I'm suspecting the newbie at this time. Daughter's husband is still on the menu though, since we're talking a…
He didn't pinpoint the times, did he? And he also lost track of it while chasing AND being lightheaded from the run - I am still thinking newbie is in the cards.
But seriously, at this time I'm at three out of three immediatelly-picked villains in the last few detective dramas I've watched, and I picked them on initial hints and impulse. Either the tropes are getting too common, or there's something the writers keep getting wrong (like forcing a plot twist where none is necessary). So I REALLY hope the killer won't be daughter's husband, LOL, because that's who I think we'll get.
Prove me wrong, writer-nim, please and thank you! :D
Well, it's done. Now come over to Shadow Detective, they have cookies and real noir.
I am pretty dissatisfied with this drama, TBH. It started well, but there were WAY TOO MANY coincidences, some glaring plot holes and a story that was all over the place. It looked and felt like they didn't know what they wanted it to be - a mystery, a serial killer tale, a redemption story, a social justice tale based on the real life story (that they disawoved in post-credits anyway), or whatever.
The whole town had just one homicide team (and everybody in it was an idiot, except the bootlicker who eventually died, the guy who kept hounding RSJ - and with good reason, he was annoying as heck). All the crimes were given to them - but also they were in charge of chasing down petty thieves, according to the last ep, regardless if there was any relationship with the victims OR the suspects (that's insane, and nobody in their right mind or writing a GOOD drama would use and re-use that thread). There were also basically no uniform police. People who should have been important to the story fell off the sideways and never returned - whatever happened to the shaman? Or the bride's father who had his stroke when she was killed? Also, how come Mr Baek's sidekick ended up being the Police Chief's undertaker?
There were a few very good scenes, particularly in the first and the last eps, but they were nowhere enough to save it. The give-away of Charles loving YoonJae (while not explicit, but clear enough) didn't help the story in any way but served only to give the character (Charles) a tiny bit more screen time, and that was it.
SungJun was an idiot from the start to the finish. Also a very, embarassingly BAD police officer. When his foster brother stood there and assumed the guilt for everything, he never even tried to nuance it, or to dig up exactly what happened. And then he's brazen enough to try to mend bridges by remotely acknowledging they're actually brothers. Bah! Which doesn't absolve SungHoon from his own shortcomings - but at least he wasn't stupid. This might be the first time in such a drama where I am on the side of the criminal.
So I'll say it - I don't care, the Number Kids were right, even the (probably mad) YoonJae. Nobody helped them, so they returned the favour. Yes, being abused doesn't turn people into abusers, and that wasn't what I took from it - but I've kind of had it with the old and tired trope of turning the other cheek. There is a limit to tolerance of evil, and we've reached and passed it over, in the real world. I'm not justifying murder against innocents... but I can see RSH's point of view, even if the revenge got away from him.
Also, I'll never EVER try that coffee thing - the PPL was really annoying in scenes that should have been emotional - and I don't CARE about the sauna (seriously, all these people are abused and lost their families or their whole identity and the sponsor says, let's fit in a sauna PPL scene, LOL). *throws hands*
PS. The real life story actually happened in the ending years of the military dictatorship (not that long ago, SK became truly democratic just before the 2000s) and the only conviction was for embezzlement (as they also mention in the drama, somewhat). So there's that hope for actual justice, gone. RSH's way would have been more effective, and the fact it didn't happen in real life upholds the idea that abused kids don't turn abusers if given a chance.
The closest drama with a very similar plot ending and twist is He Is Psychometric, go watch that if you want more like this but better executed.
My fave character: SungHoon, closely followed by YoonJae. It speaks volumes (I repeat myself) when I can connect better with the villains than the "heroes" of the story.
PPS This drama was almost dissapointing enough to make me go watch a Western drama (which I haven't in YEARS.) I think I'll just give The Mandalorian a try, just for the redemption of LS's heroic aura that comes in the ending of S2. So there's at least that silver lining for me, LOL.
Oh, oh, so it wasn't the one time, either!! I like this, I like it a whole lot!
I'm suspecting the newbie at this time. Daughter's husband is still on the menu though, since we're talking a criminal with past motives and a tendency to get personal. And newbie, if it's him, KNEW why KTR is making him do parkour in the forest, LOL, and could easily change his manner of running for the short time KTR has him doing it.
Can't be KJH, since he's risking his life in this car stunt, LOL. Though he made me wonder - I mean, if KTR can have his buddy deep fake a voice so they could ensnare the arson suspect, who's to say KJH couldn't - but then, it wasn't a recording, and KJH doesn't seem the type to have an accomplice.
So it's either newbie or daughter's husband.
The police chief also has his fingers in this pie - the cases conveniently clear his political path. Maybe he was the one who engineered it all, including disposing of the other detective.
I LOLed at the bath scene, though, did anyone else have a flashback to that Lethal Weapon 3 scene where Riggs is comparing scars with Cole? :D
I hope KJH survives with nary a scratch, and they get on with the threefold cat and mouse game they're having. Those diaries sure look conspicuous now, though - why would the murderer only check about three years' worth, and why would he point them out so clearly?
I like this, let's keep it up. I hope it's not a cliffhanger at the end of S1, now that S2 is announced.
what happened to the juror whose daughter was murdered before her wedding? why didn't yoonjae lock him up with…
He had a stroke and is still in the hospital, if he's alive at all, AFAIK. The drama isn't too careful with details anyway - all the rest of the jurors are there abducted alone, but JEK is with her mother, because why? And if parents and children still unpunished should be there, why isn't SungHoon OR SungJoon with their mother? For consistency's sake. I mean, YoonJae is supposed to be a master planner. Nobody wondered where sushi guy is, if all jurors are involved in some way, and he's not present....
Ep 14, dammit, it's not a twist, and it's precisely who I thought would be... Oh well.
Since SungHoon was the oldest, it makes sense he'd be the one to start the plotting. But it's moving exactly how I thought it would be, it's just that SJ is not 13, and SH is the actual main plotter (even if he ends up not killing many if anyone).
The sushi guy is also involved, so he'll be an accomplice at least, a part killer at most. And then there's the judge (the father)'s role in this whole mess. Is he really just a good guy caught in a net of wrong choices and wrong people? I guess SH might have something against him too. I mean, if they want to add some more twist to it in the end.
Overall... The heart-to-heart discussion between SJ and SH really missed the mark, I kept disengaging throughout it. There are still too many plot points that are lacking, and scenes that are either missing or underwhelming. Also where the heck is all police procedure?! The guy who was a hostage is back at work the next day, the son of an abductee is investigating the crime, an escapee is also abducted, there are bombs all over the place but nobody explains where the heck did he get explosives or whatever he's using, so many things are just... slapdash.
I had better expectations of it. At least SH is still interesting, even if he's not successful in the end.
DV: Obi Wan never told you about your father... LS: He told me enough! He told me you killed him!... DV: I... am your father!! LS:.... NOOOOO!
I was almost ROFL at that moment in the drama - because seriously, it wasn't needed. At all. But oh well.
As I thought, this will turn into a twist yet again, and while the endgame will probably not be what I had guessed, there's still the Mouse twist to it so not really a huge surprise.
why wei wu xian changed so much after he came from burial mounds. he used to be sweet and cute but after that…
He didn't change too much, though, considering he just had to survive for three months in a place with no food or clean water, hunted by fierce corpses and spirits, under the influence of the Yin Iron, while forging the Tiger Amulet, LOL, and learning to control spirits (and fierce corpses and ghouls etc) with Chen Qing (the flute) :D
Also, he now has a SECRET that he's going to take to his grave (literally), and is in no mood to be flirty and sunny all the time any more. He can't let it slip, because it's the most important thing to him at this moment, not even to pacify LWJ. And it's time for taking revenge for Lotus Pier, too. He's not in the mood for being his breezy self.
But the impy and mischievous WWX will come back, don't worry. These two can't stay upset with each other for any length of time, and there'll be some pretty nice moments for a bit. I mean, it's true love right? :D
All of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's novels (including The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation / Mo Dao Zu Shi that The Untamed drama is based on) are being published in English, officially, by Seven Seas Entertainment. From MDZS, three volumes (the 4th is upcoming but it looks like it's not the last) are already released. They include art, glossaries, and obviously a professional translation. I think BookDepository offers free shipping throughout most of the world, and they often have sales.
That being said, the book (which is HUGE, that's why there are so many volumes) has been fan-TLed before the official TL came through, and while the TLers removed it, the internet is large and never forgets...
Still, SSE does a great work by publishing a lot of danmei - they're even doing 2ha, which will be quite something, LOL - so if you mean to support the authors (MXTX, MeatBun and all the other danmei writers), it's nice to go with the official TL :)
If I were Tsumugi, I'd be looking for some sharp blade or at least some blunt objects right now...
They're basically being self-sacrificing idiots, both of them, and they're both saying (or have said in the past) they're "leaving her for her own good". Neither Sou or Minato ASKED her first what does SHE want. They're both useless.
And I have to say it - I hate the self-sacrificing push-your-lover-to-another trope SO MUCH.
Aww, Mr Koga, letting it all out, LOL. He's cute. Also, that JSL teacher who can hear sure is becoming annoying - I don't know what his backstory is still, but he's pretty high-browing it over the hearing impaired people who never heard, I mean, what's the difference? They can communicate, what's SO different they can't understand a hearing person? The HECK!
Not bad, not bad. At least they're not going with the vanilla old detective/rookie dynamics. At this point, my…
New boss seems to be one of those stickler to the rule of law guys. He's playing the snitch detective, IMHO.
I loved the reveal that KTR is actually the one who did the framing, and not the dead friend. I mean, if we're going to invest in a noir, let it be a noir. If he framed that one, who else did he frame? And why would he feel so much guilt for his daughter's kidnapping that he'd divorce yet still raise his ex-family with all his money? And he even bought her a house - does that suggest the drug thing might have given him some cash on the side?
At least he's not an angel, and I like that.
What I did NOT like was how they're all smoking on-screen. I know, they're detectives and under stress, and people still smoke a whole lot, and this is Disney+ so the audience is more Western so more used to it... But it always comes as a surprise whenever smoking or heavy drinking (anything other than the regular soju scenes), or doing drugs appears in a SK drama. Also, it's become a pretty pricy hobby, so if KTR is giving all his money to his family, he should be completely broke, LOL.
I just remembered - who's that woman who offered to buy him the coat? Is she the ex-wife? I couldn't tell, I wasn't paying attention to her in the first episode for the half-minute she was on.
Not bad, not bad. At least they're not going with the vanilla old detective/rookie dynamics.
At this point, my main suspects are 1. the guy living in his locker, LOL (Yang KiTae), or 2. his daughter's new husband (because why not?! He's looking way too happy to be married, and there's no parents grumbling about their divorcee-raised DIL. Given this is SK, that is a must) :D
The very best thing about these two eps is the 119 / 112 closing theme. I want that in a way longer version.
Oh and HI OH DAEHWAN!! (He's the crazy Alpha Team leader from Adamas. Him being such a psycho was one of the highlights of that drama for me.) I hope he comes back and not just doing a guest appearance.
3 
But seriously, at this time I'm at three out of three immediatelly-picked villains in the last few detective dramas I've watched, and I picked them on initial hints and impulse. Either the tropes are getting too common, or there's something the writers keep getting wrong (like forcing a plot twist where none is necessary). So I REALLY hope the killer won't be daughter's husband, LOL, because that's who I think we'll get.
Prove me wrong, writer-nim, please and thank you! :D
The whole town had just one homicide team (and everybody in it was an idiot, except the bootlicker who eventually died, the guy who kept hounding RSJ - and with good reason, he was annoying as heck). All the crimes were given to them - but also they were in charge of chasing down petty thieves, according to the last ep, regardless if there was any relationship with the victims OR the suspects (that's insane, and nobody in their right mind or writing a GOOD drama would use and re-use that thread). There were also basically no uniform police. People who should have been important to the story fell off the sideways and never returned - whatever happened to the shaman? Or the bride's father who had his stroke when she was killed? Also, how come Mr Baek's sidekick ended up being the Police Chief's undertaker?
There were a few very good scenes, particularly in the first and the last eps, but they were nowhere enough to save it. The give-away of Charles loving YoonJae (while not explicit, but clear enough) didn't help the story in any way but served only to give the character (Charles) a tiny bit more screen time, and that was it.
SungJun was an idiot from the start to the finish. Also a very, embarassingly BAD police officer. When his foster brother stood there and assumed the guilt for everything, he never even tried to nuance it, or to dig up exactly what happened. And then he's brazen enough to try to mend bridges by remotely acknowledging they're actually brothers. Bah! Which doesn't absolve SungHoon from his own shortcomings - but at least he wasn't stupid. This might be the first time in such a drama where I am on the side of the criminal.
So I'll say it - I don't care, the Number Kids were right, even the (probably mad) YoonJae. Nobody helped them, so they returned the favour. Yes, being abused doesn't turn people into abusers, and that wasn't what I took from it - but I've kind of had it with the old and tired trope of turning the other cheek. There is a limit to tolerance of evil, and we've reached and passed it over, in the real world. I'm not justifying murder against innocents... but I can see RSH's point of view, even if the revenge got away from him.
Also, I'll never EVER try that coffee thing - the PPL was really annoying in scenes that should have been emotional - and I don't CARE about the sauna (seriously, all these people are abused and lost their families or their whole identity and the sponsor says, let's fit in a sauna PPL scene, LOL). *throws hands*
PS. The real life story actually happened in the ending years of the military dictatorship (not that long ago, SK became truly democratic just before the 2000s) and the only conviction was for embezzlement (as they also mention in the drama, somewhat). So there's that hope for actual justice, gone. RSH's way would have been more effective, and the fact it didn't happen in real life upholds the idea that abused kids don't turn abusers if given a chance.
The closest drama with a very similar plot ending and twist is He Is Psychometric, go watch that if you want more like this but better executed.
My fave character: SungHoon, closely followed by YoonJae. It speaks volumes (I repeat myself) when I can connect better with the villains than the "heroes" of the story.
PPS This drama was almost dissapointing enough to make me go watch a Western drama (which I haven't in YEARS.) I think I'll just give The Mandalorian a try, just for the redemption of LS's heroic aura that comes in the ending of S2. So there's at least that silver lining for me, LOL.
Can't be KJH, since he's risking his life in this car stunt, LOL. Though he made me wonder - I mean, if KTR can have his buddy deep fake a voice so they could ensnare the arson suspect, who's to say KJH couldn't - but then, it wasn't a recording, and KJH doesn't seem the type to have an accomplice.
So it's either newbie or daughter's husband.
The police chief also has his fingers in this pie - the cases conveniently clear his political path. Maybe he was the one who engineered it all, including disposing of the other detective.
I LOLed at the bath scene, though, did anyone else have a flashback to that Lethal Weapon 3 scene where Riggs is comparing scars with Cole? :D
I hope KJH survives with nary a scratch, and they get on with the threefold cat and mouse game they're having. Those diaries sure look conspicuous now, though - why would the murderer only check about three years' worth, and why would he point them out so clearly?
I like this, let's keep it up. I hope it's not a cliffhanger at the end of S1, now that S2 is announced.
Plotholes over plotholes.
The sushi guy is also involved, so he'll be an accomplice at least, a part killer at most. And then there's the judge (the father)'s role in this whole mess. Is he really just a good guy caught in a net of wrong choices and wrong people? I guess SH might have something against him too. I mean, if they want to add some more twist to it in the end.
Overall... The heart-to-heart discussion between SJ and SH really missed the mark, I kept disengaging throughout it. There are still too many plot points that are lacking, and scenes that are either missing or underwhelming. Also where the heck is all police procedure?! The guy who was a hostage is back at work the next day, the son of an abductee is investigating the crime, an escapee is also abducted, there are bombs all over the place but nobody explains where the heck did he get explosives or whatever he's using, so many things are just... slapdash.
I had better expectations of it. At least SH is still interesting, even if he's not successful in the end.
LS: He told me enough! He told me you killed him!...
DV: I... am your father!!
LS:.... NOOOOO!
I was almost ROFL at that moment in the drama - because seriously, it wasn't needed. At all. But oh well.
As I thought, this will turn into a twist yet again, and while the endgame will probably not be what I had guessed, there's still the Mouse twist to it so not really a huge surprise.
PS Also, mark the question as a spoiler, please, it's a hidden twist and there are people who haven't watched the drama yet.
Also, he now has a SECRET that he's going to take to his grave (literally), and is in no mood to be flirty and sunny all the time any more. He can't let it slip, because it's the most important thing to him at this moment, not even to pacify LWJ. And it's time for taking revenge for Lotus Pier, too. He's not in the mood for being his breezy self.
But the impy and mischievous WWX will come back, don't worry. These two can't stay upset with each other for any length of time, and there'll be some pretty nice moments for a bit. I mean, it's true love right? :D
That being said, the book (which is HUGE, that's why there are so many volumes) has been fan-TLed before the official TL came through, and while the TLers removed it, the internet is large and never forgets...
Still, SSE does a great work by publishing a lot of danmei - they're even doing 2ha, which will be quite something, LOL - so if you mean to support the authors (MXTX, MeatBun and all the other danmei writers), it's nice to go with the official TL :)
And I have to say it - I hate the self-sacrificing push-your-lover-to-another trope SO MUCH.
Aww, Mr Koga, letting it all out, LOL. He's cute. Also, that JSL teacher who can hear sure is becoming annoying - I don't know what his backstory is still, but he's pretty high-browing it over the hearing impaired people who never heard, I mean, what's the difference? They can communicate, what's SO different they can't understand a hearing person? The HECK!
I loved the reveal that KTR is actually the one who did the framing, and not the dead friend. I mean, if we're going to invest in a noir, let it be a noir. If he framed that one, who else did he frame? And why would he feel so much guilt for his daughter's kidnapping that he'd divorce yet still raise his ex-family with all his money? And he even bought her a house - does that suggest the drug thing might have given him some cash on the side?
At least he's not an angel, and I like that.
What I did NOT like was how they're all smoking on-screen. I know, they're detectives and under stress, and people still smoke a whole lot, and this is Disney+ so the audience is more Western so more used to it... But it always comes as a surprise whenever smoking or heavy drinking (anything other than the regular soju scenes), or doing drugs appears in a SK drama. Also, it's become a pretty pricy hobby, so if KTR is giving all his money to his family, he should be completely broke, LOL.
I just remembered - who's that woman who offered to buy him the coat? Is she the ex-wife? I couldn't tell, I wasn't paying attention to her in the first episode for the half-minute she was on.
At this point, my main suspects are 1. the guy living in his locker, LOL (Yang KiTae), or 2. his daughter's new husband (because why not?! He's looking way too happy to be married, and there's no parents grumbling about their divorcee-raised DIL. Given this is SK, that is a must) :D
The very best thing about these two eps is the 119 / 112 closing theme. I want that in a way longer version.
Oh and HI OH DAEHWAN!! (He's the crazy Alpha Team leader from Adamas. Him being such a psycho was one of the highlights of that drama for me.) I hope he comes back and not just doing a guest appearance.
You're still in the happy moments, enjoy it while it lasts :)