Ophanin

Shin Hae-sun, full stop.
...
One of the best actresses around today, in any category. She's phenomenal as an authoritarian, ruthless, even hurtful, boss. You can't possibly contradict her when she gives orders. She's so funny in this role. A complete contrast to The Art of Sarah, yet still excellent. Gong Myung broke my heart in Way Back Love ; he's also a brilliant comic actor. Both are flawless in every respect. Great chemistry ! I didn't know it was possible to end up in each other's arms quite so inadvertently. What a pair of clumsy fools !

"Isn't it be easier to be honest ?" I often ask myself that question, too.

There's nothing particularly original about this K-drama, but it's a good rom-com. They make a huge fuss about their relationship, even though they're both single. It always surprises me. You're not committing any crime, you know ? It's no big deal. Just love each other ! (my French side coming out, sorry)
For the most part, I really enjoyed the way the story unfolds day by day, with genuine conversations between them. They talk all the time, about everything. Literally. What chatterboxes ! They share so much. I'm not so keen on the melodrama at the end ; it felt unnecessary. But judging by the bloopers at least, the atmosphere on set must have been a lot of fun.

Still. South Korea. A country where beating and abusing someone doesn't land you in court, but where a mere suspicion of infidelity costs you your job and all your friends. Such hypocrisy. On the other hand, defamation is a very serious matter in the eyes of the law ! Which makes sense, since a defamation lawsuit is the weapon of the guilty. All's well that ends well for half of the population.

12 episodes where practically nothing happens, and it almost felt too short to me. Yet office dramas really stress me out, and how ! The trauma of those years trying to work despite my disability ; I totally burned out my brain and body with all that nonsense. Anyway.

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“I've finally caught the shadow that haunted you. From now on your world will only have light.” And now we understand the dream at the beginning. The subtext, children. The subtext ! Subtlety and finesse are... two words from the dictionary.

God, it's beautiful. It's constantly changing, as if someone couldn't accept that we might get bored for even five seconds. All the night scenes are colorful and bright. The light in this series ! The episodes fly by without you even noticing. The same goes for the music ; you don't even notice it. It's mean to say this, yes, but it never stops, so it loses its effect. The moments when the music stops suddenly become unsettling. However, the song whispered in silky vocals stands out.

It's so unfair to see Yifan facing so many trials alone, all those disgusting guys (ordinary ones, let's be clear). We hear about other cases of abusers around her, she has to work on this subject as a journalist, but she's never given the opportunity to talk about what she herself has been through.
We are shown how the family unit takes precedence over the suffering of the victims, which is realistic. A mother who does not come to her daughter's aid, who does not listen to her cries for help or her later requests to be left alone as an adult... Forced to cut off all means of contacting her to pretend she didn't survive the assault, since that's all her mother understands : the right victim is the one who dies. It's a very good choice not to offer redemption to the mother. But on the other hand it's a shame, though, that the series leads a little too easily to the conclusion that, fortunately, there are good guys out there to protect women. (Will we ever get over this ?)

Anyway.

Then I was shocked. What kind of teachers get involved in their students' romantic relationships ? And the family taking over ? Excuse me ? It's even more outrageous when you know the whole story.
And everyone drives a Porsche, apparently. The famous Chinese brand, so inexpensive. Quite normal for Sang Yan, who works at a video game company during the day and owns a posh bar at night. What a hard worker.
I was also surprised by the slapstick humor. Pleasantly so. I didn't expect to see that in this kind of story.

What a beautiful love story, though. I'm talking, of course, about Yifan and her adorable little cat. That brave little creature is so well-behaved, bravo to her, she's the best. The real star of this series.

Meanwhile, it's beautiful how Sang Yan sends messages indirectly and tries to understand Yifan, giving her the choice to respond or avoid the subject ; he is there for her. Without saying a word, he puts protective covers on the furniture to protect her while she sleepwalks. On the other hand, when they're young, this obsession is a bit awkward, but luckily he keeps his distance and is ready to support her.
This young adult couple tortures each other, and circles around each other, repeating over and over how impossible it is to live together, while living together. You're already a couple. Damn it !
Besides that, they are incredibly mature and give good advice about other people's relationships. It's a real running gag.
This attention and listening between the characters is one of the strengths of the show.

However, their friends and the little grandpa, even their coworkers, everyone is so kind and attentive, ready to help, and yet... Yifan suffers alone. She will want to disappear. Leaving her friends devastated, wondering if it's their fault. Far be it from me to accuse her ; this is normal behavior when you experience trauma. I'm certainly not one to judge her. There comes a time when survival becomes unbearable.

The last part of this series is designed to break us into little pieces. And then try to put it all back together again... by refusing to give us the glue for that.
In episode 21, the circular shot in the apartment with their lives playing out over several days in one go, the music rising in intensity... it's as if they want to make us cry. They've succeeded. But I'm not congratulating you, cruel writers.

“Yifan. You deserve the best. Stop saying sorry.”
“There is nothing shameful or humiliating about this. You did nothing wrong. You did the right thing. You protected yourself. You were brave. You should be standing tall, fearless, in the sunlight. That villain is the one who belongs in the gutter.”
“I usually cried all night. But as the pain got worse, I grew quieter, little by little. Until one day, I couldn't even cry anymore.”
I'm so sorry for what happened to you.

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This K-drama's good reputation is well deserved. It achieves a lot with very little. The plot isn't actually very complex, but despite that, we want to know what happens next, right now.

It's funny to see the same synopsis as a Stephen King short story but with a completely different treatment. King Stephen takes the unique perspective of the elderly wife who discovers that her husband is a serial killer and talks about the collapse of her world, her fading memories, how everything was just a mirage, a life wasted with a cruel manipulator. In this series, the focus is entirely on the investigation, and the relationship between the investigating wife and the alleged serial killer husband serves only to add suspense and tension to the main story. It's the plot that drives the show. We don't even care about the victims ; they're just pawns.
There are a few flashbacks here and there, but they only make this couple seem even more unlikely. I don't understand how she can fall in love with a guy who is so dishonest, cold and distant towards her, and who takes five seconds to feign the appropriate emotion. He is described as a master manipulator, but frankly, no, not really. The guy is more suspicious than my cat in front of a glass of water on the edge of the table. And this is coming from an autistic little guy. (me) We're asked to believe in his good intentions after all the harm he willingly caused by hiding his past from his wife. Fortunately, this criticism comes from his colleague, Choi Jae Seop, one of the most interesting characters. And the last episode touches on it again without really confirming it.

The questionable aspects : several times we are denied information so as not to move too quickly, and that really annoys me. I had understood the involvement of the doctor's son some time ago (and I'm not very smart), but they drag it out for a looong time.
The sister could help with the investigation from the start, she wants to do so, but... we don't know, she takes her time, she has other things to do. A little hypnosis session to recover her memories ? Come on, let's believe in this psychobabble.
And the couple's daughter, Eun-ha, disappears when the writers don't know what to do with her anymore, and the grandmother is kind enough to take care of her.
And the journalist with round glasses who followed the sister everywhere and watched her at home and tried to break into her house at night, he gets away with it, which makes me anxious.
Finally, the same musics comes back far too often. It becomes redundant.

Not cool : investigator Cha Ji-won threatening to kill a suspect because the police sometimes kill people who resist arrest. And this is presented as positive and proof of her professional qualities. I'm not sure I agree with this kind of discourse when we're still being led to believe in ‘suicide by cop’, a myth invented by the police and repeated in TV series.

In fact, she is infinitely more badass when she traps her husband to push him into the corner of his own inventions. He has put himself in this absurd situation and doesn't understand what is happening to him. Otherwise, he could tell her the truth right away if he really loved her. He cares too much about his own comfort. The only time he expresses regret is when she corners him and he risks losing everything : a classic strategy to avoid having to face the consequences of our actions. But that's not what the series says. It says that he loves his wife tenderly, that he is changing for the better, and that love always wins in the end... This character's behaviour is really the big weak point of this story. We save him because the real murderer is even more odious. What's more, we're supposed to feel sorry for poor Do Hyun Su, who threatens his wife with a knife and then dares to complain that she gets angry. He makes her feel guilty after the hell he puts her through ? No, stop ! The last episode tries to make up for all this, but unfortunately, it didn't work for me. I didn't buy it.

I criticise, it's wrong, what a shame, I feel guilty ! I'm a disgrace to this universe. But I liked this series. Nevertheless, I think it's ranked too high, and 16 episodes ? Too long for what it ultimately offers us.

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(Service message : Not a binge-watching series, there's too little action. You can even skip an episode or two without any problem)

I'm not sure I agree with the whole parallel between being a fan of an idol and being a lesbian. If you want to talk about coming out, do it, for real. What's with these jokes about colleagues judging her for being a fan of this singer ? I imagine it's well-intentioned, but it doesn't have the right effect at all. Anyway, let's move on. At least the character who 'discovers' it, Ryan Gold, has no problem with two women being in a relationship. (Thank goodness. Expectations are so low, we're easily satisfied.)

Other than that, it's funny and cute, thanks to Park Min-young. How could it be otherwise ? But everyone is adorable. Kim Bo-ra and her little surprised grimaces, her futile pouts, her sweetness. The judo brother at the beginning embodies a gentle and benevolent masculinity, which we love here at the editorial office. (me) But he becomes unbearable and jealous after. I choose to ignore this whole "we're not family" thing, which I don't understand. The editorial team approves of the shots of him in the shower, even if their usefulness in the story remains to be seen. Well done, judo.
Kim Jae-wook, always too handsome to be honest. I'm wary of men like him. He kisses his girlfriend on the nose, just look at how indecent this man is !
Cha Si-an, what a shame, such a kind character, it's scandalous. A pure, innocent little kitten. I am outraged. His place is in a museum among the Greco-Roman sculptures.

Every episode I watched was under codeine, due to the frequency of my migraines. It passes the time. In the dark with the sound turned down low, religiously, tinnitus at its worst. Occasional dizziness.

PS: The fortune teller who speaks French, as a good French person who respects himself (and therefore hates other French people), I can say that this person is talking nonsense. Random words.

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Baek Ah-jin attacks the powerful and cruelly destroys them. First with her gaze, then with the means at her disposal. It's difficult to support her, even more difficult to hold it against her. Clearly, she never just defends herself ; it goes further than that.

It is very interesting to see that in the first episode, the school lesson focuses on Xun Zi, a Chinese philosopher from the 3rd century BCE who believed that humans were fundamentally evil, selfish and destructive, and that strict education was necessary to force people onto the right path: that of Confucian obedience. Since humans are inherently evil, they dislike work but enjoy gain and pleasure. A brave fellow, or not. In any case, he predates Thomas Hobbes by 19 centuries. And we are more inclined to teach the Englishman's work than that of the Chinese philosopher. We can probably do without both of them and still believe in humanity.

Some of Ah-jin's vile schemes are pretty far-fetched. And painful for her as well as for us viewers. Each stage unfolds over two episodes, and you have to accept that you won't know all the elements needed for the trap to close, sometimes on a target, sometimes on the heroine, you never really know, which can be frustrating. (Episode 10 was terribly long)

Ultimately, I'm not sure what point they're trying to make here. Are they telling us that a strong sense of justice can backfire? That helping others can be dangerous? That women manipulate men for their own gain? I have no idea. Most of the time, people disturb Ah-jin as she goes about her quiet life. I don't understand how these men fall under the spell of someone so cold and indifferent, who, moreover, gives them no hope. But the slow (too slow) descent into hell of everyone around Baek Ah-jin/Kim Yoo-jung fascinated me. It's exciting to follow someone who appears infallible (or so we believe, for a while), with diabolical actions, taking on school bullies, exploitative parents, all-powerful employers, and a manipulative husband. Every aspect of a poor woman's life is scrutinised... You can never guess what the plot has in store. That's what makes the series so interesting: the surprise and the fact that you find yourself on the side of the victim who has become the tormentor.

Kim Yoo-jung knows how to skilfully play with the image she projects. Her caressing gaze, filled with opals, suddenly empties and comes back to life in the blink of an eye. She can be attentive one moment and cold the next, crushing people in her path. She takes no pleasure in attacking others ; it's just her nature, like a cornered animal fighting for survival.
This is an amoral K-drama, or at least one that tries to make us believe it is. There must be a moral to be found in all this, but I haven't figured out what it is yet. Baek Ah-jin reflects the violence of a world that hates her. The final scene of the penultimate episode illustrates this masterfully, drawing a parallel between a film shoot and a real execution. This brings us to the final phase, the top of the podium and, consequently, the fall. The media cycle continues.

What a surprising and fitting ending. Cruel survival. A sad victory that tastes like defeat.

"In a hell like this, hope is a luxury we cannot afford."
"Apologies are for when you've done something wrong."

PS: Yoon Joon-seo, truly the most terrifying of them all. To be honest, I don't understand how he managed to live so long, find a girlfriend, publish a visibly moving book, and feel nothing but emptiness. It's difficult to feel empathy for him and his mother, nonetheless. He got on my nerves the whole time.

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Extremely serious topics addressed head-on. Unfortunately, the pacing is terribly slow at the start. The characters spend so much time repeating the same information. But the story becomes increasingly gripping as it progresses. A cliffhanger in every episode, it works. (It makes me feel uncomfortable saying that about a subject like this)

A "necessary" series (even though I don’t really like reducing a work to that). Especially when you know about the Burning Sun scandal. Of course, these aren't exactly the same events. But it's comparable because the privileged scum who destroyed the lives of dozens and dozens of women didn’t face many consequences, thanks to the active complicity of the police and the justice system. Just like in the series, an idol committed suicide ; she was helping to raise awareness about this scandal, and documents disappeared after her death. (Goo Hara) Just like in the series, these men beat, abused, drugged, and filmed their victims. And just like in the series, they were tipped off about an investigation in advance, so they were able to delete their chat room and their abominable catalog (the "Connect In" app). These wealthy men have shown no remorse, and those facing legal action are free to start all over again. (They are suspected of doing so, by the way, in France and Cambodia, according to the latest news)

As long as prison is the only response to these acts, nothing will change. That's the point. The state's justice system wants us to feel powerless. It protects those who have everything against those who have nothing.

In Honour, the victims have to take matters into their own hands. Sadly realistic. And they're three well-off women, with all the tools they need to succeed. That, too, realistic. The poor don't get justice. Neither do the dead.
A good thriller, in the end. It has a slow start. We have to get past the first three episodes. But a good thriller. Between this, Made in Korea, and Climax, Korea is sending a clear message this year.

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still on cloud nine

As I always say, you shouldn't mess with a female butcher. I always say that. Always.

Warning : I've got nothing constructive to say. (as usual) I finished this series a few days ago, and I'm still on cloud nine.

How BEAUTIFUL ! The production is simply epic. Everything is so magnificent, the costumes, the sets, the direction, the lighting, the fight scenes, the music, the wig budget... hmm. A success across the board. A wonderful world where it snows all the time and no one ever feels cold. It's just too beautiful. The homes (even the most modest ones) are adorned with sumptuous wooden furniture and delicate fabrics fluttering everywhere. Teapots and incense blend their delicate scents with the wax of the carved woodwork. I can smell it.

Fan is incredible. Truly phenomenal ! Both the character and the actress, Tian Xiwei. Protect this woman at all costs. That charisma, that presence, that otherworldly beauty when she makes those tender expressions. She masterfully plays on the cliché of the seemingly fragile woman who becomes menacing and a deadly enemy in the blink of an eye. Her character is meant to be a tribute to a real-life female general, as in about half of all Chinese series. (Legend of a Female General, a very good C-drama)
You can feel all the despair that overtakes her midway through the series, during the turning point, when her village is ravaged and all her loved ones are massacred... those scenes… such sadness. We've been made to love these characters. We enjoyed life in that village, but now we must bury them and abandon it. And then we move on to war. Then to palace intrigues. What a journey.

As a result, the Marquis of Wu'an, the male lead, becomes first and foremost a supporting character ; he's the knight in shining armour. He's supposed to be the hero, but the story constantly reminds us that he takes a back seat. I love it.
They're so lovely, the two of them. They're completely devoted to one another. Their love is pure. I feel silly writing such nonsense ! I want them to be happy together. True love is killing your enemies together with the same weapon and checking if your wife's wrists are sore. And taking a bath… my goodness, the bath scene. It was daring. I didn't see anything, I swear I looked away.

They love each other so much that they get married twice, under two different identities. [stands up, banging both hands on the table] Now that's what I call Love ! He knows her secret, he supports her, and he doesn't tell her until she's ready to reveal it to him. [points at an imaginary listener] And he takes a hundred lashes rather than betray her !

Pardon. Je me suis emporté.

The attention to detail, my goodness ! There's so much going on, all the time. Like the characters who've been struck by an arrow and who, at last ! don't pull the arrow out. A whole gallery of characters unfolds before us, and they're all believable and interesting.
There are so many endearing ones. The little sister, the villagers, the Pig Butcher Squad, the old man carrying stones, Marquis Wu'an's generals, the Emperor's sister and her maid. We care about every single one of them. That's rare in productions like this.

The only downside : why this "what if" ending ?!? What if nothing at all. It's over. We can't imagine things from 17 years ago now.
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Episode 17, TW : forced kissing.
It's portrayed for what it is, without any romanticisation. The woman cuts ties with the man. But to be perfectly honest, she, in turn, drugs him without his knowledge to take his place on the battlefield. It's all square, back to square one. (No idea what that means. I'm learning new expressions : to be on cloud nine, success across the board and this square thing)

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A gang leader has found someone worse than himself : the property manager. Real estate is truly one of the worst industries, where all prices are completely false and made up. Most housing units are unsanitary, substandard, or vacant, and yet people are left to die on the streets while exorbitant rents are maintained so that landlords can continue to bleed tenants dry.

A series with simple, deadpan humor. The theme of the chosen family works really well. But the ending was a bit disappointing, with these last two episodes being frankly average.

The sister who cancels her vacation to come to work at her boss's request ? even though she wanted to quit ? I don't buy it.
Fatphobia is still not funny.

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One of the female characters becomes pregnant unintentionally, but abortion isn't mentioned or even considered. How odd. I was actually wondering if this was an American series. And then I realized that abortion wasn't decriminalized in Korea until 2021, and since then, there hasn't really been any way to actually get one. That explains it all.
It's a bit of a shame to see this kind of reactionary plot device in a series entirely centered on three women in their thirties and their professional struggles. It could have served to make a point about this particularly important issue, but it seems that's not part of the Hallyu agenda.

They all come across as endearing and funny, surrounded by very ordinary jerks. They have to put up with all these hurtful remarks on a daily basis. It's the same everywhere... the working world, really.

We also have to put up with scenes where a character talks to someone as if they were there, when they're not. It stresses me out. He's dead. You know it. We know it. Everyone knows it. Stop writing sick stuff like that ; and always for women, too. Always. It drives me crazy ! It drags the show down ; it's not interesting. Please. Stop.

Well. The production assistant is so nice. Her relationship with her coworker makes me a little sad. They're making a big deal out of nothing when they could just be friends, and that would be nice. But a man and a woman are bound to see each other through a romantic lens or something more. Exhausting.
Still, it's great that she dumped her son's father. He's a loser from start to finish, no redemption. And the whole "pretending to be sick" thing to get back into her life : well played. We dodged a bullet. I was so scared.

Finally. That screenwriter. She cracks me up. Her calm but snarky responses. And when she magically pulls out her guitar... so funny. Best character. She's the reason I was watching, after all. She waits until the guy finishes cooking his dish to say she doesn't like it and won't eat it. Nice move.

All three are adorable, with their flaws and their strengths, they are authentic. Everyone's character development is satisfying, more or less. But as is so often the case, 16 episodes is at least four too many. I skipped quite a few scenes because they dragged on for no reason, but seriously, you could see the filler coming a mile away. I often find 16-episode K-dramas too long for what they offer, while 30-episode C-dramas just aren't enough.

Humor works really well. The series deals with sad topics (from the perspective of privileged women, don't forget that), but it remains genuinely funny. The romance doesn't work as well. The tragedy works even less, just a miss. The "social" commentary, which is very superficial, works mainly through the humor and never goes very deep.

It smells like an autofiction screenplay. A screenwriter told us about her life and that of her friends.

"The tears in your heart will turn into an illness. But once you cry them out, they evaporate and disappear."

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Moon Geun Young's career came to a tragic halt due to compartment syndrome. Her agency dropped her after that K-drama. She turned to directing and makes guest appearances from time to time, but never in a leading role. It makes me sad for this person I don't know personally ; she's not to blame for this situation. Anyway. Here, she plays the role of a downtrodden character all the time, except sometimes when she has to burst into tears... Yet the series starts out as a comedy and romance disguised as a police investigation. But these people never actually investigate the serial killer they're supposed to find within two months. (A deadline we don't really care about.)

This series ages like good milk. Believe a vegan. In recent years, production standards in K-dramas have skyrocketed so much that just watching something from 2019 feels really weird. However, the characters are funny (at first), and nothing problematic happens... Wait, actually, yes. This series has a problem with sanism. This portrayal of autism really annoys me. Same old, same old. People in a perpetual state of crisis. That's not what we're like in everyday life. It's just carnival-style autism. Rain Man is over.
And strangely enough, there are a lot of mentally ill people in this series. Captain Ko's mother, the homeless man, two people with autism. I hope you're being entertained ? I'm glad to hear that we're right to be afraid of people who don't fit the norm. Great message.

16 episodes were too many. I skipped a lot of pointless scenes. So many slow parts... And the solution to the mystery, in a word : notgreat.

(I watched this because, with these heat waves, there's just nothing I can do. I have way too much time on my hands)

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(TW: incest, grooming, gaslighting)
It goes so deep in what it exposes. And it does it so well. The manipulator manages to be both charming and insidious. He seems so sincere. His emotions are genuine. We find ourselves wanting to believe in him. Even though we understand right away what's going on, the series makes absolutely no secret of it, and yet… we doubt for a moment.

The real issue is this : anyone can be manipulated. We think we're too smart for that, or that it only happens to other people, but the reality is that we already accept a lot of unacceptable things by convincing ourselves they're no big deal. We're easily gaslighted, and also quick to judge the victims...

The fact that this guy, Dr Luo, is a psychiatrist seems spot on to me. The thought and behaviour police. The worst scum I've come up against from childhood to adulthood ; they turn what we tell them against us and pathologise us, not to help us but to serve the capital and the State.
This man meddles in the life of this single mother without being invited. And what's brilliantly written here is how he's not the central character ; after all, the story is primarily about a system. He's just there, this snake slithering in on the coattails of his well-educated status, playing out his little drama in the lives of Yan Ling and her son.

Besides, those pickup artist courses are painful to sit through. And embarrassing. The way they reduce women to a single stereotype, a target to identified. Their dehumanizing logic is spine-chilling. "Broke her self-esteem"… The same tactics as managers,really. I don't want to live in that kind of world.

Yan Ling's mother, what a horrible person… Never a kind word for her daughter. Verbal and physical abuse. She idolizes her deceased husband and fully participates in upholding the patriarchal system that allows pedocriminality, incest and grooming. (All of which are interconnected) The series clearly shows how victims are ignored and how they have nothing to gain by speaking out, everything to lose.
Should we blame marginalized people who choose to step on others to keep their (precarious) place in this system ? I'm tempted to say yes, but there's no right answer. So it's good that the series shows both female and male examples : everyone participates in this system. The mother's redemption… why not ? It comes from the person most directly involved, so let's say it works. In any case, the series is smart enough not to limit itself to portraying men as bad and women as good by nature, because that kind of oversimplification would erase a great deal of power dynamics and reality. It takes an entire family to silence a victim of incest.

The way Yan Ling is manipulated just when she's at her lowest and most miserable is just sickening. It makes you furious to watch it happen, feeling powerless to do anything. And the parallel with the other women Luo Liang has destroyed before adds even more rage, if that were even possible. The "hot-and-cold" treatment, the love bombing, all these horrors work. As horrible as it is : it works. As long as we don't change the foundations of this society, it will continue. The predator isolates you, creates a comfortable cocoon that becomes a suffocating cage, then a source of comfort, then hell all over again ; you can't get out of there without losing absolutely everything, including a part of yourself. Confronting the perpetrator will inevitably lead to a tragedy. He says "If you want to leave, you can, at any time" knowing full well that it’s not possible. Power over others is all that interests this kind of person.

I don't like the term "narcissistic pervert". (which isn't used in the series) Firstly, because it comes from psychoanalysis, so it's off to a bad start. (Paul Racamier created the term in 1986. "Pervers narcissique" in french) Secondly, because it individualises the problem. These are traits inherent to the hetero-patriarchy that allow men to behave in this way, rather than an individual problem or a wholly personal choice. Though it is that too, a personnal choice... But that does not allow us to grasp the tangible reality of emotional and practical manipulation thanks to the whole system that supports it !

With someone like that, who says one thing and then another depending on what suits them and always has an answer for everything, there's no point trying to make them admit their lies. You need to cut all contact with them immediately ! They'll destroy you. And you won't be able to change them.

"Watching the women who love and trust you crumble in front of you, thinking you're clever and smart. You're wrong. You being able to hurt us doesn't mean you're smart. It's because you have no bottom line. You have no heart. [...] You're just a clown who bullies the weak and fears the strong."

Anyway. It's nice not to see the cops too often. But the way they uncover clues and their personalities make them likeable. (acab nonetheless) The investigation winds its way through its dark twists and turns, with a few surprises in store as it unfolds. In the end, it's not the right people who drive the story forward, and that's precisely what lends it a sense of realism. With the production quality on a usual C-drama level, it's all the more impactful because it's so well made and performed. The occasionally non-linear narrative helps us better understand the logic at play, rather than leaving us lost as is so often the case.
The series morbid atmosphere fits its theme perfectly. That scene with the bathtub frozen in blood…

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Some episodes show superb direction. A very gritty, hard-hitting thriller, ruthless, even. You can feel the Ringo Lam influence, with its raw, unflinching violence ; this isn't meant to be a feel-good watch. It's deliberately infuriating. It really gets under your skin. Everything is rotten to the core. A very good series, but one that leaves you seething with rage by the time it's over.

"You're just a thug with a badge." We call that a cop, yes.

The story of a sadistic serial killer, set toward the end of the military dictatorship in 1988. We see despicable cops and a prosecutor acting with complete impunity. (Those cowards) We see men behaving as a patriarchal society naturally encourages and rewards them to do. We see female victims who are considered guilty in the eyes of others. We see high-ranking officials who are full of themselves and never take responsibility for anything. We see police repression of pro-democracy demonstrations.

"The public no longer trusts the police." I think that's a sign of good health.

The acting is incredibly intense. Serious stuff. A cop protagonist who's been through the worst and is forced to work against his will with one of his former tormentors. He thinks the police protect people, he believes they bring the guilty to justice… A constant in this kind of crime series : the cops are terrible at their investigations and ruin people's lives by wrongly accusing innocent people left and right. I don't know to what extent this is intentional. It comes up so often !

Not to brag, but I figured out who the killer was right from the start. My only flaw : too good. It's a fact. (Everything screams him, right there !) The solution doesn't come at the end but along the way, so it doesn't matter and doesn't ruin anything. It's the kind of series you can still enjoy even if someone with bad intentions spoiled it for you beforehand.
The culprit is every bit as cunning as those who claimed to be hunting him down. The theme is the rot at the heart of the social order. The back-and-forth between 1988 and 2019 confirms that nothing ever changes. The killer bears as much blame as the police and the justice system.

"Admitting your mistakes and asking for forgiveness takes even more courage." And that's how we move forward. That's why people in positions of power never admit their mistakes. They don't want things to get better for others.

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16 episodes was clearly too many. The last two episodes serve no purpose. The overarching theme that appears at the beginning and returns toward the end could have been left out, because the heart of this series is the touching and funny relationship between the two main characters. It's Studio Dragon doing what it does best, blending humor, social tragedy, and over-the-top plot twists. You have to like it. As for me, I love it.

Lim Ji-yeon plays her role so convincingly, completely transforming from one character to the next. Here, she's clumsy, uncomfortable in her own skin, yet unstoppable,a fighter for justice. And Lee Jung-jae is hilarious as an actor who can’t handle his fame, which he feels he never deserved. He's the kind of guy who’s nice to everyone but doesn't want anyone to know it.

Their romance works surprisingly well. People who hate each other in real life but adore each other online. The rice cooker idea... incredible, so good. Even if it leads to a situation we'd call somewhat questionable. They make it into something funny, but it’s really a bit of emotional manipulation…

Anyway, we can't say it enough : there are two things that are essential in this world. Rice cookers and umbrellas.

On the other hand, an 18-year age gap… and diametrically opposed levels of income and fame. Just pretend I didn't say anything.

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