perfect

It's so hilarious how people who enjoy dramas like "Mouse" are coming here and shitting on this drama because it doesn't have a "psychopathic genius" and a fucking plot twist every minute.

Because he saved her and caught the criminal leading her to get awarded in the past. But she felt humiliated and weak from that experience since she deals with so much crap with being a woman on the police force so she was projecting her insecurities onto him.

What people don't seem to get is that police sketches are usually seen as inaccurate and many people can look like the "suspect", therefore I would assume it would only be used when they really have nothing else to go on. Issuing an APB won't get a criminal caught from a sketch alone and worst case scenario, it will cause the criminal to stop any activity or even intensify their crimes. They still used the police sketch to confirm that a suspicious person looks like how many witnesses describe the suspect as, so cross referencing that helps him get apprehended which then leads to finding out he has many similar characteristics and behaviour to the suspect as well. It's about narrowing down a suspect by using profiling, not capturing everyone who looks like that. His age, his job, how he socializes, his medical history, where he frequents, etc etc.

And if you're wondering "But they used cctv image for Go Young-chun." Well they used that image because the case was going cold and they knew from the suspect profile that he would stop murdering until he knew he was safe since he's careful. Though they weren't completely certain, and that's alright. It's just a bait tactic. Just like in real life, they didn't even have much physical evidence of Yoo Young-chul's crimes so in a twisted sense, his change of M.O helped him get caught.

All in all, there isn't an answer to everything. In reality, the police do unfortunately fuck up and waiting for a body to show up is the best way to get more evidence/leads.

I cried when the song started playing in the last scene, I don't even know why.

I agree. Also Lee Chun-jae was imprisoned in 1994 not for the Hwaseong murders, but for murdering his sister in law. So I think they just mashed up the serial killings with that one arrest in the drama. It's great he was in prison all along but his victims families didn't know and his victims didn't get justice for so long which is quite sad.

Yeah, his victims were wearing red clothing items. They just made it really vague for the drama because profiling methods weren't around during Lee Chun-jae's serial killings (80s) and Kwon Il-yong only interviewed him when he got caught for them in 2020. So the Red Hat killer is mostly fictional, similar to other serial killers in korean dramas based off Lee Chun Jae. I wish they hadn't done that though, it seems like it was only for plot convenience to push the main character's development.

I love how the tone of the movie completely changed midway. Also that kitchen scene was perfect...seems like a tribute to American Psycho.

Yes. I would say Red Hat Killer was inspired off Lee Chun-jae. And the rest in order are Cho Do-soon, Yoo Young-chul and Jeon Nam-gyu. The cases are accurate down to their clothes. The newest killer is Kang Ho-sun. I think the actor looks eerily similar to the real killer. This drama is based off Profiler Kwon Il-yong's book about them, as he actually interviewed and studied all of them.

Former FBI agent explains criminal profiling: https://youtu.be/LHqbfJ3tq4Y
Kim Nam-gil and Profiler Kwon Il-yong's QnA discussion on criminal profiling: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBD3KVgNp_ozVH5aEfw2-RlIy6G-1klYN

For people who want to understand this concept better.

So I got to that part in ep 9. Ha-young said it's probable that the suspect will start breaking and entering or arson. He was making an educated guess. He said serial killers often start fires to satisfy their urges and Tae-goo worded it as he said "serial killers are used to committing arson."

Actually, many serial killers were obsessed with starting fires when they were younger and it's part of the famous macdonald triad (traits of bedwetting, animal cruelty and arson were often found in the childhood of serial killers though the macdonald triad has been disproven as these traits were initially shown due to child abuse/neglect/disabilities/disorders that are common in criminals.) Many psychiatrists and the FBI agents who created criminal profiling would say that these traits were linked to future predatory behaviour, though the macdonald triad is an outdated idea in our current times since predicting killers isn't possible. Arson is also the easiest way for the suspect to get rid of evidence (what Go Young Chun did) at the location of the crime.

As the profiling team said, the suspect is evolving as a killer and keeps upgrading his weapon. Therefore, he will most likely get more and more comfortable committing his murders as he gradually also starts breaking in to houses. I would like to think he also wanted more attention on his murders, as most serial killers do.

Sorry about that, I haven't seen ep 9/10 yet so didn't know who you were talking about. Well I'm watching it right now and will try to get an answer.

Well if a killer is a systematic killer they will be more confident and careful with their premediated murders therefore you know they will halt their murders and also go to great lengths to change their M.O if they think the police has even one little thing on them. Usually, the police will wave around only a bit of the evidence they have so Go Young Chun presumably thought that they had more on him and stopped killing for a bit. He then changed his M.O to murdering in his own home+calling women who work at the same place and the rate of his killings went up which got him reported by the boss of those women. He most likely got more comfortable since it's much easier to murder in your own home and his urges were getting stronger.

I agree with your point about the mistakes, some other people seem to think it's stupid how these killers are caught by silly mistakes but it's the reality since these killers weren't geniuses and mostly full of themselves.

Thank you! Same to yours~

The cast tho.

Yeah, I was just explaining why I think it was good to show it lol. Since you said "but still".

Well it was based off Yoo Young-chul and I'm glad they showed that scene. I really thought they would cover it up since it made the South Korean police look bad. Actually even worse, in real life Yoo young-chul used that epileptic seizure trick for a previous rape case and got away from the police...so he could have been stopped earlier which is really sad. I don't think it's stupid because realistically it happened often in real life, especially in the past era which is why so many serial killers were more active then, simply because it was much easier to get away with their crimes. It's much different today.

Well I believe this drama is about more than just the cases, so you have to be really open minded and see the perspective of everyone involved including the detectives, profilers, reporters and victims. But yes I do understand how those parts might be boring for some people if they mostly came for the investigations but the investigation scenes are also intense. Hope you enjoy the rest.

Well I guess it's your opinion, Mouse was exciting and enjoyable but there were too many coincidences for me.

For that coincidence, I would look it over as it was probably 1 from many prisoners they interviewed but they showed that prisoner because it was relevant to the case. Mutilation is a popular method of body removal within murderers so I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them used it. Now, the *reason* of why they used mutilation and cut off certain body parts is very different between that prisoner and the criminal they were investigating which is a contrast that helps the profilers understand the case better. In the US show Mind Hunter, they would interview prisoners who committed similar crimes to the ones they are investigating so I do feel like that was the purpose but maybe the editing was just harder to understand in Through the Darkness?

Thank you for explaining the reasons why. I would like to say that the MC in this drama is also tested as he investigates each crime because he has to really think like a criminal and interview real ones, which puts him in a new perspective from when he would just work as a detective. It probably disgusts him, but he has that ability (a lot of sympathy/empathy) to really put him in their shoes which is why Young-soo says he's a natural at it. I imagine that he's visualizing himself as the actual killer when he closes his eyes which probably puts a huge toll on him. Now, this was very inspired by the US show Mind Hunter and I feel as if it's similar to Hannibal as well so I can kind of understand what angle they're going at. I do feel like the MC is developing as a character and you won't really know until the end how this all will affect him so I suggest keep watching until it's done airing. (at least you can watch an ep a week so it'll be much easier to get through if it's boring for you)

Can you specify the coincidences and the dialogue? Also I'm not sure how you liked "Mouse" of all dramas that has over the top coincidences and really bad dialogue compared to this, even though it's an enjoyable drama. This isn't stale, it's slow burn and you have to really be interested in the procedure of profiling, sympathize for the main leads and overall be soaked in the essence of the drama. I'm not sure how you got through Strangers from Hell and rated it a 10 (yes it's a great drama but it's extremely slow burn), but you can't watch this? Genuinely trying to understand...

They did use it to dominate them though? But Jeong Guk felt uncomfortable and wanted the gun back then he got manipulated by those religious scammers to use it against the leads.