The Manipulated

Good show, but wow… wasted potential.

Felt like the writer had a whole galaxy of ideas but only 12 eps to cram everything in.
1. The prison-inmates-entering-the-game arc? That alone could’ve been a full series.
2. Low-key feels like anyone can get resurrected… death has zero stakes.
3. Way too desperate for a happy ending.
4. The villain is built insanely strong, but by the end all the random luck just bends toward the hero for no good reason. An Yo Han deserved better.
5. Every plotline starts with infinite potential and then suddenly turns into instant noodles — fast, convenient, no depth.

Overall: fun ride, but you can see all the greatness it almost had. 🍜✨

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It launches like a blockbuster but crash-lands in the final act

This drama feels heavily manipulated at times, and even the title adds to that impression. Still, it’s a strong “comeback-in-action” project for Ji Chang-wook—one fans have been waiting for. The story starts off incredibly promising. The opening is intense, suspenseful, and heartbreaking, with a solid buildup that had me excited to see how things would unfold. But then the tone shifts. Suddenly, the plot turns into An Yohan’s psychopath-style game, almost like a Squid Game-inspired setup with a huge prize. After that, it swerves into Fast & Furious territory. Eventually, the story centers on the protagonist, Park Tae-jeong, as he fights to escape and prove his innocence. I agree—he is innocent and clearly trapped by Yohan. But the way Tae-jeong, an ordinary deliveryman with no special background, suddenly develops the physical strength and skills to take on gangsters in prison, wealthy elites, and a corrupt governor feels… questionable. I know it’s fiction, but it still left me feeling a bit uncomfortable and awkward.

Now, let’s talk about the villain, An Yohan. He is absurdly overpowered—I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever seen a villain this OP in all of K-dramaland. He’s essentially just a boy, yet his actions, skills, and influence stretch far beyond what makes logical sense. His motivations are murky, almost as if he were written to be “born evil” without any real psychological grounding. Even if we accept that, he remains unrealistically dominant until the very end. And speaking of the ending, his arc gets no real closure; it’s deliberately open-ended, practically hinting at a second season. But credit where it’s due: Do Kyungsoo delivers an incredible performance. His expressions are bone-chilling—every time he does something cruel or unhinged, it’s impossible to look away. And interestingly, this villain never spits out trash talk or loud threats. Only in the final moments does he mutter a few words, which somehow makes him even more unsettling. As for the blind nanny—she simply vanishes by the finale with zero explanation. How did she leave Yohan? She was his mother figure, essentially his only family. My best guess is that she saved him, faked his death, and helped him escape so he could set the stage for yet another round of revenge against Tae-jeong.

On the brighter side, I loved No Yongsik ahjussi. His pure kindness and fatherly affection toward Tae-jeong were heartwarming. I’m relieved he survived, and I’m equally happy for his stubborn daughter, No Eun-bi. Their little family ending—finally living together and opening Tae-jeong’s long-dreamed-of cafe—was one of the most satisfying parts of the drama. However, I do think Tae-jeong’s three friends were wasted characters. In the movie version, they play significant roles in helping him, so I expected the same here. Instead, the drama relegated them to minor side characters with barely any impact. The entire story revolves almost exclusively around Tae-jeong, and that narrow focus weakens the world-building.

Overall, the drama differs quite a bit from the original movie. As someone who enjoyed the film, I still prefer its storytelling. The drama had many opportunities to create a strong, coherent narrative without losing its sense, but unfortunately, it didn’t fully deliver on that potential.

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