This review may contain spoilers
Gore, Amateurs, and Exhibitionists— A Recipe for Masterpiece or Disaster?
It’s.. uh, interesting.Yeah, let’s put it that way.
I watched 4 episodes so far and here are some of my thoughts. I’ve made some references to the original Korean version, but I’ll just advise you all to watch this drama as if it is its own separate work. Save yourself the trouble of pulling your hair out.
For an adaptation of a drama with a tight script, there are some aspect of this drama that are very loose, almost ridiculously so. First of all, the police proceduling is messy and amateur, like the guys on the investigation unit graduated from the academy by going off a ‘how to catch serial killers 101: for dummies’ book or something. With the original, it really did feel like I was watching a group of seasoned officers doing their job. Like, Ko Moochi’s detective skills are top-notch. His deductions and the way he handles the investigation all make sense and connect to one another. In this drama, however, we have ABC kindergarten-level investigation. Sometimes, the ‘leads’ spawn out of nowhere and I’m just here like: “How on earth did you just come up with that? What led you to think that?” Not to mention, we have killers going around slicing peoples throats with their bare hands, no masks, faces exposed for you and your grandma to see.
Chanya is also heavily involved in this drama compared to Choi Hongju, and she’s a bit annoying lol. I’m not too impressed by her acting so far, and when she shows up, I just have the urge to skip. I’m sorry. She just spawns here and there and I’m like, “you really have no place being here right now.”
Spoiler for this one. Proceed at your own risk.
At this point, I’m just out here laughing at the killer. I mean, they’re just begging and pleading on their knees to be caught or something. Like, no one just shows up on your first day where, when presented with the details of the case, hits the hammer right in the nail. Wit’s sudden: “It may be related to the 5 precepts” had me wanting to hurl my laptop out the window. Are you trying to oust’ yourself, bro? Even JBR wasn’t this sloppy. He was an exhibitionist no doubt, but Wit is even more of a madman. I would usually not complain, but Wit is unfortunately too confident and boastful for his own good. If he doesn’t get arrested by episode 5 for not knowing how to keep his mouth shut, you all can call me ancestor. Unfortunately for a bunch of amateur police officers, Wit could be considered as ‘smart’, which is utterly mind-boggling.
Miscellaneous things. Too much blood and gore. In fact, I could probably fill a whole carton of milk that could feel a whole village with the amount of fake blood used. Production is low budget. While I usually wouldn’t mind this, at least put some effort into making the ambiance right. This is a crime thriller, not some rom-com. I’m questioning why we have the HD filter on full brightness for this drama instead of a gritty, noir-like hue. Also, is this some sort of silent film? Why is everything so quiet? I could practically hear crickets in the background. What made the original mouse special was the soundtrack and its placement. A good soundtrack is what makes or breaks a drama. It can elevate even the most low budget ones. But this one is quite literally a silent film. We have sound effects here and there, but I wish there were more. Sometimes, the sound effects are too repetitious and sounds like something straight out of a bop-it. Stabbing sounds don’t just stop at one or two, no no. We have 10 seconds of 360p-equivalent mushy and gushy stab sounds that makes me faceplant. Dialogue could also be better. 90% of the things the characters are saying are just making me do a lot of ‘Huh?’ and ‘My man, are you sure you’re an officer?’ In a nutshell, there are definitely more shortcomings than positives so far, unfortunately.
On the bright side, acting is good pretty much in general. The ones who stand out to me the most so far are Ramil’s brother (that man can ACT), phicha, and Wit. The rest are also good, but those are some of the most notable. Not that much screen time but when they appear, they do make an impact. Pacing is just.. alright. Now that the investigation is going underway, I hope that it will take a more slow and calculated approach because unraveling the ‘Gold Leaf Killer’ is no child’s play. There can absolutely be no shortcuts.
Overall, I’d just give a mid rating so far. It’s a bit disappointing, to be honest. But I’m rating this as someone who’s only seen 4 episodes. I’ll try to stick to it and hope that it’ll get better. The next time y’all see me hop on here, expect either a praise or a rant.
Was this review helpful to you?
