1
manicmuse
NYC!
I'm sorry if my ratings seem all over the place, but that's how this drama made me feel. My feelings watching "Black" were as complicated as it's plot, and I don't think I have ever seen a drama with a more complicated plot. If you are a fan of "Meet Joe Black", and you're expecting a supernatural romance in the same vein, you are definitely mistaken. This is a thriller about corruption, a town full of disturbing secrets, and some serious grim reaper folklore, with only a small hint of romance. This is a plot that may require you to take actual notes while watching because that's how crazy and intense the plot gets. Honestly, half of the plot probably went over my head, but it was exciting enough to keep me watching.
I'll start with the cast , and there are a lot of important characters to consider. Song Seung Hun is the most noteworthy, especially with such a complicated role. He's a hilarious anti-hero/butt-kicking action hero/hot leading man, and handled all that his character demanded well. Of course saying too much about him will lead to spoilers, but I thought his awkwardness was part of his appeal, and he certainly wears all black well. He is partnered with Go Ara in super emo mode as Ha Ram. At first I liked Ha Ram, her impetuous nature, her dark personality, and her fierce attitude. The issue I had with her performance is that the more complicated the plot became the more one-note she seemed. I thought Seung Hun rose to the occasion, but Ara fell flat. Ha Ram doesn't evolve much through the show. She basically has 3 modes - bitter and isolated, in stubborn pursuit of justice, and feeling sorry for herself. It wasn't bad enough to make me dislike her performance completely, but it certainly made her too predictable. As a team of leads they weren't in the same league, and that honestly killed any real chemistry, so the small amount of romance (which becomes a significant plot point) felt forced and was the least interesting part of the story to me. Part of that may be the writers fault, but I've seen good actors make chemistry work with much worse.
Other actors worth noting are Kim Dong Jun, who was too cute to be so underutilized, Lee El, who was at times much more interesting than the female lead, Lee Kwan Hoon who was the best character with the least amount of screen time (I heart villains), and Kim Won Hae, who is a scene stealer in every drama I've seen him in. Of course that's only a few of the important characters in this drama. I couldn't possibly mention every suspect, victim, assassin, reaper, prostitute, politician, officer, parent, child version... and yes they all are important to the story. Most of the performances are great, and make the world seem real. Some of the roles however are forgettable (like that creepy dr), which makes it much harder to follow so many complicated character connections. That's why I gave the acting an 8 instead of a 10.
Another "character" in this drama would be the town of Mujin itself. The town should be infamous, and clearly the worst place to live ever... especially if you are a kid. It deserves a Twin Peaks level of notariety in KDramaland.
Now I will get to the plot... have I mentioned that its complicated? It was much easier when I binge watched the first half, but waiting a week for the next episodes made it hard not to lose track. Just know that the show is very dark, and the subject matter is rough. If you are sensitive to certain topics, especially involving sex and violence, assume they will come up and skip this drama. If you appreciate the term "trigger warning", consider this whole drama one big trigger warning. However, nothing is gratuitous. Every harsh moment adds to the bigger picture.
Every episode is also filled with revelations, and plot twists, so even the parts that you may have seen coming, have their own sub-plots that you likely would never suspect. There are moments when the episodes may seem to drag, but there is probably something happening that you should be paying close attention to. Sometimes the plot twists seem excessive, but they always (or mostly) make complete sense. The story is highly entertaining as a thriller, and impressive because of how ambitious the plot is overall, but there is one unforgivable flaw that almost made me give this drama an even worse rating... that's the ending.
The final minutes of this drama are insulting and should not exist. It's the equivalent of watching someone create intricate sand art only to blow it away as soon as it is completed and replace it with some child's crayon doodles on the floor. This ending teaches the lesson of why sometimes it's better to have a heartbreaking ending than some BS you think will make the audience happy. It turned the few plot holes into plot craters, and made me want to laugh and rage for all of the wrong reasons. In fact, the only parts that made me tear up at all involved side characters, not the main leads. Still, all of the important questions are answered, and with a story this ambitious, that is definitely impressive. I can only imagine how furious the writer must have been, because it's obvious this was a last minute change. I hope everyone involved learned a lesson. I would have been much happier with an open ending, so if you stop watching before it ends, your opinion of the show will probably be much better.
So why is my rewatch score 10? I would love to binge watch this again (skipping the final minutes of course), to catch everything I missed the first time. I'm convinced that knowing what really happened and watching it unfold would be just as entertaining as being surprised by it all. I am very likely to binge watch this again at some point, without watching other dramas with similar plots in between (certain controversial topics were very popular this season), which also made things more confusing than they would have been otherwise.
Overall, this is an intense drama, that's good for people who are tired of shallow stories and predictable plots. If you enjoy roller coaster thrillers this is a must see, just be forewarned about the unnecessary tagged on ending. The reaper world is also awesome for fans of realistic supernatural stories, and was really interesting. If you think Korean dramas are often too tame, this one includes a lot of taboo subjects that add to the story, instead of just being thrown in for shock value. You can't be a lazy viewer with this one, because the story only gets more complicated over time. Be patient with the story and your questions will probably all be answered. I also loved the cinematic feel of the episodes, which are very long (1hr 20), but captivating enough to be worth the time. All this to say that I was unexpectedly impressed yet disappointed by this drama, which is why my review is all over the place. Consider this my strong recommendation to watch this, but with a viewer advisory warning attached. I also recommend watching it with the lights off, for a greater effect.
I'll start with the cast , and there are a lot of important characters to consider. Song Seung Hun is the most noteworthy, especially with such a complicated role. He's a hilarious anti-hero/butt-kicking action hero/hot leading man, and handled all that his character demanded well. Of course saying too much about him will lead to spoilers, but I thought his awkwardness was part of his appeal, and he certainly wears all black well. He is partnered with Go Ara in super emo mode as Ha Ram. At first I liked Ha Ram, her impetuous nature, her dark personality, and her fierce attitude. The issue I had with her performance is that the more complicated the plot became the more one-note she seemed. I thought Seung Hun rose to the occasion, but Ara fell flat. Ha Ram doesn't evolve much through the show. She basically has 3 modes - bitter and isolated, in stubborn pursuit of justice, and feeling sorry for herself. It wasn't bad enough to make me dislike her performance completely, but it certainly made her too predictable. As a team of leads they weren't in the same league, and that honestly killed any real chemistry, so the small amount of romance (which becomes a significant plot point) felt forced and was the least interesting part of the story to me. Part of that may be the writers fault, but I've seen good actors make chemistry work with much worse.
Other actors worth noting are Kim Dong Jun, who was too cute to be so underutilized, Lee El, who was at times much more interesting than the female lead, Lee Kwan Hoon who was the best character with the least amount of screen time (I heart villains), and Kim Won Hae, who is a scene stealer in every drama I've seen him in. Of course that's only a few of the important characters in this drama. I couldn't possibly mention every suspect, victim, assassin, reaper, prostitute, politician, officer, parent, child version... and yes they all are important to the story. Most of the performances are great, and make the world seem real. Some of the roles however are forgettable (like that creepy dr), which makes it much harder to follow so many complicated character connections. That's why I gave the acting an 8 instead of a 10.
Another "character" in this drama would be the town of Mujin itself. The town should be infamous, and clearly the worst place to live ever... especially if you are a kid. It deserves a Twin Peaks level of notariety in KDramaland.
Now I will get to the plot... have I mentioned that its complicated? It was much easier when I binge watched the first half, but waiting a week for the next episodes made it hard not to lose track. Just know that the show is very dark, and the subject matter is rough. If you are sensitive to certain topics, especially involving sex and violence, assume they will come up and skip this drama. If you appreciate the term "trigger warning", consider this whole drama one big trigger warning. However, nothing is gratuitous. Every harsh moment adds to the bigger picture.
Every episode is also filled with revelations, and plot twists, so even the parts that you may have seen coming, have their own sub-plots that you likely would never suspect. There are moments when the episodes may seem to drag, but there is probably something happening that you should be paying close attention to. Sometimes the plot twists seem excessive, but they always (or mostly) make complete sense. The story is highly entertaining as a thriller, and impressive because of how ambitious the plot is overall, but there is one unforgivable flaw that almost made me give this drama an even worse rating... that's the ending.
The final minutes of this drama are insulting and should not exist. It's the equivalent of watching someone create intricate sand art only to blow it away as soon as it is completed and replace it with some child's crayon doodles on the floor. This ending teaches the lesson of why sometimes it's better to have a heartbreaking ending than some BS you think will make the audience happy. It turned the few plot holes into plot craters, and made me want to laugh and rage for all of the wrong reasons. In fact, the only parts that made me tear up at all involved side characters, not the main leads. Still, all of the important questions are answered, and with a story this ambitious, that is definitely impressive. I can only imagine how furious the writer must have been, because it's obvious this was a last minute change. I hope everyone involved learned a lesson. I would have been much happier with an open ending, so if you stop watching before it ends, your opinion of the show will probably be much better.
So why is my rewatch score 10? I would love to binge watch this again (skipping the final minutes of course), to catch everything I missed the first time. I'm convinced that knowing what really happened and watching it unfold would be just as entertaining as being surprised by it all. I am very likely to binge watch this again at some point, without watching other dramas with similar plots in between (certain controversial topics were very popular this season), which also made things more confusing than they would have been otherwise.
Overall, this is an intense drama, that's good for people who are tired of shallow stories and predictable plots. If you enjoy roller coaster thrillers this is a must see, just be forewarned about the unnecessary tagged on ending. The reaper world is also awesome for fans of realistic supernatural stories, and was really interesting. If you think Korean dramas are often too tame, this one includes a lot of taboo subjects that add to the story, instead of just being thrown in for shock value. You can't be a lazy viewer with this one, because the story only gets more complicated over time. Be patient with the story and your questions will probably all be answered. I also loved the cinematic feel of the episodes, which are very long (1hr 20), but captivating enough to be worth the time. All this to say that I was unexpectedly impressed yet disappointed by this drama, which is why my review is all over the place. Consider this my strong recommendation to watch this, but with a viewer advisory warning attached. I also recommend watching it with the lights off, for a greater effect.
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