(ok the ads on MDL is not as bad as dramacool but I keep seeing bad breath ads on MDLand its disgusting asdfghjkl)
I think the ads you see are based on your internet behavior/cookies? So if you see bad breath ads, I guess you have searched for bad breath... Hahahahahah... (My advice: just drink lots of water and brush your tongue as well!)
It's not that he doesn't have emotions, or doesn't express them, it's that he generally thinks very differently…
Actually, after thinking about it. I think he DOES have emotions. Proof: his sister. If he does not love his sister, he would not protect her and have that hallucination where he told Ji Won (who he thought was his sister) not to look for him anymore. Love is an emotion
The first case is not a big case, but it is relevant.The reason that the case is so small is because Hwang Shi-mok…
According to the character map, there will be a few new characters that are not known yet (no actor details or pictures). I think these four characters will play a massive role. They are: two guys at the Uijeongbu District Police (Oh Byung-gun and Kim Gyung-suk), SDJ's wife (yes, his wife!) and the brother of Lee Yeon-jae. There was no picture of Lee Yong-ho, so he is likely not important enough...
The first case is not a big case, but it is relevant.The reason that the case is so small is because Hwang Shi-mok…
When I was watching episode 1 I had similar thoughts as helldraco. I was like: Why did they start with such a petty case... So I wondered whether he was related to someone important. The only "Lee" in Stranger is "Lee Yeon-jae" (which is astonishing as there are so many people named "Lee" in Korea). I went on Namu (Korean Wikipedia) and he was listed as "son of Lee Seong-jae, nephew of Lee Yeon-jae". I see that the contributors have edited the page now, so it might have been a false source. His character description is now less clear. So he might play an important role later or the initial source was wrong and he was just a filler character.
However, the lawyer (Oh Joo-sun) that got rid of the case for him is the same lawyer that Hanjo/ Lee Yeon-jae wants to hire in Episode 2. So the case was important nonetheless, as it introduced us the new attacking dog of Hanjo...
The initial episodes are slow. The turning point comes at around episode 8. You can see it in the viewership ratings as well, where it is climbing very fast after episode 8. It went from 5% to almost 7%. 7% on JTBC on a weekday is very good. The average weekday cable drama does something between 1-2%. 7% would even be decent for weekend cable dramas.
Undoubtedly going to be the utterly overrated drama of the year. :/These first 2 eps ... it's painful to watch…
The first case is not a big case, but it is relevant.
The reason that the case is so small is because Hwang Shi-mok was demoted after Season 1. He rebelled against his superiors and was then transferred to Tongyeong, which is only a city of 130,000 people. Logically, the cases are more insignificant than in a big city such as Seoul, Incheon or Busan. But that does not mean that Hwang Shi-mok does not have to take his work seriously.
So why did this case turn out to be important for the rest of the story? Well, because it was closed in one day by the prosecutors. They felt it was such an insignificant case that it was not worth their time (in other words, they shared the same opinion as you did). So far, so good.
But why did the police try to mediaplay this case? Well, the police in Korea has the right to start an investigation, but the prosecution can close a case whenever they feel like it. So technically the prosecution can close cases that are more serious crimes such as murder or anything involving corruption/chaebols whenever they like. The police cannot do anything about it and are forced to listen to the decision of the prosecution, because that is how it is currently arranged in Korea.
The beach case is a "borrowed knife". The police wants to play the narrative that the prosecution closed the case because of preferential treatment. In other words, they only closed the case because the suspects are rich. Were they poor, the prosecution would have held them accountable. The police wants to change public sentiment with it, who hates this kind of unfairness. They want to give Koreans the idea that the prosecution is corrupt and only help out the rich people. If Koreans distrust the prosecution, the police might get the power to investigate instead of the "corrupt" prosecution.
It is very clever - not overrated - writing. Because it sets up a turf war between police versus prosecution to get the "power". A bit like you see in those gangster movies, where crime families want to steal each other's business and need an excuse to attack each other. Because fighting each other without reason, destabilizes the code of conduct. Those wars also start with a petty reason. In "Nameless Gangster" for example, a full-out turf war started because a family member of a Ha Jung-woo's crime family intentionally disrespected a rival crime family so that he would get hit. Ha Jung-woo could then start a full out war with the rival crime family, because his relative was "hurt". But the real reason for them to attack the rival crime family was not to avenge his relative - it was to eliminate the rival crime family. This is similar, the police uses a petty beach case to eliminate the prosecution. The prosecution fights back by digging dirt up on the police. This gives them a legal excuse to fight each other and win public sentiment. The case is only a tip of the iceberg.
Also, the beach case involves Lee Yong-ho, who is listed as the nephew of Lee Yeon-jae. Lee Yeon-jae will fight with her brother (the father of Lee Yong-ho) for Hanjo Group. So the case will become important later in a power struggle for the company.
I deleted my previous reply since it sounds a bit harsh, but I wouldn't trust whatever comes out of SDJ's mouth!…
Nah, SDJ has a very transparent motive: He comes first. Haha... I have troubles deciphering the motives of the other characters in Stranger, because the characters are so complex. The 180 of Lee Chang-joon in last season for example. But SDJ... He is a simple man... I do not need a degree in psychology to analyze him... haha
Both prosecutors n police seems like the "good people" but both wanted to wrestle power n authority from each…
Although this show is overdramatized, chaebols and the prosecution are actually bigger than god in Korea. Until this day, I am actually surprised how developed Korea is even with all the corruption.
Is SDJ playing a shady or evil role here? I remember he was in season 1 if I'm not wrong :/
SDJ is a grey character. He graduated from a no-name university instead of Seoul National University, so he does not have an old boys' network to rely on. Instead, he uses his aggressiveness, grit and hunger to get to know the right people. He is opportunistic, so sometimes he sides with the good and sometimes with the bad. In season 1, he was sort of bad, because people in his vicinity were bad (Lee Chang-joon was a bad character for the first 15 episodes). How SDJ will be in Season 2 depends on how bad or good the new character Woo Tae-ha is (the guy he licks up to).
Being a psychopath isn't an official medical diagnosis, but people who are psychopaths are considered to have…
Good call on the parents. Makes sense.
Regarding the scene with the man whose wife died - interesting view. So if I understand it correctly, you are saying that HS was not clueless, but rather surprised. In other words, he expected Ji-won to cry, but was surprised she was pissed. He only confirmed with the man to see whether Ji-won's reaction was normal. That makes sense.
This is a bit different than my interpretation. I thought he was like a driver driving in an unknown area. He used what he has learned to interpret the situation, but could not pinpoint whether he came at the right conclusion because he is unfamiliar with the new situation. Instead he asked straight for the directions. In other words, he asked the man how he felt when his wife died, because he does not know how one should feel because the situation is unfamiliar to him.
Interesting topic of debate... It shows how complex the show is from a psychological/emotional point of view
Being a psychopath isn't an official medical diagnosis, but people who are psychopaths are considered to have…
But here is the thing though. We do not know whether your view or my view is correct. Until so far, everything points to the fact that my view is correct - he studied up on the right facial expressions, he analyzes people's facial expressions to determine whether they are angry or happy and he asks a terminal patient how one should react when a loved one died. If he really does not know how to express his emotions, then quite honestly LJG made a mistake in his portrayal by smirking.
There is of course the possibility that there is much more to the character of LJG than I have seen. However, the same can be said of MCW's character, but why are people so easy to criticize her acting, whilst they are able to give LJG the benefit of the doubt? Perhaps both are deliberately acting like this? Having said that, even if these are proper acting mistakes, I still think they are doing a hella great job in acting. Their worst performance is still better than the majority of what we see in kdrama today.
Both prosecutors n police seems like the "good people" but both wanted to wrestle power n authority from each…
Yeah, but I am not saying that the individuals running the police or prosecution are good people. But you cannot have a country without the police or prosecution. They have a purpose to society. The exclusive right of the prosecution to close investigations is also a topic of debate in real-word Korea.
Season 1 was very clearly a battle between good people (Si-mok and Yeo-jin) vs bad people (Hanjo Group). This season is about a turf war between two "good" organizations (albeit run by bad people). It is a different dynamic than Season 1, which had a big conspiracy/fictional character and was very loosely inspired by real-life events. This season is more real
Unpopular opinion here... Lee Jun-gi's acting is good, but not flawless... For someone who has zero emotions, it is odd that you sometimes see his facial movement and expressions in scenes where he does not have to "act" in front of his wife or the cops. For example, the scenes with Kim Moo-jin or his parents, you can clearly see what he is thinking. He sometimes even smirks, which is an emotional expression... This scene for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArI02f_LSng... Compare this with Jo Seung-woo in Stranger, whose character also cannot express emotions, and you see a huge difference. JSW's face is essentially dead.
I think I might be in the minority, but this season might be able to top season 1. The stakes are way higher now. It is basically police (good people) vs. prosecution (good people), with a bystander role for the chaebols (bad people). Previously it was police & prosecution vs. chaebols, but we have seen so many of those before
Not necessarily, "Lee" is a very common name. But the case certainly has relevance, else they wouldn't have spent…
Yeah, but it is true... I was wondering why this case was so important and who would possibly be connected to him. Although "Lee" is common in Korea, only one person has that surname in Stranger... Then I looked up the actor/character and saw him listed as the nephew of Lee Yeon-jae on the Korean Wikipedia...
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EfdW6OOUYAAfoZ0?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
However, the lawyer (Oh Joo-sun) that got rid of the case for him is the same lawyer that Hanjo/ Lee Yeon-jae wants to hire in Episode 2. So the case was important nonetheless, as it introduced us the new attacking dog of Hanjo...
The reason that the case is so small is because Hwang Shi-mok was demoted after Season 1. He rebelled against his superiors and was then transferred to Tongyeong, which is only a city of 130,000 people. Logically, the cases are more insignificant than in a big city such as Seoul, Incheon or Busan. But that does not mean that Hwang Shi-mok does not have to take his work seriously.
So why did this case turn out to be important for the rest of the story? Well, because it was closed in one day by the prosecutors. They felt it was such an insignificant case that it was not worth their time (in other words, they shared the same opinion as you did). So far, so good.
But why did the police try to mediaplay this case? Well, the police in Korea has the right to start an investigation, but the prosecution can close a case whenever they feel like it. So technically the prosecution can close cases that are more serious crimes such as murder or anything involving corruption/chaebols whenever they like. The police cannot do anything about it and are forced to listen to the decision of the prosecution, because that is how it is currently arranged in Korea.
The beach case is a "borrowed knife". The police wants to play the narrative that the prosecution closed the case because of preferential treatment. In other words, they only closed the case because the suspects are rich. Were they poor, the prosecution would have held them accountable. The police wants to change public sentiment with it, who hates this kind of unfairness. They want to give Koreans the idea that the prosecution is corrupt and only help out the rich people. If Koreans distrust the prosecution, the police might get the power to investigate instead of the "corrupt" prosecution.
It is very clever - not overrated - writing. Because it sets up a turf war between police versus prosecution to get the "power". A bit like you see in those gangster movies, where crime families want to steal each other's business and need an excuse to attack each other. Because fighting each other without reason, destabilizes the code of conduct. Those wars also start with a petty reason. In "Nameless Gangster" for example, a full-out turf war started because a family member of a Ha Jung-woo's crime family intentionally disrespected a rival crime family so that he would get hit. Ha Jung-woo could then start a full out war with the rival crime family, because his relative was "hurt". But the real reason for them to attack the rival crime family was not to avenge his relative - it was to eliminate the rival crime family. This is similar, the police uses a petty beach case to eliminate the prosecution. The prosecution fights back by digging dirt up on the police. This gives them a legal excuse to fight each other and win public sentiment. The case is only a tip of the iceberg.
Also, the beach case involves Lee Yong-ho, who is listed as the nephew of Lee Yeon-jae. Lee Yeon-jae will fight with her brother (the father of Lee Yong-ho) for Hanjo Group. So the case will become important later in a power struggle for the company.
Regarding the scene with the man whose wife died - interesting view. So if I understand it correctly, you are saying that HS was not clueless, but rather surprised. In other words, he expected Ji-won to cry, but was surprised she was pissed. He only confirmed with the man to see whether Ji-won's reaction was normal. That makes sense.
This is a bit different than my interpretation. I thought he was like a driver driving in an unknown area. He used what he has learned to interpret the situation, but could not pinpoint whether he came at the right conclusion because he is unfamiliar with the new situation. Instead he asked straight for the directions. In other words, he asked the man how he felt when his wife died, because he does not know how one should feel because the situation is unfamiliar to him.
Interesting topic of debate... It shows how complex the show is from a psychological/emotional point of view
There is of course the possibility that there is much more to the character of LJG than I have seen. However, the same can be said of MCW's character, but why are people so easy to criticize her acting, whilst they are able to give LJG the benefit of the doubt? Perhaps both are deliberately acting like this? Having said that, even if these are proper acting mistakes, I still think they are doing a hella great job in acting. Their worst performance is still better than the majority of what we see in kdrama today.
Season 1 was very clearly a battle between good people (Si-mok and Yeo-jin) vs bad people (Hanjo Group). This season is about a turf war between two "good" organizations (albeit run by bad people). It is a different dynamic than Season 1, which had a big conspiracy/fictional character and was very loosely inspired by real-life events. This season is more real