This review may contain spoilers
A visually gorgeous drama that makes you work harder than a detective to figure out what's going on
Two storylines, zero correlation, and a cop who barely does her job—The Frog is a masterclass in how not to structure a thriller.
Disclaimer: This review is 100% my opinion — I’m not here to hate, just to share my thoughts! Also, SPOILERS AHEAD, so proceed with caution if you haven’t watched yet. Watch it, come back and let’s see if you agree. Let’s keep the discussion respectful and fun! 💕
The Good
A Mystery Wrapped in a Postcard
I was about to say there was nothing good about this show until I remembered how visually stunning it was. Yeong Ha’s rental home was tucked away in one of the most breathtaking locations I’ve seen in a drama yet. If scenery could carry a plot, this show would’ve been a masterpiece.
The Bad
When the Comment Section Becomes a Study Guide
I originally gave this show a 1.5/10 until I dove into the comments and realized other viewers had become full-time detectives trying to make sense of it all. And while I appreciate the effort… that’s exactly the problem. If random internet strangers can explain the story better than the show itself, something’s off.
Two Timelines, Zero Connection
My biggest issue? The two stories had no meaningful correlation. Aside from the shared presence of the police officer, they may as well have been happening in alternate universes. These weren’t parallel stories; they were just two separate cases loosely glued together by theme. Yeong Ha could’ve sold his property at any time (which he eventually did), had a wealthy daughter, and wasn’t exactly struggling. Sang Jun, on the other hand, poured everything into his motel and lost it all.
And may I remind you, Yeong Ha got his happy ending. Everyone lived, he became a grandfather, and got to sell his home for (most-likely) a lot of money. Sang Jun lost everything. His wife killed herself, his son became a killer and almost killed himself too, and for a cherry on top, he lost his mind and is now trapped in a time that no longer exists. The contrast is so big, it’s almost laughable.
The Proverb Stretch
And that brings us to the frog proverb. “A frog dies from a stone thrown inadvertently.” Which is a poetic way of saying: careless actions can cause unexpected harm. Except in The Frog, no one’s careless. Hyang Cheol knew exactly what he was doing. He was malicious, intentional, and had no regrets. And Seong A? Her actions weren’t accidental—they were extremely personal. If anyone caused damage by accident, it was Yeong Ha, and even then, he was more passive than careless. His suffering came from deliberate inaction, not from being blindsided. A better fit would be “The frog pays for the hand that chooses to strike.” or something more fitting.
*I do realise that the proverb does kind of work with Sang Jun. He innocently gave the killer a room and then the whole thing played out.*
Plot Convenience Was Doing Overtime
Apparently, the police in this drama were just there for decoration until the final act. Seong A literally rammed Yeong Ha’s car in the middle of the day, in front of a police station and somehow, she’s back home in the next scene, like nothing happened. And Bo Min? Queen of being suspicious at all the wrong times. She’s always circling the cabin when nothing’s happening, yet nowhere to be found when a cop is killed, a man is beaten nearly to death, and a girl gets choked out. How are you suspicious about the cabin for five episodes straight but miss all the actual crimes?
Then there’s Gi Ho and his magical rifle. In case it needs saying: owning a gun, especially a rifle, in South Korea is near impossible, let alone sneaking one around, practicing with it, and staging a public hospital assassination without being caught. But somehow, he pulls it off. He misses his shot (sigh), dashes through the hospital like he’s in an action movie, shoots the killer point-blank, and escapes through a window… completely unseen. No security footage. No witnesses. Not even a blurry hospital hallway clip.
The Man Who Dug His Own Grave (Then Complained About It)
Yeong Ha was his own worst enemy. Let’s be real, Seong A murdered a child and he just… cleaned it up? He stayed quiet and endangered everyone, treating Seong A like a minor inconvenience instead of what she actually was—a literal murderer. He didn’t act scared of her or the police. He just… wanted the whole thing to go away.
And the worst part? He gets a happy ending. After actively endangering everyone around him, wiping away evidence of a brutal child murder, and indirectly getting a cop killed, he ends the show laughing over dinner like he didn’t throw gasoline on the entire plot. Incredible.
Final Thoughts
This entire drama tried to sell me a frog proverb and then fed me plot holes, weak connections, and a cast of characters who either did too much or nothing at all. At some point, it stopped being a thriller and started feeling like a cautionary tale about what happens when your protagonist does literally nothing for a year straight.
The biggest issue? There was no meaningful connection between the two plotlines. When Yeong Ha finally met Gi Ho, it should’ve been the moment everything clicked… but instead, it barely registered as significant. If they’d made them the same person or given Sang Jun a real reason to intervene, some kind of déjà vu storyline, it would’ve elevated the entire show.
It felt like the writers trusted us to just “get it” without doing the work to guide us there. I kept waiting. For it all to tie together. For the chaos to converge into clarity. Instead, I got beautifully shot confusion and a finale that said, “We good?” when all I had was more questions. So yes, it looked great. But no amount of cinematic sunsets can hide a plot that forgot to finish the puzzle. Sometimes a story needs to show you the frog instead of just telling you that it jumped.
~~~
What were your thoughts? Were you on team “We love a metaphor moment” or “what the heck is going on?”
This isn’t even everything loll! I even went into detail on what I would do instead if anyone’s interested 💕
Disclaimer: This review is 100% my opinion — I’m not here to hate, just to share my thoughts! Also, SPOILERS AHEAD, so proceed with caution if you haven’t watched yet. Watch it, come back and let’s see if you agree. Let’s keep the discussion respectful and fun! 💕
The Good
A Mystery Wrapped in a Postcard
I was about to say there was nothing good about this show until I remembered how visually stunning it was. Yeong Ha’s rental home was tucked away in one of the most breathtaking locations I’ve seen in a drama yet. If scenery could carry a plot, this show would’ve been a masterpiece.
The Bad
When the Comment Section Becomes a Study Guide
I originally gave this show a 1.5/10 until I dove into the comments and realized other viewers had become full-time detectives trying to make sense of it all. And while I appreciate the effort… that’s exactly the problem. If random internet strangers can explain the story better than the show itself, something’s off.
Two Timelines, Zero Connection
My biggest issue? The two stories had no meaningful correlation. Aside from the shared presence of the police officer, they may as well have been happening in alternate universes. These weren’t parallel stories; they were just two separate cases loosely glued together by theme. Yeong Ha could’ve sold his property at any time (which he eventually did), had a wealthy daughter, and wasn’t exactly struggling. Sang Jun, on the other hand, poured everything into his motel and lost it all.
And may I remind you, Yeong Ha got his happy ending. Everyone lived, he became a grandfather, and got to sell his home for (most-likely) a lot of money. Sang Jun lost everything. His wife killed herself, his son became a killer and almost killed himself too, and for a cherry on top, he lost his mind and is now trapped in a time that no longer exists. The contrast is so big, it’s almost laughable.
The Proverb Stretch
And that brings us to the frog proverb. “A frog dies from a stone thrown inadvertently.” Which is a poetic way of saying: careless actions can cause unexpected harm. Except in The Frog, no one’s careless. Hyang Cheol knew exactly what he was doing. He was malicious, intentional, and had no regrets. And Seong A? Her actions weren’t accidental—they were extremely personal. If anyone caused damage by accident, it was Yeong Ha, and even then, he was more passive than careless. His suffering came from deliberate inaction, not from being blindsided. A better fit would be “The frog pays for the hand that chooses to strike.” or something more fitting.
*I do realise that the proverb does kind of work with Sang Jun. He innocently gave the killer a room and then the whole thing played out.*
Plot Convenience Was Doing Overtime
Apparently, the police in this drama were just there for decoration until the final act. Seong A literally rammed Yeong Ha’s car in the middle of the day, in front of a police station and somehow, she’s back home in the next scene, like nothing happened. And Bo Min? Queen of being suspicious at all the wrong times. She’s always circling the cabin when nothing’s happening, yet nowhere to be found when a cop is killed, a man is beaten nearly to death, and a girl gets choked out. How are you suspicious about the cabin for five episodes straight but miss all the actual crimes?
Then there’s Gi Ho and his magical rifle. In case it needs saying: owning a gun, especially a rifle, in South Korea is near impossible, let alone sneaking one around, practicing with it, and staging a public hospital assassination without being caught. But somehow, he pulls it off. He misses his shot (sigh), dashes through the hospital like he’s in an action movie, shoots the killer point-blank, and escapes through a window… completely unseen. No security footage. No witnesses. Not even a blurry hospital hallway clip.
The Man Who Dug His Own Grave (Then Complained About It)
Yeong Ha was his own worst enemy. Let’s be real, Seong A murdered a child and he just… cleaned it up? He stayed quiet and endangered everyone, treating Seong A like a minor inconvenience instead of what she actually was—a literal murderer. He didn’t act scared of her or the police. He just… wanted the whole thing to go away.
And the worst part? He gets a happy ending. After actively endangering everyone around him, wiping away evidence of a brutal child murder, and indirectly getting a cop killed, he ends the show laughing over dinner like he didn’t throw gasoline on the entire plot. Incredible.
Final Thoughts
This entire drama tried to sell me a frog proverb and then fed me plot holes, weak connections, and a cast of characters who either did too much or nothing at all. At some point, it stopped being a thriller and started feeling like a cautionary tale about what happens when your protagonist does literally nothing for a year straight.
The biggest issue? There was no meaningful connection between the two plotlines. When Yeong Ha finally met Gi Ho, it should’ve been the moment everything clicked… but instead, it barely registered as significant. If they’d made them the same person or given Sang Jun a real reason to intervene, some kind of déjà vu storyline, it would’ve elevated the entire show.
It felt like the writers trusted us to just “get it” without doing the work to guide us there. I kept waiting. For it all to tie together. For the chaos to converge into clarity. Instead, I got beautifully shot confusion and a finale that said, “We good?” when all I had was more questions. So yes, it looked great. But no amount of cinematic sunsets can hide a plot that forgot to finish the puzzle. Sometimes a story needs to show you the frog instead of just telling you that it jumped.
~~~
What were your thoughts? Were you on team “We love a metaphor moment” or “what the heck is going on?”
This isn’t even everything loll! I even went into detail on what I would do instead if anyone’s interested 💕
Was this review helpful to you?
