β β οΈ Act like your life is on the line Β°7.7Β° Β°excellentΒ°
Testosterone is back!
It opens Hard Boiled π₯π€ΎββοΈπ© ~ Chow Yung Fat would be proud. I recently watched Oldboy-9, and it seems like we're back in the same hallway fighting under that ghoulish green light. We only get a peek at the extreme violence. A man and woman look at e/o at opposite ends of the hall. He starts fighting his way over to her. Blood splatters. Then we jump back in time.
It's 1994. They're both getting into a car while discussing her next assignment. She's being transferred to the Security Division; she's law enforcement. Her whole family are cops. The photo on the living room wall showing everyone in the uniform, except for Mom-in-a-Hanbok, is proof of that.
It's obvious that the family doesn't think much of Mr. Park βJunβ Mo (Ji Chang Wook from the wonderful Lovestruck in the City-7.3, The K2-8 and the average Backstreet Rookie-6.4). This lowly detective is NOT worthy of their family member, his wife, Yoo βUiβ Jeong (Im Se Mi from Wonderful World-7.8 & My Dearest Nemesis). She doesn't agree. She says her brothers are jerks. Her mother's been in the hospital, long-term, and that keeps the family in more regular contact then usual, unfortunately for Jun.
Wi Ha Joon (Bad and Crazy, Midnight) is DJ Jung βGiβ Cheol. He's not living disrespected. He's appreciated. Adored, even. He wishes the gangsters didn't like him so much, though. They're pushing him to take over a nightclub. βWhy would you want to keep working as a DJ for a club when you can own one?β It's tough to refuse the kinds of offers that they make. We pop over to 1995 and see that he settled into the role quite naturally. Fast forward to current day, and he's a mob boss running several businesses along with a large criminal network. He has maintained every bit of his natural charm, to boot.
Jung Man Shik (Vagabond-8, Iris-8) as Jang Gyeong Cheol was born to play a gangster. In one scene he's mostly naked and his body is covered in tattoos. It's impressive. When Gi suggests they sell drugs at the nightclub, he has a fit. But Gi and his boys need to make more money! Gi recruits a rival organization to take over Gangnam with him. He's settled on pushing out his overlords. Soon, authorities from Japan and Korea are discussing the influx of drugs from Korean gangs to the streets of Japan. They're going to need an insider to root out the problem. One of them has an idea for the best candidate. Some might think he's a lowly detective, but he's actually got a wild side. Jun doesn't want to do it ~ at all. But this might be his only chance for a promotion.
Undercover it is.
TWoE is a 2023 release that is rated 93 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 12 53-minute episodes. Gi is now a top-tier gangster. He's ruthless, and he's a brilliant strategist. This assignment will take everything Jun has. Jun poses as the cousin of Tae Ho, Gi's lifetime BFF whom he lost to a turf dispute. The way Jun gets inside the gang is written well.
It doesn't take long for Jun to learn that Gi grew up with his wife. They were in the same church youth group. Things are tangled. After Gi sees his childhood sweetheart hanging out with Jun, he wants to talk to Jun about her. βWhy did she marry some small town bumpkin cop?β He was able to get a photo of her husband pulled from the police department! (Fortunately, they had already substituted Jun's photo with someone else's. Moves and counter-moves splatter the show). βWho's more handsome, me or him?β βYou are, boss,β Jun mumbles.
Nobody likes the new guy being in tight with the boss so quickly. It creates friction in the organization. Soon, Jun is asked to murder someone to maintain his credibility. No matter what he does, suspicions abound. He's constantly on the move to maintain his cover.
Gi has success in (all kinds of) business, so now he's ready for success in love. Seeing Ui again causes him to remember how much he cares about her. The department learns how he feels about Ui and starts using her to distract him while other things are going on. Jun is losing his mind over that.
Cha Rae Hyoung (The Good Detective,12.12: The Day) & Im Sung Jae (Newtopia, Extraordinary Attorney Woo) make fantastic thugs. One is cold, thin, and ruthless, while the other is emotional and rotund. BIBI (Hopeless, Gangnam B-Side) is impeccable as Lee Hae Ryeon, a beautiful, stylish, and very dangerous woman. She's actually the best thing in the show. I love her look, her manner, her voice⦠I want to see her in everything. (Girl crush?) Yoon Kyung Ho (Team Bulldog: Off-duty Investigation, A Birth) is slimy and gross as Det. Hwang Min Gu.
Ye Soo Jung (An Old Lady) gets to play a Korean female Walter White! She usually portrays a good person. My first look at her was as a nun in the show, Mine-8, and she's fabulous in it. Link: Eat, Love, Kill-6.7 should be much better, but one thing that makes the show worth watching is her performance. She's having a blast and it's quite obvious. Here, she's the "Professor", and she cooks meth. Seo Yi Ra (Connection, Moving-8.5) portrays Wendy, a junkie. She does a really nice job. The screenwriter is Jang Min Seok (Secret Reunion, Maundy Thursday) and the directors are Han Dong Wook (New World, Man in Love) and Park Geun Beom (Adulthood, Girl on the Edge). None of them has done very much in the last 10 years. Looks like there's a story there.
Ever see a date where both parties check to make sure their guns are operational first? Jun and wife, Ui, are on mirroring journeys. She has to play nice with the mobster (Gi's also a man she sincerely cares about) and he ends up having to play nice with a Chinese drug supplier who's taken a fancy to him. Both of the extramarital relationships are on the fast track, and the 2 couples must socialize, at times. This is a world where trust is the rarest commodity. As these people fall in love, they still acknowledge they might have to shoot their beloved.
It would be rare for a feature like this to not have its foibles. There's more intricacy - more moving parts. One shooting I heartily disapprove of - I don't like what they did with about 10 minutes to go. It's bitter. One could make the argument that TWOE is just a touch hokey, but the same applies to most Hollywood features, and most of them are much dumber than this.
There are more quality touches than shortcomings. When Gi's friend is stabbed in ep1, the blood stain on his shirt looks almost black. It augments the horror and the darkness. Like any undercover cop drama, this can get tense. Jun is under constant pressure. His immediate superior wants to pull the plug on the investigation, but the chief smells a big win and decides to gamble with Jun's life. There are heartbreaking repercussions. One of the gangsters actually makes reference to Chow Yung Fat, Hong Kong 80's action star. I saw a couple of his films, back in the day, and recognized the early call-outs immediately.
This show is much more violent than any other Kdrama I've seen, except Moving-8.5 and The Man From Nowhere-8.9. (Oh, let's not forget Oldboy-9. That film is in its own category). Gi brings Ui to the office. Another gang shows up, and it's war. Jun is hacking attackers apart. He's covered in blood. His suit had been white. Now it's red, brown and black. Ui can't unsee that.
βDo you think that we can go back to who we were?β Ui wants to know. In this line of work, particularly undercover, there's no way to do the right thing at every moment. It's all a balancing act and a series of choices. Jun does the best he can to make the best choice in every situation. He does better than his bosses, who are willing to trade their underlings for their own ambition. In the end, one could argue that the police brass are the worst. Maybe on paper, their acts aren't the worst, but the way they abuse their privilege and position is. Many criminals have limited choices. I think that we should punish white collar crime with stiffer penalties than we do regular street crime. People who have been given the most by our society, and yet still abuse it, are more depraved, yet we give them a pass. βI may be a sinner, but you used my trust against me. Isn't that a sin too?β Gi poses a valid question.
Choices. Gi always maintains a moral superiority over his fellow criminals. We learn his mother was devout and he was raised in the church, which is where he met Ui. Gi is likable. Truly. But, Gi made bad choices. Jun faced difficult choices and nearly slipped into the abyss. The police brass made selfish choices and it led to tragedy. In the end, Gi was offered a chance for a renewed life. Changing course will lead to freedom and disperse regrets. Not changing course will lead to regrets so heavy, only death will provide sufficient relief. What choice will he make? TWoE tells us that it's never too late to switch course and do the right thing. TWoE encourages viewers to make the right choice. Consequently, watching this show is the right choice for most.
QUOTESπ£
Whether it's meat or people you have to weigh them yourself.
Not knowing your place is also a disease.
If the law fears the underworld then our children will have to live in barbaric times.
IMHOγ°π
π£8 π7.5 π8.2 π5 π¦4.5 π¨7 π΅/π7 ππ€4.5 βͺ π3.4 β‘7.3 π 2 π5.3 π±4 π―5 π€’7.3 π€4 π€0
Age 18+ Language: R-rated Fπ£s. Machetes, baseball bats, clubs- /substantial/ violence. Rated: 18+
Re-πΊ? I probably won't because it makes me sad
In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:
ππ -
Crazy Love-7.8,
Love to Hate You 8.9,
Another Miss Oh-7.5,
Oh My Ghost 10,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
Love Struck in the City 7.3,
When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Itaewon Class-8.9,
My Liberation Diary-8.9,
Call It Love-8.4,
Cheese in the Trap-7.7,
My Mister 9.5,
Wonderful World-7.8,
Parasite-9,
Mother-8.8
β‘/π -
Flex X Cop-8.5,
Missing: The Other Side-8.3,
Glitch-8,
Inspector Koo-8.4,
When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Uncanny counter season-1 only Β°S1-8.4 S2-4,
The First 1st Responders-7.8,
Revenge of Others-8.1,
Vagabond-8,
Why Her?-8,
Sisyphus 8 (give it 2 episodes, ep1 is confusing),
The Golden Spoon-8.1,
Han River Police-7.4,
Law School -8,
Tunnel 8.5,
Anna-8.1,
Taxi Driver-8.4,
Blood Free-8.5,
Moving-8.5,
Awaken-8.7,
D.P.-8.4,
Iris-8,
The Cursed 8.3,
Flower of Evil 8.9,
Awaken-8.7,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9,
The Wailing-8.8,
Black 9,
Sweet Home 8.4,
Oldboy-9,
It opens Hard Boiled π₯π€ΎββοΈπ© ~ Chow Yung Fat would be proud. I recently watched Oldboy-9, and it seems like we're back in the same hallway fighting under that ghoulish green light. We only get a peek at the extreme violence. A man and woman look at e/o at opposite ends of the hall. He starts fighting his way over to her. Blood splatters. Then we jump back in time.
It's 1994. They're both getting into a car while discussing her next assignment. She's being transferred to the Security Division; she's law enforcement. Her whole family are cops. The photo on the living room wall showing everyone in the uniform, except for Mom-in-a-Hanbok, is proof of that.
It's obvious that the family doesn't think much of Mr. Park βJunβ Mo (Ji Chang Wook from the wonderful Lovestruck in the City-7.3, The K2-8 and the average Backstreet Rookie-6.4). This lowly detective is NOT worthy of their family member, his wife, Yoo βUiβ Jeong (Im Se Mi from Wonderful World-7.8 & My Dearest Nemesis). She doesn't agree. She says her brothers are jerks. Her mother's been in the hospital, long-term, and that keeps the family in more regular contact then usual, unfortunately for Jun.
Wi Ha Joon (Bad and Crazy, Midnight) is DJ Jung βGiβ Cheol. He's not living disrespected. He's appreciated. Adored, even. He wishes the gangsters didn't like him so much, though. They're pushing him to take over a nightclub. βWhy would you want to keep working as a DJ for a club when you can own one?β It's tough to refuse the kinds of offers that they make. We pop over to 1995 and see that he settled into the role quite naturally. Fast forward to current day, and he's a mob boss running several businesses along with a large criminal network. He has maintained every bit of his natural charm, to boot.
Jung Man Shik (Vagabond-8, Iris-8) as Jang Gyeong Cheol was born to play a gangster. In one scene he's mostly naked and his body is covered in tattoos. It's impressive. When Gi suggests they sell drugs at the nightclub, he has a fit. But Gi and his boys need to make more money! Gi recruits a rival organization to take over Gangnam with him. He's settled on pushing out his overlords. Soon, authorities from Japan and Korea are discussing the influx of drugs from Korean gangs to the streets of Japan. They're going to need an insider to root out the problem. One of them has an idea for the best candidate. Some might think he's a lowly detective, but he's actually got a wild side. Jun doesn't want to do it ~ at all. But this might be his only chance for a promotion.
Undercover it is.
TWoE is a 2023 release that is rated 93 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 12 53-minute episodes. Gi is now a top-tier gangster. He's ruthless, and he's a brilliant strategist. This assignment will take everything Jun has. Jun poses as the cousin of Tae Ho, Gi's lifetime BFF whom he lost to a turf dispute. The way Jun gets inside the gang is written well.
It doesn't take long for Jun to learn that Gi grew up with his wife. They were in the same church youth group. Things are tangled. After Gi sees his childhood sweetheart hanging out with Jun, he wants to talk to Jun about her. βWhy did she marry some small town bumpkin cop?β He was able to get a photo of her husband pulled from the police department! (Fortunately, they had already substituted Jun's photo with someone else's. Moves and counter-moves splatter the show). βWho's more handsome, me or him?β βYou are, boss,β Jun mumbles.
Nobody likes the new guy being in tight with the boss so quickly. It creates friction in the organization. Soon, Jun is asked to murder someone to maintain his credibility. No matter what he does, suspicions abound. He's constantly on the move to maintain his cover.
Gi has success in (all kinds of) business, so now he's ready for success in love. Seeing Ui again causes him to remember how much he cares about her. The department learns how he feels about Ui and starts using her to distract him while other things are going on. Jun is losing his mind over that.
Cha Rae Hyoung (The Good Detective,12.12: The Day) & Im Sung Jae (Newtopia, Extraordinary Attorney Woo) make fantastic thugs. One is cold, thin, and ruthless, while the other is emotional and rotund. BIBI (Hopeless, Gangnam B-Side) is impeccable as Lee Hae Ryeon, a beautiful, stylish, and very dangerous woman. She's actually the best thing in the show. I love her look, her manner, her voice⦠I want to see her in everything. (Girl crush?) Yoon Kyung Ho (Team Bulldog: Off-duty Investigation, A Birth) is slimy and gross as Det. Hwang Min Gu.
Ye Soo Jung (An Old Lady) gets to play a Korean female Walter White! She usually portrays a good person. My first look at her was as a nun in the show, Mine-8, and she's fabulous in it. Link: Eat, Love, Kill-6.7 should be much better, but one thing that makes the show worth watching is her performance. She's having a blast and it's quite obvious. Here, she's the "Professor", and she cooks meth. Seo Yi Ra (Connection, Moving-8.5) portrays Wendy, a junkie. She does a really nice job. The screenwriter is Jang Min Seok (Secret Reunion, Maundy Thursday) and the directors are Han Dong Wook (New World, Man in Love) and Park Geun Beom (Adulthood, Girl on the Edge). None of them has done very much in the last 10 years. Looks like there's a story there.
Ever see a date where both parties check to make sure their guns are operational first? Jun and wife, Ui, are on mirroring journeys. She has to play nice with the mobster (Gi's also a man she sincerely cares about) and he ends up having to play nice with a Chinese drug supplier who's taken a fancy to him. Both of the extramarital relationships are on the fast track, and the 2 couples must socialize, at times. This is a world where trust is the rarest commodity. As these people fall in love, they still acknowledge they might have to shoot their beloved.
It would be rare for a feature like this to not have its foibles. There's more intricacy - more moving parts. One shooting I heartily disapprove of - I don't like what they did with about 10 minutes to go. It's bitter. One could make the argument that TWOE is just a touch hokey, but the same applies to most Hollywood features, and most of them are much dumber than this.
There are more quality touches than shortcomings. When Gi's friend is stabbed in ep1, the blood stain on his shirt looks almost black. It augments the horror and the darkness. Like any undercover cop drama, this can get tense. Jun is under constant pressure. His immediate superior wants to pull the plug on the investigation, but the chief smells a big win and decides to gamble with Jun's life. There are heartbreaking repercussions. One of the gangsters actually makes reference to Chow Yung Fat, Hong Kong 80's action star. I saw a couple of his films, back in the day, and recognized the early call-outs immediately.
This show is much more violent than any other Kdrama I've seen, except Moving-8.5 and The Man From Nowhere-8.9. (Oh, let's not forget Oldboy-9. That film is in its own category). Gi brings Ui to the office. Another gang shows up, and it's war. Jun is hacking attackers apart. He's covered in blood. His suit had been white. Now it's red, brown and black. Ui can't unsee that.
βDo you think that we can go back to who we were?β Ui wants to know. In this line of work, particularly undercover, there's no way to do the right thing at every moment. It's all a balancing act and a series of choices. Jun does the best he can to make the best choice in every situation. He does better than his bosses, who are willing to trade their underlings for their own ambition. In the end, one could argue that the police brass are the worst. Maybe on paper, their acts aren't the worst, but the way they abuse their privilege and position is. Many criminals have limited choices. I think that we should punish white collar crime with stiffer penalties than we do regular street crime. People who have been given the most by our society, and yet still abuse it, are more depraved, yet we give them a pass. βI may be a sinner, but you used my trust against me. Isn't that a sin too?β Gi poses a valid question.
Choices. Gi always maintains a moral superiority over his fellow criminals. We learn his mother was devout and he was raised in the church, which is where he met Ui. Gi is likable. Truly. But, Gi made bad choices. Jun faced difficult choices and nearly slipped into the abyss. The police brass made selfish choices and it led to tragedy. In the end, Gi was offered a chance for a renewed life. Changing course will lead to freedom and disperse regrets. Not changing course will lead to regrets so heavy, only death will provide sufficient relief. What choice will he make? TWoE tells us that it's never too late to switch course and do the right thing. TWoE encourages viewers to make the right choice. Consequently, watching this show is the right choice for most.
QUOTESπ£
Whether it's meat or people you have to weigh them yourself.
Not knowing your place is also a disease.
If the law fears the underworld then our children will have to live in barbaric times.
IMHOγ°π
π£8 π7.5 π8.2 π5 π¦4.5 π¨7 π΅/π7 ππ€4.5 βͺ π3.4 β‘7.3 π 2 π5.3 π±4 π―5 π€’7.3 π€4 π€0
Age 18+ Language: R-rated Fπ£s. Machetes, baseball bats, clubs- /substantial/ violence. Rated: 18+
Re-πΊ? I probably won't because it makes me sad
In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:
ππ -
Crazy Love-7.8,
Love to Hate You 8.9,
Another Miss Oh-7.5,
Oh My Ghost 10,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
Love Struck in the City 7.3,
When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Itaewon Class-8.9,
My Liberation Diary-8.9,
Call It Love-8.4,
Cheese in the Trap-7.7,
My Mister 9.5,
Wonderful World-7.8,
Parasite-9,
Mother-8.8
β‘/π -
Flex X Cop-8.5,
Missing: The Other Side-8.3,
Glitch-8,
Inspector Koo-8.4,
When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Uncanny counter season-1 only Β°S1-8.4 S2-4,
The First 1st Responders-7.8,
Revenge of Others-8.1,
Vagabond-8,
Why Her?-8,
Sisyphus 8 (give it 2 episodes, ep1 is confusing),
The Golden Spoon-8.1,
Han River Police-7.4,
Law School -8,
Tunnel 8.5,
Anna-8.1,
Taxi Driver-8.4,
Blood Free-8.5,
Moving-8.5,
Awaken-8.7,
D.P.-8.4,
Iris-8,
The Cursed 8.3,
Flower of Evil 8.9,
Awaken-8.7,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9,
The Wailing-8.8,
Black 9,
Sweet Home 8.4,
Oldboy-9,
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