A Shop for Killers

It plunges us into the action and then drags on with very little success. The show summed up in one sentence.
The first three episodes could easily have been condensed into one. In fact, they treat us a little too much like idiots with this third episode, which shows us the same scenes again without adding anything new. And they do it again later, several times! What a strange, poorly executed narrative. We don't see things from a different angle, it's literally pointless. It ruins the series, frankly. If it's to tell so little, they might as well adopt a linear narrative, which would avoid these repetitions.
They confuse suspense with frustration.

No one wakes up in the morning wanting flashbacks. You can understand a story without knowing the characters' background spanning ten generations. You can establish their temperament or motivations more simply. In this sense, episode 6 becomes a completely useless hour. (Not to mention the murder of sex slaves... did we really need that ? The people who write this kind of stuff : poor sods, go away) Then episode 7 spends an hour showing us what we already know. Why not throw in a voiceover too, while we're at it ? Or even an interminable scene that turns out to be just a nightmare ? Oh yes, you dared... I don't congratulate you. No, none of that was good. I was seized by panic at the thought of suddenly hearing an audio commentary by Baz Luhrmann over-explaining everything. (He doesn't exist, he can't hurt me)

A series that promises a lot and delivers little. A few cool action scenes, sure. Kim Hye-jun and Geum Hannah outshine the rest of the cast by a long shot ! And leaving them out so much (at least half the time, if not more) really annoys me. When the men show up, we forget about the women. And their characters only exist in relation to this missing uncle... Yeah, right. Let's not dwell on it.
And the ending ? The most predictable thing in the world. Will season 2, if it ever happens, show us flashbacks from season 1 ? I challenge the writers to do that.

_Can we go back to this business about the camera in the bathroom ? Sorry ?!
_The Park Ji-bin working in a shop linked to a murderer universe is expanding.

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Entertaining and heartwarming

A Shop For Killers is a kdrama I've seen being constantly praised on social media. The plot captured my attention and since Lee Dong Wook was part of it, I decided to give it a try. It's safe to say that I do not regret it one bit!


For a short kdrama (8 episodes), the plot was fleshed out very well. The pacing was perfect, neither too slow nor too fast and it made the series bingeworthy. For the majority of it, the drama had my full attention, I was so curious to see how Jian would manage to survive and my excitement was always high. The structure of the storytelling was also very good. I liked the way it incorporated the flashbacks and the jump between the past and present helped in elucidating some matters that needed more explanation.


One of the strengths of A Shop For Killers was its action scenes. I myself decided to watch the drama because many people shared positive things about the action sequences and since I am big fan of action series, I was sold. And you people were right. The series did not disappoint. The fights were well choreographed and added so much tension. I especially appreciated the sound design and the variety of weapons. Finally we saw something different instead of the typical sword or gun fights. The villains used drones, robots which made the game for Jian's survival even more lethal.


Of course what made me enjoy A Shop For Killers the most was its characters and the way they were written. Apart from the fact that every actor owned their role and transformed into it, the characterisation in general was very good. It was so exciting to see all of these people gathering together in order to either destroy or help Jian and both sides (good and bad) were interesting to look at. I admit that the bad guys had some good moments too, they had some nice comedic moments which I personally did not expect (the gimmick with Seong Jo said "Attain enlightenment" every time someone died had no reason to be as funny as it was).

The secondary characters really shined, each one in their own way. I loved Min Hye, she was so fierce and cool and her fighting style was so fun to look at. Pasin became a favourite of mine, I adored his dynamic with Jian and how he became her master. I was rooting for him to survive throughout the series. And "Brother" was so funny and sweet, with such an emotinal backstory!

But the characters that completely won me over were Jeong Jian and Jeong Jin Man. A niece and an uncle who tried to navigate life after experiencing great tragedies. Both actors did a magnificent job, they really became the people they portrayed and their dynamic felt so natural.

Lee Dong Wook was captivating as Jin Man. Even though Jin Man appeared to be cold and nonchalant, Dong Wook managed to bring up his soft side. The soft looks towards his family (especially Jian) captured his love towards them and made him more humane. Jin Man was a very interesting character, he wanted to be righteous but he constantly had his back against the wall because of Babylon and Bale. He made some questionable choices but all he did was to ensure that Jian would be safe. Lee Dong Wook's cold yet calm demeanor demanded attention throughout the series. I liked the way he portrayed Jin Man, even though he wasn't very expressive since the character didn't demand it, it was the little details in his expressions and body language that gave a glimpse to Jin Man's emotions.

As for Jian, I found her to be a very complex character, one of the most complex female characters I've encountered so far. Before I had watched the drama, I expected her to be the typical young protagonist who is able to solo all of her enemies, who appears to be cold and serious and yet has a soft side and who is constantly strong. But Jian was nothing like that. To put is simply: she was a very vulnerable person. And not because she was unable to protect herself but because she had endured so much from a young age. I really appreciated the way the series handled her trauma, the scenes where she would have panic attacks and hallucinations because of her PTSD gave me so much anxiety and made my heart break.

I really liked how Jian was portrayed when she faced her enemies. Jian was never meant to be a soldier who had been trained to face dangerous enemies in the battlefield. She was a regular girl who had lost her uncle, the last member from her family and who wanted to survive. It was honestly so refreshing to finally see a protagonist who struggled to take down her enemies and who needed help from the more experienced adults. It was realistic that Jian wouldn't know what to do at first and it was also realistic that she wouldn't be able to just shoot at people. She might have trained with Jin Man but she hadn't shot a real person before. Moreover, I liked how she utilised her environment and her surroundings to take down Babylon's people. She was clever and creative, truly Jin Man's niece.

Both actresses did an excellent job portraying Jian. The child actress' performance was AMAZING, kudos to this young girl! Her eyes and the tone of her voice alone conveyed Jian's distress and fear so convincingly. During the scene when she had been locked in the basement and called for Jin Man, my heart almost broke while hearing her call for her uncle so desperately. Kim Hye Jun nailed her role as well, she was great as the older Jian and she added so may layers to her character. When Jian finally broke down, Hye Jun was absolutely terrific, you could sense how tired and sad Jian was after all the things she had to go through. Her portrayal was raw and pierced my heart.

I expected that A Shop For Killers would be thrilling to watch. What I could not foresee, however, was how heart warming and emotional it would be. Jin Man and Jian's relationship is one of my most favourite depictions of love between family members. I did not expect to be so moved. In the first half, there were some moments that made me tear up, specifically the ones between young Jian and her uncle.

I am a sucker for the "grumpy man adopts a child" trope but in that case, it goes deeper than that. Jin Man is not just grumpy. He had been exposed to many traumatic experiences and ultimately, he lost his family because of his choices (which wasn't his fault). Jian was the only thing that made him continue living. Everything he did, he did to protect her and ensure her safety. He didn't show his love in the same way her parents did but he did so through his actions and advices.

It was so heartwarming to see Jin Man and Jian grow closer after Jian's parents death. Jin Man's influence was poignant in order for Jian to cope with her trauma, while Jian herself added light to Jin Man's life. Despite his annoying shenanigans, Jian still cared for her uncle which is why she felt her world crumble when she learned about the secrets he had kept. At one point, I also started questioning myself about Jin Man's actions and feelings but thanks to the flashbacks, everything started to make more sense.

With all things considered, as much as I enjoyed A Shop For Killers, there were some aspects that prevented me from loving it as a whole. I found the second half to be less engaging than the first one. It was good that during the last episodes we got Jin Man's backstory and that we saw the events unfold from his point of view but all of these flashbacks felt so repetitive because they showed scenes we had already seen. It would have been better if there was more balance, I think it was a little bit unnecessary to dedicate two whole episodes to Jin Man and then go back to present time in the last episode.

Additionally, I would have wanted to see more scenes between Jin Man and Jian during the second half. The first episodes did an excellent job depicting their developing relationship through the flashbacks but I think we should have gotten some more interactions between them. Of course it was important to focus on Jin Man himself, since we needed more answers regarding his past but the series could have given us more scenes between him and Jian. To tell you the truth, I didn't particularly find the way the drama presented his advices very convincing. Yes, some of his words helped Jian and gave her strength but it wasn't as much impactful as I had expected. Jian didn't rely on Jin Man's advices as the description and blurb indicated, she took them into consideration but ultimately, it was she who helped herself.

All in all, I am extremely happy for finally watching this drama. It deserves all its hype and more and I cannot wait for season 2!

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I wish it was better.

I really wanted to love Love this series but it was just meh for me. It was good though, if that makes any sense.

I probably shouldn't have watched it on Disney+ because there was more ad time than there was actual show and the breaks, especially during crucial times, was really aggravating. So I will no longer watch any series on Disney+. The ads made it seem like it was dragging on and on.

The fight scenes were great and everyone was interesting but it just seemed anticlimactic. Every time something happened, a ad or a cut scene to the past.

I don't understand Kdramas obsession with let the one who should have been shot, live to come after you again. I feel like Babylon knew they had a bunch of pyscho on their payroll and then let them run around free to kill. None of it actually made sense to me.

There were so many unanswered questions. I am so confused by the purpose of this series.

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A Glimpse of what the Shop can offer

Kinda late, but i finally had the time to watch it and i must say, it was good.

The story in the beginning was action-packed, as usual in these types of series where they drop you off in the middle of the action in the story to hook you and i don't mind it since it delivered, then backstory. I thought they'll gonna drop all the backstory at once, then continue where we left off, but nope. The way they did it is they'll only bring up a backstory when a present scene needed a context on how it led to that point and i don't know how, but it worked, it didn't really hurt the pacing of the story nor my experience since they took their time to explain things, though, at the last 3 episodes, it slowly got to me a little bit because they tied all the timeline together and i was just waiting when are they gonna go back to the action. This season is mostly a build and just a taste of what the story can offer because the backstory mostly ate all the screen time. In the back of my mind i kinda want this drama and 'Kill Bok Soon' to diverge, how hype would that be, both dramas are very similar, the difference is just the other is a movie.

The cinematography is cool as always and the action. The editing near the end annoyed the shit out of me because they chopped the scenes a lot, they don't stay in a certain part that long and they kept using the fade-to-black transition and it was so long as well, oh my god! So i guess that's my only minor critique of this show.

The characters are really good, they're all well written down to the side characters. The FL's backstory was really sad along with ML because they are tied and i really loved their relationship dynamic during the backstory, it's so wholesome. I like how they wrote FL because she isn't just this strong character on the outside just because she's the niece of ML, she actually had to work her way up, and overcome her trauma to at least become able to hold her ground, she isn't perfectly strong yet like her uncle, she still cries gets nervous and gets helped in some situation and that's what makes her a good character. FL's actress is so cute and pretty tho... it's my first time seeing her and she looks like Adora in some angle. ML, we didn't get to spend time with him in the present, we mostly got it in the backstory and it was still good by how he was built up. He was this mysterious uncle, like FL said she lived with him for 10 years, but it was almost like she didn't know anything aside from he was her uncle until he died and she found out her uncle was involved in some shady underground business and that how she got caught up in this mess. I must say Lee Dong Wook is so badass here, i want more of this kind of project please and i noticed how he talks here, it's so asmr coded, ugh!!! Not to spoil anything, his character was built up to be this perfect killer so it's very obvious to me that there's gonna be some twist to him somewhere along the series if not then maybe in season 2, judging how he analyzed the blackmail.

Another thing i appreciated and a bit of cleanse to my pallete because chinese dramas couldn't even do this one minor detail, is their foreign characters. Because in this drama foreign characters are actually speaking the language of the characters that they are portraying, yes oh my god!!! It reminded me again that "Oh yeah, koreans never miss every minor detail in their media". Whenever you have a foreign character in your show it should be obvious that they should be speaking their mother tongue to make it convincing, i don't care how broken it is or even if you butcher the language, just do it, because the viewers will appreciate it... some of course because some will not because of the language butchering. Obviously, the actors are korean, i don't know about the thai one because he looks convincing and from the way he speaks as well, i probably have to look it up. Anyway, i appreciate the effort they made to make the foreign characters speak a foreign language.

Overall, very good action series. Highly recommend it, can't wait for season 2.

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WOW

This was fantastic!! There were of course scenes that I thought wasn't necessary
and didn't need to be repeated over and over again but this is a must watch. I'm disappointed
that the mute guy didn't make it. I was hoping that he just lost an arm and that was it and was
hoping that he was gonna pop up in the final episode. The way Uncle on the sneak trained her
for what was to come was I must say brilliant. I guess it wasn't fitting for us to get a hug with her seeing him turn up alive but I was glad that he was alive at the end but there are
things that wasn't tied up so I hope we get a second season. It looks like Pasin got So Min Hye out
and got her some help for her wounds so if there's a second season I hope to see the both of them as well.
Lee Dong Wook...there's not much to say except he's great in everything. Kim Hye Joon did a great job in the role of the niece but her character did more than one stupid thing but the character was a bad ass.
This was excellent.

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GREAT PLOT, CAST, ACTION SCENES, EVERYTHING! Those who loved "Moving (2023)", this is PERFECT!

Next time you feel in a mood for crime/thriller- look no further, this is IT.
I finished this series in one sitting, it was way too captivating! I NEED MORE!

Tough female lead, fantastic acting by everyone, the CAST ✨✨ I found myself falling in love with a lot of new actors <3
It's not boring - not one bit. The start itself is catchy, no filler episodes or scenes at all. A short, 8 ep drama that had me saying "Oh crap what do we do now" way more times than I thought. The story is explained in a present-flashback-present format, which I loved. There's not a LOTTTT of gore, as compared to other "kill/crime" stuff (meaning you don't get to see a whole lotta blood) but there are a lot of corpses involved. Military/mercenary elements, old gang getting back together, etc. etc.
Last time I felt so good after watching a drama of this genre was just afer I finished Moving - whomever has seen it would def agree that it was a blockbluster of a show. Similar to that, here the stoy isn't focusing on the kid(s), it's about the adults and their past and what they hid from the kid about their job. This one doesn't have any romance though.

I just can't keep my excitement and stuff under control anymore SHHSHLGJGSAAHHHHHHH
PARK JEONG WOO!!!!
JEONG I HUN!!! SARANGHAEEOO!!!
ANDDDDDDDDDDD ofc, our dear Grim Reaper ✨✨✨✨✨ Amazing as always

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Lee dong min is alive and im 100 percent sure

Like think about it. A man that worked for mercenaries for years is a good planner and a good fighter is clever and also owns a weapon shop without anyone knowing his whole life believed that jian was kidnapped and even he did lets just suppose he did do you really think he believed when bae said that they will release jian after he commits suicide. Like come on. I want him alove for sure and another fact is to kill bale he is suppose to be alive i think he is alive and that is going to be the plot twist when everyone thought that he died he actually didn’t and think the only call he made before he died was to pasin no on else so why did minhye said that he asked her to come. And the smirk when he called pasin and the way he only said that "pasin you dint have to pay me back" aahhahahhhhh i really hope he is alive.

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Soo twisted yet oh soo good!!

So i love lee dong wook.. (given)

But this review is not about him.

This series kept me on my tippy toes.. The plot was superbly interesting..

The cast was likeable.
Although i do not envy jian at all..
But the actress who played ji an.. Played her role soo well.. That you want to root for her.

And the supporting cast was soo good as well i mean (minhye, pasin and brother.)
That you want them all to live until the end..

Thank God this show has confirmed season 2.
Because the only thing i did not like about it..

Is that its too short.
There are still a lot of unfinished business.


Love it love it!

Cant wait for season 2 😁

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Absolutely, one of the best drama of year 2024!

"Listen carefully, Jeong Jian" - Jeong Jinman

What a ride! From start to finished, everything is full of suspense, edgy, brutality, beautifully done bloody scenes , well executed fight scenes, delivery of lines and spectacular acting.

Jian is kind of frustrating when she became an adult, compared to her younger self who's more sure of what she wanted to do with her life. I love their uncle/niece chemistry as it was not full of warmth/touchy moments or scenes, but you know that Uncle loves her in his own special way.

Fight scenes were perfectly executed, and you know they gave their 200% efforts in doing it. As what you can see with the end products, as well as if you saw the BTS videos, that they both injured their selves as they're doing their own stunts.

The story is written beautifully, and the scenes were all properly done and well-acted. I wanted season 2 and I am hoping for it as there's a lot of unfinished issues and I wanted more of Jeong Jinman and Jeong Jian scenes, as well as Unnie Minhye, brother and Master Pasin.

Overall, it is worth of time and effort watching it. Uncle Jinman is full of hotness, specially when he was still the captain of the mercenary group.

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