Trigger (2025)

Could have been much better with strong execution

A thought provoking narrative about guns and violence, revenge of the past - Trigger is a good concept with a so-so execution.

The story follows Kim Nam Gil as officer Lee Do, who is investigating the culprits of bringing/smuggling guns in the country. The drama had a good theme - psychological impact of violence, the dangers of unchecked gun violence, and the societal factors that can lead to unrest.

The action sequences and the character of Lee Do is praiseworthy, however the pacing was uneven, with many unnecessary subplots. The writing was fine, but certain characters were underdeveloped. While the series did build a gripping story, the antagonist and the ending were generic, rather than intriguing.

Overall, Trigger is a decent watch with strong concept and a good performance from Nam Gil, however is pulled down by uneven story pace and unsatisfactory ending.

My Rating : 6.5/10

Read More

Trigger: My Weekend with Kim Nam Gil, Kim Young Kwang & Too Many Guns

DISCLAIMER:
This review isn’t my usual style. These are basically my raw notes, scribbled down while watching and cleaned up just enough for you to read. I’m not a professional critic, just a fan with a keyboard and too many opinions. I’m focusing on the story, not the camera angles or production budget. If you want a deep technical breakdown, wait for my friend @Zo****.
And don’t worry, no major spoilers here, unless you count my frustrations as spoilers.

The second I saw the posters for Trigger, I knew I was in. Then I found out all episodes dropped at once? Done. That was 380 minutes of my life… gone. But what’s life if not collecting bad decisions? And honestly, Kim Nam Gil and Kim Young Kwang, with no female lead to pull the usual tropes? Say less. We’ve been starving for action dramas this year. Sure, we got Mercy for None, but those six episodes were more “mercy-less” than merciful. And no, I will not start a fight with Netflix today.

If you’re an old-school TV fan, think Breaking Bad for the moral dilemmas and Narcos for the deep dive into the dark world of illegal guns. Trigger walks that same tightrope between psychology and total chaos. It’s a fascinating look at what happens when weapons flood the streets and ordinary lives get turned upside down.This drama opens a can of worms,and doesn’t bother closing it. I binge watched it in one weekend, pen and paper in hand like I was studying for the Korean SATs. Brutal. And at the end? I had more questions than answers. Does Netflix owe us a second season? The ending sure hinted at it, but waiting for K-drama sequels is like waiting for Kingdom Season 3: possibly lethal.

THE BIG QUESTIONS:

What happens when regular people take “justice” into their own hands?
What happens when society pushes people so hard they finally snap?
Are the “bad guys” really bad, or just good people with no options left?
Why is it that no one listens to the bullied until they get hold of a gun?
Are medical professionals equipped to handle extreme cases of mental health?

THE CHARACTERS

Moon Baek: Robin Hood in Tailored Suits and a Killer Smile
Played by the ridiculously talented Kim Young Kwang, Moon Baek was… a red flag identifying as a green flag. He outshined the actual main lead, Lee Do. Period.
He’s the cheerful-but-deadly villain with a heartbreaking past, which he casually shared with Lee Do during one of their “dates.” (Yes, I’m calling them dates. Their bromance wasn’t on my bingo card, but here we are. The best duo of 2025.) His tattoos, artistic enough to hang in a gallery, are part intimidation tactic, part trauma cover-up. Gunshot scars, body trafficking scars, surgeries… Moon Baek is practically a walking medical miracle. But his real scars? Invisible. And those are what fuel his twisted mission to “empower” victims, just in the worst way possible. He doesn’t give guns to the wicked; he gives them to the righteous who’ve been wronged. Which makes you want to root for him… until you realize the terrifying consequences of letting him have his way. He thrives on the sheer thrill of watching “security personnel” scramble and sweat while bullets fly, an epic display of just how outmatched the authorities are.

Lee Do: The One-Man Army
A brilliant former special forces soldier, should have been the unstoppable hero of this story. He knows his guns, his tactics, and the psychology of his targets. Yet the security force sidelines him, treating him like a part-time consultant instead of the asset he is. After his high-stakes past, he’s now stuck behind a desk at a sleepy police station, a far cry from his days in special ops. To the National Intelligence Service, his solo stand during the police station attack wasn’t bravery, it was paperwork. Just him ticking off his “body count” target. As if heroism comes with a checklist. He’s a highly skilled operative, but bureaucracy has him on a tight leash, forcing him to act like a pencil pusher instead of the formidable force he once was. Lee Do needs a gun, a team that actually knows how to use guns, and probably a better ride too. (Consider this a humble request to HR on behalf of all viewers.)

LET'S RE-WRITE SOME WRONGS:

The writer-director Kwon Oh Seung (pulling double duty...suddenly things make sense) is relatively new, with only Trigger and Midnight under his belt. Still, he’s going places.
By “places,” I mean the Police Academy and the NIS offices, because he could use some consultancy on how real police responses work. In many instances , every officer on screen moved like there isn’t a truckload of guns and protestors waiting for them. (To be fair… there actually was a truck full of guns. No joke.) Epic fail.
Some storylines deserved more screen time. The school shooting scene? That could’ve been an entire episode. It was psychological, painful, and had real-world implications. But instead of exploring the aftermath, parents panicking, the community grieving, we got a quick candlelight vigil and Netflix’s “Insufficient funds” notification.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Trigger is a brilliant idea that needed more time and more depth. I love shows that peel back society’s layers, ask uncomfortable questions, and challenge our sense of morality. This one did all of that… but then wrapped it up too quickly.
If you’ve ever been pushed to your limit and wondered, “How far would I go?”, this drama is for you. It will make you question the black, the white, and the grey areas.
Violence-wise? Pretty mild. They even give you trigger warnings at the start of intense episodes. (Maybe I’ve watched darker shows, but I didn’t find it that bad. Do I need therapy? Probably.)

Favorite Quotes:

“If revenge ruins my life, is it worth it?”
Lee Do

“In a world where the strong devour the weak, it’s not your cheap sympathy that will protect them.”
Moon Baek

Writer's notes ✍️
In a funny twist, I ended up watching Kim Young Kwang’s 2021 movie Mission: Possible right after finishing Trigger. He is now the real main character, and the plot holes all over Trigger? Filled nicely in this movie. Review coming soon. Stay tuned!

And finally, flowers to the real MVP of this drama: composer Hwang Sun Jun, whose portfolio is longer than the Book of Psalms. Brilliant work, he gave this drama an edge in the best way. Some of his work can be found here: https://kisskh.at/people/76665-hwang-sang-jun

Read More

too easy; police always one step behind

One day, I stumbled across a post somewhere discussing how people just started to recognize Kim Nam Gil only now through his newest drama 'Trigger', like "He is such a great actor and people are just now starting to recognize him?! Where have they been?? Living under a rock?!" Calm down, sister, but I agree. I didn't know he had a new drama, but I was intrigued by the premise, so why not give it a try?

Kim Nam Gil absolutely delivered as expected. From the beginning, we get to see what kind of policeman his character is - compassionate and gentle, but fierce when handling guns. If I were his subordinate, he would be my role model. I was really touched and cried a little bit during his last scene with his captain.

The action scenes were plentiful and I loved them! They weren't over the top, and really showcased how skillful both Kim Nam Gil's and Kim Young Kwang's characters are. I also found Kim Young Kwang's acting quite good. You know whose acting bothered me the most though? The foreign actors. Why does the acting of foreign actors in K-dramas always suck? So unnatural and takes me out of the scene every time because of how noticeably bad they are. Thank God they only appeared for a moment here.

Out of all the different story of the perpetrators, I liked the background story of the high schools students and the gangster. They had clear motives, and I understand why they chose the guns, not that I justified their actions. The gangster was stupid tho. After their extensive efforts to outplay their boss and steal his money, they were celebrating and throwing money in the air instead of escaping smh. The grandma had a clear motive too, but it wasn’t explored deep enough so it didn’t leave much impression on me.

Unfortunately, the story itself became more meh as it progressed. The police are always one step behind and only Kim Nam Gil can catch up with the antagonists. This happens repeatedly, so it gets tiring. Another point is that I don’t understand why Kim Nam Gil involved Kim Young Kwang in some of the chases (although the first time was unplanned) when 1.) Kim Young Kwang is not a police and 2.) Kim Nam Gil barely knows him. Moreover, the ending was really weak. My reaction was literally "That's it??" It's difficult to explain why I find the story disappointing, maybe I will update this review in the future when I'm more awake and not sleepy.

Read More

The premise is good, but it doesn’t quite live up to its potential.

The drama started good but ended badly. I think the only people who really knew how to use a gun were the first guy and the fat student, while the rest clearly didn’t. The ahjumma and ahjussi were just unnecessary character additions with guns. Their flashbacks were boring and pointless, and they didn’t even use the guns properly—they just held them.

I also didn’t like the second guy because he kept preaching instead of shooting. He was just an idiot. Park Gyu-jin was also disappointing; he got swayed by some cheesy line like, “I don’t know what you’re going through, but it’s not too late, tell me the story.” Honestly, that was one of the worst parts of the drama. If this were an American series, the characters wouldn’t be affected by words like that—they’d be written as real psychopaths or sociopaths.

Only Lee Do actually fought against the people with guns. The rest of the police did basically nothing, which made me go, wtf. The gangster subplot wasn’t really needed either. While watching, I just wanted the depressed characters to actually go wild and shoot everyone. Who cares about the gangster story? Episode 5 was especially boring, with too many flashbacks and pointless chit-chat.

Episodes 9 and 10 were really bad. I expected an epic one-on-one fight between Lee Do and Moon Baek, but it never happened. The ending was also disappointing because they didn’t show the real chaos. Instead, we only got quick flashes, barely a second long. We couldn’t even see people shooting each other or the aftermath with the dead bodies. It felt censored and unsatisfying.

Read More

It Got Lost in the Sauce by the End

To be blunt, this show was a bit of a letdown, especially since the first two or three episodes were very strong imo. The concept of exploring how people react when pushed to their limits when they all of a sudden had accessibility to guns, was super interesting. I understand that Kim Young-kwang’s character, Moon Baek, was meant to be a major villain and an agent of chaos, but at some point, it just stopped making sense. Suddenly he’s an arms dealer running a massive underground operation? It felt completely out of left field. The idea had potential but the execution of the show was lackluster by the end. By the end of it the show got a little lost in the sauce wanting to focus more on shock value by using excessive shootings and action scenes, than creating a coherent story.

Read More

good concept but Lazy Writing, Shallow story and antagonist

I really appreciate that fact that this series touch upon gun issues and especially mental health which are related. But I found the writing is quite lazy. The actors were amazing especially the mc and how hot KYK was but beside that. The ending is lame, the villain has no depth or they didn't show much of his backstory and seems like he is a real psychopath and all he wants is revenge and see this world go down with him but the director still wants to make him look cool and philosophical. I think what I want to see in a series with such a controversial topic is a more in depth story. I like all the mental or trigger cases but the parts of the mc and the antagonist are just meh. The general storyline is so formulated. Also in some parts I had to throw my logic out of the window, I just laughed.

Read More

Unconvinced by the writing but properly subjugated by Kim Young Kwang's character

This drama focus on an interesting question : what would happen if illegal guns were spreading in South Korea, one of the nation with the lowest gun per habitant rate ? I was pretty intrigued at first but at the end I found myself quite unconvinced in the hypothesis offered by the showrunner on how the situation would unfold in terms of collective impact. I think the writing did a great job when focusing on individuals in circumstances in which they would be brought to litteraly push the trigger of a gun obtained illegaly. However, the big picture for the overall country felt definitely less believable to me. The plot armor of the hero, who was really strong and smart, was also a bit too thick for my taste.

The acting was overall good for the main characters. Kim Na Gil was solid even if I wish he had a role that allowed him to emote more because he was quite "stone"-faced all along the series. Kim Young Kwang was incredible in this : all his scenes (except the ones in English which were unfortunately quite a fail), all his attitudes and costumes were just chef's kiss. He gives a lot of charming vibes and craziness to the overall series. The filmmaking was excellent with some very powerful imagery. The tension and urgency were palpable, making the series quite thrilling.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a thriller exploring a very interesting hypothesis regarding the impact of guns on a population with very low firearms usage. The deep diving on the psychology of targeted specific people (when in possession of an illegal gun) was really frightening and captivating at the beginning. Unfortunately the way it devolved into a larger scheme was much more doubtful.

Read More

THOUGHT PROVOKING BUT NO EXPLOSIVE CLIMAX

This drama is dark and timely thriller that raises sharp questions about morality and order. The fact that the government and police officers did not do something making this show too unrealistic. However, the core idea remains powerful and thought provoking.

Nam Gil delivers a layered, restrained performance, while Young Kwang brings chilling presence as his ideological rival. Their dynamic is compelling and anchors much of the series, though a few supporting characters don't leave the same impact. Visually, the cinematography is gritty and atmospheric, perfectly matching the unsettling tone and raised the tension of the story.

The writing blends suspense with social commentary, offering moral complexity and food for thought. However, the drama never builds toward a shocking climax or breaktthrough moment, staying on a consistent tone from beginning to end. Something feels missing, leaving the experience less satisfying than it could have been.

The soundtrack is subtle but effective, supporting the mood without demanding attention. Overall, it's not perfect, but still a tense that explore morality, chaos, and order in a gripping way.

Plot 7.5/10
Acting and Characters 6.5/10
Cinematography 8/10
Writing 5/10
Pacing 6/10
OST/Score 8/10

Overall 6.5/10

Read More

Loved it to the moon and baek

Sorry, I had to use that phrase 🤭 But jokes aside, Trigger was a really pleasant addition to my list. The story itself isn’t super unique, but the main characters are what made this drama so good.

Honestly, the moment I saw that Kim Youngkwang had the villain role, I knew I had to watch it. And oh lord, he delivered!!! I don’t think anyone else could’ve portrayed Moon Baek better. He was so damn charming and had this Joker-like aura that instantly captivated me. At first, he was such a pookie that I thought, “Okay… how is this man gonna turn into a villain?” But the transition was so smooth. He’s definitely one of those relatable villains you can’t fully hate, because you can see where they’re coming from.

Abandoned as a baby, victim of human trafficking, tortured, even losing an eye in the process… Then an American gang dealing in weapons took him in, saw his “villain potential,” and gave him the opportunity to return to Korea, the country that had failed him. I’m not exactly sure if he was a narcissist or a sociopath, but his vision that “free weapons would let people take justice into their own hands” was chilling yet oddly logical from his perspective.

On the other hand, we have Lee Do who also had a brutal past, but chose the opposite path. And don’t we all love a capable cop who knows exactly what he’s doing? It was inspiring and heartwarming to see how much he genuinely cared about people.

Still, despite these two amazing characters, the drama felt incomplete. There was so much more that could’ve been told and shown. I’d happily watch a sequel, though I’m not sure if Moon Baek even survived. Honestly, even without a sequel, the drama could’ve been longer. At least 12 episodes would’ve given it more room to breathe.

Some moments didn’t make much sense to me. Like… how would a country like South Korea let millions of firearms be distributed like bread every day? How did Moon Baek just stroll around freely, even shooting Lee Do in the middle of a city square without anyone stopping him? There were a few of those head-scratch moments, you know what I mean.

But overall, the drama was engaging, had me seated the whole time, and was perfect for binge-watching with its 10 episodes averaging about 40 minutes each.

The core question it raises is compelling: Would you want guns to be legal? And if they were, would you want to own one?

Read More

To Pull The Trigger or Not??

Trigger was a mixed experience, both compelling and frustrating at times. It had its strengths but also noticeable flaws. Overall, it took me on a journey filled with moments of admiration and disappointment.


What I Liked

1. Concept: The core concept was bold and morally complex. It constantly made you question, is it ever okay to take justice into your own hands?? Should ordinary people be allowed to punish criminals when the system fails?? Sometimes, it felt satisfying to watch people with guns punish those who truly deserved it. But the show also made you realize the danger of granting that kind of freedom. It presented both sides with balance and nuance. Unlike typical vigilante dramas where the hero is glorified, Trigger made you reflect deeply. It delivered a strong message, that even in the face of injustice, turning society into a lawless battleground isnt the answer. That made the concept not just unique, but impactful.

2. Action Sequences: The action scenes were intense and brilliantly choreographed. Every gunfight was executed with precision and Kim Nam Gil’s performance was phenomenal. Definitely one of the show’s strongest aspects.

3. The Villain: The villain was oddly entertaining and charismatic. He was a psychopath with typical tragic backstory but still managed to be engaging in his own way. Although his identity was predictable from the beginning (despite attempts to hide it) his presence still added a lot to the show.

4. Emotional Story Arcs: Several subplots really touched my heart:

*The old woman protesting for her dead son. (She acted as a mother figure to the ML.)

*The story of the bullying victims, which was portrayed with sincerity and pain.

*Most of all, the arc involving the ML’s team captain, who was pushed to the edge after what happened to his daughter. The flashbacks to his past with the ML were powerful. These arcs showed that people often dont understand the pain and desperation caused by injustice, until it happens to someone they love.


What I Disliked

1. Lack of Logic in the Final Episodes: While the last few episodes were exciting, they threw logic out the window. When the villain publicly announced he would distribute guns to anyone in South Korea, the police and military did nothing. With the ML injured, it felt unrealistic that no one else in the country could stop him. This stretch of plot felt forced just to heighten the drama.

2. Unnecessary Gangster Filler: The middle portion included a dull and unnecessary gangster subplot that took up 3-4 episodes. It dragged the pacing down and felt completely out of place compared to the more meaningful cases involving mass murderers or deeper psychological themes.

3. Unfair Resolution in the Bullying Arc: While the message against revenge was important, it was frustrating to see the main bully escape punishment while innocent students were killed. It made the resolution feel incomplete and unsatisfying.


Final Thoughts

Despite its flaws, especially in logic and pacing, Trigger stood out for its strong moral message, impactful story arcs and excellent action. Some parts i skipped but the overall impact of the show still stayed with me.

Read More