This review may contain spoilers
Not perfect, but interesting
I'm going to be honest here and very clear: this drama annoyed the pants off me! I love Kdramas, but I am finding again and again the same cliches dressed up as new, but in fact they are fundamentally unoriginal. It's a shame because other excellent qualities in the performances and production can be so deeply undermined.The good points : excellent ensemble acting from all the cast; creation of a believable small community, imperfect, but perhaps unusually accepting and supportive; some believable character development for several individuals (though this is not consistent); creation of some complex characters where motives as well as thought processes are not transparent.
Irritations : the plot relies too much on flashbacks to reveal events instead of the discovery of evidence that can be used in court; flashbacks are used too liberally to manipulate the viewer and artificially create suspense - in fact they are the main medium for suspense as I recall it; the plot is made unnecessarily complex by revealing information out of sequence for no reason; some individuals at times respond in ways completely psychologically wrong for their character, even though they are under severe stress - I could not believe these would react in these ways, and these reactions seemed to me to be present only for effect; creation of suspense in the drama was also too dependent on heavy handed music; yet again we find every character with any substantial level of money, influence or power is entirely corrupt. This should not really count as a "spoiler" because it seems to be normal n Korean society, but I am tired of this cliche.
Would it be SO HARD to write a drama where the people who actually could help are in fact competent and HELPFUL? or at the very least well-meaning or even benign? Could we not see a drama where the villains are, in fact, villains? Why is it that only corruption is supposed to be interesting or believable? - it quickly becomes boring. Ordinary people are, I believe, far more interesting than these people who from the very start we can feel are deeply questionable: and professional villains, acting in their alternative society, can indeed be just as difficult to convict - more believable and thus more interesting than these tropes.
Come on Korea - give us some different flavours instead of the same old spicing. You are doing a disservice to your actors and directors.
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End justifies the means , if you are ready to pay the consequences!
I really like the character of Butcher shop lady Yoo jae yi and The det. Oh ji wa , both of them were passionate, dignified , brave and fierce from the get go! I even liked the CEO of JL construction, who got sucked in the mess!Initially I was really annoyed with the Lee Dong shik and Han Joo wan , former was like creepy nut case while latter was an arrogant Mr Know-it-all! Only later when I saw there backstory I was able to digest it!
But still it doesn't change the fact that Dong shik did a lot of creepy overacting at the start , I don't know if it was to make the drama more suspenseful or it was to mask his intelligence and plans from the foes!
What I disliked -
Drama at the start is highly manipulative to the extent that it would give you a headache, I think the reason for it is that the plot was worth only 10 episodes , but they had to somehow make 6 extra ep , and the way they did that was to fill the initial ep with unnecessary confusion and fillers!
In the first half in every ep they would convince you that this guy is the villain , but you know that this not going to be the case and hence becomes a waste of time and you lose interest the next time they repeat the same thing in the very next ep! I think they forgot the difference bw misdirection and misinformation!
What I liked -
The second half was good everything was in the right place & pace, even the traps were understandable , the way they worked as the team was exciting,
If they had done a better work in the first half and didn't use those cheap tricks , I think it might have turned out to be the best suspense K- drama ever. Even as it is now it is surely in my top 5 suspense cop dramas.
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Just as good as it was a year ago.
I had to write this review, because I watched this series a year ago and then again just recently - and it was still as good as the first time.This story and the characters are just amazing. I don't watch much in this genre but this show has such genuine feelings and emotions as well as the suspense - and it moves along at a good pace. The two main actors really play well off each other, with mistrust that slowly changes, and then things happen to bring the mistrust back - and they keep working through every situation.
There are characters you will like, and some you won't like - but the acting is flawless.
Give it a try - and if you like this, then also watch a more recent series - Miraculous Brothers.
P.S. Some watchers may try to label these 2 shows as bromances - they are not. Just saying.
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one of my favorite crime thrillers and shows of all time.
omg i finished it finally...what en ending!! this show was insanely good and i loved how it turned out. some people think it got too political in the second half, but i think that it shed more light on han joowon and lee dongshik's growth (especially joo won). i started off the show with a distrust and dislike of joowon but eventually he earned his place as one of my favorite characters in this show. dongshik and his relationship really was such a treat to watch develop!! shin hakyun and yeo jingoo good job!! same goes for all the other actors, they were so amazing, especially the manyang gang. the family bond that developed was def my favorite, and i loved how everyone had such distinct personalities. it made for such an interesting character study. the writing was beyond my expectations, how did kim soojin manage to tie all the plot points together like that? seriously one of my favorite shows because of how tight it is-a masterclass in writing truly.the one thing i would cringe at a bit was do haewon and lee changjin (especially when changjin would speak in russian randomly, idk i always just find it a bit strange when characters randomly inject other languages into their own speech). they were not my fav characters because they seemed a bit comical at times when they shouldn't have been.
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It doesn't have masses of blood, blockbuster style action scenes or romance, but it does have more than its share of shocking moments, an intelligent script, some laughs and what I found to be a gripping story.
I loved the characters; proper villains and a blurring of what makes a good detective. Tested friendships and what seems, at times, blind loyalty from some.
Dong Shik and Joo Won are polar opposites and neither trusts the other at all, for varying reasons that are slowly brought to light as the story grows. They have to work together though and so a relationship of trust/mistrust yo-yos with each episode.
The tragedies in several cast members' pasts are also uncovered and these link characters together in unexpected ways.
Almost everyone looks guilty at some point and the way in which key crime scenes are shown in multiple scenarios, to fit a given character's statement, is brilliant. It also makes it way harder to decide who's done exactly what.
Shin Ha Kyun is excellent in his portrayal of Dong-shik, veering from warm and funny, to maniacal in an instant. His whole face changes when he smiles, but the next minute he can look very scary!
Yeo Jin-goo gives a very understated performance of a character repressing a lot of his thoughts and feelings; no over acting here, thankfully!
The entire cast were great. I particularly felt for Jung Je, such a tormented character, so well played by Choi Dae-hoon. There are some really sycophantic, nasty and loathsome, as well as sweet, caring and strong, characters in this.
A great story with a solid ending.
Oh and I loved the trailing violin music, Bibi's 'Timeless' and gritty song, 'The Night' from Choi Baek-ho; perfect soundtrack.
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This review may contain spoilers
Alright, where do I begin?So… I actually not quite liking the first 5 episodes, though I was still continue watching it, I thought that the story was circling around and it was really annoying to watch. Plus, i don’t like how Yeo Jin Goo in act in those first episodes. He acted kinda awkward with his ‘oh-so-cold-and-mysterious’ character, I think he just wasn’t suited with that kind of character 😂. And the ending too… I think it’s too abrupt, the resolution was only being told by some news in the tv? Like… c’mon it could have been better.
But, you know what? I eventually end up loving this drama, lol. There were some really great moments from mid to end. Well, especially in the middle. At some points, I thought I was still stuck watching around episode 9-10, but turns out I was already at episode 14 lmao 😳 because the middle was so more-ish(?) and I can’t take my eyes off my screen.
As I’ve said above, I don’t like the first 5 episodes. I thought this drama would took the usual dragging route, just like some of kdramas in this kind of genre. Well, until I realized that Beyond Evil is actually a slow-burn character-driven drama. That’s why the plot rely heavily on the characters. And I think the actors really does a good job on potraying their roles, especially Shin Ha Kyun. That man is a beast. His acting is just as magnificent as ever, dang. His chemistry with other actors (especially Yeo Jin Goo) is really damn great, I don’t even have a word to describe it.
And… speaking about Yeo Jin Goo, as I’ve said before, he was kinda awkward in the first few episodes. The good thing is, from mid to end, his character has some kind of switch and becomes more ‘humane’, and Yeo Jin Goo’s acting suddenly become really good, and I guess maybe it was because he suits the more ‘humane’ character 🤷🏻♀️.
If I have to mention a western series similar to this…. maybe Mare of Easttown? Both kinda has the same formula, but Beyond Evil is the longer version of it. Well, all in all, Betond Evil is still a very solid kdrama. If you don’t like of how ‘heavy’ this drama is, just watch for the acting, I promise it won’t disappoint you.
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Psychological slice of life
I went in expecting a dark crime thriller.I did kinda get it, but not really.
Simply speaking, the "whodunit" isn't the main focus here. The culprit is revealed very early, and then the story is stuck in a situation where the audience knows, the main characters know, the side characters don't know and misunderstandings, paranoia, and tragedies follow.
The main appeal of this series is watching these people destroy themselves, and observe their personal tragedies over the span of 20 years. Here I have to commend the actor playing Lee Dong-sik, he did a spectacular job playing a conflicted and disillusioned cop who was done dirty by life and society. He was an extremely likable and sympathetic character, which unfortunately can't be said about some other characters, including the other male lead. Han Joo-won, for the most of the story, is busy being self-righteous jerk who can only see what's in front of him and jumps to conclusions way too quickly.
However, unlike in some other works of fiction, this is not meant to be because he is a surrogate for a clueless viewer. His attitude is certainly meant to be a fault of his-as by the time the audience already knows the killer, he still kept grasping at straws and making a mess. I felt like maybe the authors were making fun of typical crime drama protag here, but the parody was neither particularly funny nor compelling.
The villains(other than the killer, that character was pretty cool all things considered) were also a miss. These people were very one-dimensional, and felt a bit like they came from Saturday cartoon(is that still a thing?) than a serious psychological drama. Including their various character gimmicks that were a bit silly, especially that horrible broken russian, really I can speak Russian so it was just really really bad. The drama admits that the character in question can't really speak Russian well, so his russian is supposed to be bad, but that doesn't make it any less jarring.
The pacing is slow af, so that's a thing too. Not what I'd normally expect from this kinda series. I had to kinda force myself to watch some episodes, even tho the payoffs were usually worth it.
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This review may contain spoilers
Flawed but tender
Beyond Evil is a stunning slow boil thriller that ekes out tension of every possibility until what remains is endless ache. I still don't like the awful ableism of the show, which the show insists upon even in the last episode. And I definitely do not like cops, but the show doesn't like them either. Proceed with caution. Shin Hakyun and Yeo Jingoo have excellent chemistry and gave great performances that made me dive into their filmographies. Score is unusually warm and jazzy for a mystery show (and god I hate that BIBI song, it's extremely grating) but works well since the show is actually a melodrama more in line with something like Magnolia (1999) (a film Shin Hakyun loves, or at the very least likes as far as public knowledge goes). Formally excellent but falters in its imagination occasionally. I have brainrot for Juwon and Dongsik for days. More please?Was this review helpful to you?
Very slow Paced with some excellent acting
A lot of reviews here saying this is one of the best written thrillers, but I have to hard disagree. This is not a thriller, more of a character driven murder mystery. And it feels well-written but its not. The plot drags and there is simply not enough story to tell between its large cast and huge number of episodes. The reveals at the end of each episode feels gimmicky purely for the shock factor because it doesn't quite match the pace set at the beginning of the episode. The show is so slow and the characters talk a lot. The plot is simple but narrated in a convoluted way to look like a thriller. A big chunk of the mystery was solved before the halfway point of the show, the rest of the show dragged a lot and I frankly lost interest. The first half was a solid 9, even if it was draggy, the mystery was there that made me want to keep watching. The second half barring the last episode was too slow, maybe 6. All the main characters were single, I feel like this was one of those dramas that could have been benefitted by some romance (though this wont be necessary if the plot was gripping).I think it wouldnt feel as boring if I watched it while it was airing, because there is a lot of repetitive dialogues and scenes and the acting is good that an hour just flies by. However, while binging the show feels very slow. Its also hard to skip scenes/FF so as to not miss any detail pertaining the case.
Biggest positives: Acting (by all, especially Shin Ha Kyun), OST and cinematography
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This is one where in addition to your fantastic mains, all of the other actors also did a great job with their roles so it didn't feel like anyone was pulling any heavy weight for the rest. The plot maintained enough suspense to keep the momentum going and the pacing worked well. Unlike many others in its genre, there wasn't any glaring or obvious issues with how the crimes scenes were managed and it doesn't rely on excess dramatization to keep it interesting. Although some actions/reactions didn't always seem to fit the characters, it's easy to overlook because we in the real world aren't always rational.
The minor disconnect I had was they tried to interweave too many players into the underlying plot without providing enough background/focus on some of them. They gave just enough for you to see the connections but not enough for you to really feel them, if that makes sense. Because of this, it can slightly feel as if the plot drags on for just a bit at times. Nevertheless, the character developments were done well and the dynamic between Shin Ha Kyun and Yeo Jin Goo in itself makes it worthwhile to check out.
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~Shin Ha Hyun’s acting chops is mind-blowing! He gives you the creeps, makes you hate him, cry for him, pity him and love him.
~The plot is nothing new to serial murders and crime thrillers but the execution and plot reveal bits by bits adding psychological point of view and a touch of dark humor is what has made all the difference
~Yoo Jin Goo and the remaining cast are able to deliver emotionally raw performances as well with the best of the dialogues at hand
~The push and pull between the two male leads and the character growth by the end of the drama is really wholesome and surprising
~The portrayal of mentally unstable characters and untrustworthy POVs is another high point as well
~Props to the jazz music OST that fits perfectly with the eerie vibes of the drama
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