A Shop for Killers

A Thrilling Surprise That Redefines the Genre

When I started A Shop for Killers, I had no idea what I was getting into. From the title alone, I imagined a run-of-the-mill battle royale scenario—maybe people trapped in a shopping mall, fighting for survival. But what I got was something far more innovative and gripping.

The series masterfully combines its intense storyline with outstanding technical elements. The use of music is nothing short of incredible, amplifying every emotion and heightening the suspense at just the right moments. It’s clear that a lot of thought went into the sound design, and it pays off in spades.

The cinematography is another standout aspect. The creative camera shots add a layer of visual storytelling that keeps you hooked from episode to episode. While there’s a minor slip-up with the ropes in Episode 3—a noticeable rookie mistake—it’s easy to overlook given the overall quality of the production.

By the end of Season 1, I was completely hooked and eagerly anticipating Season 2. If it can match—or even surpass—the brilliance of the first season, we’re in for an unforgettable ride.

A Shop for Killers is a must-watch for anyone who loves a fresh, creative take on thrillers. It’s intense, stylish, and leaves you craving more.

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What more do you need?

This was the single greatest piece of cinematography I have watched since 2024. Ok maybe not to that point but still a great nonetheless. Really loved the way the story was told while we went back and fort from past to present and how throughout the show, the story was being detangled with details.
Something I love about action show is when you have some good fight choreography. The fighting scenes were so delicious and you could see that each punch and throw were put there to tell the story.
Screaming and gagging at the last episode. Best.
Where is the second season?
Where is Lee Dong Wook's Oscar?
Why was So Min Hye such a queen?
Anyways, this is going straight to my favorite list.

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What makes a good killer?

A Shop for Killers is a very unique take on the contract killer plotline. It was a show that I was very excited to start, especially as a fan of Lee Dongwook, and it was very entertaining all the way through. However, I felt like there were a few parts of the show that felt off. The first bit will be free of spoilers, so I'll mark where they start.

The opening scene of the show has Jeong Jian, our protagonist, getting shot at in her home. A very striking opening scene that had me excited to see both what happens next and how we got there. However, it's the latter that I have to complain about. This show jumps back and forth a LOT between the present and the past. Jian has an uncle, Jeong Jinman, who seems to be up to some shady business. These jumps to the past allow us to understand what exactly that shady business is, and how it concerns her. However, it is very non-linear in its storytelling. I think the one thing that bothered me the most about this wasn't the fact that we kept jumping between times, but the fact that they replayed scenes we had seen before so many times to orient the viewer in the timeline, but it was just excessive and unnecessary most of the time. The replayed scenes were so much longer than they needed to be, especially because this is an 8 episode series. If you've forgotten THAT much of the show when it's so short, it's probably because you weren't paying attention.

Another fault brought about by this non-linear storytelling was the fact that the viewer didn't get to learn the truth alongside Jian, but rather knew before her. You learn very early on about Jinman's career as a contract killer, but you have to watch a confused and scared Jian learn this WAY later than you do, at which point it doesn't pack the same punch. I will say though, watching Jian go through so many emotions in the span of just a few days is an incredible watch, and the actress did a great job portraying her.

**Spoilers start here**

My last and biggest issue with this show was the ending. What a copout! You get to watch Jian go through all this internal turmoil of should I kill or should I not, how could I ever run this business, etc. just for all that to go out the window because Jinman is ALIVE?? The entire story could have been avoided. You could argue that that's what makes Jian such a tragic character, but I thought that leaving the storyline right before they introduced Jinman at the end would have been a perfectly fine ending - a young girl, left to figure out the world with no one on her side. Could Jian become a killer like Jinman? Does she have what it takes, or is she only fueled by the rage that her parents' and uncle's death caused? I guess these questions don't really matter, because she doesn't need to be on her own anymore!

Overall, it was a good show and an engaging watch. Besides some issue with the storytelling and the ending, it was very interesting to watch the plot unfold both in the past and present. Frankly, I think this could have have spanned two seasons, with one season being all about Jinman and one about Jian, but the back and forth didn't get too messy. Worth checking out if you like short and dark thrillers.

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It's a type of drama EVERYONE can watch !!

I have watched many dramas out of all them very few dramas keeps you hooked till the end. It literally kept me on my seat for whole day without fast forwarding a single second. Everyone has done there part so well that it needs an applause. The main female lead performed every aspect of her role well and kept the show interesting. I had a hunch that it will leave us at a cliffhanger for second season but it ended in completing the arc of the story. The second season or the main arc of the story will be worth watching as the first season satisfied me all the way through. If you love a suspenseful and action drama with a bit of comedy and strong male lead you will love this drama I assure you.

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✒ ⛔️ The Strong Don't Bark Nor Do They Howl‼️°8.7° °Outstanding°

Wanna git that adrenaline blazing through your system? Take a number and have a seat. ASFK's 8 eps appear to be in real-time, but for the many flashbacks that clue us in on what led up to “today,” and a brief stop to see the breaking dawn of the following morning. It's all what's happn’in now, and it appears that it's ALL happening now! Bombs, IEDs, pistols, machine guns, robots, drones, mines, poison gas, regular gas (just add match), slashing, kicking, punching, and, yes, biting.

Jian buried her uncle today. The after party is way more than she bargained for. While the beginning is piece-mealed together, from jump, ASFK is never boring. A sniper has targets in his sights. Two of them are just kids! One of the kids is Jung “Jian”. She's played by Kim Hye Joon from Kingdom-8.3 and Inspector Koo-8.4 where she's a tantalizing psycho. She's unrecognizable here. She spends the entire show in the same track suit and her hair is a mess, but she can be super cute. Jian clearly knows how to fight back. She jumps from the top of the refrigerator to the sofa. Under the sofa is a sniper rifle!

ASFK is a 2024 release that is rated 91 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 8 51-minute episodes. As I started episode 6, I was already sad that it was going to end soon. Another season has been confirmed for release in 2026, thankfully. Just relax and watch. Ep1 raises a barrage (here, “barrage” means a garage and several basements worth) of questions that won't be answered immediately.

While the timeline is uncertain as the show flips around from hour to hour, month to month, and year to year, Jian gets word that her uncle and only guardian is dead. Lee Dong Wook (Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938) plays uncle Jung Jinman. I've only seen him in Touch Your Heart-8.2, which I loved. I haven't been able to check him out yet in the legendary Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, because I haven't gotten around to getting that Viki pass. Uncle.did.not.commit.suicide. No matter what the police say, that much Jian /knows/. Strange looking twins show up at his funeral. They look like dangerous men.

Locals are at one of the tables gossiping about the deceased. Did he really just sell commercial hoses online? One man says “I heard he used to head up the WASP agency.” Another one says that he heard Jinman was an anti-North spy for the NIS. The viewer has already had a glimpse of the guns and hyper-vigilance, so none of this is surprising. Jian is flustered: “I lived with him for 10 years. Yet I know nothing about him,” she realizes.

It's obvious that Uncle Jinman was not a simple guy. There's more to him than what we see on the surface, and ASFK will take us several layers beneath the surface. Jian had sensed something was off before, and she's now glimpsing uncle's bank balance, which can't be overlooked: Can someone make that kinda 💰 by merely selling hoses? It doesn't seem so. Hoses aren't in that much demand… are they?

One thing that's in plenty of demand is killin. Not many people out there can't think of 1 person they want dead. All that killing requires equipment and preparation. Uncle's Shop for Killers is a 1-stop operation. Uncle Jinman makes killin easy.

We meet young Jian in ep2. She's portrayed by Ahn Se Bin. I'm keeping an eye on this girl's career. She's fantastic. Starting as one of the orphans in Crash Landing on You-9.1, she nearly stole the show Racket Boys-8.3 when she hangs out with the elderly neighbors and teaches them how to read. It helps them get out of a shady deal. In Link: Eat, Love, Kill-6.7 she has a small but very important part as the ML's sister. The whole show revolves around the fact that her character went missing. Once again, she steals the show in The First Responders-7.8 S2, opposite of Kim Rae Won. She is a mega-talent.

Geum Hae Na (A Man's True Colors, The Boy From Nowhere) portrays So Min Hye… I sorta wanna be her. She's so bad@$$, and she looks bad@$$ while she's doing it. When the bad guys learn she's there, they pause the entire operation to negotiate for more money. She shines brighter with each episode. Seo Hyeon Woo (Uncle Samsik-8.4, Flower of Evil-8.9) plays the sleazy Lee Seong Jo. He's totally vile. Wow, long hair is his best look - by far. He tells all his victims to obtain enlightenment. He, himself, is “en-lightened” before the end. He's not the worst of the bad guys. That would be Bale (Jo Han Sun from Hot Stove League & Midnight Thriller). He's a psychopath serial killer type. The great Park Gwang Jae makes an appearance as the funeral bus driver in eps1&8. He's good in everything, like Moving-8.5, Revenge of Others-8.1, Big Mouth-7.4, Flower of Evil-8.9, Kingdom-8.3, & 100 Days My Prince-5.5. As for screenwriters, one is Ji Ho Jin of Newtopia, and Lee Kwon (Shut Up: Flower Boy Band) is the other screenwriter & the director:

There's an amusing sequence in which they have to vacate the home while it is being redone. Jian asks hopefully: “Where will we be staying?” “Jirisan Mountain.” As soon as she logs in the answer, she takes notice of the camping equipment he's gathered in front of him. Hopes are dashed. The next scene is the two of them alone in the dark and cold. His leg is injured and he's in danger of succumbing to hypothermia. She starts complaining. (Why didn't we just go to a hotel? Etc). Sure, who wouldn't feel that way? But her words, tone, and attitude made things worse. Her uncle says: “When you are in a difficult situation, instead of arguing over right and wrong, it's important to find a way to solve the problem and overcome the situation.” I've been thinking about how the phrase, ‘Timing in life is Everything’, is profoundly true. I've never had a good sense of timing. The time to Monday-morning-QB is after the crisis is over, not in the middle of it. Jian chose to feed her own emotional satisfaction at the expense of her uncle's. That brand of complaining is actually cannibalistic.

After some backstory we get back to the day at hand in ep3 - Jian is in the middle of the longest day of her life. Professional killers keep coming in droves just to wipe her off the map. That house redo? It's bulletproof, it's booby trapped, and there's lots of places to hide. Apparently the house is five times as big underground as it is above the surface. The bad guys keep coming. Uncle clearly made some nasty, very motivated enemies. They may get rid of one wave but then a new wave arrives with more weapons, more power, more men, and more technology. At some point Jian is warned: Bael is coming. He's the guy who killed her parents.

Most episodes have flashbacks so that we continue to examine the atypical way that this girl was raised. In a world of murderers, whom can one rely on? She runs into that problem pretty early on. “It's not about right and wrong, but who's strongest… The week must know their place and Choose Wisely” The biggest problem for Jian, with Unc gone, is knowing whom to trust. There's scenes where two other people in the room are each telling her not to trust the other one. It's a shady world and perhaps no one is trustworthy. In every dilemma, she recalls something her uncle told her that helps her. He's still guiding her way, even when he's not there.

By now, funerals are some kind of trigger for Jian. They always end in disaster and then yield way to a new life. In flashback we see Jian when she was little at her grandmother's funeral. Her uncle takes her home and they have a talk in the dark. It's a very creepy scene. On TV a lion is being eaten by cheetahs. They talk about death and how they won't see Grandma anymore. She says “death sucks”. He agrees but tells her to not fear death. The room is dark, death is all around, his voice is low and sultry but much like a typical movie-demon voice, while trepidatious piano music is playing in the background. “Don't be scared. Whatever makes you scared, keep your eyes open and face it,” uncle tells a tween-aged Jian. While this was going on, her parents were being murdered at the funeral home. Her uncle's going to be her guardian from now on.

When they get to his place (and a lot happens before they managed to actually get there) she trips and drops all of her things. She stays on the ground and looks at him. He's opening the door. He turns, and there's a long pause as he studies her. ‘I'm not your parent. No will I ever be. Therefore, I won't be able to do the things for you that they did.’ He turns back and enters the house. She's on the ground with all her worldly belongings scattered around her.

Everything that happened from the death of her grandmother until she arrived at her uncle's house was too much for a little girl. She develops aphasia (a language disorder that affects the ability to communicate. It can impact speaking, understanding, reading, and writing). Jian stops talking. This leads to bullying at school. There's an amusing sequence where they are cutting between a parent-teacher conference and their home life. The teacher asks uncle if he's helping her with her aphasia? We then watch them live out their lives without speaking a word. When she needed money she put a note on the fridge. Later, money appeared under the magnet. What hurts, though, is that kids are not kind to someone who's different. She's bullied cruelly at school. When the teacher brings that up at the conference, Uncle says he believes she needs to work it out on her own. It isn't long before Jian and her uncle are conversing.

They don't neglect the plot, dialogue, or character development, but primarily, ASFK is an action-packed ride with many thrilling elements. There's intense action in every episode. The dog robot is baaaad and scary! Supersonic sound weapons! Booyah! There's cool action before ep5, but towards the end of the episode it's leveled up even more. Totally super-charged. Ep6 continues ratcheting up the adrenaline. It's extra caffeinated.

The story is told cyclically. It starts in the current day, goes to the past, back to the current day, and then it goes further back in the past. The day of Grandma's funeral bookends episodes 1 & 7. Ep8 is not the end; it begins a new day. Jian's small band of allies is pretty beat up, but unlike most of the assailants, they are alive. Bael's alive, too. He really shouldn't be. It looks like S2 will continue his story and hopefully it will conclude it.



QUOTES🗣

There are always blind spots.

Only the weak bark.

We must take responsibility for everything we do.


IMHO〰🖍

📣8.7 📝8.5 🎭8.7 🎨8.5 🎵/🔊7 🔚? 🤗7 ▪ 🌞4⚡8.5 😅2 😭6 😱5 😯5 🤢6 🤔5 💤0


Age18 + violence. Dismemberment. Scary elements. Violence against women and children
Language: R-rated w/ F💣💣, b!+ch, $h!+. Rated: 18+ Restricted (violence & profanity)


Re-📺? booyah!



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

⚡/🚀 -
Flex X Cop-8.5, Love to Hate You-8.9,

Missing: The Other Side-8.3,
When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Uncanny counter season-1 only °S1-8.4 S2-4,
Vagabond-8, It's Okay Not To Be Okay-9,
Moving-8.5,
Why Her?-8, The First Responders-7.8,

Sisyphus 8 (give it 2 episodes, ep1 is confusing),
Tunnel 8.5, Itaewon Class-8.7,
Train to Busan-7.8,

The Cursed 8.3,
Flower of Evil 8.9,
Awaken-8.7,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9,
Beyond Evil-7.4,
Blood Free-8.5, D.P.-8.4,
The Wailing-8.8,
Black 9,
Sweet Home 8.4
Oldboy-9,


〰 Hulu Catalog 〰

Big Mouth-7.4,
Blood Free-8.5,
Call It Love-8.4,
Crazy Love-7.8,
The First 1st Responders-7.8,
Flex X Cop-8.5,
The Golden Spoon-8.1,
Han River Police-7.1,
High School Return of a Gangster-7,
The Judge from Hell-4.5
The Legend of the Blue Sea-7.2 (this show is marvelous except for taking a quality dip in eps 20-22)
Light Shop-8.6,
Link: Eat, Love, Kill-6.7,
Maestra: Strings of Truth-6.8,
Moving-8.5
Pandora: Beneath the Paradise-3.9,
Parasite-9,
Revenant-7.4,
Revenge of Others-8.1,
So I Married the Anti Fan-6.8,
Uncle Samsik-8.4,
What's Wrong With Secretary Kim-6.8,
Why Her?-8,
Wonderful World-7.8,
The Worst of Evil-7.7

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Lee Dong Wook has really good hair

Obviously LDW's hair is not the only thing glorious in this series. The action is nonstop and bloody, the men are fit, the villain is super nasty, and despite her tendency to take her time in reacting to a situation, Jeong Jian character is a badass. Just please stop being so slow, Jeong Jian!
Jeong Jinman is a tsundere uncle although he seems to be a bit more human during his mercenary era, I don't really understand his real personality. A lot of flashbacks to explain the background of his bad blood with Bale, our horrible psychopathic villain, so be ready for it. Everything is crammed into 8 episodes which is fine and bingeable.

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Another great Disney+ action thriller!

I hadn't heard of this drama before but stumpled upon it while watching "Moving" on Disney+. Very glad I decided to watch, it was just what I needed right now.




What I liked:

-Action is really really REALLY good in this drama. Knife fights, gunfights, drones, machine guns, explosions, murder robots; A shop for killers has it all and the action is mostly very well made and thrilling.

- Pacing is very tight and I wasn't bored at any point when watching the drama. A shop for killers has a quite interesting structure; the main plot in the present day takes place only in one location. However, there's multiplr long flashback sequences used to reveal the characters' backstories. The flashbacks weren't boring or annoying, quite the opposite, they were really interesting.



What I didn't like:

- Writing was quite messy at some points and some of the characters could have been written a lot better. I'm maybe just stupid but there were multiple situations where I had no idea why characters did what they did, the motivations were extremely confusing. The main villain Bale is also just a very onedimensional psychopath killer, and nothing else besides that. Other characters however were memorable and likable. ML and FL were both great and well acted. I really enjoyed Pasin and Minhye too (did she really die :| )

-There were many unanswered questions that definitely need to be addressed in a second season, otherwise this is quite disappointing. The entire Bale vs Jinman storyline wasn't resolved AT ALL. How did Jinman fake his death and why wasn't Bale involved in the present day plot in any way? This definitely needs a second season but I really doubt we are getting one, unfortunately.


- This is a common issue with pretty much all action K-dramas, but almost everything in this drama is extremely unrealistic. Even though the action was mostly great, I just had to laugh at how silly and unrealistic some of the scenes were. The storyline itself is definitely not down-to-earth or realistic either; it's VERY over-the-top almost throughout the drama. Didn't quite get into Vagabond- territory where protagonist survives a 1vs50 gunfight, but this drama was close to that at some point. Overall, these things didn't really annoy me in this drama, but I just wanted to mention them.


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A shop for killers is an excellent addition to Disney+ action K-drama catalogue, alongside "The worst of evil" and "Moving". The drama suffered from weak and messy writing at some points and I wasn't entirely satisfied with the open-ish ending either. However, the memorable characters and thrilling action sequences make this a must watch drama if you enjoy action!

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An action drama released without a proper story.

The drama is just a bunch of action that makes no progress. From the beginning and as per the details of the drama, it was about a 21 year old FL who is somehow targeted by killers possessing high tech ammunition like machine guns, sniper, drone killing machines, gas grenades, etc. FL is apparently targeted because of her relationship with uncle ML. Her uncle trains her to survive but let me tell you his training isn't really gruesome survival training, it is at most a self defense class that may work on a burglar or a car jack situation, but not on killers who been doing killing as profession with high artillery at their aid. Also during all this training he never tells FL why he is making her do this and what his actual job is. He disguises himself as normal business person while makes FL train for her own protection. And all that time not once FL asks her uncle aka ML what is all this or even get curious about him. Half the brain cells lost there itself

The whole four episodes is all about FL being attacked with no clear explanations other than she is ML's niece and if they kill her they will get money. It also shows ML is rich and very powerful enough but at the same time it doesn't make any sense he leaves her niece all alone on pretext she is code green and a code green will be protected by the ML organization he created but only one woman shows up to protect FL. And this woman only comes to protect FL after hearing killers gun shot instead of being with FL from the beginning when she had chance and also explain why this is happening to her and what is all the killing situation is about.

Nobody till 4th episode (the drama is only 8ep) don't explain to FL why everyone is trying to get her killed. They managed to drag this story till 4th episode. His uncle owns a secret artillery shop, FL should be killed to get money. But why, why must she be killed, why the ML is not around to protect her. Till 4th episode no clarity. Ok maybe I thought they are trying to build suspense, but till 4th episode showing no progress in any other ways is not called suspense. It is more like there isn't much story.

The drama is too slow for an 8 episodes. Only three things happened, ML goes off radar, killers try to kill FL, FL still trying to survive. There is no actual progressive conversation that makes you understand the whole point of this drama and every character action. Even the action scenes are not really well choreographed and planned.

It's almost like writers are thinking if we show an action drama with bunch of big guns, drones and killing machines and have a story that tries makes sense but at same time no actual strong storyline people would just watch because full on guns kind of action dramas are rare. And also ML is a class A actor, so people would definitely watch for him.

As of now when it comes to big action dramas, moving did the best when it comes to making sense of story. I don't understand why people are saying this is good as moving when it is not even close. Moving is very realistic written for a super hero action world and writer clearly shows audience what is going with story, why everything is happening to them. But this doesn't.

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M.A.S.T.E.R.P.I.E.C.E

this drama is a masterpiece, wau lee dong wok is such a talented actor, this role suits him perfectly, I love every single part of his niece, she is also amazing, this drama definitely deserves 10/10, I hope there will be a second season, I watched all of Lee Dong Wok's and I liked them all, he never disappoints with his drama, as a gangster in this drama he showed incredible talent, this is the best thriller, action for me, this year, wow, I'm glad that I watched this drama after a long hesitation, it's the first time I see ye lee dong wok there is none romance, I usually don't watch such dramas without romance, but this one is the best for me, I wish for this kind of season

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