DramaAjumma

This is probably the best thing I've seen this year. Great storytelling with plenty of heart.

I noticed in Episode 7 that the female cop gets abducted by three guys without putting up much of a fight and then at the abandoned building she's holding her own.

Part 2 explains Part 1 quite well.

It's true that the track record of K dramas haven't been great these past six months.

A superhero story revolved around antiquities. Love the call back to Healer and the fact that Skunk has his own Ahjumma backing him up.
This show is a hoot and I'm enjoying all the different historical references. Fascinating stuff.

Joo Won is terrific as always.

Apparently the ending is awful.

Episode 7 feels like an entirely different show. Not necessarily a bad thing but yeah... obvious plot holes. I think I'll take everyone's advice and bail now.

None.

Decoy's pretty good.

But the serial killing was a blind for another scam that NSC was pulling behind the scenes to get back to SK and his gold. The guy lies all the time.

Well, we don't know if he did go off scott free. Maybe he did. He's not a known entity to Detective Gu but he is known to some people in the "conspiracy".

But is that necessarily "wrong"? Isn't it the case that not everybody gets caught?

For me Joseph Chang's portrayal of a high functioning ASD individual was pretty good. One of the best IMO. I also liked Tiffany Hsu's reporter who actually turned out to be his contrast.

I don't think there was any change in direction. Part 2 only showed you what was really going on Part 1. The serial killings were just a blind for something else.

I suppose the show didn't meet your expectations but to me Part 2 is a very logical explanation of what Part 1 was really about.

The Stewart is the conduit between all the bureaucrats and the President. That's clear from the first part.

If anyone is wondering if this show is any good, I'd say go for it because the rating doesn't reflect the quality of this script which is unusually disciplined . This is a good K drama. In all likelihood it's one of the best we'll probably see this year considering the misfires and mediocrity we've been hit with the last two plus years.

Of course Part 2 can't exist without Part 1 but Part 2 feels more assured because it demonstrates in clear terms how masterful the plotting is. I'm chuffed that that my speculations were right (it was only logical) but I have to give the show a lot of credit for the better-than-average plotting. Moreover the show boasts a fantastic antagonist -- one of the best I've ever seen in K drama and that I think made all the difference.

Love how the male lead Guo Xiaoqi is written and portrayed.

What a great finish. The last few episodes were really good and did a decent job tying up the entire season. I did prefer the backend of the season to what came before.

Shin Jae-ha -- what a performance. He's evolving into quite the versatile actor.

My review
https://40somethingahjumma.substack.com/p/decoy-part-1-2023-a-review

Heo Sung-tae's Mandarin is not bad actually.

I enjoyed S2 almost as much as S1. Even with the different relationship dynamics. Teared up every time someone left.