This review may contain spoilers
Good action, requires heavy suspension of disbelief
This is the first review that I am writing, and I will be updating it as I continue to watch the drama.
Current status: end of episode 5, dropped it for other dramas as I lost interest
When I first saw the trailer, I was immediately drawn in by the premise: 5 Olympic medallists teaming together to resolve crimes. To me, I felt it would be the perfect balance of action and comedy. The first two episodes did not disappoint with regards to my expectations, but the story does appear to be logically flawed in a few aspects.
Episode 1:
Dong Ju was established to be a formidable boxer, but yet he was momentarily stunned when fighting the villain Gold Rabbit. I understand that perhaps this was done to segue into a potential medical complication that he has, which is understandable, but I find it hard to believe that there was no follow up from this on Dong Ju's end. Certainly, if I felt lightheaded suddenly, let alone in the middle of a fight, I would consult a doctor immediately after. Strangely, no mention of aftercare was mentioned; Dong Ju's illness appears to be swept under the carpet for now. I predict this should be a recurring theme in the future.
Dong Ju's fight scene at the end of Episode 1 was admittedly impressive and had an outstanding action sequence, but when juxtaposed to the first fight scene, it felt a bit jarring. While Dong Ju's difficulties for the first fight may have been due to momentary weakness, I found it hard to believe that he would be able to fight off multiple armed men without sustaining crucial injuries, especially since his opponents were armed with sharp knives. Moreover, his behaviour was irrational; it does not make sense for a police officer to go to a secluded location simply off an anonymous phone call without any backup whatsoever. I would say this is a minor point, as this was probably done to illustrate Dong Ju's hotheadedness.
Episode 2:
I found it illogical that Jong Hyeon chose to chase after the criminal immediately after Man Sik fell instead of helping up Man Sik. I would expect a police officer to help a fellow colleague in danger, let alone a colleague high on drugs hanging off the edge of a high storey building. Some may argue that Dong Ju was just behind and could have helped Man Sik to get up, but note that in the few seconds required for Dong Ju to catch up, Man Sik could have lost his grip and fell down with serious injuries. To make it worse, this intentional ignoring of his colleague did not come fruition, as Jong Hyeon was unable to take down the criminal after all. Due to some unexplained background trauma, he froze when confronted with the criminal holding the sharp nail, which felt like an unsatisfying payoff after taking such a high risk to pursue the criminal at the expense of his colleague.
Oh Jung Se was revealed as the criminal early on, which is quite interesting. In a typical 16 episode crime thriller drama, they would reveal the villains in ascending order of hierarchy, but given Oh Jung Se's acting stature, I don't think he is a small fry. He is probably the main villain, but it would be rather frustrating for the viewers if the protagonists and the antagonists play a mouse and cat game for the whole 16 episodes. This is a huge gamble to take from a story viewpoint, and I hope that it plays out well in the future episodes.
Episode 3:
To be very honest, I am quite frustrated in this episode. Dong Ju's actions were simply illogical and unbefitting of a police officer. Sure, he has some circumstantial evidence that Min Ju Yeong was behind the car accident, but barging into his office and beating him to a pulp does not make sense. If he was wrong, he would have beaten up an innocent person. Even if he was right, this only gives Min Ju Yeong (MJY) the legal ammunition to bring him down, especially since Dong Ju physically attacked him first. Moreover, Dong Ju just alerted him that he was onto his illegal activities, which would mean that MJY will react accordingly and put up his defences. Simply put, Dong Ju just put a big target on his back for MJY.
It was even more egregious when he walked into the big office that MJY was in at the end of the episode and broke the window by punching it. If he was not suspended earlier, there is definitely sufficient grounds to suspend him now. From an bystander's perspective, Dong Ju's actions on MJY appear to be unprovoked, and surely Dong Ju must be aware of this; its very hard to justify the attacks on MJY considering the cons of doing so.
Episode 4:
Episode 4 had a few good scenes, but once again the plot holes rear their ugly heads.
Starting from the good scenes, I found the scene where Dong Ju was unable to keep up with his colleagues' typing speeds to be quite funny. The close up scene between Dong Ju and Hana in the car gave a good teaser of their blossoming relationship. The chase scene at the end where they successfully prevented MJY from leaving the country was also well executed, and you feel well connected with the characters as they methodically track down MJY.
Moving onto the negatives, I find it extremely illogical of the police officers to use their chief's car as bait to lure out the criminals. The scene where the car was stolen by the fake valet was admittedly comical, but beneath the comical facade lies the undisputed fact that the team is stealing the car. As police officers, certainly the team would know better than to do that. From my understanding, Jong Hyun comes from a rich family, so a feasible alternative would have been to make use of his family connections to purchase a high end car for their team's purpose. At the same time, I know I mentioned the chase scene at the end was well executed, but honestly I cannot fathom why Dong Ju chose to jump down from the building to physically stop MJY's car. Man Sik and Hana had parked their car blocking the path of MJY, and Hana was already standing in front of MJY's car ready to stop him. The probability of MJY choosing to run over Hana in broad daylight is near zero as MJY still wishes to maintain his social standing. There was essentially no good rationale for Dong Ju jumping off the building to physically intercede at great risk of personal injury.
Episode 5:
Positives: From what I see, Episode 5 is meant to segue into Hana and Dong Ju’s blossoming relationship, and it does so reasonably well with many heartwarming interaction scenes between the two. The addition of the female drug dealer also promises a new dynamic, as its greatly hinted that she likes Dong Ju due to him saving her from the explosion.
Negatives: The product placements are starting to break the veil of engagement, especially during the scene where Dong Ju brewed a cup of coffee and the camera panned into the Nespresso logo. Afterwards, Dong Ju had to exaggeratedly exclaim that the coffee was good, which felt very out of place. I understand that product placement is part and parcel of a drama and finances the production costs, but certainly it can be done in a more subtle way. I felt that the fourth wall was broken in that moment, and not in a good way.
More importantly, I don’t understand why Hana and Dong Ju had to approach MJY separately on their own with evidence of MJY’s wrongdoings. Why are they alerting MJY of their moves in advance? It simply doesn’t make sense, especially since MJY’s relationship with the prosecutorial office is clear at the start of the episode.
Current status: end of episode 5, dropped it for other dramas as I lost interest
When I first saw the trailer, I was immediately drawn in by the premise: 5 Olympic medallists teaming together to resolve crimes. To me, I felt it would be the perfect balance of action and comedy. The first two episodes did not disappoint with regards to my expectations, but the story does appear to be logically flawed in a few aspects.
Episode 1:
Dong Ju was established to be a formidable boxer, but yet he was momentarily stunned when fighting the villain Gold Rabbit. I understand that perhaps this was done to segue into a potential medical complication that he has, which is understandable, but I find it hard to believe that there was no follow up from this on Dong Ju's end. Certainly, if I felt lightheaded suddenly, let alone in the middle of a fight, I would consult a doctor immediately after. Strangely, no mention of aftercare was mentioned; Dong Ju's illness appears to be swept under the carpet for now. I predict this should be a recurring theme in the future.
Dong Ju's fight scene at the end of Episode 1 was admittedly impressive and had an outstanding action sequence, but when juxtaposed to the first fight scene, it felt a bit jarring. While Dong Ju's difficulties for the first fight may have been due to momentary weakness, I found it hard to believe that he would be able to fight off multiple armed men without sustaining crucial injuries, especially since his opponents were armed with sharp knives. Moreover, his behaviour was irrational; it does not make sense for a police officer to go to a secluded location simply off an anonymous phone call without any backup whatsoever. I would say this is a minor point, as this was probably done to illustrate Dong Ju's hotheadedness.
Episode 2:
I found it illogical that Jong Hyeon chose to chase after the criminal immediately after Man Sik fell instead of helping up Man Sik. I would expect a police officer to help a fellow colleague in danger, let alone a colleague high on drugs hanging off the edge of a high storey building. Some may argue that Dong Ju was just behind and could have helped Man Sik to get up, but note that in the few seconds required for Dong Ju to catch up, Man Sik could have lost his grip and fell down with serious injuries. To make it worse, this intentional ignoring of his colleague did not come fruition, as Jong Hyeon was unable to take down the criminal after all. Due to some unexplained background trauma, he froze when confronted with the criminal holding the sharp nail, which felt like an unsatisfying payoff after taking such a high risk to pursue the criminal at the expense of his colleague.
Oh Jung Se was revealed as the criminal early on, which is quite interesting. In a typical 16 episode crime thriller drama, they would reveal the villains in ascending order of hierarchy, but given Oh Jung Se's acting stature, I don't think he is a small fry. He is probably the main villain, but it would be rather frustrating for the viewers if the protagonists and the antagonists play a mouse and cat game for the whole 16 episodes. This is a huge gamble to take from a story viewpoint, and I hope that it plays out well in the future episodes.
Episode 3:
To be very honest, I am quite frustrated in this episode. Dong Ju's actions were simply illogical and unbefitting of a police officer. Sure, he has some circumstantial evidence that Min Ju Yeong was behind the car accident, but barging into his office and beating him to a pulp does not make sense. If he was wrong, he would have beaten up an innocent person. Even if he was right, this only gives Min Ju Yeong (MJY) the legal ammunition to bring him down, especially since Dong Ju physically attacked him first. Moreover, Dong Ju just alerted him that he was onto his illegal activities, which would mean that MJY will react accordingly and put up his defences. Simply put, Dong Ju just put a big target on his back for MJY.
It was even more egregious when he walked into the big office that MJY was in at the end of the episode and broke the window by punching it. If he was not suspended earlier, there is definitely sufficient grounds to suspend him now. From an bystander's perspective, Dong Ju's actions on MJY appear to be unprovoked, and surely Dong Ju must be aware of this; its very hard to justify the attacks on MJY considering the cons of doing so.
Episode 4:
Episode 4 had a few good scenes, but once again the plot holes rear their ugly heads.
Starting from the good scenes, I found the scene where Dong Ju was unable to keep up with his colleagues' typing speeds to be quite funny. The close up scene between Dong Ju and Hana in the car gave a good teaser of their blossoming relationship. The chase scene at the end where they successfully prevented MJY from leaving the country was also well executed, and you feel well connected with the characters as they methodically track down MJY.
Moving onto the negatives, I find it extremely illogical of the police officers to use their chief's car as bait to lure out the criminals. The scene where the car was stolen by the fake valet was admittedly comical, but beneath the comical facade lies the undisputed fact that the team is stealing the car. As police officers, certainly the team would know better than to do that. From my understanding, Jong Hyun comes from a rich family, so a feasible alternative would have been to make use of his family connections to purchase a high end car for their team's purpose. At the same time, I know I mentioned the chase scene at the end was well executed, but honestly I cannot fathom why Dong Ju chose to jump down from the building to physically stop MJY's car. Man Sik and Hana had parked their car blocking the path of MJY, and Hana was already standing in front of MJY's car ready to stop him. The probability of MJY choosing to run over Hana in broad daylight is near zero as MJY still wishes to maintain his social standing. There was essentially no good rationale for Dong Ju jumping off the building to physically intercede at great risk of personal injury.
Episode 5:
Positives: From what I see, Episode 5 is meant to segue into Hana and Dong Ju’s blossoming relationship, and it does so reasonably well with many heartwarming interaction scenes between the two. The addition of the female drug dealer also promises a new dynamic, as its greatly hinted that she likes Dong Ju due to him saving her from the explosion.
Negatives: The product placements are starting to break the veil of engagement, especially during the scene where Dong Ju brewed a cup of coffee and the camera panned into the Nespresso logo. Afterwards, Dong Ju had to exaggeratedly exclaim that the coffee was good, which felt very out of place. I understand that product placement is part and parcel of a drama and finances the production costs, but certainly it can be done in a more subtle way. I felt that the fourth wall was broken in that moment, and not in a good way.
More importantly, I don’t understand why Hana and Dong Ju had to approach MJY separately on their own with evidence of MJY’s wrongdoings. Why are they alerting MJY of their moves in advance? It simply doesn’t make sense, especially since MJY’s relationship with the prosecutorial office is clear at the start of the episode.
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