Vagabond (2019)

I Spy ~ U Spy ~ They'll All Die ~ If We Try ✈ No S2 Yet? I Might Cry °Excellent°

This story begins with a crash: An airplane crash. Cha Gal-geon lost his nephew/ward - his son, really (CG was raising the kid) to this tragedy. CG travels with other mourners to Morocco, the site of the impact. As soon as he lands there, he recognizes a man that appeared in a video that his nephew had sent him from the plane, prior to the crash. If this man had been on the plane, he would/SHOULD be dead, not walking around Morocco.

Go Hae-ri works at the South Korean Embassy in Morocco. She's actually a fledgling intelligence officer, and is assigned to the crew assisting the mourners. She meets Cha Gal-geon and they eventually work together to bring the baddies down.

V stars the wildly popular Bae Suzy (Start-Up-8, While You Were Sleeping-7.3, Anna: Extended Version-8.1) as Go Hae Ri / "Elsa”. Lee Seung Gi (A Korean Odyssey-7.2, Mouse) is our action hero, Cha Dal Geon. Superstar director, Yu In-Sik (Dr. Romantic series, Extraordinary Attorney Woo), is at the helm, and scriptwriters Jang Young-Cheol and Jung Kyung-Soon seem to work together on most projects. They're responsible for Empress Ki, History of the Salaryman, Big Mouth and other hits. This group hasn't failed their audience yet, and they didn't fail us here. However, one would think that 16+ hours would be enough, but more and more baddies surface. The show is not complete. Season 2 has not been announced yet, but they are looking into it, and they know the fans want it.

V is exciting and well scripted. It has action, intrigue, displays of the worst and best of humanity, and the unfulfilled promise of some romance. It's difficult to tell a thrilling tale without being a little outlandish. They didn't get so crazy that it gets in the way. The plot progresses without too many bumps in the road, yet it is still quite intricate. The action and fight scenes are good. Like most action thrillers, they should have been in ICU or dead several times over, yet they manage to keep going. It's the usual trope for the genre. Why fight it anymore?

The only lasting disappointment you are likely to experience after fighting villains and corruption with Vagabond, is that you'll have to wait for season 2. The wait will be a minimum of 15 mos but a maximum of....well, never. I hope they never do /that/ to us!

IMHO...
🎬8 🤔6 🎭7.5 ⚡8 💓5 🦋5

Suggested Age 12& up

In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Love to Hate You 8.9;
Crash Landing On You 9.1;
Oh My Ghost 10;
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9;
Love Struck in the City 7.3;
Hospital Playlist 9;
When the Camellia Blooms 8;
My Mister 9.5

Action/Sci-fi/fantasy:
K2 8;
Private Lives 8.1;
Descendants Of The Sun 8.3;
Uncanny counter season 1 only - S1-8.4 S2-4;
Sisyphus 8;
Tunnel 8.1;
Signal 8.6;
D.P. 8.4;
The Cursed 8.3;
Flower of Evil 8.9;
The Man from Nowhere 8.9;
Black 9;
Squid Game 8.4;
Kingdom 8.3;
Sweet Home 8.4

Update May 2024 - Vagabond is filming a second season in the Philippines! No details on a release date.

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Exciting and explosive

Wow — this is hands down, the most heart-pounding, stress-inducing drama I've watched. From the very first episode, I was super invested in the backstory and in the backgrounds of the two main leads. This was, in a sense, the perfect underdog story — the "us against the world" vibe runs throughout all the episodes in the best way. Especially in the first half, the pacing of the story was perfect; it was fast-paced and we were finding new developments all the time. In term of plot points, this is a drama that really requires you to suspend disbelief — I've seen a lot of reviews saying that it became hard to believe, but in my opinion that's just the nature of a conspiracy thriller and I found myself still able to immerse myself completely in the story. There are some political and financial aspects that I was a little less interested in, maybe a little confused by, but in the bigger picture it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the series.

Even with the insane plot, it was really interesting how this drama still managed to get its laughs and rom-com moments in. The chemistry between the leads is really great, and I love how their personalities meshed together even amidst all the tragedy.

With all that being said, however, I think this drama desperately needs a second season. The ending leaves a lot to be desired, especially since the last few episodes packed a lot of new information that wasn't explained and also changed a lot in the dynamic between our two leads. As much as I loved everything I already watched, it really leaves me craving more — and it feels almost as if I only watched three-fourth of a drama.

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Nope not happening.

You can lookup the plot any where, i wont waste your time here so i will be quick. As the producers say, this show's ending was made with season 2's production in mind and since there is no season 2 or even any confirmation of it, this show lost its worth. Everything was going fine but the climax is super disturbing.

Spoiler *******
Theres a big mistake in the show, if only the lady before dying had told the M.C about the evidence most of the show wouldn't have happened nd i dont see any reason why she couldn't tell him since her life was in danger??? Lol.
This show doesnt deserve this 8.3 rating it currently has.

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"die hard" korean version

No way - just NO WAY - imagine this is a realistic story. This drama is packed with heroes and tremendous fights for justice, to the point i couldnt care less. Even the President is portrayed as being corrupt and spineless, which is a daring shot!
If you wanna see a civilian fighting against all government and presidency and succeeding in it, while having time for romance too, this is the one for you. Totally crazy, right? Still there are a lot of good-looking actors, so bear with it... Lets just pretend we believe it! (wink wink*)
Nice watch, despite dragging a lot with all the political plots.

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Likes: Lee Seung gi. Seung gi as an action hero. Seung gi’s flashback mullet hair. Production Value. Fast paced editing.

Dislikes: There is not one instance where I believed Suzy was a NIS agent. Sorry, but no.

You can tell that they shelled out the big bucks on this kdrama because the production value was high. With lots of fast paced action scenes, this kdrama reminded me of a cross between Jason Bourne and Homeland.

There were some definite glaring flaws (secret government missions…pffffft…yeah, not so secret. Apparently you can reveal classified info to regular citizens as long as you are on the “good side”). And some of the acting (ahem, Suzy) will require some overlooking, but overall the suspense and action made this an enjoyable watch. Seung gi really gave his all to the action scenes and to the emotional scenes as well. I can’t remember any other kdrama that has done action scenes to this degree so it was a nice change.

There wasn’t too much romance in this drama and the chemistry wasn’t the sizzling kind, but Suzy and Seung gi worked well together so it wasn’t too much of a bummer. The ending will make you wonder if there will be a season 2?

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Started strong but ended on a cliffhanger.

Vegabond started so strong with the action and emotion, but the ending left me furcated. I loved the series because just when I thought I knew who the bad guy behind everything, it would turn out to be someone else. You really had to pay attention and think about each character and what they would gain from the plane crash.

One of the first things I loved was that for once an action KDrama had female characters that were not completely useless. Go Hae Ri was not always loveable and had moments where she was annoying but she able to take care of herself. Jessica Lee was amazing I loved/hated her from start to finish. Then there was Lily an assassin who I loved even though I maybe should not. I could go into each character and how I enjoyed them but watch for yourself to see.

The only thing that made me upset about this show was the ending. The last episode was rushed only to end with a cliffhanger. One of the things I love about KDrama is everything gets wrapped up in the last episode and there is a happy ending. But not with this one and there is not much of a chance of this getting a 2nd season after 3 years. I still enjoyed watching the show up to the last second when it just cut off with no real ending.

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Vagabond has something missing

I preface, I first watched this drama years ago and recently rewatched it as before I loved it but found it aged terribly.

I'll start with the pros, it's visually well done and the shots are some of the best seen in an action drama. It starts with a very promising premise and the first set of episodes, and for a while the acting is great.

The cons are that it goes downhill and lacks something that makes it unique and a good watch. I find the story quite erratic and hard to follow at times, and I feel like there are too many plot holes for me. I also wish the dynamics of the main leads were better because they do improve and it's frustrating. Also, the ending is well, not the best in my opinion and a season 2 is definitely needed for it to work,

Overall, I think it is an entertaining drama though and is showing promising talent within the film but not enough for it to be well, considered good, so I would simply consider it average.

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I enjoyed it a lot... until the last episode

I don't think it's a spoiler to warn that this show doesn't end. Maybe they'll make a second season to end the story and it will but, so far, the story is unfinished.

I have to say I enjoyed a lot the action scenes, the plot, the villains, the good guys... even the hints of romance. It is a very fun series to watch and I would've probably rated it with a 9 or more if they had finished the story. They set up the plot and left it unfinished, I wouldn't even say it's a cliffhanger where many storylines are resolved but something happens to move the story in a different direction, no, it's just that as they couldn't wrap up everything in the last episode, they left the story there.

I have to say I like the actors and the casting in general was charismatic and good for their roles.

The action sequences were good, though I think they could've been improved if they had cut them less often: it looks like they have good stuntpeople to make them work without so many cuts and that, in my opinion, allows the viewer to enjoy them more.

I loved the OST, it's full of great songs.

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