shanij

Very good acting couldn't save the tedious writing

This drama starts off strong. The story is interesting, the characters feel ambiguous and real. I didn't know what to believe and that's something I love in a crime drama. After about 8-9 episodes, watching got really tedious. They are running in circles, coming back to the same conclusions they had already come to before. The story suddenly becomes very predictable and the last 6 episodes were an absolute drag for me. It's not build up when the story falls flat in the middle of it, no matter whether or not everything gets wrapped up in a neat little bow at the end. I was really disappointed with this drama.

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Good show with some flaws

The acting in this show is absolutely phenomenal. It's probably what kept me watching the most.
As for the story... It was definitely interesting. More than what is told, I liked how it was told. Mun-Oh is someone with a vibrant imagination and we get to see it all. His characterisation works extremely well in my opinion. His hunger for praise and acknowledgement makes him do things he wouldn't normally do. When he steals those questions, he doesn't do it for Lee Kang, he does it purely for himself and his hope to be the mentor of someone he can live vicariously through. He is so hung up on the past, he gets blinded by it. As a viewer, it is honestly easy to tell that Lee Kang is a liar and just tells a story. His narration works the same way, someone might write a first draft - "ah, and then he could move into the house... or what if there was a bully housemaid?", it all gets added piece by piece, but not woven in because he can't go back and edit. And Mun-Oh is eating it all up, not questioning a thing because he wants all of this to be true so badly. The character's motivations were all clear and well told except for Mun-Oh's wife. I didn't understand why she stayed that long. From all we know, he's been a huge a-hole all along. When he said those extremely mean things at the orphanage, just viewing this boy's story as some piece of fiction he might gain something from, when he wasn't there for her after she miscarried multiple times, when she cries and opens up about her suffering in the marriage he just tells her "stop whining"... Why did it take this long for her to leave? There should have been some redeeming qualities to him, but there really were none. She also has a bad feeling about Lee Kang in the beginning which is honestly understandable as he presents as a little stalker creep who wants to weasel himself into this family. Then later he is just able to manipulate her and they become friends?? That didn't quite work for me.
I think I was always waiting for something more, some sort of nuance, a little moment of psychopathy from Lee Kang that makes Mun-Oh stop in his tracks for a second... In the end it was pretty straight forward and if you, as the viewer, have realised that Lee Kang is lying, there is no other, deeper level, nothing to learn about storytelling and ethics, it's just revenge on a very willing victim.
Overall, an enjoyable show with some shortcomings in the story, but fantastic performances and great production value. I wouldn't rewatch it, but I would watch a second season.

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Stunning show that was let down by pacing and writing

The show looks gorgeous, the production value overall was amazing, the acting was good for the most part. But still, I considered dnf-ing after episode 4. The mostly strong performances kept me watching.

The first episode really hooked me. The setup is great and I loved that we had an ambiguous main character. In the beginning, I found Kim Han Saem a bit too grumpy and distrustful, but he really grew on me and was my favourite character by the end. Son Suk Ku gave such a strong performance and played the character with a lot of nuance. Kim Da Mi is a solid actor as well, she was believable as this quirky but traumatised young woman. However, she went overboard on the quirky mannerisms and expressions a few times. She also really cannot pull off smiling / laughing in a moment of confrontation or tension, it just looks like someone's trying to act and doesn't succeed at making it look natural or fitting in the scene. She unfortunately ventured into annoying territory too often to still make her a good lead that you feel for (which is not Kim Da Mi's fault, it's writing and directing, I think). The rest of the cast was really amazing, no notes.

Now comes the biggest issue: the pacing and writing. The show is just too long for the story they had. 2 or 3 episodes less would have made it much tighter. Unfortunately a lot of the conclusion is quite predictable. If you look at the reddit discussion, most people clocked the therapist as at least very suspicious very early on. Her storyline is ridiculously badly written. You mean to tell me a 7 year old can't give enough information to find her mother at an amusement park? Her mother doesn't go back to look for her there? No one in the orphanage could put 2 and 2 together for a child that was on the missing list and this child? And she stopped killing for 10 years because no one recognised the puzzle pieces? Come on. She could've send the puzzle pieces to anyone in the police force or to the press, as she later does. And when she puts her hand in her pocket at the end, the cop doesn't shoot her hand? They just let her burn herself and watch her die in agony, Jesus Christ.
The characters were mostly consistently written, but Jung-Ho really irked me. He just let her continue her killing spree and wanted to take the fall. As soon as he realised it was her and that she wouldn't stop (which she told him flat out when he went to give back her handkerchief) he should've arrested her. I understand his guilt, but I don't understand his motivation for letting her keep going. Also, I-Na was always so perceptive (almost ventures into the knowing by magic trope) and then she goes to Dr. Hwang's house and it is very clear from the pictures that he's gay, but she still thinks he has a crush on Lee Seong Ju. Doesn't make sense. I also don't like the messaging about mental health and mental health professionals. There are already too many shows and movies out there that demonise mental illnesses or make therapists manipulative evil people you cannot trust.

I wouldn't really recommend this show, nor would I watch a second season. It is really strong in some parts, but lacks depth and a true vision or story that needed to be told. Maybe that's the point, though, since they constantly reference movies and detective novels that shaped the genre. Unfortunately, this show went with the cookie cutter formula that was new and fresh in the referenced works, but feels old and boring now.

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