Can't Stop Watching Since Eps 8
I found myself dragging to watch the show for the first 7 episode. But since Episode 8, I always dream about watching it when I'm not! It was hillarious, funny, and great amount of bromance. The acting is superb as I know many of them are from background theatre. So, the funny moments that, if done by those who can't pull it off, would make us cringe. Not this one though.Not a lot of love-romance kind of thing. But really emphasis on the human relationship. It is so funny that I can't stop laughing every episode (again, from eps 8 and above).
So, if you find yourself bored, give yourself a chance to wait until it hits episode 8. It's worth it!
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Time well spent
I got around to watching this now as it came up as leaving Netflix soon in my region. The episodes are long, and it is kind of slow-paced, so it is not as easy to binge-watch. But so worth watching!Brief synopsis from my POV:
Ace baseball pitcher Kim Je Hyuk (played by Park Hae Soo) is almost at the peak of his career, when it all comes crashing down. Saving his sister from a rapist, Kim Je Hyuk ends up sending the rapist into a coma, and gets sentenced to a year in prison.
We then follow his life in prison, where life is slow and simple, yet not simple. Kim Je Hyuk has a "single-track mind", so he appears a bit stupid, but his heart is in the right place and he finds ways to solve the challenges life throws at him.
The story:
As I said, this is a bit slow-paced, but I think it reflects well on life in prison. The story has elements of suspense (prison intrigues), there are some light romance, and lots of friendship/bromance, some heart-warming moments and small bits to make you chuckle.
It is easy to feel a connection to the characters, and many of them are "multilayered".
The sidestories for some of his fellow inmates adds extra layers to the story, sometimes shifting your perception.
The cast:
I won't go into individual descriptions here, I will just say "splendid". There are several familiar faces here, and some (for me) unknown ones, but I found them all to be portraying their characters with sincerity and great convictions.
All in all:
Definitely do not regret I did prioritize watching this now. You could call it a prison-based "slice of life" story. Watch it if you value human connections, friendships, and are no stranger to slice-of-life dramas.
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BUT, I think the real story begins when Lee Jin ho played by Jung kyung ho appears.
And after that, the remaining episodes are an absolute delight, a mix of smart comedy and emotions.
The characters are so human and you really get attached to each one of them.
The drama really reminded me of the reply serie in its dynamic and its bitter sweet feeling with a really happy, comic note. The sound effects, one of the trendmark of the director, are also serving their comic purpose really well in this drama !
Anyway, it took me time to get in the story , but once I was in, I was hooked.
I definitely recommend !!
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Prison Playbook and Jeong
As a Korean Canadian, I had heard the term "jeong" to describe a feeling among people, especially in Korea. It's a Korean word and there is no English counterpart. Prison Playbook shows us what jeong is. I was hesitant to watch this for a year because the trailer didn't really entice me, but I loved Hospital Playlist and Reply 1988, so I had to trust Director Shin Won Ho and the screenwriters.Jeong can mean affection, love, connection, relationship. The love and affection that develops among the inmates is incredible. The support they have for one another despite the hardship and the difficult situation they were in is beautiful. It is a deeply human story and strangely relatable. It was also hilarious at the most unexpected parts and that's what I need when I watch dramas. Not everything ends up going well for our main characters and I was ok with that.
I was most moved by the writing, whether it was the funny parts or the deeply moving and encouraging parts.
"You did your very best, but you weren't given any opportunity. So just blame the world instead. The world should've tried harder. The problem was that the world never gave you an opportunity."
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Hesitation hit me first, thinking if what's so good in this drama to hit such a high rating.
But when i started first episode, man im hooked that i want to finish it in one go.
I love the story, the actors did every part amazingly... what happen to some characters are disappointing but it was near to reality.
Sadly it ended... TToTT but i still got hangover about Kim Je-Hyuk and Lee Joon Ho's bromance.
Love this oppa's cute acting as well as Ajussi's (warden's) role.
Ahhh... hoping for another glimpse of Kim Je-Hyuks life in the near future, haha.
Thank you Prison Playbook cast and staff, congratulation and good job.
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Strikes, Balls, & Prison Walls °8.4° °Excellent°
No sleep. Bad food. Never enough hot water. Smelly, downright mean cell mates. It's cold. It's dangerous. The bullies are too much. Prison is not where anyone wants to be.Park Hae Soo (Six Flying Dragons, Squid Game-8.4, Yaksha: Ruthless Operations) is our ML, Kim Je Hyuk. He's brilliant. At ⚾baseball. He is, otherwise, a complete dunderhead. (“He's just acting dumb,” says his BFF. “No, he really is stupid about everything but ⚾,” insists his manager). He is capable of occasional flashes of brilliance. He's a simple man, and there can be a brilliance to simplicity. As a top-tier player he's living a top-tier life. Im Hwa Young (Signal-8.6, Birthcare Center-8.2) plays Kim Je Hee, his younger sister. Hyuk is found to have used unnecessary force when he defends Sis against an assault. He proceeded to chase the fleeing brute and smash a 🏆 on his head - fatality. Jail, it is.
There, he's killer at woodshop. I mean, he literally almost /killed/ the woodshop. They move him to gardening. Eventually they set up a training area for him. He has injuries to work back from, he'll be released in a few months, and he's a very popular player. Watch actor/Park closely: His facial expressions make the show. He'll look positively constipated and then spring into affability when forced into a corner. Up until the very last second, the viewer expects him to (maybe) go a different way.
PP is a 2017 release that is rated 90 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 90-minute episodes. All the acting in this show is a delight. We follow Hyuk through his prison odyssey, meeting cellmates and various officers, getting most of their backstories. Jung Kyung Ho (Hospital Playlist-9, Crash Course in Romance) is Lee Joon Ho/JHo. He's so wealthy, he's living a top-tier life among those who live top-tier lives. JUST KIDDING! He's a CO - corrections officer - one of the worst ways to make money on the planet. He's Hyuk's long time friend. In fact, he requests a job transfer so that he can follow Hyuk to another prison and keep an eye on him. Kim Kyung Nam (The King: Eternal Monarch, Connection) is Lee Joon Dol Joon, JHo's brother. Jung Woong In plays CO, Paeng Se Yoon. He has a gruff exterior, but on the low-down he helps the inmates more than anyone. I've seen this actor play a ruthless politician in My Sassy Girl-8.5. He's completely different here, much to his credit.
Let's meet Hyuk's cellies.
Jung Min Sung (Record of Youth-5.8, Racket Boys-8.3) is a white collar criminal, Doctor Ko. Dr. Ko was convicted of embezzling 10B won, but we see that his company is the true criminal element and they mistreated him horribly. He actually took the fall for a high level manager. Here's a guy who understands that the pen is mightier than the sword. He will not tolerate violations of the law, ironically. They only get chicken necks and their dinner? That's maltreatment. He files a petition. He needs a book that's not in the prison library? Petition. The guards are cursing at them and being rude? Human Rights violation complaint. Every prison has jailhouse lawyers. They have nothing to do but read the law books all day. Most of them are smarter than most of us. Doc Ko doesn't just hold /officers/ to the rules. He will recite them to his cellmates as well, which often gets him beat up by the most short-tempered of the cellies. In one scene a body comes flying in from off camera onto him. They do that as a running bit in the hilarious show, Arrested Development-10. No doubt, Arrested Development picked it up from cartoons.
Choi Moo-Sung plays a gangster doing a murder stint. He's big and powerful. I've seen him in Han River Police-7.4 (he's a bad guy) & Reply 1988-8.6 (he's a loving dad). In this, he's both. Good, bad, or otherwise, he's always a teddy bear. Jung Jae-Sung is the first cell leader we meet. He's often casted as an @$$h0le w/ power. I've seen him in Hospital Playlist-9, Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency-7.4, My Mister-9.5, Clean w/ Passion For Now-7, The King's Affection-8.3, Pandora-3.9 & Big Mouth-7.4. He's different here. More polite and contained, but, appropriately, there's something /off/. Ahn Chang Hwan (Fiery Priest) as "Crony" is the perfect thug.
Lee Kyu Hyung plays goofy druggie, "Loony”. He's really funny. In Uncle Samsik-8.4 he portrays a beautiful (looking) man who is ‘beautifully’ corrupted and deranged. In Doctor John and Hi Bye, Mama-6.5, he has more serious roles. This dude is an ACTOR. The show wouldn't work the same way without him. He gets some of the best scenes and the best lines. He's childlike, and they all seem to understand that. He's also tired all the time, especially when he tries to break his drug habit. They all end up letting him sleep on their knee or their leg. He's like encroaching flood water, at some point they stop resisting and just let it flow.
Jung Hae In goes to prison. This actor's a national treasure, appearing in hits such as Something in the Rain-8.6, One Spring Night-7.8, D.P.-8.4, While You Were Sleeping-7.3, and so much more. He's a superb romantic ML. When we meet him in PP he's a volatile inmate - He's scary. There's nothing lacking in his performance, I just don't love seeing him this way. Is he my favorite? Not quite: Seo Kang-joon, Song Seung-heon, and Jo Jung-suk are occupying my top 3. Do I put him ahead of Song Kang? Hmmmm. I have a special place in my heart for the teddy bears, too, like Ma Dong-Seok… Well, he's definitely a top 5 for me. In fact, regardless of where I place him in my personal order, his raw natural power of attraction is indisputable. I'm thinking of changing how I refer to him to something like: ‘Jung Hae In…um-Um-UM’ and shaking my head slowly every time I say or write his name😜. Jung Moon Sung plays his brother. He doesn't have any scenes with his Hospital Playlist co-star here, but in HP, all of his scenes are with Jung Kyung Ho.
Krystal Jung (Sweet & Sour-7, The Heirs-7.3, The Bride of Habaek-7, and the enormously fun Crazy Love-7.8) plays Jihoo, Hyuk's ex. They never told his family they broke up, so she's brought into the loop-of-crisis-management and she gets into the habit of visiting him. They broke up because she was convinced she was the only one in love. (Hyuk isn't good at expressing himself. He's just good at curveballs). She's at her cutest in this show. Their relationship is as sweet a thing as I've ever seen. Their theme song is nice, too.
The oft seen Ye Soo Jung is Je Hyuk's mother. I've enjoyed her most in Train to Busan-7.8, the Along With the Gods films, & Mine-8. I'm currently watching her play a Walter White style meth cook in The Worst of Evil. She is fabulous. All visits are one-on-one. Mom and Jihoo pretty much ask exactly the same questions: Are you sleeping? Did you eat? Are you cold? He gives each of them exactly the /opposite/ answers. He lies to his mom about everything and tells Jihoo the truth. Mom is an easy con, but sis? “Do you think I'm a fool?” His sister is perturbed. “Put some thought into your lies!” She isn't as readily fooled.
“Looks like it's going to rain,” (as Hyuk heads to court for the appeal). “Don't let your uniform get wet, it's unlucky.” “See you soon” Chief Jo says. We just learned, guards aren't supposed to say that. The signs are there that Hyuk's several months stint may not get cut short by appeal. The filming is loaded with quality segues & other connections like that. The director is the amazing Shin Won Ho who gifted us with Hospital Playlist & the Reply series. All these shows have the same original creator: Lee Woo Jung. Screenwriter, Jung Bo Hoon, also 📝 Racket Boys-8.3, an adorable family show that fell on the PC sword merely because a player gets booed in Indonesia. The punishment seems to be worse than the crime; RB is wonderful.
The whole prison is abuzz that they have a celebrity in their mix. Hyuk's presence stokes awe, love, snark, and jealously. The warden fawns on him. The Warden's cheerless #2 would prefer to give him solitary for the balance of his stint as Hyuk's mere presence is throwing off the flow. The Warden wouldn't allow that, however. Eventually, Hyuk's band of theives, eh - brothers start helping with his recovery. “How many pitches did he throw?” Dr. Ko, the accountant, is keeping account. He's grilling guard JHo about the particulars. JHo becomes uncomfortable over his lack of detailed observation. “How many minutes did he weight train? You don't even remember that?” How many balls did he throw in the afternoon? What kind of pitches, mainly? What weight were the dumbells? And how many times did he lift them? You kept count, right? You weren't counting?”
“Happy Reform”, the sign says. The theme is prison life and the dignity of every human being. One of the show’s potential weaknesses is that several of these inmates aren't guilty of much, if anything at all. There's 6 men in the cell block and at least 3 of them are innocent, counting our ML who arguably suffered a miscarriage of justice. Even one of the thugs ended up in jail because he was caught up in another man's mess, and well he's committed plenty of crimes, he didn't actually commit the crime for which he was convicted. There are definitely innocent people in jail - But not half of them. We all need to constantly focus on improving, but innocent people don't need reform. Sadly, very little true reforms happen in prison.
Prison is a small world. Every little thing gets magnified, because most days, not much is happening. When things are happening, it ain't good. So we go from one small but overly magnified incident to another. There's the incident of the embellished watch. The sports festival. The smuggled cigarettes. Trivia night. The singing contest! (The winner gets a day of leave!!! But who is the inmate practicing My Way? They can hear him. They can't see him. He's the one to beat). Ironically, when something significant and deadly serious does occur, it's normally kept under wraps and few even know about it. There's a steady supply of laughs. When Hyuk puts the fork in his mouth at his first jailhouse meal, he's relieved that the food doesn't taste bad. Yes, the cook is pretty good, despite the fact that he's a four-time murderer and guilty of dismembering corpses, his cellmates inform.
Two inmates who are 20 years apart in age discover that they've been writing to the same woman. She told the older one she's 33 and the younger one that she's 25. Neither one of them can give her up. This starts a bitter competition.
Prison ingenuity! A CO once told me that 1/3 of criminals are idiots, 1/3 are very intelligent, and the rest are something else. There were a couple inmates that were so brilliant the officers weren't allowed to talk to them - because the state supreme court always found in their favor. PP shows some stellar prison ingenuity. People, they can make toilet wine out of bread and fruit scraps! If you want to lose a couple hours on your phone, check out The After Prison show on YT. They do recipes more than anything else. Any prison show that doesn't show impressive prison ingenuity is cheating us - There's no way they did their homework.
Good news: They have a TV! Bad news: They only get one channel. When the electrical engineer fails to change the channel with scavenged copper wire, chewing gum, and a jerry-rigged soldering iron, another saves the day by pilfering a remote from the Warden's office. Teamwork. Just like baseball, prison is better with it.
Oh, no! Hyuk gets a case of the yips. He can't hit the strike zone, all of a sudden. They overthink the cure. He's just not that complicated. Jihoo knows exactly what to do.
One thing I've learned from watching Kdramas is that Korea is no fan of Japan. On trivia night, there's a question about the 1995 Murayama statement, in which Japan's PM, Murayama, apologizes for Japanese atrocities committed during the Japanese imperialism period. To para-quote Wiki, the Japanese army was responsible for the deaths of millions. Actions include a wide range including torture of prisoners of war, forced labor, biological warfare, looting, rape, and the use of comfort women. The contestant got it mixed up with The Kono Statement of 1993, which was an apology specifically regarding the rape and forced prostitution of women by that regime.
More than anything, PP is heartwarming. It's prison; they do show violence and fights, bullying and sexual advances, tensions and heartbreaks, but they keep it fairly tame. Hyuk has to pull a Jamie Lannister. If you don't know what that means, I ain't tellin, but PP tells its audience that if we keep stubbornly plodding away, just like Hyuk, we can come back from anything. Hyuk inspires us to believe that.
QUOTES📢
It's been so long since I've felt like a human being.
Call the whole CPRT team. If there's a riot tonight, let's give them the warden and run.
Flexibility is essential for this place to operate properly.
〰🖍 IMHO
📣8.5 📝7.8 🎭8.3 💓7 🦋4 🎨6 🔚8.7 🤗6 ▪ 🌞5.5 ⚡4.5 😅3.5 😭4.5 😱4 😯3 🤢3 🤔4.5 💤0
🎵/🔊8.5 The soundtrack is gorgeous. My Way by The Sinatra makes a showing. Shazams: Would Be Better by Heize; Like A Dream by Park Boram; Bravo, My Life, by Eric Nam; The Door, by Kang Seung Yoon & MINO. The sound of heavy footsteps ends many episodes particularly if drama is looming. It's effective.
Age 15+ with the following cautions: R-rated language including F💣s. Violence and references to sex and violence, but it's nothing like a Hollywood feature. Rated TV-15
Re-📺? 👍🏼
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Goes without saying the story is very good as well. Except the fact everyone seems to be innocent, harmless, angels bitten by some disaster that lead them into jail, there's always the good contradiction that we never get to see the other side. And there's the hook that caught me to begin with: if the main lead is going to jail, then we're gonna get to see how it is in there - I thought. And I have my doubts everything runs as smoothly, neatly, peacefully in real life, of course, as K-dramas always try to give out. But, well, I certainly hope for a world in which people can really repent, grow, change, mature, recover and straighten up in prison. If we could have at least that, of course...
Anyways, the acting is major! First time seeing this male lead and I loved his character, everyone else (I do mean everyone) did awesome jobs, every single character is appealing and leaves that feeling of needing more screentime.
I liked the way it began. Liked how it developed and liked the ending although I dislike this one character's fate and how they didn't really... well. No mistakes were made, it's just me being pissy he didn't get what I wanted him to.
Now, if you really enjoy character building you should really go for this one. The comedy gets a bit old towards the end but this show is still gold. Get on it!
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Trying not to get so emotional
Its quite a good reflection of society with funny and cheesy ways to not make it as serious.But as the plot goes on you get used to every problem getting fixed by the end of the day. So much that when reality hits its really sad.
It is a story with happy endings and sad real ones too. But will always make you feel giddy.
The acting of each and every artist is so good. A trait that Kdramas deliver. Plus their chemistry with each other always makes me fond.
It's a series that i wished could go on even if the characters will have to stay in the prison way after their release be due.
If you don't know what to watch and want something light hearted and intense at the same time this may be your cake to eat.
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Just finished watching it, and I will definitely re-watch it once I am done with other shows. What a treat! The lead actor has so much potential. This show is not for light hearted people, this will take you for a long ride with individuals you believe you have the right to judge, only to prove you wrong. There are so many lessons one can take from this masterpiece. I am so very glad to have watched it and would definitely recommend others to give it a go.
I didn't want it to end, it was that good and that big having an impact on my heart. I laughed, cried, felt pain watching this show.
I look forward for shows similar to this one, or one with a ride I am unable to forget.
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The story makes me think how the world might be like if we have the mentality of a sinner who thinks he doesn't deserve anything so when somebody does him good - he feels humbled and grateful. It reminds me of how Jesus Christ died for our since while we were still sinners and how undeserving are we of his grace - but we received it anyway.
The story inspires me to be somebody who is capable and successful - Just as how KJH has means and fame, and knew exactly whom to share them with. How fulfilling is it to be able to help someone and eventually become family.
The story also makes me think how being in the unknown zone makes you discover things about yourself and how your character is built based on the responses you make with the help of people who believe in you.
*Spoiler*
And lastly - i think the reason why only the "DRUGIE" failed to learn his lesson - is a warning to viewers to never take drugs because it controls your brain - which prevents people and even yourself in helping you out.
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This review may contain spoilers
Brilliant characters in an interesting setting
I liked all the main characters in the cell, be it the complaints-writing Dr. Go, the complete weirdo Loony, the lisping dirtbag Kaist, the mellow big brother Min Chul, the wrongfully convicted Jung Woo and the simple-minded, gentle Je Hyuk.I especially liked Min Chul and Lieutenant Peang, both being thoughtful of others in their way. Paeng really surprised me because he was rather annoying with his constant cursing, but over time you can see his heart of gold.
The acting was great, the comedy especially of Loony with other characters was really funny and the emotional scenes conveyed all the feelings without being too heavy.
I liked the directing as well, especially the first 20 minutes were already such a pleasure. How Je Hyuk went in the tunnel and exited it in the same scene but in the opposite direction in another vehicle and in handcuffs, that was a really well-excuted idea. And Joon Ho's joy before meeting Je Hyuk after all this time - even with a spring in his steps -, but then receives another task, so every life is sucked right out of him. Atfer those scenes I was quite sure I would like this series, which proved itself true.
SPOILER
Episode 15 was such a rollercoaster ride:
There is Min Chul, this really nice person who committed a terrible crime. He really repented and displayed this with his spotless record. He is so warm and just a huge teddy bear. I really liked how he was so grateful for meeting his daughter and that he actually wanted his wife to be happy with another man. In the end he received the pardon and I was overjoyed.
Jung Woo's brother got to punch the bastard who was responsible for the incarceration of his brother. He really deserved that. And the meeting with Park's mother was something else. She is the one who suffers a lot; she lost her son and thought the perpetrator is behind bars and has to learn she cursed the wrong person. The guilt and suffering is visibly wearing her down tremendously.
To see how Han Yang (Loony) mess up his life again and to see the disappointement in Ji Won's face, was really hard. I know that many drugs alter the brain structure fundamentally, that addiction is a disease and that will power alone is not the solution. But I was so frustrated to see a character fail so hard and drag other people with him down. And it had to be the gay inmate. Why did the writers decide to give the drug storyline to a gay inmate? As far as I know, there are not many gay characters in Korean series intended for the general audience, so it is really annoying that they wrote him like that.
It is a magnificent episode, even if I have some qualms with it, and I'm really glad I watched Prison Playbook.
The one negative point is the ending of Han Yang, which was totally uncessary since they left him hanging in the air. He could have returned to his family and his boyfriend and be completely astonished that his mother actually came. Be thankful to his boyfriend to stick with him through all this. Or at least continue this storyline further, but this character did not deserve nothing after fighting so hard and than failing right at the end. To have just one cellmate be treated like this is quite unfair and of course it is the gay one.
SPOILER END
I want to end on a happy note: I enjoyed this show a lot, liked many characters and especially their comedic interactions were pure gold. I definitely recommend this series.
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Prison Playbook is an awesome drama with its well-written story and amazing cast.
The lead actors stole my heart!
Park Hae Soo portrayed Kim Je Hyuk perfectly. He seemed dumb most of the time but he had his moments of nasty temper. He survived prison with his dumb wit, and fame and it was superb!!
Jung Kyung Ho as Lee Joon Ho, is a dream guy for every girl just like Je He says. (My new crush!) He is really the best friend one would hope for. The way he handle every mishap in Kim Je Hyuk's life and take care of every one else makes you swoon over him.
Now all the other support roles who still played a significant role in the drama like Krystal, Min Chul, KAIST (superb acting of lisp), Dr. Ko, Loony (amazing display of character btw), Captain Yoo (handsome as ever), Lieutenant Song, Lieutenant Paeng and Jailbird!!! Jailbird was awesome!!
I would definitely advise you to watch this drama! It deserves 10/10!!
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