THE SHORT VERDICT:

Not as dark as typical crime noir, and yet, definitely darker than your average kdrama, this show sits in a pretty niche space, in terms of its appeal, I imagine.

It’s gritty, violent, bloody and full of moral dilemmas, and at the same time, it’s also laced with a kdrama sensibility, with some very recognizable tropes in play.

Ji Chang Wook and Wi Ha Jun are two big reasons to give this one a try, and I thought they both did well, in their roles.

I personally found this much more watchable and engaging than I’d first expected, and I don’t even really gravitate towards crime noir.

I think that if this show works for you, it’ll really work for you – but if it doesn’t, you’d probably not like it very much, and the only real way to find out, is to dip a toe in. 😅

THE LONG VERDICT:

If you’ve been around the blog for a while, you’d probably know that this type of drama is not at all the kind of genre that I’d usually go for.

I usually gravitate towards rom-coms, melos and slice-of-life, rather than crime noir, which is essentially what this show is.

So how did I end up picking this one up?

Well.. I was due to have a drama slot open up on my Patreon schedule (my Patreon page is here!), and after trying out a couple of other dramas, nothing was really grabbing me.

Which is when I came across some comments saying that this show was the best thing airing at the time, and was very much worth a look. Ooh.

I do enjoy both Ji Chang Wook and Wi Ha Jun, and I really liked the idea of having double the leading man awesome on my screen, especially in a show that was dangling the promise of a mix of them facing off with each other, and them being bros with each other, and so in I dived.

I think it does say something, that I was able to stay engaged with this one, all the way to the end, given that this is really out of my usual drama wheelhouse.

At the same time, I do concede that this show might not be for everyone.

OST ALBUM: FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE

Here’s a playlist of the OST album, in case you’d like to listen to it while you read the review.

I have to confess that I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to the music during my watch,  so no single track stands out to me personally.

At the same time, I can say that I was never distracted by the music, so I do think that the music was suitably chosen and applied.

HOW I’LL BE APPROACHING THIS REVIEW

First I’ll talk about how to manage your expectations going into this one, and what viewing lens would be most helpful.

After that, I talk about what I liked and liked less, in a pretty macro sort of fashion, followed by a section where I’ll put the spotlight on selected characters and relationships.

Because of the nature of this particular show, which is twisty-turny, as well as thought-provoking in some ways, I feel that it makes more sense for me to talk more in the macro space, while going lighter, on the characters and relationships.

Of course, I also spend some time talking about my thoughts on the ending.

If you’re interested in my blow-by-blow reactions, &/or in all the various Patreon members’ comments during the course of our watch, you might like to check out my episode notes on Patreon here.

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS / THE VIEWING LENS

Here are a few things that I think would be helpful to keep in mind, to maximize your enjoyment of your watch:

1. There’s violence in this, and some of it is hard to watch

In terms of frequency and intensity, my impression is that it’s a little less than what Moving (review here!) served up, so there’s that.

At the same time, though, this does feel grittier in comparison, probably because it was easy to believe that in Moving, all of this was intensified and extra violent and bloody because our characters had superpowers, not only to inflict but also, withstand, injury.

Here, there’s no such superpower premise, and so, it actually feels harder to watch, in a way, even though the violence is less bloody and less intense, in comparison. 😅

Being prepared for the fact that this story involves gang fights which entail a good amount of injury and blood, helps.

2. Some suspension of disbelief is required

This isn’t so much a crime thriller or investigative story, as it is a melodramatic crime noir.

Sometimes logic is stretched for the sake of amping up the drama; that’s just how Show rolls.

So it’s best to adjust your logic lens to a more blurry setting, and be prepared to suspend disbelief as needed.

3. There is a lot of cursing and smoking in this

It literally feels like our characters alternate between cursing, smoking and breathing; they curse and smoke that much. 😅

I honestly worried for the health of our actors, while watching. 🙈

Knowing to expect it helps, I think?

4. This is not a relaxing sort of watch

..So, completely unsuitable as a drama nightcap, or as a show to unwind to, when you want to relax.

Just putting it out there. 😅

STUFF I LIKED

I found Show watchable and engaging

Even though crime noir is far from my usual drama genre, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I felt engaged by the story, and found it very watchable.

That is, I found it engaging and watchable, once I pushed past the opening scene in episode 1, which was of a big gang fight, with lots of violence, as would be typical of a big gang fight.

I found the premise, where Jun Mo (Ji Chang Wook) goes deep undercover to become part of Gi Cheul’s (Wi Ha Jun) gang, quite intriguing.

Mainly, I was interested in the question of whether Jun Mo was going to be successful in gaining Gi Cheul’s full trust.

I also enjoyed toying with the thought of whether, in the process of working to gain Gi Cheul’s trust, Jun Mo would end up losing himself.

I was intrigued by the idea of whether Jun Mo would actually build a real bond with Gi Cheul, and become truly loyal to Gi Cheul, on a personal level.

These possibilities were the key things that kept me interested and engaged, through my watch.

The many layers of complications at play

I found that the many layers of complications (and potential complications) that Show layered into its story, really helped to keep me on my toes and on the edge of my seat.

I liked that it kept my mind busy, keeping track of all the potential things that could go wrong, because the various layers at play – but didn’t feel overly complicated.

With some shows, the layers of complication can be so many and so varied, that I get overwhelmed and my eyes start to glaze over. That’s pretty much when I feel like I can’t keep up, and need to just let it all go, and become a more casual viewer.

In this show, I never felt that it got overwhelming, but the layers of potential complication remained interesting and varied enough, to amplify my interest and engagement with this story.

I like that very well.

Here’s an overview of the main layers that were at play.

[SPOILER ALERT]

I definitely found myself rooting for Jun Mo to succeed in infiltrating Gi Cheul’s gang, but at the same time, I also found myself somehow rooting more for a bond to form between Gi Cheul and Jun Mo, rather than for Jun Mo to find evidence of Gi Cheul’s drug dealings, so that the police can take Gi Cheul down.

Which means that I had ambiguous feelings towards the ending that I wanted Show to give me.

Surely something’s going to go awry at some point, which would undoubtedly break down any bond that actually does form between Gi Cheul and Jun Mo, but I couldn’t help rooting for them to bond anyway. 😅

Of course, there’s also an undercurrent of danger stemming from the fact that Gi Cheul’s position isn’t actually watertight, and there are people scheming to take him out, lurking around every corner.

Gi Cheul’s been able to evade every attempt on his position – and his life – so far, but that begs the question of how long he’d be able to escape attempts on his life.

And related to that, of course, is how safe Jun Mo would be able to be, staying by Gi Cheul’s side.

Add on the fact that Gi Cheul’s not opposed to baiting and ambushing his detractors – which is when Jun Mo gains Gi Cheul’s interest, for being able to fight well – AND, add on the fact that Jun Mo himself’s not opposed to baiting Gi Cheul either, like with that fake gang attack, and we’ve got many layers of complication at play.

Also, let’s not forget the complication that comes from the fact that Gi Cheul hasn’t forgotten about Eui Jeong (Im Se Mi), and is, even now, looking for ways to be in her good books.

I was so nervous during that scene where Gi Cheul orders Jun Mo to drive him to the hospital where Eui Jeong’s mother is receiving cancer treatment.

Like, ack, what if Jun Mo’s cover gets blown, because he’s at the same hospital as his mother-in-law?? 😱

While I’m wondering about that, there’s Gi Cheul smilingly tending to Mom-in-law, and it’s hard not to notice that Mom-in-law doesn’t actually correct her fellow patients, when they ooh and ahh over how handsome her “son-in-law” is. 😅

And, of course there’s also the connection that eventually grows between Jun Mo and Hae Ryeon (BIBI), that shakes up the mix as well.

Lots of potential complications indeed.

[END SPOILER]

The way Show keeps the tension going

Related to (but quite the same as) Show’s multiple layers of potential complication, is the way Show plays its cards, such that I often felt like I was on tenterhooks over the developments on my screen.

Show had a way of setting up danger, and then subverting it in a manner that I wasn’t quite expecting.

Certainly, at points, I started to get a little complacent with this, assuming that Show would subvert the immediate danger once again – but then, there was also always this possibility that perhaps THIS would be the time that Stuff would actually hit the fan, right?

Altogether, that worked to keep me on my toes really well.

I mean, sure, feeling all that tension and anxiety during my watch isn’t very comfortable, but I guess that’s what you call good drama, yes? 😅

Here’s an example of when Show subverted danger in a way that I wasn’t expecting.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E8-9. I was soooo stressed at the end of episode 9, when Kanemoto (Ki Kook Seo) demands that Jun Mo cut off his finger in order for them to forge a partnership, where Kanemoto would be a father to Jun Mo, like he’d been to Gi Cheul.

I literally covered my eyes; I was convinced that Jun Mo was going to go through with it, even though it’s a crazy high price to pay, such that even Hae Ryeon’s signaling him not to do it.

And then, what a twist, when Kanemoto’s own men turn on him, and stab him with the knife that’s supposed to “help” Jun Mo make his decision.

Egad. I was very relieved that Jun Mo got to keep his hand intact, of course, but my nerves were raw by this point, from the stress. 😅

And then we get another twist – that Gi Cheul had been in on this all along, and Oyama killing off Kanemoto, was all part of their deal. Say, what? 😳

[END SPOILER]

Show’s lashings of kdrama tropes

This one’s quite divisive, because I know there’s a camp of viewers that really don’t like the fact that we’ve got kdrama tropes at play, not least the big fat love triangle trope that exists among our three main characters.

But y’know what, I kinda liked it, honestly.

I’ll explain more in the spoiler section, but after getting past my initial “tee hee, that’s sooo kdrama” 🤭 sort of reaction, I actually decided that this love triangle actually adds potential for complication and angst – and therefore, some interesting layers – to our story.

Plus, there’s a weirdness and dysfunction inherent in this situation that I found quite fascinating.

[SPOILER ALERT]

It’s clear that, 1, Eui Jeong had never told Jun Mo about her first love, which is why he’s so shocked to hear about it, when Eui Jeong and Gi Cheul come face to face.

And 2, it’s clear that Gi Cheul’s never gotten over Eui Jeong, from the way he still wears that necklace that she’d given him.

Plus, how about the fact that the passcode to his private office turns out to be Eui Jeong’s birthday, eh??

Nothing says “I’m still not over you” like the birthday passcode. 😉

And there’s also the way Gi Cheul even looks into her husband, in order to see what kind of man she’d married – and whether that man was more handsome than he, ha.

I was quite intrigued by what would become of this weird love triangle situation, with Gi Cheul wanting to reconnect with Eui Jeong, all while Jun Mo’s trying to gain his trust.

[END SPOILER]

The way characters are painted in shades of gray instead of black or white

I feel like this could be divisive one, because not everyone likes it when characters are painted in shades of gray.

Some people prefer it when characters are painted as black or white, ie, clearly bad, or clearly good.

My dad’s that way for sure, and he doesn’t like it when a story presents him with gray characters; he just likes it better, when they’re clearly black or white, so there’s never any confusion.

That said, I personally thought it was a plus, that Show presents our characters in shades of gray, because it messed with my mind and made me think.

Like, who am I rooting for in this picture, and why? What’s important to me, that’s making me instinctively lean this way?

I thought that was a thought-provoking exercise.

In this spoiler section, I give two examples of when the bad guys show flashes of humanity, and in the following section, where I touch on moral dilemmas, I’ll provide examples of the opposite – when I wondered if the good guys were really that good, after all.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E4-5. Honestly, when Jun Mo doesn’t end up killing the bound up dude at the beginning of episode 4, I was kinda worried that Gi Cheul and the rest of the gang would be suspicious of him because of it (since, y’know, shooting the guy was supposed to gain their trust).

Thankfully, they actually had enough understanding for the fact that it’s not easy to kill a person, and that must’ve been why Jun Mo was so nervous and unable to fulfill the task, and that made me feel like they do have some empathy and humanity to them, despite the way they seem able to casually off people when they deem it necessary.

E4-5. I was a little surprised that Gi Cheul would allow Kyung Jin (Choi Baek Sun) to live, considering that Kyung Jin hadn’t just almost cost Jun Mo his life, but he’d also betrayed Gi Cheul.

I guess that also goes to show that Gi Cheul does have some humanity and loyalty in him, that he would allow Kyung Jin to live, after a betrayal like that.

I believe that’s why Gi Cheul wants to believe that Jung Bae (Im Sung Jae) didn’t give away his location, even though I do agree with Jun Mo and Chief Seo (Lee Shin Ki), that it’s quite suspicious, how Gi Cheul’s location had been leaked.

[END SPOILER]

The moral dilemmas present in our story

I feel like this could be another divisive one, because not everyone likes a moral dilemma in their dramas.

After all, sometimes, you just want to relax to your drama, rather than have your drama make you feel uncomfortable, yes?

I personally found it an interesting and worthwhile experience, though, to think about the moral dilemmas that Show presented.

There are no easy answers, of course, but I do feel like it was worthwhile to examine the intricacies of the situation.

Here, in the spoiler section, I share my thoughts and reactions, while encountering them, over the course of my watch.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E6-7. I have to admit that I feel rather conflicted about the fact that our mission team is basically finding ways to egg Gi Cheul to keep dealing drugs, even though it looks like the drug deal is about to called off – so that they can nab him, dealing drugs.

This does land as being rather manipulative, to me, in the sense that the police side won’t let Gi Cheul stop trading, even if his partners want to stop trading with him.

And that’s how we have Jun Mo trying to find a way to convince Hae Ryeon to keep dealing with Gi Cheul as her Korean partner, while also urging Gi Cheul not to give up.

I mean, I get that they want to nab Gi Cheul for past crimes already committed, but.. doesn’t it feel kinda wrong, that they are egging Gi Cheul to commit future crimes, in order to nab him for those..?

Also, even though I get that Jung Bae’s a threat to Jun Mo’s cover, it also feels pretty underhanded that the police frame Jung Bae for ratting out that celebrity, when Jung Bae hadn’t actually done it? 🤔

E6-7. It’s disturbing to me, the way Jun Mo reacts, when his attempt to persuade Cheon Jin Pyung (Shin Sung Il) to cooperate with the police, ends with Cheon Jin Pyung falling off a building.

In the past, it had been clear to me that Jun Mo wouldn’t have walked away, if he felt that someone would die as a result of him walking away.

In this moment, however, Jun Mo does walk away, taking the incriminating documents of his real identity, and Cheon Jin Pyung’s phone, with him.

With this being some random quiet corner where there’s nobody else around, and given that it’s raining heavily, and given that Cheon Jin Pyung’s literally fallen from the roof of a building, it’s quite certain that without immediate medical attention, he would very likely die.

And Jun Mo walks away from this, in order to protect his mission.

I definitely find this disturbing, because it really feels like Jun Mo – and the team with him on this – is getting into grayer and grayer moral territory, the deeper we get into this mission.

E8-9. It’s troubling and disturbing, to see that Chang Sik covers up Cheon Jin Pyung’s death so readily, and speaks with such cheerful relief, that Jun Mo’s cover hadn’t been blown.

E8-9. Honestly, every time we see Jun Mo nudging Gi Cheul to keep going with pushing the drug deal through, it bothers me, even though Princess Jasmine has already explained to me, that this is all part of the investigative team’s need for evidence.

To my layman mind, it just feels wrong for a police officer to push someone towards committing a crime, so that they can gather evidence for said crime, and arrest the offender.

Like, what if, without the pushing, the person didn’t commit the crime? Wouldn’t it then be the police creating a crime, to arrest someone?

I get that Gi Cheul’s been guilty of trading in drugs for some time now, and the police want to arrest him for that.

But does that make it ok for them to nudge Gi Cheul, who has been showing signs of wanting to walk away from the trade, towards committing the crime again, in order to arrest him?

It’s a moral dilemma, to my mind, and that definitely adds tension to the watch experience, for me.

Another moral dilemma, is how far can you actually go, for the sake of an undercover mission?

One aspect of that, is the emotional game that both Jun Mo and Eui Jeong engage in, with Hae Ryeon and Gi Cheul respectively.

I can understand why and how they each end up in a compromising position with their respective targets, but does that make it ok, right?

It’s clear to see that neither Jun Mo nor Eui Jeong actually wants to betray their spouse – they both look highly uncomfortable while getting up close and personal with someone else – but neither of them steps away from the situation, despite that, and that’s all in the name of supporting the mission.

Jun Mo wants to complete the mission, because he sees no other way to end this situation, and Eui Jeong wants to do whatever she can to help him, and also, to keep him safe.

It’s tough situation to be in, honestly.

Although I don’t personally like the idea of Jun Mo pushing the drug deal forward in order to create evidence, I can see why he wouldn’t reject Hae Ryeon’s advances.

She’s stated clearly that she would’ve walked away from the deal if she didn’t like him, so he knows that it would be detrimental to his goal, if he doesn’t kiss her back.

It does make me wonder what would have happened if they hadn’t been interrupted, because she’d stated that she wanted to sleep with him, and that’s why they were even in her hotel room.

If they hadn’t been interrupted, would Jun Mo have gone through with it, and hoped that Eui Jeong would understand that it was for work? Hrm.. 🤔

As for Eui Jeong, I can see that her reason for telling Gi Cheul that she loves him, is an effort to get him to stop being suspicious of her, and trust her.

But again, does that make it ok?

[END SPOILER]

STUFF THAT WAS OK

The introduction of Detective Hwang [MILD SPOILERS]

To be clear, I didn’t like Detective Hwang (Yoon Gyung Ho) as a character, but I was in-principle ok with him being introduced into our story.

Mainly, because he’s the epitome of a loose canon – intent on finding information about a related case, from Gi Cheul’s activities – his presence in our story world just made everything that much more stressful, as his behavior triggered various developments in our main story, often making it feel like we had a ticking time bomb on our hands, which would go off at any time.

As a result, I literally had to take a break mid-episode, just to breathe, a little bit – yes, I am a wuss 😅 – which is why I think that it may not be bad thing, to have him in our story, even though I don’t like him as a character.

STUFF I DIDN’T LIKE SO MUCH

The police brutality

One of the big reasons I didn’t like Detective Hwang as a character, is because of the casually violent way he conducts himself.

Even though this is a drama and I was consciously putting myself in a dramatized state of mind, where I tried to convince myself that a lot of what I was seeing on screen doesn’t actually happen like this in real life, I found this all very unsettling.

Because, we’ve seen enough and heard enough, to know that police brutality is a real thing; that, even though there are many decent police officers in the world, there are also those who resort to violence when dealing with civilians.

Of course, this is also my culture shock speaking, since Princess Jasmine did remind me, over on Patreon, that this story takes place in the 90s, and therefore was a very different time. But I still found it shocking anyway. 🙈

Suffice to say that Detective Hwang’s way of dealing with things made me very uncomfortable indeed.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E6-7. It’s honestly quite alarming, the way Detective Hwang gets so violent, when Gi Cheul’s men – including Jun Mo – don’t cooperate with him.

The thing is, it’s clear to see that Detective Hwang isn’t actually going by the books, since he’s at the hotel without a warrant, and later, he also goes to Gi Cheul’s office without a warrant.

And when asked for a warrant, and met with resistance because he literally doesn’t have a warrant, he gets very angry, and also, very, very violent.

Like how he storms Gi Cheul’s office and uses a literal mallet to break through the lock, break down the door, and physically attack Gi Cheul’s men, who are inside the office.

And then, the way he beats that guy bloody and practically unconscious, for not giving him a satisfactory answer about Gi Cheul’s whereabouts, just made my blood run cold. I was so afraid for that guy’s life, seriously. 😬

E8-9. I was really quite horrified to see how Detective Hwang goes to the detention center to see Dodgers (Lee Chan Hee), and promise to get him a lighter sentence for his crime – only to then tie him up and throw fast balls at him, when Dodgers doesn’t give him the information that he wants.

The thing is, it really seems that Dodgers doesn’t have the information, so it freaks me out that Detective Hwang seems determined to beat it out of him anyway. Ack.

I find it hugely disturbing that Detective Hwang seems to take actual pleasure out of bashing up Dodgers, even though he could literally crack Dodger’s skull with one of those fast balls.

And it’s even more disturbing to me, that Dodgers continues to have a pleasant, cheerful disposition around Detective Hwang, after this, when Dodgers manages to eke out a piece of information that Detective Hwang finds useful.

[END SPOILER]

SPOTLIGHT ON CHARACTERS & RELATIONSHIPS

Because it’s actually kinda hard to talk about these characters without going into spoiler territory at all, I’ve decided that this entire section on characters & relationships would be mild spoiler territory.

I’ll give spoiler alerts for when I get into specifics, of course.

Ji Chang Wook as Jun Mo [MILD SPOILERS]

I found that I sympathized with Jun Mo’s character a great deal, because Show does a solid job helping us see that he didn’t actually want to be in this situation, in the first place.

He’d been reluctant about this mission, and then had been persuaded, with the promise of a promotion, because he’d been desperate to prove himself to his wife’s disdainful family of high-flying police officer hot-shots.

Of course, it’s not just about wanting to gain the approval of his wife’s family; I can see that Jun Mo wants to be able to hold his head up as well, standing next to his wife. I do think that this is both for his sake as well as hers.

But it’s quite soon into the game, that it becomes clear that this mission is shaping up to be way more than what Jun Mo might have anticipated, and there were many times when I wondered if Jun Mo regretted ever agreeing to the mission, in the first place.

He finds himself in some bizarre and uncomfortable positions, because of the mission and the developing situation around it, and I found that I had a lot of sympathy for him, with the vicarious angst that I felt.

Jun Mo does make some questionable decisions in the name of the mission, and while I do struggle with how right those decisions are, I can understand why someone in Jun Mo’s position, might make those decisions.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E4-5. With Gi Cheul wanting to connect more with Eui Jeong, and Do Hyung and Chang Sik (Ji Seung Hyun and Lee Jung Hun) wanting to leverage on that, poor Jun Mo ends up having to watch helplessly, while his gang boss tries to cozy up with his own wife.

It’s bizarre and twisted, and yet, narratively, still makes sense, because I can understand why Do Hyung and Chang Sik would think it helpful to have Eui Jeong engage with Gi Cheul, why Eui Jeong would agree to help, and why Gi Cheul would respond so positively each time Eui Jeong reaches out.

The shock on Jun Mo’s face, when he realizes that the person Gi Cheul’s meeting is Eui Jeong, really made me feel bad for him.

And then I felt even worse for him, when he ends up having to drive Eui Jeong back, with Gi Cheul in the backseat with her, and having to hear Eui Jeong tell Gi Cheul that she’s divorced.

Oof. What a blow that must’ve been, for him, yes?

I mean, I can believe that Jun Mo would understand, on a logical level, why it’s helpful for Eui Jeong to tell Gi Cheul that she’s divorced; this way, hopefully, it would mean that Gi Cheul wouldn’t be too interested in digging for information about her husband.

BUT, on an emotional level, I’m sure it’s still very hard for Jun Mo to hear, and I felt bad for him, for that.

And then, I felt even worse for him, when Eui Jeong’s mother passes away, and he gets woken up to drive Gi Cheul to the funeral.

I was on tenterhooks the whole time, because, on the one hand, I wondered how he would be able to keep up with the ruse, since he’s literally related to the deceased, and should actually be part of the proceedings, rather than be there as a guest.

I honestly thought the jig was up, when that kid went towards him and addressed him as “Uncle,” which isn’t the generic “Uncle” that we use in English, but a specific term that places him as Eui Jeong’s husband.

What a relief, that Do Hyung manages to swoop in and defuse the situation, by assuming the role of Eui Jeong’s husband, just like he’d faked the records to reflect. Big Phew. 🙈

And, on the other hand, there’s the whole emotional thing, where he can’t be there for Eui Jeong at this very painful time in her life, where it’s the most natural thing, for her husband to be by her side, supporting her and being there for her.

How terrible, for both Eui Jeong and Jun Mo, that he’s prevented from doing so, because of this undercover mission.

That scene, where Do Hyung and Chang Sik prevent Jun Mo from entering the funeral hall to pay his respects to his mother-in-law was really gutting.

I wondered why Jun Mo couldn’t be allowed to go in to pay his respects, since Gi Cheul’s not actually there, but I realized that it’s just safer for him not to appear as Eui Jeong’s husband, in a public setting.

You never know who might be watching, and, as we see Gi Cheul mention this set of episodes, he does have someone acting as his eyes and ears from within the police force.

Still, it’s so sad to see Jun Mo bow like that, in the hallway, because he can’t enter the funeral hall.

Poor, poor Jun Mo.

I had to wonder if he regretted agreeing to take on this mission, by this point. 💔 I mean, it feels like he’s losing so much, while undercover, doesn’t it?

I’m glad Jun Mo does leave that voice message for Eui Jeong, so that she at least knows that he’s thinking about her, and is sorry for everything, but at the same time, every second that he was leaving that message for her, I was so afraid that someone would turn out to be listening in on him.

So stressful. 🙈

E8-9. I feel that this mission has pushed Jun Mo into darker, more confusing moral spaces than he would’ve likely ever reached, if not for this mission.

It mostly feels like he’s still going, only because he doesn’t feel like he has a choice; that he’s in too deep to get out now.

And that’s a horrible place to be, especially when this thing is also eating away at his marriage.

[END SPOILER]

Wi Ha Jun as Gi Cheul [MILD SPOILERS]

Coming into this show, I’d wondered if Wi Ha Jun’s character, Gi Cheul, would be very evil, since he’s the crime boss in this scenario, and Show’s branded itself as the worst of evil.

And y’know, I don’t see Gi Cheul as truly evil, really.

In fact, we see that he’d been making a living as a casually cool DJ who had no patience for troublemakers or shady business.

I’m thinking that if Sergeant Jang had left him alone, he might have never gotten into the crime business.

And, watching him as a crime boss, Gi Cheul shows enough loyalty and humanity towards the people around him, that I found it hard to think of him as actually evil.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1-3. I was a little surprised that when Sergeant Jang (Jung Man Shik) refuses to make good on his promise to give Gi Cheul the benefits that he’d originally promised, for joining his gang, Gi Cheul hatches a plan to topple Sergeant Jang from his position.

Which, of course, involves ambushing Sergeant Jang and all his key men, and killing them off.

This decision feels like a very defining one, for Gi Cheul, because before this, he’d seemed like he’d been pulled into this world, almost against his better judgment.

But now, he’s making an active choice to kill people, in order to gain control over Gangnam as a territory, and the freedom to make money through drugs – which Sergeant Jang had flatly refused.

At the same time, we can see that Gi Cheul has real loyalty for his friends who have joined him in this line of work.

He’d brought them in because Sergeant Jang had made it a condition for Gi Cheul to join him, but you can see that he really is concerned about their welfare.

And when Tae Ho (Jeong Jae Kwang) dies because of a moment of greed, Gi Cheul is genuinely horrified and upset – to the point of killing Sergeant Jang himself, on the spot, by stabbing him multiple times.

The rage and vengeance in this scene felt very real, and, I do think that it gives us a flavor for what Gi Cheul is capable of, not only in terms of violence, but also, in terms of his loyalty to those he cares about.

E6-7. I appreciate that Show gives us an explanation of sorts, for why Gi Cheul’s so adamant on getting rich fast.

It’s partly to get rich, so that people wouldn’t be able to look down on him anymore, and it’s also partly so that his boys, who’ve thrown in their lot with him, wouldn’t be stuck as poor saps anymore.

Plus, there’s also the promise that he’d made to Eui Jeong before as well, to become worthy of her.

This is a very kdrama way of looking at things, sure, but it does effectively show us that Gi Cheul has a sentimental, emotional streak about him.

[END SPOILER]

Jun Mo and Gi Cheul [MILD SPOILERS]

With Jun Mo going deep undercover in order to nab Gi Cheul for his drug business, I knew, logically speaking, that there’s just no room for the growing trust and brotherhood between Gi Cheul and Jun Mo to survive, given our story premise.

And yet, weirdly, I automatically started rooting for that trust and brotherhood to grow, right from the beginning.

I think one of my main reasons for rooting for this bond between them to remain intact, was because of how Gi Cheul is clearly genuine, in wanting to trust Jun Mo.

That gave me the urge to continually look for signs that Jun Mo was being genuine with Gi Cheul too, despite being undercover.

Im Se Mi as Eui Jeong [MILD SPOILERS]

While I’d been pleased to see Im Se Mi be cast as a key character in our story, ultimately, she functions more as a foil, against both Jun Mo and Gi Cheul.

I definitely felt sorry for Eui Jeong as a character, because, through no fault of her own, she finds herself in a very bizarre and worrisome situation, where her husband might literally get chopped up by gangsters, if he’s discovered.

Eui Jeong does everything a person could do, in her situation, to make things better, and to so little avail, that my heart couldn’t help but go out to her.

Jun Mo and Eui Jeong [MILD SPOILERS]

I feel like the relationship between Jun Mo and Eui Jeong is a perfect example of how a normal, stable relationship can be so undone, by a series of decisions and contributing pressures.

In the beginning of our story, we see that Jun Mo and Eui Jeong have a pretty stable relationship, with the only real sore spot, being the fact that Eui Jeong’s father and brothers actively look down on Jun Mo.

Not fun, and not nice, certainly.

But it hadn’t looked like it would be something that would destroy their marriage.

That all changes, though, when Jun Mo takes on the undercover mission, in a bid to gain a promotion through it – because this promotion would help him gain a better standing, in the eyes of his in-laws, and in his own eyes as well.

Generally speaking, I felt that Eui Jeong did everything she could, to keep the relationship intact, even when Jun Mo went undercover and therefore became extremely distant, to the point of being uncontactable.

I also felt that generally speaking, while Jun Mo’s stresses were understandable, he didn’t put as much effort as he could have, towards protecting his marriage.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E4-5. I’m really glad, in a relieved sort of way, that Jun Mo manages to go home for a bit, to see Eui Jeong.

Their relationship has been put under extreme stress from very extreme circumstances, and they never even had a chance to talk about it, because Jun Mo had gone undercover without Eui Jeong’s knowledge, so this feels like a long overdue chance for them to connect properly.

I do think that it’s quite a wasted opportunity, though, that they don’t actually spend the time talking about his undercover mission, and how they will approach it, as a couple.

However, I can understand why Eui Jeong would crave a bit of normalcy between them, and request that they not talk about the mission.

E8-9. Our opening scene, which we return to, is surreal in the most violent, bloody sort of way. 🫣

The reason I say it feels surreal, at least to me, is because this is where Jun Mo and Eui Jeong come face to face with each other, and each realize how involved and entrenched the other person is, in this situation.

It must have been a shock for Jun Mo to see Eui Jeong there, in the middle of the brawl, and it must have been a shock for Eui Jeong too, to see Jun Mo actually in action, as part of the gang.

And the shock just keeps getting deeper, until that moment when Eui Jeong witnesses the way Jun Mo, all covered in blood, so much so that his face barely looks human anymore, hacks away at a man, right in front of her.

Ack. I feel like I don’t even have the words to describe the kind of shock and distress that Eui Jeong must feel, in this moment.

I feel like this is very possibly the point of no return for her; if I were in her shoes, I would find it hard to look at Jun Mo the same way ever again, honestly.

The message that she later receives from Jun Mo, where he apologizes, but also tells her that he basically has no choice but to continue, and will wrap up the case quickly and come back to her, feels too.. insensitive, I feel like?

What I mean is, I get that he’s in a tight situation and that that’s why he’d speak urgently and not spend time on anything but the absolute core of what he wants to say, but the tone of his message tells me that he doesn’t seem to realize just how deeply traumatized Eui Jeong must be, and how this has seriously affected the way she’s able to look at him.

I guess Jun Mo feels that he can still trust Eui Jeong to understand, and wait for him, but I think that what we’re seeing is Eui Jeong quickly reaching the end of her tether, from the emotional toll of it all.

[END SPOILER]

Gi Cheul and Eui Jeong [MILD SPOILERS]

With Eui Jeong getting involved in the mission, and being pushed to take advantage of the fact that Gi Cheul still has feelings for her, I really felt like I was watching a train-wreck in slow motion.

With the way Gi Cheul kept making some seriously unwise decisions because he wanted to spend time with Eui Jeong, I kept feeling like Eui Jeong was going to be Gi Cheul’s undoing, at some point. 🙈

Overall, the connection between Gi Cheul and Eui Jeong, while having very kdrama-esque first love sort of roots, was very much messed up, and I feel that this following scene, in the spoiler section, brought that out really clearly.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E8-9. How messed up is that scene when both Eui Jeong and Gi Cheul are fingering the guns that they’re hiding, at the ready to pull those guns on each other, if the need arose? 🫣

I was really pretty freaked out at the point when Gi Cheul asks Eui Jeong to turn around, because I thought he might actually pull his gun on her, ack.

Thankfully, Do Hyung’s managed to create a cover at the Retired Police Association Hall
and Publisher place, where Eui Jeong’s father is now reflected as having been posted to Wonju, in order to back up Eui Jeong’s story.

And so, instead of pulling the gun on Eui Jeong, Gi Cheul gives her that necklace instead.

Big Phew. But also, how messed up is that, right?

To think that his choices were to either threaten Eui Jeong with a gun, and possibly kill her, or, declare his love via the gift of a necklace. 🤪

[END SPOILER]

THOUGHTS ON THE ENDING [SPOILERS]

To be completely honest, you guys, I don’t really know what to feel, at watching the finale.

And by finale, I mean the last three episodes, because the last three episodes were released together, and I guess, were meant to be watched together, to make up Show’s finale stretch.

I’m not saying that Show’s finale is bad, mind you.

It’s just that it was hard to watch things fall apart, even though I knew, coming into this show, that thing would inevitably fall apart – it’s kinda built into the premise, after all. 😅

As much as I’d been intrigued by the idea of a real brotherhood possibly forming between Gi Cheul and Jun Mo, during Jun Mo’s undercover mission, it was just as hard facing the moment when things finally come to a head, and the bandaid is ripped off, so to speak. 🙈

And since I’m on that analogy, let me just say that with the way things go in this finale stretch, it just felt like our core investigative team was just putting bandaid over bandaid over bandaid, over a situation that was growing more and more cancerous at an accelerated rate. 😬

I don’t know about you, but I found this tough to watch.

I have lots of mixed feelings about it, because part of my brain feels a loss for the brotherhood that could have been, and the other part of my brain is all like, Ok, but it could’ve never worked out. 😅

Also, part of my brain was going, “Ahh, Gi Cheul was so close to getting out, and starting a cleaned-up, better life!”

And the other part of my brain was saying, “Well, yes, but he can’t just not suffer any consequences for all the crimes he’s committed all this time, right..?”

Of course, as much as I was intrigued by the idea of Gi Cheul and Jun Mo developing a brotherhood, I couldn’t shake the truth, which is that this brotherhood was largely built on a lie, and therefore, was far from sustainable, and probably far from true.

But here’s where I do feel like Show did grab me, with lashings of poignance, because there are glimmers of true loyalty and brotherhood that peek through, even when Everything hits the fan.

Like the way Jun Mo makes a way for Gi Cheul to escape, just as the police get ready to ambush the rest of the drug gang; this, when Gi Cheul had been the focus of the mission, all along.

On a tangent, this is similar to the way Jun Mo leads Hae Ryun to escape capture, by telling her, when she calls him to test him, to neither stay in Korea nor go back to China, but stay in Hong Kong, until everything blows over.

I don’t believe that Jun Mo actually had romantic feelings for Hae Ryun; rather, I feel that this was him growing to appreciate her as a person, and not wanting to betray her, because she’d put her trust in him, and had put herself on the line, to help him.

He may not have reciprocated her feelings for him, but I do feel that he had developed a measure of loyalty towards her, and didn’t want her to get hurt.

Which, I believe, is very similar to the kind of sentiment that Eui Jeong had towards Gi Cheul.

She never looked like she enjoyed leading Gi Cheul on, and she always looked genuinely worried when Gi Cheul found himself in a dangerous situation.

I believe that Eui Jeong just never wanted Gi Cheul to get hurt.

Ultimately, I think I do feel sorry for Gi Cheul, because he had been sincere in his trust, loyalty and feelings towards both Jun Mo and Eui Jeong, and had chosen them, time and again, when the people around him had expressed doubt in either of them, and in the end, he’d been devastated to find that they had been on an investigative mission, all along.

I can see why Gi Cheul would choose to kill himself; it’s the only way he has left, to punish Jun Mo and Eui Jeong for what they’ve done for him.

I have to admit, it didn’t make sense to me for some time, why Jun Mo would shoot Gi Cheul and kill him.

In my head, I thought that if Jun Mo shot Gi Cheul, it would be to prevent him from killing himself, like, shoot him in the arm or something, so that he would then be able to disarm him, and at least preserve his life.

In my head, I also thought, at first, that by killing him, Jun Mo was taking the decision out of Gi Cheul’s hands, and robbing him of his last bit of personal agency, and that felt cruel, to me.

However, on hindsight, I think that Jun Mo knew that Gi Cheul would rather die than spend the rest of his life behind bars, and that’s why Jun Mo shot to kill, instead of to disarm.

And, on top of that, it makes sense that Jun Mo would make the choice to shoot Gi Cheul, instead of allowing Gi Cheul to shoot himself, because he wanted to protect Eui Jeong from that layer of pain and trauma that she would face, if Gi Cheul had killed himself because of her.

I can also buy the idea that perhaps Jun Mo killed Gi Cheul in order to protect Gi Cheul from committing the sin of killing himself.

In the end, though, it’s realistic that Jun Mo and Eui Jeong wouldn’t be able to stay together, because so much has happened to erode their relationship and mutual trust, over the course of the mission.

I do blame the mission itself, but I would also say that Jun Mo is not without blame, because he’d failed to communicate with Eui Jeong in a way that would help their relationship, and instead, just grew more and more distant and impatient over time.

That scene in episode 11, where Eui Jeong and Do Hyung ask to meet with Jun Mo, and Jun Mo is so brusque with Eui Jeong, expressing impatience at her asking to meet when it’s so hard for him, when she’s just really worried for his safety because the car he’d been in had exploded, really says so much, I feel.

In the end, we do see our surviving characters move on with their lives.

We see Hae Ryun walking free – but alone, and sad.

We also see Jun Mo visit Gi Cheul’s grave, to pay his respects, and share a cigarette.

We also see him leave what appears to be his wedding ring at Gi Cheul’s grave, and I interpret that to be a symbol of Jun Mo telling Gi Cheul that he’s no longer Eui Jeong’s husband.

In the context of the mission, I do feel that Show is shining a spotlight on how innocent lives are sacrificed in the name of accomplishing a greater goal.

This is especially emphasized, I think, with how Chang Sik is shown to first cover up, and then rationalize Do Hyung’s death, in the interest of completing the mission.

And, on that note, Chang Sik’s interest in completing the mission seems less about saving innocent people from drug dealing predators, but about achieving glory and recognition, for having pulled off a difficult feat.

With that as context, I can’t help but feel sorry for the ones whose lives have been lost or irrevocably broken in the process, because, to the system, they are just necessary sacrifices; collateral damage, if you will.

But to these people, this is their entire life. 💔

And when all is said and done, I wonder if any of them could truthfully say that it was worth it?

THE FINAL VERDICT:

Dark, gritty and potentially thought-provoking, if you are so inclined. Your mileage is likely to vary.

FINAL GRADE: B+

TRAILER:

PATREON UPDATE!

The next drama I’ll be covering on Patreon, in place of The Worst of Evil, is Welcome to Samdalri [Korea]. I’ve taken an initial look at Welcome to Samdalri and I’m happy to say that I’m enjoying it quite a bit more than I’d expected to.

You can check out my E1-2 notes on Welcome to Samdalri on Patreon here.

Here’s an overview of what I’m covering on Patreon right now (Tier benefits are cumulative)!

Foundation Tier (US$1): Entertainment tidbits + the first set notes of all shows covered on Patreon (that’s 2 episodes for kdramas and 4 episodes for cdramas)

Early Access (US$5): +The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract [Korea]

Early Access Plus (US$10): +Daily Dose of Sunshine [Korea]

VIP (US$15): +Twinkling Watermelon [Korea]