Decent first half (or a bit more) and definitely enjoyable, then it goes off-road
I'm late to the party, I know. (Maybe you're also here because season 2 is on and you wanna know if its ok to start it or not). Because of "See you at work tomorrow", and because its season 2 was about to start, I thought I'd give it a shot. And, well... oh, boy. Also, I finished it a few days ago and already I'm having problems remembering some parts in regards of the technical aspects. But I'll try. Also, apparently this is the remake of some russian show. Never seen it, I won't talk about it, I don't care about that aspect.
Visuals. Everything about it is pretty good. There were a few meh moments, but overall it looks great. The fight choreography has some amazing moments, but it will drop in quality.
Sound design. Same as for the visuals, it is great, apart some scenes what were horrendous. As in, the boards shows some victim pictures but the track used is for something upbeat and quirky. Unless they think dead bodies is something funny and I'm missing something... But overall, it is good.
The editing is meh, mostly because sometimes the plot relies on manipulative editing. because, you know, detectives, mystery, big reveals about criminals or techniques.. It has stuff like that so that later in the game they'll give you some flashbacks revealing "more" about that previous scene. Overall, the pacing was ok. Decent world building. Btw, all of this was about the first part of the show, the rest will come on later.
On to the main parts. Good casting. Good acting. Sorry, very good acting. Some good chemistry. High levels of charisma. Now, you'd think that with such a team it will be a banger. Well, yes, from an enjoyment standpoint, thats true. And the ML carries the show. Not solo, there are a couple of very good actors around him, yet the main actor and his role plays definitely carries the show. But (because there's always a "but") enjoyment and good are not always the same. "My guilty pleasure" refers to liking/enjoying something thats not good. And thats ok, no need to see it as something "oh, no". But it is very important that you know that it is bad. And so, the next topic will cover that.
I'll talk about the script. This drama has an episodic format generally. That means, a new episode means a new case (most of the time, because its not a "must be like this"). And thats a great idea for a drama with this premise, because you can go crazy and do whatever you want. And they did. Right until the last 5 or so episodes. Before that part, like I said, it was ok-ish. I mean at least it was goofy and entertaining. The script was sht, full of plot devices, plot contrivances and such, but at least you could enjoy it. Yes, they had no idea how to investigate the crimes, yes, they were useless in thinking logic, yes, they conveniently "forgot" about certain clues right until it was time to end the episode, yes, they figured out the answer only because the cast read the script and not because they were smart enough to figure it out from the clues, yes this and yes that, but you could enjoy it. Well, starting with episode 11, the show tries to become serious, with a serious subject. You can still enjoy it, because of some stuff happening, but you'll also roll your eyes a lot. And then, starting with episode 13, it goes all to sht. Four episodes of dumbest and craziest plotline. When it all started, when I saw what crazy ideas they had, I almost dropped it. I only kept watching just because I was hoping for some kind of a romance going, because the script so far would've gone that route and I was curious if they will do it. Anyway, back to it. I guessed the ending just by saying "let me guess: you'll try the most mega fantastical plot twist, so you'll do the most dumbest 'no reason, no way in hell' route, right?" *a few hours later* "Oh, wow. You really did... Wow...".
Honorable mention: The first 10 min or so are also weird. It all felt fake, here you have that part with quirky music while photos of victims on display, that I mentioned earlier.
Some very good character development for more than a few, blah blah blah. It doesn't matter anymore. I mainly wanted to talk about that stupid ending.
It gets a rating of 6,5 (barely). Enjoyable only until to a certain point. And maybe even rewatchable, only for the cast, and only until the same certain point.
Have a lovely day.
PS: I also watched the first 2 episodes from the new season. Its quality dropped even more, almost to half. The FL is no more (timing conflict or so they say, and they couldn't wait I guess), the new one is a plank of wood. She has no charisma, the acting is horrendous, her role is sht. I also don't like what they intend to do with ML's mentor/helper/adjutant/"butler-like" (whatever that elegant guy was). So, if you really really wanna watch it, stay strong and good luck!
Visuals. Everything about it is pretty good. There were a few meh moments, but overall it looks great. The fight choreography has some amazing moments, but it will drop in quality.
Sound design. Same as for the visuals, it is great, apart some scenes what were horrendous. As in, the boards shows some victim pictures but the track used is for something upbeat and quirky. Unless they think dead bodies is something funny and I'm missing something... But overall, it is good.
The editing is meh, mostly because sometimes the plot relies on manipulative editing. because, you know, detectives, mystery, big reveals about criminals or techniques.. It has stuff like that so that later in the game they'll give you some flashbacks revealing "more" about that previous scene. Overall, the pacing was ok. Decent world building. Btw, all of this was about the first part of the show, the rest will come on later.
On to the main parts. Good casting. Good acting. Sorry, very good acting. Some good chemistry. High levels of charisma. Now, you'd think that with such a team it will be a banger. Well, yes, from an enjoyment standpoint, thats true. And the ML carries the show. Not solo, there are a couple of very good actors around him, yet the main actor and his role plays definitely carries the show. But (because there's always a "but") enjoyment and good are not always the same. "My guilty pleasure" refers to liking/enjoying something thats not good. And thats ok, no need to see it as something "oh, no". But it is very important that you know that it is bad. And so, the next topic will cover that.
I'll talk about the script. This drama has an episodic format generally. That means, a new episode means a new case (most of the time, because its not a "must be like this"). And thats a great idea for a drama with this premise, because you can go crazy and do whatever you want. And they did. Right until the last 5 or so episodes. Before that part, like I said, it was ok-ish. I mean at least it was goofy and entertaining. The script was sht, full of plot devices, plot contrivances and such, but at least you could enjoy it. Yes, they had no idea how to investigate the crimes, yes, they were useless in thinking logic, yes, they conveniently "forgot" about certain clues right until it was time to end the episode, yes, they figured out the answer only because the cast read the script and not because they were smart enough to figure it out from the clues, yes this and yes that, but you could enjoy it. Well, starting with episode 11, the show tries to become serious, with a serious subject. You can still enjoy it, because of some stuff happening, but you'll also roll your eyes a lot. And then, starting with episode 13, it goes all to sht. Four episodes of dumbest and craziest plotline. When it all started, when I saw what crazy ideas they had, I almost dropped it. I only kept watching just because I was hoping for some kind of a romance going, because the script so far would've gone that route and I was curious if they will do it. Anyway, back to it. I guessed the ending just by saying "let me guess: you'll try the most mega fantastical plot twist, so you'll do the most dumbest 'no reason, no way in hell' route, right?" *a few hours later* "Oh, wow. You really did... Wow...".
Honorable mention: The first 10 min or so are also weird. It all felt fake, here you have that part with quirky music while photos of victims on display, that I mentioned earlier.
Some very good character development for more than a few, blah blah blah. It doesn't matter anymore. I mainly wanted to talk about that stupid ending.
It gets a rating of 6,5 (barely). Enjoyable only until to a certain point. And maybe even rewatchable, only for the cast, and only until the same certain point.
Have a lovely day.
PS: I also watched the first 2 episodes from the new season. Its quality dropped even more, almost to half. The FL is no more (timing conflict or so they say, and they couldn't wait I guess), the new one is a plank of wood. She has no charisma, the acting is horrendous, her role is sht. I also don't like what they intend to do with ML's mentor/helper/adjutant/"butler-like" (whatever that elegant guy was). So, if you really really wanna watch it, stay strong and good luck!
Was this review helpful to you?
