Watchable - predictable story
I only watch this drama because of the FL. However, the story has been boring since the beginning. I skipped/fast forwarded A LOT. The middle part is okish. However, lots of things just don't make sense: ie. she doesn't know any martial art and yet insisted on going to tackle the bad guys who can easily beat her.And then the whole story of the teacher Gu. Boring.
The ending is also predictable and draggy!
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1Listen Up, Babylon
A Shop for Killers Season 2 picks up where the first season left off, but instead of constantly throwing us into a maze of flashbacks and survival games, it spends more time asking a different question: what happens after you survive? Jung Ji An is no longer simply the girl trying to stay alive inside Murthehelp. With Jung Jin Man back in the picture, she has to figure out what kind of life she wants, what Murthehelp means to her, and whether there is any way for the Jung uncle and niece duo to exist without Babylon breathing down their necks.The season begins by filling in the missing pieces of what Jin Man was doing while the events of the first season were unfolding. We see what happened to him and his team before eventually arriving at his reunion with Ji An. From there, the story moves more firmly into the present, following their lives after that reunion. Compared to the first season, which was packed with action and flashbacks designed to build the mystery around Murthehelp, the second season feels more invested in the future. The first season kept me at the edge of my seat. The second season, meanwhile, made me more curious about where these characters would go next. And honestly, I enjoyed both seasons almost equally, just for different reasons.
After reuniting with Jin Man and the Murthehelp team, Ji An initially chooses to walk away. She spends three years trying to live a normal life in a small seaside town, working with the grandmas making fishing nets. On paper, it sounds peaceful. In reality, this girl is basically living like a paranoid cat. She keeps her profile low, sets traps around her house, and carries the psychological scars of everything she has been through. Even in a quiet village by the sea, she never truly feels safe.
I actually appreciated what this arc was trying to do, even though I think it went on longer than necessary. It gives us a glimpse of the life Ji An could have had if she were allowed to simply be a normal young woman. The problem is that the moment she finally warms up to the town and gets close to a local boy, her identity is discovered. Predictable? Absolutely. When it happened, I felt almost nothing emotionally. The chase itself gave me an adrenaline rush, but the emotional beats, especially the boat scene, did not land as strongly as the drama seemed to want them to. It also took three whole years for Ji An to finally open herself up to the people there, only for everything to be destroyed because the enemy's investigation happened to lead them to the village. Still, I can accept the arc because it functions as a giant "what if?" scenario for Ji An. What if she could really leave Murthehelp behind? What if she could live an ordinary life? The answer, unfortunately, is that her past is not done with her.
Meanwhile, Jin Man spends much of the season trying to get Babylon off their backs. His goal is surprisingly reasonable for someone running a deadly shopping mall: coexist peacefully. Babylon, naturally, says no. So Jin Man and his team resort to threatening them with classified information taken from Babylon's own server. Their efforts were genuinely fun to watch. The strategizing, infiltration, escapes, and cat-and-mouse games kept me invested, even if they rarely made me genuinely worried about whether Jin Man and his team would survive. I always had the feeling that they would find a way out somehow.
The action is a mixed bag. So Min Hye and Pasin continue to be absolute beasts. Their movements are agile, clean, and satisfying to watch, and their action scenes gave me exactly the kind of adrenaline rush I wanted. Bale is also entertaining thanks to his manic, almost psychotic presence. That man's ability to stare without blinking deserves its own award.
Jin Man, however, is a different story. I can see Lee Dong Wook's age through some of the action sequences, and the drama seems very aware of it too. A lot of Jin Man's fights are presented through dark environments, night-vision POVs, unusual camera angles, or heavy editing. The intention is obviously to make him look cool, but sometimes it felt less like stylish filmmaking and more like the camera was helping him pass the physical exam. The 360-degree corner angle used during his fight with Bale in the first episode amplified my migraine. I understand what they were going for, but I found it more nauseating than impressive.
That is not to say Jin Man himself loses his cool factor. In fact, the drama cleverly shifts his strength away from raw physicality. His real weapons are his experience, intelligence, equipment, and ability to escape situations that should be impossible to escape from. He looks like a man who has been doing this for decades, and that works for the character. Visually, Lee Dong Wook still looks ridiculously good as Jin Man, with a buff and fit physique that suits the role. More importantly, his performance sells the uncle part beautifully. There is awkwardness, guilt, innocence, protectiveness, and love in the way he looks at Ji An. Their relationship feels surprisingly realistic, especially for two people whose family bonding activities include guns, traps, and escaping assassins.
Kim Hye Jun's Ji An is also solid. I would not call the performance extraordinary, but there is nothing particularly wrong with it either. She genuinely feels like a niece trying to navigate the bizarre and dangerous world that her uncle has dragged her into. My biggest complaint is that I wanted more growth and charisma from Ji An. She has some genuinely cool moments, particularly when she dresses up and confronts Babylon herself, as well as during her martial arts and gun training with Jin Man's team. Those scenes gave her plenty of aura. Unfortunately, when she starts sitting at the table and strategizing with the experienced players, she sometimes feels like a kid trying to play chess with grandmasters.
That said, I cannot complain too much about that characterization because it makes sense. Jin Man and the others have spent years surviving in this industry. Ji An is still the newcomer. What matters is that her plans work, and watching her gradually take the reins of Murthehelp is satisfying. She may not yet have the presence of the big players, but she is learning how to become one.
The Babylon characters are another mixed bag. Kusanagi Jin, Q, and J from Babylon's East Asia Branch all leave very different impressions. Kusanagi Jin, played by Jung Yun Ha, is probably the one who annoyed me the most, which is also a compliment to the actress. She is manic, narcissistic, obsessed with hygiene, and generally the kind of person who makes you want to slap the screen. Jung Yun Ha commits to the psychotic energy so intensely that I genuinely wanted to throw something at her. At times, though, the character feels a little too cartoonish.
Q, played by Lee Hyun Ri, is much more interesting in terms of morality. She has her own principles and does not seem particularly interested in killing innocent people. She can show mercy, spare people who do not harm her, and has strong big-sister energy toward J. There is also a little spark between her and Jin Man, which I enjoyed. Unfortunately, her characterization does not go much further than that. I did not become deeply attached to her, although her pursuit of Ji An in the village was excellent. She was like a leech with a mission. Once she locked onto Ji An, good luck getting her to let go.
J, meanwhile, left an impression almost entirely because of Okada Masaki. I'm just a girl after all. Kidding. J is Q's younger brother and Kusanagi Jin's secret lover, and he is a very straightforward character. He follows orders and does what he is told without much fuss. Yet Okada Masaki gives him such expressive facial reactions that I found myself watching him whenever he appeared. His face practically speaks in full sentences. I became a fan.
Q's crew also adds some much-needed flavor, particularly Marco, who provides the comedic touch in an otherwise deadly cast. These little character dynamics help prevent the drama from becoming too grim and give the team a sense of personality beyond simply being people who are very good at killing other people.
The visuals, unfortunately, are where the drama sometimes tries a little too hard. There are plenty of genuinely good-looking scenes, but some of the camera work seems determined to remind us that the director owns a camera. The action between Jin Man and Bale in the first episode is the biggest example for me. The 360-degree treatment was technically interesting but physically unpleasant to watch. Other Jin Man action scenes use darkness or obstructive angles in ways that make it difficult to appreciate his actual movements.
Meanwhile, the action scenes involving So Min Hye and Pasin are allowed to breathe. We can clearly see their movements, which makes them feel more impressive rather than less. That contrast made me wonder whether Jin Man's camera treatment was partly designed to mask Lee Dong Wook's movement. If that was the intention, it worked. If it was not, then the coincidence is doing some heavy lifting.
Still, the drama has plenty of visual highlights. One of my favorite moments is when Kusanagi Jin walks past a room where clients are being killed. The scene has this unsettling, almost casual brutality that fits the world of A Shop for Killers perfectly. It understands that sometimes you do not need explosions to look cool. Sometimes a psychopath casually walking past a room full of dead bodies does the job.
And then there is the music. The OST, background music, and sound effects absolutely slay. The music is one of those things that can instantly elevate a scene from "pretty cool" to "damn, that has aura." The tracks are well chosen and woven naturally into the action, making the fights, confrontations, and dramatic moments feel much bigger. There were several moments when I found myself enjoying the music almost as much as the actual scene.
By the end, I did feel that some deaths were unnecessary. A few characters I liked were killed off, and while their deaths can be justified within the brutal logic of this world, I still found myself thinking, "You really could have let them live." Sometimes realism is not the same thing as satisfaction. There were also some loose ends about certain supporting characters.
The ending is probably the best example of the season's overall approach. If I had to describe it in one word, it would be smart. From an entertainment perspective, I found it anticlimactic. I wanted something bigger, louder, and more explosive. But from a storytelling perspective, Ji An's solution makes sense. It is the result of planning rather than brute force, and I cannot really argue with a plan that works simply because I wanted a bigger fireworks display.
It is also a very convenient ending, but perhaps that is what makes it smart. If A Shop for Killers ends here, the second season provides a conclusion that works. If the drama decides to continue with a third season, there is still enough room to move forward. The biggest question for me is what happens after the ceasefire. Will Jin Man and Ji An continue running Murthehelp together? Will they finally walk away from it? Can Murthehelp even exist peacefully after everything that has happened? I honestly would not mind either direction.
Overall, A Shop for Killers Season 2 is just as fun and entertaining as its predecessor, although it scratches a slightly different itch. The first season had the stronger sense of mystery and urgency, while the second season feels more like watching the surviving pieces of the chessboard figure out their next move. There are predictable story beats, unnecessary detours, questionable deaths, and camera work that occasionally made my head hurt more than the villains did. But the cast is fun, the action can be excellent, the uncle and niece relationship remains the heart of the story, and the soundtrack knows exactly how to make everything feel cooler than it already is.
It is not perfect, but neither does it need to be. A Shop for Killers remains a stylish, bloody, entertaining ride, and the second season does enough to make me glad I came back to Murthehelp.
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good idea poorly executed
big fan of Liu Run Ming so I will watch anything with him but this was not that good. the idea of time jumps was completely underutilized and if the mysterious ring that can get person from one reality and point of time to another is all they got the creators and director really were over their heads to make it interesting. the first/introductory part is sketchy to say the least, the second "life" is fun but overexposed with unnecessary details (but I did enjoy cuteness of ml and 2ml who was fl's younger version of the father). the 3rd part just didn't make sense.acting was ok with the exception of the villain who good as he might be looked grotesque with his gestures and facial expressions, as if poorly directed.
no romance at all but LRM is charming as ever and thank God does not choke fl here.
giving it 7 is rather generous but if you are fan of ml - it's better that his modern drama about soul collector 🤣
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Another example that it doesn't need many episodes to make a good GL.
Here's another proof that an awesome series doesn't require a lot of episodes. It's all about the storytelling! While book-adapted series would usually generate more buzz and excitement, "AI Girl" proved that a unique concept combined with great execution are the keys to making a series stand out.Mame, the brain behind this series proved her writing skill once again with how well-structured the story is. While 7 episodes may seem short, "AI Girl" manages to pack a punch with its concise storytelling, solid pacing, and well-defined character arcs, without relying on unnecessary subplots. The focus remains on the central theme of forbidden love between a human and a AI-powered robot, creating an entertaining yet emotional journey for viewers. The 50-60 minutes runtime of each episode allows for ample time to flesh out the story and develop the relationships between the characters. The balance between comedy, romance, and drama is handled masterfully, keeping viewers engaged from start to finish. And the best part? No annoying parents or exes!
Other than the story, the acting is something worth mentioning about this series. Despite it being Myyu Khawisara's first series, she delivers impressively. Her years of stage experience allow her to bring Gen to life effortlessly, conveying the layers of emotion and conflict within Gen with such depth and nuance. Meanwhile, Chanya Amarit nailed the contrasting characters of Ai and Irene, enriching the story's complexity. Plus, the chemistry between Myyu and Chanya is palpable, drawing viewers into Gen-Ai blossoming romance. In addition to its well-developed story and impressive acting, this series also excels in its execution, production quality, and attention to detail. Hats off to the props and makeup departments for their amazing work in designing the sets and giving Ai such a believable humanoid look.
Out of many good points, one drawback of this series, in my opinion, is the lack of proper backstory, which I think lowers the overall emotional impact. Irene's story unfolds very slowly, to the point that the mysteries around her make her seem more like a filler than a central figure. Also, Gen's family issue feel quite shallow. Hence, I don't think it deserves more than 8.5. And while the love story between human and robot might not sit well with some people, it's a fiction anyway.
Overall, "AI Girl" takes a refreshing turn from conventional romance plots by exploring the complex dynamics between the human protagonist and a humanoid, and it worked! In a saturated market of GL dramas, this series exemplifies how prioritizing overall quality over mere chemistry and hype can create a good GL series that will definitely stick with viewers for a while.
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Villiany pays off
Finally finish watching this drama, overall it was an 8 for me, the main FL was at time annoying and stupid, constantly getting played by the villains. The soildiers lack communication skills, always passing the buck from one person to another. The ML had the chance to kill off the villians but don’t while the villains kills everyone on site without a second glance. There is one villian that got away Scot free and he was the one that did the most harm to everyone. The music score was top notch so was the visuals. The side characters were at time more enjoyable to watch than the main leads.Was this review helpful to you?
Good show, but that's it...
Nice watch, but I will solely put it on the cast made of great actors. The story is nice but feels repetitive at some point. When it comes to the romance line of the leads, this too was saved by the good actors. There is not much chemistry between them and I'll say it's because we don't see them spend much quality time together in all the years they've spent together. Which is sad because we quickly can tell they are into each other but to us it feels like they mainly see one another when there is danger, it's always life and death matters. So the confession scene and even the proposal one kinda fell flat to me. It was still nice moments but not memorable ones. I'm not fond of the ending either, it lowkey felt rushed.Kudos to the supporting cast, I enjoyed their stories vey much, especially the female lead's bestie. She was such a nice character, very refreshing among all the chaos they go through in the drama. ^^
Overall, I liked watching it but it's not a must-see for me and it's because the script wasn't all that...
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Currently on ep 6 and getting better - interesting twists and great acting
The drama does start with a typical sexist FL character - loserbut it starts quickly improving :) in ep 6 FL shows some spine
ML actor is fantastic
and the other characters are interesting, great script and acting
==== WRITTEN AFTER EP 6====
OMG, KBS seems determined to produce better and better weekenders! I am so glad!
This drama started well... very makjangy... but has quickly progressed into a very decent drama. FL is still quite stupid and backwards... the dad still lives in her house!!!!!! we all said we are dropping if she brings him... ? Bc of that I waited to accumulate enough episodes to see if the drama will become a trashy soap or NOT. Luckily the drama panned out into a very decent drama.
FL is unfortunately still a rather backwards loser character... luckily less than before... and the actress is ok, nothing special in terms of acting skillZ and her role too is too flat, too one-dimensional ... as is typical. All KBS weekend dramas FLs are very stupid and flat.
ML and the kid are really fun. The kiddo is amazing :) The other characters are interesting too, The gigolo guy, the younger siblings and the Fox.... they are all very complex characters, very good scripts!!!! and the actors are very good actors. The Fox is very interesting!!!!! She is smart and immediately figures things out and is usually correct - but rude :) Well the gigolo is interesting too but is a lot less mature or smart... and ModelTwin is a rather complex character too... we will see more of him when his bio mom shows up when he starts making money and fame :)
The bio-mom and her husband are such a nice family... on the surface lol Mom is a professional gold digger wow.... and such a CRUEL person... wow... $10K for the life of her daughter... Not even asking once about any of the kids... At least her husband is a nice person
and ML's friend is fun, and the one-sided crush chick is pathetically unreal.
The dad is ... clearly makjang but the actor makes it real. Ppl like that are out there in real life, for real...
Ah the side dish shop owner and her son are amazing too. I ship him with the Fox. He is THE ONLY suitable guy for the Fox. The roles are complex and the actors are great.
I really like the acting of ML actor, he is so expressive and really makes ML look like a real person...
The actor imo is clearly some kind of a ... player or businessman or something in real life... ? I dont know the person but he looks and acts as someone who is used wheeling and dealing and finds this plot a little ... childish :) and it comes out in his acting...
But he is a great actor, so expressive. I really enjoy watching him.
Overall, this drama is really promising, this could be the next classic! Let's keep our fingers crossed. Recipe for Love started well and then was ruined by being stuck for most episodes in the SAME stupidly boring issue, instead of spending episodes to show HOW it was resolved. Well ok you can say the issue was so deep that it took them so long to resolve it... But no, so many episodes were wasted on NOT resolving it at all... Ok whatever - the drama did not use its time well and spent too much time on the issue instead of resolving it and moving on. It seemed like the writer just ran out of ideas. Everything got MAGICALLY resolved in the last episode or two... wich is a very lazy script copout. It just did not feel real at all.
So I hope this drama KEEPS THE PACE until the end. It is going well for now! Fighting!
PS -
Know that one of the rare faults of kdramas is sexism, where FL is a clutz damsel in distress and/or naive goody loser -
and luckily it has gotten better over years, now at least FLs are competent at their jobs... but still, most kdramas have FL as a very very very immature and weak person.
IT IS IMPROVING, SO BE PATIENT AND KEEP WORKING ON ERADICATING THIS
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the best thriller of all time
The second season is in no way inferior to the first. This drama undoubtedly maintains its status as an exemplary thriller, featuring an unconditionally rich, vivid, tragic, and unpredictable narrative.Lee Dong-wook and Kim Hye-jun deliver an exquisite performance as a duo. These phenomenal actors flawlessly portray their characters' profound anguish and emotional distress, which is palpable not only in their eyes but also through their subtle facial expressions. They truly represent the finest portrayal of an uncle-and-niece dynamic, making the viewing experience nothing short of spine-chilling.
The "Green Code" team resonates so deeply with the viewer that one cannot help but invest emotionally in the fate of each member. Every member of the cast delivered an exceptionally powerful and highly professional performance.
Regarding the situation in the sixth episode, an alternative resolution surely could have been found, making the actual outcome rather perplexing. It is difficult to comprehend why he yielded so blindly to those terms, given that a situation is rarely entirely hopeless (those who have watched will undoubtedly understand to whom this refers).
If they extend it for another season, I’ll undoubtedly eagerly await the continuation of this magnificent work. It’s difficult to conceive how this drama could fail to appeal to any viewer. The plot is meticulously developed, complemented by exceptional action sequences, superb acting, and a musical score and cinematography that perfectly align with the narrative's overall atmosphere.
I highly recommend it!
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A Stunning Spectacle That Became Less Stunning and More Spectacle
Let me start off by saying I enjoyed the show. I thought the leads had good chemistry. I liked the female protagonist. I feel like they didn't give the ML much to do, which has become an unfortunate trend these days, but he did well with what he was given. The cinematography was stunning. The music was great. All of the actors were excellent. I enjoyed some of the side characters, and others didn't work for me.The first half of the show, I really enjoyed. I thought it was building up nicely. The back half of the show fell apart for me. I thought the military training arc in the middle went on for a bit too long. I was not charmed or engaged by the villain brothers, and their arc completely swallowed the show in the end, in my opinion. The actors were great, but the compulsion of the internet to turn this grotesque man into some doomed, tragic romantic anti-hero just didn't work for me. The plot kind of collapsed under the weight of all of the nonsense political shenanigans. The main leads somehow got lost in the shuffle of their own story.
I still think this show was well made, well-acted and it started with promise. It just didn't quite stick the landing for me.
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Amazing acting chemistry and editing effects
First of all , be ready for just heat and emotionsLike the realistic acting is amazing , literally 0 awkward and the transition effect n editing is so nicely done.
Finished it all in literally few days
The only "down" side. 0 impact on how the show goes but just thought area of improvement
The ending could be longer and show more of their future. Somehow their seperation wad very long 8 months then 5 months like 0 contact and then they got tgt on stage? I guess distance make the desire and not letting go stronger
The posture or the outfit make zhang posture look bit awkward or tense but it does fit the character and the timidness.
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A good watch
The plot of this drama may be a one, that we already have seen many times before, like the struggle of women to pursue their careers, their fight against many injustices in the society, and the hardships they face while they try to make a living; but the way the story presents itself makes it a good watch👌Meng Ting Hui, an orphan who was brutally beaten and tortured in her childhood and also loses her sister Xiang in the process, is determined to study, write the imperial exam and become an official, fights her way through all the atrocities and difficulties she faces, and also gives her best in investigating and eliminating the evil in the country.
On the other hand, Ying Gua, the young emperor is determined to remove corruption, and all the kinds of evil in his country while establishing peace.
Both the protagonists are stubborn, focused, dedicated, determined, sincere, honest in whatever they do. Their persistence to rectify all the injustices and bring villains to justice was very good👍
Wu Jinyan as Meng Ting Hui, was very good in her acting. As always, she shines in such kind of roles who maintain their inviduality along with relying on only themselves and not others.
Liked the performance of Chen Zheyuan as the Emperor.
All the other actors were good too.
Loved the friendship of Fu Zhi and Meng Ting Hui and how they stood for each other in difficult times.
Liked the mature romantic track between the Emperor and his subject, Meng Ting Hui.
The only downside I felt, was sometimes, the decisions made by Meng Ting Hui, may not seem reasonable and also stupid, but anyways her peraistence and determination to rat out all the villains who cause all sorts of evil in the realm and her sincerity to see the case to the end was very nice👏. Atleast, she was much better than those male officials qho do nothing but slandering others.
On a final note, THE ROYAL BETROTHAL, may not be an outstanding drama or masterpiece, but definitely, it is a WORTH WATCHING DRAMA.💯
I thoroughly enjoyed watching it.
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LISTEN UP AUDIENCE! Season 1 was Jinman’s story, Season 2 is Jina’s story
We start right off where season 2 ended and get introduced to new characters + re-meet old foes as uncle and niece band together to face off against Babylon. Fight scenes are genuinely amazing and exciting to watch and the actors do a great job like they did in season 1. The new season’s actors too bring their A game. Special shout out to all the actors who were alternating between like Korean, Japanese/Thai/Chinese and English. I loved how much bigger the setting of this season was from Japan to Korea to Thailand.I really enjoyed everything about it despite some suspending disbelief moments (which s1 actually had way more imo like Jinman not killing Bale with the knife or Jinah being in the woods with those wolves so it wasn’t a big deal). There were also more comedic dark humor moments especially between Bale, Marco and J which I liked.
Unfortunately I saw a lot of people complaining about the story being messy or the 2nd season “losing the plot.” I would argue these people are the ones who completely lost/missed the story, not the drama. Below are spoilers, but know that so many people just feel entitled to have dramas go exactly the way they want or its’s “bad writing.”
Character motivations were very clear and made sense, they’re not even that different from S1 which was always either protect Jinah or kill Jinman/Jinah so the some comments about this motivations being unclear this season also confuses me.
Season 1 was always Jinman/the uncle’s story. We uncover his backstory, what motivated him, his enemies and allies. Despite being presumed dead in S1, the uncle is the main character haunting the narrative and even though yes, Jian is there in S1, she’s more of a audience surrogate as we constantly flash back and forwards to piece together the image of who Jeong Jiman really is. Of course Jian’s story itself gets set up a bit but overwhelmingly every piece of how season 1 unfolds were planned in advance by her uncle, it’s really his game to control and move. The big bad of the season too is the uncle’s nemesis with a fraught history between them, Bale was nowhere near all the operations to take Jinah down, he never goes there personally in s1 because his ultimate focus is Jeong Jiman and Jinah is a supporting character.
Season 2 now is Jinah’s story. We open with her struggling to cope with what she’s disvored, running away to a faraway village and eventually establishing connections with people. Losing them too and learning what pain is like her uncle did in season 1 (other characters also point this out that she will learn to be like her jaded uncle soon). Season 2 is Jinah’s transformation into her uncle in a way or to see if she can be different from him experienceing the same things (Jinah herself plants this seed by saying she will never be like her uncle in the beginning of s1). She even has the same “slapping herself over guilt of a loved one’s death” scene her uncle did in season 1 here. The writers are clearly making a parallel. Even the big bad(s) of this season were written to mirror Jinah.
First yes both Q and Kusanagi are women leaders like Jinah. On top of that Q is similar to Jinah as someone who was raised by the yakuza like Jinah was raised by her assassin uncle. Q had to watch her dad be killed in from of her when she was 10 just like Jinah witnessed her uncle’s friend’s arm get chopped off, and had to hide from a killer by laying next to her dead mom’s body in the morgue. The writers are so on the nose about it, idk how people missed it but the scene where Brother is hurt and Q and Jinah face off, you can see the parallels of them both wanting to seriously hurt the person that took away their loved ones. Q even says to Jiman that “your niece in that moment had the same look in her eyes I had back when I was young.”But unlike Q who lets others manipulate her using her brother’s death, Jinah learns to not let her temper and hurt control her, she doesn’t impulsively go after Q to kill her when she could be used as a great pawn to take down the head of Babylon Korea. Both are team leaders that care deeply about their teammates, but Jinah learns to be more levelheaded as part of her character development.
Then there’s Kusanagi who again the writers are very obvious about being a female CEO like Jinah and being the head of a major organization like Babylon/murthehelp. Kusanagi isn’t cold and crazy for the sake of it, she’s there to be a character foil to Jinah who genuinely treats her employees like family so they’re willing to lay down their lives to her versus how Jin gets abandoned by every Babylon employee in the end cause she’s cold hearted and don’t consider them hers.
Even the choice to make Kusanagi a self hating Korean wanting so hard to be Japanese and super disdainful of everything Korean + speaking Japanese all the time which in the end backfired on her with the lawyer and other Babylon employees is purposeful imo. She can’t unite people of these different nationalities under her like Bale and J, while Jinah despite hiccups on the road with Pasin, in the end had everyone from Thailand and North Korea to China and South Korea laying down their life for her. Kusamagi likes siding with whoever is more powerful and can benefit her the most, which was the case for many pro-Japanese Koreans during Korea’s colonization under Japan whose descendants live in luxury today. Kusanagi is very much the same and wants to take over murderthehelp borrowing Babylon’s power. The choice to make her have this identity is not random. Her boss tells her multiple times that she doesn’t work for the good of Babylon, but only herself, in direct constants to Jinah who works for the good of her murthehelp family.
I get people wanted some melodramatic confrontation and longer story between Bale and Jinman, but dragging that story out when 1. that would be way too unrealistic considering they’re literally just trying to kill each other anytime they make contact 2. this is not Jinman’s story but Jinah’s. Bale and Jinah don’t have much emotional character connections/juxtaposition between them like she does with Q and Kusanagi. Bale is Jinman’s nemesis and his foil with both being cold killing machines when they worked for Babylon and favorite of their boss who says they’re very similar but also different cause Jinman is not entirely psychotic. Bale is not fit for Jinah’s season. (Plus just having a indestructible big bad who’s always coming back from the dead + explosions and fire is so Alice in Borderland type of shounen manga cliche, I’m glad they avoided that in this season).
The drama make it a point to tell the choice to make everyone part of the green code and be protected just like her is Jinah’s choice, not her uncle’s (he’s surprised by the meeting even being called). In fact the theme of “Jinah is now in control” is repeated so many times in the drama and we see the “LISTEN UP JEONG JINAH” chapter title cards actively change to “LISTEN UP JEONG JINMAN” at the end of the season, signifying Jinah’s growth as a character throughout her own story, now the one with experience + wisdom to share as a result of her journey, no longer led by the advice of her elder. You may not like it, but it makes absolute sense with how the story is written, so the lost the plot or the story don’t make sense complaints just tells me people consider it “bad writing” if a drama don’t go exactly the way they want it. Don’t even get me started on the people giving low ratings cause god forbid fan favorite characters die in an action thriller drama named a shop for KILLERS.
Overall a good above 9 stars drama that kept me engaged and glued to my screen
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Welcome to Intense emotional rollercoaster
StoryBased on the most chaotic era of China.
Explores the sensitive social issues of domestic abuse, human trafficking, slavery, child abuse, childhood trauma, crime, outlaw,power, greed, drug smuggling, biological warfare, wartime, patriotic and martyrdom.
Every characters are flawed, morally grey, extreme love, hatred, obsession and dangerous.
Storytelling style
-Melodramatic dialogue, camera cut, bgm
-Over stylized and extravagant visuals
-Fast paced Plot-driven directing
-No filler scenes and characters,No dragging parts
-**Extreme Sadomasochism**
Acting
Deliver the emotional acting from all the casts.
Highlight
Zhang Linghe -eye emotion,micro-expression and outburst, sadomasochism
Wang Churan - well executed eyes emotion, restraint mannerism
Music
All OSTs are nice and catchy. Deliver the emotion and blend with the scenes.
Overall
Apart from some technological flaws for special effects,
Overdo is a perfect show for
*sadomasochism suckers
*empathetic viewers
*who wants adrenaline rush
*familiar with plot-driven, action movies or melodramatic over-stylized western shows
*who can handle all positive/ negative emotion and dark plot
**It's not for judgmental mind and faint heart**
Have a nice day, everyone 🍂🍀🍀
Love you 😘😍🥰
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NOT THAT GREAT BUT IT'S GOOD
The story continues from the previous season but this time its a bit down for me... No doubt I loved it but that raw action and the scenes in the first season couldn't match the second one... The actions were great just like the previous one but the character depth was missing here... Many scenes which could have been avoided were shown and some characters which did not have depth were drastically pulled... The deaths of certain characters could have been avoided as I think so... And the Babylon Boss which I personally thought could be someone we know but that suspense failed... Overall you can always give it a watch if you have watched the first season... And I hope if they bring a third season, they are gonna rock it because this time it will be leaded by Jian and the war is over for now but it will happen again and we know...Was this review helpful to you?
