERS SPOILER SPOILERS SPOILERS!!!!!
CHARACTER CONT.
Skipping to the point now, the character development was amazing. Especially Tae-joo's. You can tell the intention was to clearly have a beginning and end to Tae-joo's character. It is brought up many times as sorta checkpoints whenever Na-young wonders if he has settled in yet, and is happy. By the end, seeing him willingly ignoring the things about his "home" really shows how far he went. After visiting modern day, there was not a moment in which he felt truly happy (other than when he was thinking about Na-young ;) ). There was something that wanted to bring me to tears when he was imagining his colleagues. Another shining character in this show was Dong-chul. From the very first time you see him, he lets every one know who he is. "Greatest Captain", or something along that line. Up until the very last time you see him, driving away singing, he is still that Great Captain. Of course, without Park Sung-woong's acting, this character would not shine the way he does. Also, I would like to touch on the surreality of Kim Min-seok's character. The fact that this show pulled off such a crazy, unorthodox character still amazes me. An absolutely fantastic villain.
CINEMATOGRAPHY CONT.
As I said in the side-notes, there were many times I would skip back to watch something again. Just like that, there was one scene in particular that I watched 5-10 times. On the very last episode, after Tae-joo returns and saves his colleagues, they show up at Mr. Yang's restaurant. It opens with an overview above the ceiling and you can see through metal framework, Mr. Yang walking forward. It then cuts to all five of the main cast standing in a line, all doing small various faces. There was something about these two shots. I could not even finish the rest of the scene before re-watching it like five times. The way they line up just felt so great. Then Dong-chul then requests for food and Mr. Yang promptly declines. Through the midst of back and forth, the camera zooms up on each persons face. Brilliantly, when it is Tae-joo's turn to be shown, Dong-chul happens to be talking. So they position the camera as if it were watching him but with Tae-joo in the background. But they instead flip the focus so that the roles are almost reversed. It was stunning and took me back for a moment. And then after that, Lee Yong-Ki gives two hilarious lines about the food he wants, which made me watch the scene a few more times. ANYWHO, this scene is amazing and almost makes the rest of the show worth watching just because of it.
There is no music continued, but I will speak of it briefly in the next segment.
EPISODE 7: 999999999/10
This, single-handedly, is the best episode of a K-drama I have ever watched. Despite it not being hugely necessary or beneficial to the plot, it is an amazing episode worth of emotion. As a quick reminder, this is the episode where the prisoners run away and hold a family hostage. I have so much to say about this episode. I do think that this episode is perfect. I've only seen it once but I noticed no flaws. Lets start at the beginning. I did not expect to watch something so great since I just wanted to know what happens with Tae-joo's dad. With this, I can't exactly remember what happens in the very beginning, so I apologize. All I remember is Nam-sik informing the team of the hostages. Anyway, I will now talk about the meat of the episode. So the back and forth between the prisoners and the detectives were amazing. Knowing that they were so close to each other, but feeling so far away because of a wall gave a strange and unnerving feeling. The suspense held up for so long and they did so well doing so. One notable thing before the whole fiasco was the reporter standing on the van. This really set up the message and overall meaning of the episode very well. With this, the episode was entirely about the media and the perception it give people on an issue like this. After the swat arrives, the severity of the situation rises. The ongoing tension between Dong-chul and Kim Kyung-se is incredibly high at this point and it is evident by the way they speak to each other. Taking matters into their own hands, after Kyung-se reveals Na-young's identity, Dong-chul and Tae-woo enter the house through a window. Being all sneaky, they get caught early and are tied up. This is where everything changes. Before this, you never saw the inside of the house, you only had the information given to Tae-joo and Dong-chul. You find everything out with them as they go in. This is amazing because the director easily could've let you know even a little bit more. This really made an effect since you had the same feelings as Tae-joo as you both had no idea what would happen to Na-young. Anyway, the three are tied up. There is slight comedy relief, which was wonderfully placed as things were only going to go downhill from this point. Right before they can break free inside the room, one of the prisoners takes them out to do something about the hurt one in the living room. Tae-joo does his thing, as you all know. After this, all three prisoners are able to communicate with one another and to the hostages. This is the turning point. After this, amazing acting and dialogue is shown. The interactions between Dong-chul and the leader were amazing and so suspenseful. But what really set this episode apart was what happened next. This episode was easily the saddest. The feelings of these prisoners are shown, and you understand everything they feel. A wonderful job is done as you want to feel sorry for them, knowing well that they've done wrong. They speak of how the rich stay innocent, and the poor stay guilty. As tensions raise higher, more and more is revealed of their states of mind, the helicopter shows up. This is when the first one kill themself. This is a very hard thing to watch, it is deeply saddening to see happen, but the message and impact it brings is something unmatched. Then, the other one does as well. And then, Tae-joo is shot, knowing he will return to his home. And then he wakes up, the truth is revealed. And you know what happens.I'm beginning to realize I just told you the entire episode. I am sorry. I will go on now. Another great part of this episode was it's music as well. Hearing the Bee Gees song as everything terrible goes down was chilling and heartbreaking. And then, a happy-ish ending with Dong-chul being alive was relieving.
I am tired so I will end this now. I give this a 9.7, but MDL can only take 9.5, so I will settle at that. I hope you will or have enjoyed this K-drama. Goodbye.
STORY: 9/10
If you have seen the show, you will know that the story is just great. The only thing that I have to take away from it, is that it can be easy to get lost. As a non-Korean, who also does not speak the language, many names and places can get mixed up with one another. Although this is what you sign up for when you watching something foreign. Besides this, there are many plot points that you must follow, and I couldn't help finding myself wondering about the logic behind going back to the 80's rather than paying attention sometimes. I will commend the writing and the story direction for doing everything they possibly could to make a premise like time travel work. It is very hard to pull off in any sort of fiction and they did it.
CHARACTERS: 10/10
One of the strongest points of this show was the characters. It felt so incredibly nice to see the characters not only interact, but grow with one another. People say this about most great works, so it may sound cliche, but there is a reason that they say it about many great works. It was very easy to get attached to these characters, and I am sure it was the same for many others as well. I will go further into this on the spoiler section.
ACTING: 10/10
In many dramas I watch, there is at least one or two actors that seem a little off to me. For example, Lee Je-hoon, lead actor in Signal had many moments in which his acting felt strange to me. He did a wonderful job, do not get me wrong, but all actors have a few scenes like that. But with this show I never felt it. This had one of the best supporting casts I've seen in any kind of media. Even those who did not receive more than one line fit in perfectly. Even rookie actor Noh Jong-Hyun fit his role perfectly and did very well. I must give huge props to the main cast though. Jung Kyoung-Ho, Park Sung-Woong and Ko Ah-Sung were A M A Z I N G.
CINEMATOGRAPHY: 100/10
I can not tell whether I had just not payed attention to the previous dramas I've watched, or they just had terrible cinematography, because in this show it was amazing. I feel that with all the kdramas I've watched, great shots and great framing were never something I noticed. It may be because I didn't notice things like that back then, but even so, I most definitely noticed this time. There were so many beautiful and just picture perfect shots in this drama. And most of them weren't even landscapes or backdrops. It was usually just the actors together. I will go a little bit further with an example in the spoilers.
MUSIC: 100/10
Just like the previous, this category is up up and away. The music selection in this was amazing. At many points, it is just chilling, almost scary sounds. If you watch it, you will notice that. But that works perfectly. Like most kdramas there are a few select pieces of music used, each for a certain plot point, and that was used the same way here. But many times, this was broken, and you hear what is actually being heard in the show by the characters. We all have seen this, and it is nothing new, but its usage here was phenomenal. I will continue in the spoilers section as well here.
RE-WATCH VALUE: 7/10
This is purely because this drama is a mystery. I gave a it seven for the fact that I would re-watch this for everything mentioned above even though I knew what would happen anyway. Please do not let this discourage you from watching this, this part of the review is only if you want to watch it twice.
SIDE NOTES (SPOILER FREE):
Apart from the cinematography, many of the filming locations were just brilliant. The drama does a fantastic job at balancing story and comedy, which is one of the best selling points of this show, it is not often that I laugh at a kdrama, but this one had me chuckling and rewinding to watch something again.
SPOILERS SPOILER SPOILERS SPOILERS!!!!!
CHARACTER CONT.
Skipping to the point now, the character development was amazing. Especially Tae-joo's. You can tell the intention was to clearly have a beginning and end to Tae-joo's character. It is brought up many times as sorta checkpoints whenever Na-young wonders if he has settled in yet, and is happy. By the end, seeing him willingly ignoring the things about his "home" really shows how far he went. After visiting modern day, there was not a moment in which he felt truly happy (other than when he was thinking about Na-young ;) ). There was something that wanted to bring me to tears when he was imagining his colleagues. Another shining character in this show was Dong-chul. From the very first time you see him, he lets every one know who he is. "Greatest Captain", or something along that line. Up until the very last time you see him, driving away singing, he is still that Great Captain. Of course, without Park Sung-woong's acting, this character would not shine the way he does. Also, I would like to touch on the surreality of Kim Min-seok's character. The fact that this show pulled off such a crazy, unorthodox character still amazes me. An absolutely fantastic villain.
CINEMATOGRAPHY CONT.
As I said in the side-notes, there were many times I would skip back to watch something again. Just like that, there was one scene in particular that I watched 5-10 times. On the very last episode, after Tae-joo returns and saves his colleagues, they show up at Mr. Yang's restaurant. It opens with an overview above the ceiling and you can see through metal framework, Mr. Yang walking forward. It then cuts to all five of the main cast standing in a line, all doing small various faces. There was something about these two shots. I could not even finish the rest of the scene before re-watching it like five times. The way they line up just felt so great. Then Dong-chul then requests for food and Mr. Yang promptly declines. Through the midst of back and forth, the camera zooms up on each persons face. Brilliantly, when it is Tae-joo's turn to be shown, Dong-chul happens to be talking. So they position the camera as if it were watching him but with Tae-joo in the background. But they instead flip the focus so that the roles are almost reversed. It was stunning and took me back for a moment. And then after that, Lee Yong-Ki gives two hilarious lines about the food he wants, which made me watch the scene a few more times. ANYWHO, this scene is amazing and almost makes the rest of the show worth watching just because of it.
There is no music continued, but I will speak of it briefly in the next segment.
EPISODE 7: 999999999/10
This, single-handedly, is the best episode of a K-drama I have ever watched. Despite it not being hugely necessary or beneficial to the plot, it is an amazing episode worth of emotion. As a quick reminder, this is the episode where the prisoners run away and hold a family hostage. I have so much to say about this episode. I do think that this episode is perfect. I've only seen it once but I noticed no flaws. Lets start at the beginning. I did not expect to watch something so great since I just wanted to know what happens with Tae-joo's dad. With this, I can't exactly remember what happens in the very beginning, so I apologize. All I remember is Nam-sik informing the team of the hostages. Anyway, I will now talk about the meat of the episode. So the back and forth between the prisoners and the detectives were amazing. Knowing that they were so close to each other, but feeling so far away because of a wall gave a strange and unnerving feeling. The suspense held up for so long and they did so well doing so. One notable thing before the whole fiasco was the reporter standing on the van. This really set up the message and overall meaning of the episode very well. With this, the episode was entirely about the media and the perception it give people on an issue like this. After the swat arrives, the severity of the situation rises. The ongoing tension between Dong-chul and Kim Kyung-se is incredibly high at this point and it is evident by the way they speak to each other. Taking matters into their own hands, after Kyung-se reveals Na-young's identity, Dong-chul and Tae-woo enter the house through a window. Being all sneaky, they get caught early and are tied up. This is where everything changes. Before this, you never saw the inside of the house, you only had the information given to Tae-joo and Dong-chul. You find everything out with them as they go in. This is amazing because the director easily could've let you know even a little bit more. This really made an effect since you had the same feelings as Tae-joo as you both had no idea what would happen to Na-young. Anyway, the three are tied up. There is slight comedy relief, which was wonderfully placed as things were only going to go downhill from this point. Right before they can break free inside the room, one of the prisoners takes them out to do something about the hurt one in the living room. Tae-joo does his thing, as you all know. After this, all three prisoners are able to communicate with one another and to the hostages. This is the turning point. After this, amazing acting and dialogue is shown. The interactions between Dong-chul and the leader were amazing and so suspenseful. But what really set this episode apart was what happened next. This episode was easily the saddest. The feelings of these prisoners are shown, and you understand everything they feel. A wonderful job is done as you want to feel sorry for them, knowing well that they've done wrong. They speak of how the rich stay innocent, and the poor stay guilty. As tensions raise higher, more and more is revealed of their states of mind, the helicopter shows up. This is when the first one kill themself. This is a very hard thing to watch, it is deeply saddening to see happen, but the message and impact it brings is something unmatched. Then, the other one does as well. And then, Tae-joo is shot, knowing he will return to his home. And then he wakes up, the truth is revealed. And you know what happens.I'm beginning to realize I just told you the entire episode. I am sorry. I will go on now. Another great part of this episode was it's music as well. Hearing the Bee Gees song as everything terrible goes down was chilling and heartbreaking. And then, a happy-ish ending with Dong-chul being alive was relieving.
I am tired so I will end this now. I give this a 9.7, but MDL can only take 9.5, so I will settle at that. I hope you will or have enjoyed this K-drama. Goodbye.
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