THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show’s got a great cast, an interesting premise, and a whole lotta budget, to bring its story to life.

It’s just too bad that the writing turns out to be the weakest link, in this entire drama.

From focusing on just one Big Bad for 16 whole episodes, to spending all its time, effort and creative energy on designing action and fight scenes, so much so that literally zero time, effort or energy was spent on creating actual character growth, the writing tanks it all, in my opinion.

This show started out pretty fun, but eventually turned into a slog, and it’s such a huge pity, in my opinion.

THE LONG VERDICT:

They say the higher you climb, the harder you fall, and that couldn’t be more true – of my expectations of this show. 😅

When this show was first announced, many of us over on Patreon couldn’t help but get excited at the strong cast, and the interesting concept of this show.

And, Show did get off to a strong start – I even found myself clapping in glee, at one point!

Unfortunately, though, I have to admit that this one did not live up to the expectations and hopes that we’d had for it. By far. 🙈

OST ALBUM: FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE

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

Honestly, the music in this show is pretty good, objectively speaking.

In fact, I remember lots of folks saying that the first track, “Get  in the Ring,” was pretty badass and stirring, in Show’s early episodes.

The thing is, though, as I grew more and more frustrated during my watch, not only did the music cease to do anything for me, I even grew to resent “Get in the Ring,” because it just meant that there was going to be more fighting on my screen; something that I really didn’t want. 😅

This is one instance when I feel like the OST’s a casualty of the poor writing – which I’ll talk about very shortly.

HOW I’M 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 stuff I liked on a more macro level, before I give the spotlight to selected characters and relationships, in a separate section. Finally, I spend some time talking about my thoughts on the penultimate and finale episodes.

If you’re interested in my blow-by-blow reactions, &/or 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

I might not be the best person to talk about this, since it’s probably clear by now that I didn’t manage to truly enjoy this show.

But still, here’s my best effort to point you to some things that I think would be helpful to keep in mind, to maximize your enjoyment of your watch:

1. Suspension of disbelief is required

Show regularly stretches logic, and I think it’s helpful to be ready to suspend disbelief, while you’re watching this one.

2. This is the Park Bo Gum show

Yes, there’s a central group of characters, but this show really centers more on Park Bo Gum’s character, Dong Ju, and I think it’s helpful to know to expect it.

3. A cartoon lens works best

To my eyes, Show feels like part screwball comedy, part  crime-busting story, part individual journey, part rom-com, and part the underdog story.

And the single lens that I think helps all of this to land as smoothly as possible, is the cartoon lens.

STUFF I LIKED

The premise

Right away, the idea of ex-Olympians trying to make good as police officers, while possibly tapping on the skills, strength and fortitude that they’d built as sports professionals, just really appealed to me.

Plus, if you’ve been around the blog for a while, you’d likely know that I do love me a good underdog story, and this show’s premise scratches that itch very well.

It was just very trippy to me, that ex-Olympians would legit get looked down upon, as they try to embrace normal life, thus turning them from heroes to underdogs, with one quick change of context.

The idea that this very rare breed of human, works suuuper hard for many years, in order to win those medals – only to be quickly forgotten, once they’re out of the spotlight, really tugged at my heartstrings.

Based on that alone, I was primed to root for these Olympians-turned-police-officers, to prove all their naysayers wrong; like, who said that these people were washed up and useless – they’re heroes, ok?!?

When our SCIT crew worked together

I quickly realized that I was mainly here for our motley crew of characters, and so I mostly didn’t feel overly fussed about stuff that had to do with the overarching mystery or the Big Bad.

And so, as long as Show kept a good amount of heartfelt focus on our characters, giving them space to work together as a team, and demonstrate that special brand of mutual care and unquestioning teamwork, where words are not necessary, I found myself to be quite the happy camper.

Bonus, if we got to see our various retired Olympians tap on their Olympic roots, in order to rise to the occasion and not be overcome by the various baddies in our drama world.

Like Jong Hyeon (Lee Sang Yi) use his fencing skills with random items like a broomstick, effortlessly thwacking bad guys into submission, or Han Na (Kim So Hyun) using her sharpshooting skills to attack intruders.

I will say that unfortunately, Show didn’t give me this quite as often as I would have liked. 🥲

The glimmers of bromance

I’ll talk more about this later in another section, but I just wanted to say that the glimmers of bromance that Show serves up, between Jong Hyeon and Dong Ju, turned out to be a pretty big highlight of my watch.

I just loved the idea of this bromance continuing to bud, despite their reluctance. 😁

STUFF THAT WAS OK

The inclusion of a loveline

I have to confess that I have very mixed feelings about our central loveline, which is why it’s in this section.

Even though there were some moments that I appreciated in this loveline, I would still say that this loveline suffered from a lack of proper development and a lack of OTP chemistry.

I think I would have preferred it if we hadn’t had a loveline in the first place, to be honest.

STUFF I DIDN’T LIKE SO MUCH

Having one Big Bad [MINOR FOUNDATIONAL SPOILER]

Very early in our story, Show reveals that there is just one Big Bad, in the form of Min Ju Yeong (Oh Jung Se), and I personally think that this was not a good decision.

Things just became very boring and static, very fast, because there’s literally nothing that writer-nim can allow the team to do, in terms of eliminating the Big Bad.

In my opinion, Show doesn’t have enough true narrative tension to play with, given that every case that our SCIT crew tackles, traces back to Min Ju Yeong.

This means that writer-im basically has our crew circling Min Ju Yeong for multiple episodes, and not really getting anywhere, until it’s time to wrap up our story, and that just sucks, to put it bluntly.

It’s hard to see our SCIT crew lose, and they mostly just keep losing, as we inch our way to the finish line. 😭

A viewing lens that might possibly be useful in this situation, is looking at it like one of those cartoons where arch enemies just keep bashing each other for seasons on end, with no changes or consequences whatsoever, like Tom and Jerry, Roadrunner and Coyote, Grizzy and the Lemmings – that kinda thing.

I think that there are a few possible ways writer-nim could have made this story better, and they are:

1, Make Show a lot shorter. Like, 6 episodes instead of 16, no exaggeration.

2, Not reveal the Big Bad’s identity so early.

3, Make it such that there’s a Bigger Bad behind the Big Bad. That could have added some narrative interest.

In order to keep Show’s 16-episode framework, I think a much better approach, would have been to have our ragtag team of retired Olympians solving various cases over the course of our story, and growing along the way, as a team and as individuals.

I would’ve preferred that by far.

Show’s sense of humor

Show’s sense of humor worked out to be a mixed bag for me, and usually, when I lead with a statement like that, this means that the thing in question lands in my neutral zone.

However, I found that I disliked Show’s sense of humor much more often than I actually enjoyed it, so this is how the cookie crumbles, in the end. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[SPOILER ALERT]

When I thought it was fun

E3-4. I thought certain scenes were pretty fun, like the one where Man Sik and Dong Ju chase after that dude with the shampoo still in his hair, and everything becomes a bubble wonderland, hahaha!

I thought that was nicely surrealistic, which in itself is a good reminder to not take some of Show’s details too seriously. 😁

Which is perfect, because the plan that they hatch, to “borrow” Commissioner Cho’s brand new car, in order to bait Monkey, the big time car smuggler, is just bonkers. 😂

E3-4. The big fight in the warehouse, with the RIU guys crashing the party, is really quite entertaining, with the way our SCIT guys keep knocking bad guys out, and then tossing them out of the way, after checking to see if any of them are Monkey.

It almost feels like an elaborate computer game, except that it isn’t, and it just got more and more ridiculous and surreal as it went on, especially with Man Sik (Heo Sung Tae) doing his darndest to keep Commissioner Cho’s (Kim Eung Soo) car from being harmed – to no avail. 😅

When I basically hated it

Mainly, I hate that writer-nim seems to delight in making Man Sik the butt of jokes.

Sometimes, it lands as harmless enough, like in that beat in episode 2, when Man Sik eats that spiked candy, and acts all crazy while spouting delirious nonsense, during what should have been a sting operation.

I felt bad for Man Sik, but I also laughed anyway. 😅

However, it soon starts to feel like writer-nim’s a dog with a bone, and that that bone, is shortchanging and making fun of Man Sik.

He’s so often either the butt of a joke, the scapegoat, or acting as Commissioner Cho’s punching bag, that it very quickly stopped being funny, and became one of my biggest pet peeves with this show.

[END SPOILER]

The protracted action scenes

Generally, I feel like Show leans into the action rather too much.

I didn’t feel this so much in Show’s earlier episodes, to be clear. That action scene at the end of episode 1 was one of my favorite highlights of the show, with our various ex-Olympians all rising to the occasion and showing everyone what they’re made of.

However, as I got deeper into my watch, I started to see that Show’s way of ramping things up, was to go harder on the action, serving up extremely elaborate actions sequences that just never. seemed. to. end.

I have nothing against action sequences, mind you, but when Show goes and makes this its whole personality, my eyes just cannot help but glaze over. 🙈

The lack of character growth

My other big beef with Show, is that our characters basically don’t show much growth over the course of our story, if any at all.

If anything, I found our characters leaning into traits that I actually would consider the opposite of growth. 😅

[BROAD SPOILERS]

The biggest offender in this category, to my mind, is Dong Ju, so let’s talk about him for a bit.

It doesn’t take long for Show to establish that Dong Ju has some physical issues; he keeps getting blurry vision, or a bloody nose, or just flat-out passes out. This, in itself, is worrying.

What makes it more worrying, is Dong Ju’s all-in, body-first approach to everything in life.

At first, his can’t-get-me-down approach, and his this-is-nothing attitude towards his injuries did rather charm me, but I have to admit that this eventually got old, and I became extremely frustrated, that even by our later episodes, Dong Ju had learned nothing about taking better care of himself, and not worrying the people who care about him.

He’s consistently reckless and foolhardy about going into dangerous situations without a plan, and also, consistently careless and irresponsible about taking care of his own body, even after dire warnings by the doctor.

I came into this show with a great deal of affection for Park Bo Gum, but I have to admit that this ultimately (to my eyes) toxic trait of Dong Ju’s, even started to wear down that fangirl affection.

To make things worse, we even have Han Na appear to learn a thing or two from Dong Ju, with the way she goes off on that solo mission, in our penultimate episodes. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I couldn’t roll with this, even with my thickest manhwa goggles on. 🙄

[END SPOILERS]

The way Show toys with us [BROAD SPOILERS]

This is related to the previous point, but because of its slightly different emphasis, I thought I’d give it its own section.

Basically, I didn’t like the way Show kept teasing us with hints that Dong Ju might not make it.

Like that beat in episode 5, when Dong Ju passes out after Han Na kisses him, and we get Dong Ju’s closing voiceover in episode 5, is about Muhammad Ali’s death. 🙈

That legit made me start to worry about Dong Ju possibly not surviving our story.

And then, in all of the following episodes afterwards, Show proceeds to put Dong Ju through more and more and then even more physical trauma, thus rubbing salt into my already established very real concern, that Dong Ju might literally die.

In the end, though, not only does Dong Ju not die, but there are literally no consequences to his reckless actions, and his punch drunk syndrome is waved away by a checkup and some meds.

Which means that writer-nim had literally been toying with me, with that voiceover about Muhammad Ali’s death, and I am not amused.

The lack of logic

There is a distinct lack of logic in this show, and this was not my favorite thing.

[SPOILER ALERT]

When I didn’t mind it so much

In some instances, I felt that it was all part of this being a manhwa-esque world.

Like the way Min Ju Yeong keeps giving away these very unique, special watches to the people who work with him, and expect them to wear the watches at all times, which gives our SCIT crew some Very Big Clues, when they encounter said watches in the course of their investigations.

It makes no logical sense, that our Big Bad would throw all these big, honking clues all over the place, like markers, to point out where our crew should investigate.

With a manhwa lens, though, it all lands much better, because in a manhwa, things are meant to be cartoony and slightly illogical, so it doesn’t seem strange at all, that our key bad guys are all wearing the same watch, like they’re alerting our good guys on purpose. 😁

When I did mind it

By this point in the review, you probably wouldn’t be surprised to see any of these things that I’m about to mention.

Let’s start with the fact that Dong Ju just keeps confronting Min Ju Yeong, and then not dying.

Not only does the ever-increasing physical trauma have no lasting effects on Dong Ju, and not only does he never learn, Min Ju Yeong simply does not kill him, even though he has many opportunities to do so.

Given that Dong Ju gets up in Min Ju Yeong’s face very frequently, and keeps making trouble for him, it’s a real stretch, that someone with Min Ju Yeong’s power and casually cruel streak, would keep Dong Ju alive, just because he’s “cute like a puppy.”

This was just one step too illogical, for me.

[END SPOILER]

QUICK SPOTLIGHT ON SELECTED CHARACTERS / RELATIONSHIPS

Park Bo Gum as Dong Ju

Let me begin by stating, again, for the record, that I have a good amount of pre-existing fondness for Park Bo Gum.

With that as context, it’s not hard to see why I found Dong Ju likable from the beginning, and I can’t lie; I’m sure that a lot of that had to do with Park Bo Gum’s personal charm, and how taken I am, as a general rule, by his smile. 🥰

Of course, part of it also had to do with Dong Ju’s characterization, and one of the things that really struck me about Dong Ju, is how he cares more about people and relationships, than about his medals.

He’s all heart, and I did like that about him, very much, even though Dong Ju basically creates trouble for himself and others, just by being his earnest, overly-principled, instinctive, act-before-he-thinks self.

I also very much enjoyed Park Bo Gum’s delivery of some of Dong Ju’s more emotional scenes, because he just has a way of expressing raw emotion, that gets me in the heart, really effectively.

Plus, there’s also the thing, that Park Bo Gum had clearly bulked up for this role, and the fangirl part of my brain happily spazzed at how healthy and strong Dong Ju looks.

HOWEVER. I have to confess that my affection, patience and general goodwill towards Dong Ju got very much worn down to almost nothingness, by the time I got to the tail end of our story. 😅

[BROAD SPOILERS]

Basically, I got more and more annoyed at Dong Ju, for acting on his own so much of the time, with so little consideration for the people who care about him, and basically causing everyone all sorts of trouble and worry – and then not having any sort of behavioral changes, to show for it.

Honestly, I began to sympathize with Man Sik’s vehement protests, when he was first told to take Dong Ju under his wing.

I hadn’t understood it then, and had thought Man Sik was being too harsh.

But now, knowing what I know – that Dong Ju is incorrigible, essentially – I feel like I can understand. 😅

[END SPOILERS]

Kim So Hyun as Han Na

Essentially, I liked Han Na a fair bit in our earlier episodes, but eventually found her a bit too emotionally distant for me to feel properly connected to her.

Let me start with the positive.

I really liked the various bits of badassery and coolness that we saw from Han Na, from pretty early in our story.

[SPOILER ALERT]

Like the way she quietly snaps, and shoots Commissioner Cho right in the chest, while he’s wearing that safety vest.

I mean, clearly, she knows that it’s a career ending type of move, but she is just that frustrated, and also, that convinced that she deserves more and better than this.

The way she serves up her resignation letter, stabbed to a bulletin board, is so badass too.

That’s when I felt like I loved her. 🤩

I liked that she follows her conviction, regardless of the cost; there’s something about that unmovable quality about her that I found appealing.

Plus, there’s also the way she takes a risk (a great risk, actually), in choosing to hitch a ride on that container, to goodness-knows-where, in episodes 9-10, while all alone and unarmed.

At the same time, though, she’s quick-thinking and resourceful, from the way she throws articles of clothing to provide clues for her team, whom she trusts will be looking for her, to the way she nicks that phone from that guy, and uses it to make an emergency call for help, which is how Dong Ju and Jong Hyeon determine her location.

I thought that was pretty impressive.

HOWEVER. I have to admit that my goodwill towards Han Na suffered quite a bit, when she goes off on that solo mission, in episode 13.

That’s when my opinion of her judgment really suffered, and because I found that entire arc such a slog to watch, and I kind of blame Han Na for it. 😅

[END SPOILER]

Dong Ju and Han Na

Like I mentioned earlier, I could have done without this loveline, but it wasn’t all bad.

[BROAD SPOILERS]

Essentially, I found it quite sweet, up until the point where our OTP gets minted.

The way Dong Ju wears his heart on his sleeve; the way he looks at her adoringly; the way they have the occasional conversation, where they open up a little bit more, to each other; I liked all of that.

I mean. Park Bo Gum has the most endearing adoring face, and Dong Ju wears it very, very well. 🥰

I also liked that these two people looked out for each other, and I also liked the idea that they’re able to talk comfortably and honestly with each other, and I also liked that they could understand each other, especially in terms of the struggles they each faced, as ex-athletes.

HOWEVER. There are two key things that interfere with my ability to buy into and enjoy this OTP.

The first thing is, given my growing frustration at Dong Ju as a character, I just can’t shake the idea that Dong Ju would be too chaotic to be an ideal long-term partner.

The other thing is, I really don’t see any OTP chemistry between Park Bo Gum and Kim So Hyun, unfortunately.

And so, as long as Dong Ju is adoring Han Na from a distance, it still works, to my eyes.

But, the moment our OTP moves in for kisses, I find myself not feeling it, even though it does feel like both Park Bo Gum and Kim So Hyun are trying to bring emotion to their delivery of the kisses.

To my eyes, it just didn’t ring true, and it seems low-key uncomfortable, for both actors.

And so, overall, I suppose it’s a good thing that the romance is more of a supporting arc than a central one. 🙈

[END SPOILERS]

Lee Sang Yi as Jong Hyeon

Honestly, on hindsight, I have to say that Lee Sang Yi’s turn as Jong Hyeon, really is one of the highlights of my watch.

First, let me straight up agree with MC here, that Lee Sang Yi is smokin’, as Jong Hyeon. 😁

Clearly, Lee Sang Yi has bulked up in recent times (perhaps starting with Bloodhounds?), and that addition of muscle definitely adds to the hotness quotient.

But then you have Jong Hyeon in glasses, and that, combined with the muscles and athleticism, just sizzles. 🔥🤭

[BROAD SPOILERS]

Also, there’s the thing where Jong Hyeon comes across as a pretty sensible person, and I think, with the context of my feeling increasingly frustrated at Dong Ju’s apparent lack of common sense, this made Jong Hyeon all the more attractive, to my eyes.

And then we have Jong Hyeon’s personal context, which adds a little something too, to his appeal.

[SPECIFIC SPOILERS]

First, there’s the hidden chaebol aspect to his character, where he’s basically a chaebol prince trying to make good apart from his family’s sphere of power.

Kinda makes me feel like Jong Hyeon could be a male lead in his own drama. 🤭

And then, there’s the trauma that Jong Hyeon’s dealing with, from his fencing days, when he’d gotten injured during a tournament, with that saber tip piercing right through his mask, right up to his eye.

That definitely made my heart go out to him, because it’s bad enough to be injured in such a scary manner, but it’s even worse, that the injury’s left him with PTSD and anxiety, thus derailing his fencing career, which had been so promising.

As if that isn’t enough, we later also learn that Jong Hyeon had injured his ankle while saving Han Na from oncoming traffic, after they’d been broken up for a while, and just before a major tournament.

Which means that Jong Hyeon had competed while injured from saving Han Na, and that’s how he’d ended up getting stabbed so near his eye. 😭

That definitely adds layers to the stoicism that Jong Hyeon tends to wear. 🥲

And when Han Na asks him about it, it’s honestly a bit heartbreaking, the way Jong Hyeon is so casually nonchalant about it, telling her that he would like to start over with her, but this is how he feels, and she shouldn’t feel burdened by it.

I mean, obviously, this is a big deal to Jong Hyeon, and he’s only acting nonchalant for her sake – and I’m just quite affected, by how selfless and loving he is. 🥹

Yes, I developed a very noticeable soft spot for Jong Hyeon indeed.

[END SPOILERS]

Jong Hyeon and Dong Ju

In our earlier episodes, Show leans into the love rivalry thing between Jong Hyeon and Dong Ju quite a bit, and even though it’s mostly played for laughs, I found that I didn’t mind it.

I basically expected Dong Ju and Jong Hyeon to become reluctant besties through it all, and I really liked the idea of that.

And so, this expectation that Dong Ju and Jong Hyeon were going to overcome their differences and become good friends, definitely reframed all the petty rivalry very well for me.

To my eyes, they weren’t fighting so much for Han Na’s attention; they were, unbeknownst to themselves, fighting their way to bromance. 😁

Looking at it that way, I felt more amused and indulgent when Dong Ju and Jong Hyeon went up against each other, and I lapped up every little nugget that Show served up, hinting at said burgeoning bromance.

Here are a few of my favorite highlights.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E7-8. I did quite love the fact that Dong Ju feels bad for punching Jong Hyeon out, right near where his eye had gotten injured, and thus, does his darndest to put ointment and bandaids on Jong Hyeon.

Tee hee hee! That is SO CUTE. 🤭

E9-10. I find it touching to see Dong Ju declaring, more than once, that Jong Hyeon’s his guy, and that the baddies shouldn’t touch him.

Yesss. This is the bromance that I’ve been rooting for. 🥲

Which leads me to the way Dong Ju and Jong Hyeon work together, to search for Han Na, when she goes missing.

Given how much these two have been bristling around each other, because they both have feelings for Han Na, it really feels quite momentous, that they would put aside all of their differences, in the interest of finding Han Na. 🥲

E9-10. When Jong Hyeon gets shot and falls in the water, I found it very affecting, the way Dong Ju screaaams his name, and comes running, and jumps into the water without hesitation to save Jong Hyeon.

E11-12. Because I’ve been rooting all this time, for the burgeoning reluctant bromance between Jong Hyeon and Dong Ju, it feels extra meaningful, that Jong Hyeon would be able to deduce that Dong Ju was likely headed for Jong Hyeon’s apartment – which is how Jong Hyeon finds Dong Ju crouched behind that car.

And then, it feels like such a loving sacrifice, that Jong Hyeon would cede his shares to his brother, so that he can ask Hyung for the favor of providing a doctor for Dong Ju, and a safe place for them to hide out, for a while.

That’s love in action, and I can’t help but feel touched, because Jong Hyeon makes that sacrifice so decisively. 🥲

[END SPOILER]

Heo Sung Tae as Man Sik

I found myself really liking Man Sik as a character, and also, getting very protective of him, mostly because of the way writer-nim seemed to like messing with Man Sik, and making him suffer. 😑

The way I see it, there’s a lot of pathos in Man Sik’s character.

He has to suffer disdain and violence so much of the time, from Commissioner Cho, who has a penchant for hitting him on the shin, plus he’s a goose father, living and working alone in Korea, while his wife and child are in the Philippines.

He blusters a lot about not wanting to have Dong Ju under his wing, and how Dong Ju’s a no-good troublemaker, but when push comes to shove, the way Man Sik goes to great lengths to clean up Dong Ju’s messes, is so poignant.

[SPOILER ALERT]

That scene, where he endures that mock wrestling match with Commissioner Cho, is a great example.

It’s humiliating for him, as a retired Olympian, to fulfill Commissioner Cho’s idle wrestling dreams, but he does it anyway, because that’s what it takes.

I feel so bad for him, but at the same time, I also find his selflessness touching.

[END SPOILER]

Man Sik and Dong Ju

There’s another bromance in this drama world, and that is between Man Sik and Dong Ju.

As much as they bicker, bluster and mess around, these two care about each other a great deal, and I’m heartened to see that the affection flows both ways.

As much as Man Sik would go to great lengths to save and protect Dong Ju, so would Dong Ju do the same for him. I do love that. 🥲

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1-2. I really love that flashback where we see Dong Ju running to the hospital, with Man Sik folded into a shopping cart.

The fact that Dong Ju runs till he loses a shoe and ends up with a bloody foot, but that doesn’t blunt his determination to save Man Sik, totally makes up for all the trouble that Dong Ju’s ever caused, and I love that beat, where Man Sik tears up at the sight of an exhausted Dong Ju sleeping like a baby in the bed next to his. Aw. 🥹

This feels the reverse of a duckling glomming onto the first thing he sees; this is like a mama duck glomming onto her baby, and I love that. 😁

E7-8. Honestly, the more I watch this show, the more I love Man Sik.

Just look at the way he literally brightens up, when he remembers that Commissioner Cho has a team gathering that night – because this gives him a chance to do that wrestling role-play with him, which would then enable him to plead with Commissioner Cho to have mercy on Dong Ju.

..Which is how Dong Ju ends up not being relieved of his duties right away.

And yet, when Dong Ju apologies, Man Sik tells him that it’s not his fault, and if anything, it’s his own fault for now having enough power.

Not only that, he has so much empathy for what Dong Ju’s gone through, that he says he’d have done the exact same thing, in Dong Ju’s shoes, and that Dong Ju shouldn’t give up before the fight is over. 🥲

Aw. Isn’t he such a loving mother hen, when it comes down to it?

E11-12. Even though I have issues with the way Dong Ju goes all vigilante, I do love how consistent Man Sik is, in caring about Dong Ju, and I’m as touched as ever, that Man Sik would do everything in his power, to find Dong Ju – because he loves Dong Ju as his own. 🥲

And how shrewd of Man Sik, to see right away, that the only person who could’ve tipped Dong Ju off about all of Min Ju Yeong’s minions, is none other than Gwang Se – which is how we end up getting that big ol’ reunion, with everyone showing up to save Man Sik and Gwang Se, who’re desperately screaming the house down, because they’re convinced they’re going to die. 🤭

[END SPOILER]

Tae Won Seok as Jae Hong

Because Jae Hong’s a member of the crew, it only felt right to give him his own section, but to be brutally honest, I feel like writer-nim sometimes forgot to include Jae Hong, in our story.

My impression is that we barely see him, a lot of the time, and he mostly just pops up when it’s time for him to show off his discus skills.

[MINOR SPOILERS]

Like the way he picks up that manhole cover at the end of episode 1 and starts swinging it in order to throw it like a gigantic discus.

That was just epic, and I loved it. 🤩

However, I wasn’t so hot on how writer-nim had Jae Hong actually swing a person, in our finale, and in a fit of “He’s mine!,” no less.

[END SPOILERS]

Oh Jung Se as Min Ju Yeong

Oh Jung Se is always solid, at the very minimum, and he does a good job of what he was given, for this show.

However, I must say that because of the way Min Ju Yeong was written to be like a cockroach that never dies, I actually found myself growing tired of him, by the time I hit Show’s later episodes.

For now, it does feel like Show’s managed to erode some of Oh Jung Se love, but I’m pretty sure that this is temporary, and I’ll be back to thinking that Oh Jung Se is awesome, in whatever role I see him in next.

Special shout-out:

Kim Seo Kyung as Seok Hyeon

On a very random tangent, I just had to tell you guys that I am extremely chuffed that I suddenly found myself recognizing Kim Seo Kyung, the actor who plays Seok Hyeon, while watching episodes 5-6.

Because, it’s not like I’ve seen him play any kind of main or even key supporting character, in the past.

It just suddenly clicked in my head that I’ve admired this face and these features before, and I could even remember the screenshots that I had taken to include in a review – and, trawling through my memory, I suddenly had an “Eureka!” moment!

He’d played some bad guy’s lackey in 2014’s The Three Musketeers (review here!), and I’d thought him to be very striking and handsome, and had happily gawked at him during my watch.

And, I’d collected a splash of screenshots to include in my review of the show, just to share the eye candy that was available in an unexpected corner of this drama world.

Lookie! 😁

SPOTLIGHT ON THE PENULTIMATE EPISODES [SPOILERS]

E13-14. Can’t lie, my friends. These episodes were a slog to get through. 😅

Basically, it feels like all the fighting just will. not. end. and we go through SUCH! LONG! FIGHTS! the whole time.

There’s a beat in episode 14, when Man Sik thinks that he’s finished knocking out all his attackers, and then, when one of them gets up to keep fighting, he deflates, “I’m so sick of this,” and then shouts, “Just stop already!”

Ha. I couldn’t help but chuckle ruefully at the meta, because that is exactly how I felt about these episodes. 🙈😅

In episode 13, when Han Na goes on her solo mission into Min Ju Yeong’s hideout, I think Show was trying to demonstrate what a badass she is, but honestly, I was facepalming on the inside, that she’s learned the wrong thing from Dong Ju. 😅

Like, the whole time, Dong Ju’s been going into risky situations on his own, and fighting his way through it, with the odds stacked against him, and getting hurt along the way, and now, it feels like Han Na’s going and doing the EXACT SAME THING, but with guns instead of fists. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I understand that Show’s point, is that our SCIT crew has done everything that they could have done, within the system, but the system itself is so corrupt, that the only thing left that they can do, is to take things into their own hands.

HOWEVER. I have to protest that this still does not excuse solo hero missions that could get you – and your teammates – killed.

As far as I’m concerned, it was extremely stressful (instead of the intended – I presume – thrilling, that Show had likely been aiming for), to see our various SCIT crew individually take on large groups of attackers.

I know that they’re all there to help Han Na, but I can’t help but shake my head at the fact that Han Na didn’t discuss anything with anyone, and just dove in by herself, leaving her teammates no choice but to run in there without knowing where she was, or what was going on – which is never a good thing.

Maybe it was supposed to be a demonstration of love and teamwork, but this did not look like teamwork to me, with everyone scattered through the building, each on their own, trying to figure out where Han Na was, and what was going on.

I just found it unbelievable, that at episode 14, no one seems to have learned that it’s better to talk things over with your team, and figure out together, the best course of action.

If anything, it seems like the crew members have learned the single worst thing they could have learned from Dong Ju; everyone’s running solo and fighting off large groups of people and getting wounded and injured as they go.

And the fighting just never. seems. to. end.

I could hardly believe my eyes, that the fight scenes went till the 20 minute mark of episode 14, considering that we started episode 14, already in the thick of the action, after having spent literally half of episode 13, on all the action.

This means that we had about 55 minutes of non-stop action, starting from the middle of episode 13. That’s just too brain-numbing for me, folks.

To make it even worse, I already knew that none of their efforts to pin down and capture Min Ju Yeong would be successful, for the simple fact that we still have two more episodes to go.

And so, the overriding feeling that I experienced, while watching these episodes, was a sense of – sigh – futility. 😔

We do get a bit of respite in the second half of episode 14, while our SCIT crew gathers for some PPL chicken, but then I feel so bad for Man Sik, who soon finds out that his wife’s pregnant – and not with his baby.

Arrrgh. Why does Show insist on treating Man Sik so badly, through our entire story??

If it’s not kicks in the shin, it’s humiliation via role play with Commissioner Cho, and if it’s not that, his marriage falls apart because his wife’s been cheating on him?

I am not amused, and I have to wonder if writer-nim thought this was, I dunno, hilarious?

On a whole other note, I have to mention the stark lack of chemistry between Park Bo Gum and Kim So Hyun in that scene where Dong Ju starts kissing Han Na, with obvious bedroomy intent.

After everything that they’d been through, I’d expected there should be come kind of heat and crackle, and a lot of raw emotion coming through, in a scene like this, but.. nothing.

It’s a literal void in terms of OTP chemistry, and I feel like writer-nim should just not have Dong Ju and Han Na in any kind of kissing situations, because that just takes away from the believability of this OTP connection.

There’s a bit of a silver lining, in terms of the reluctant brotherhood that we see between Dong Ju and Jong Hyeon, and it’s honestly quite comforting that Jong Hyeon can’t help but be concerned for Dong Ju.

But the point here, really, is that Dong Ju’s still in awful shape, and he’s still not taking care of himself, and it’s driving me crazy.

And to make it so much worse, we have that closing to episode 14, where Jong Gu’s sprung himself on Dong Ju, and is hitting him mercilessly, knowing that Dong Ju’s suffering from punch drunk syndrome.

I hate this, so much, and I have to confess, the only reason I’m still hanging on, is in the (hopefully not misplaced) hope and belief that our SCIT crew will finally, finally prevail against Min Ju Yeong, as we head to the finish line.

THOUGHTS ON THE ENDING [SPOILERS]

E15-16. Can’t lie, my friends. Now that I’ve finally finished my watch of this show, I can’t help feeling like I should have quit while I was behind. 🙈

Basically, I watched this finale in defiance; I felt like Show owed me a satisfying win for our SCIT crew, after all the losses they’d suffered over the course of our (overly long) story, and I felt like, because we were finally at the end, that there was no way Show wouldn’t give that to me.

Huh. I was wrong. Somehow, Show managed to disappoint me anyway, even though we were at the end, and our team finally scored their victory over Min Ju Yeong.

I’d imagined that we’d finally get to see our SCIT crew work together, and they kinda do, but in effect, we mostly see them take on individual fights in different corners of our story, and it really felt like more of the same. unending. fighting. that had caused my eyes to glaze over, in our penultimate episodes. 🙈

Not only that, there was a weird “He’s mine!” sentiment going on, among our SCIT crew, that didn’t sit very well with me.

There’s no teamwork, and there’s no professionalism; just a dogged desire to bash the crap out of the targeted bad guy.

I found this very, very strange, especially coming from Jae Hong, who’s never shown any signs of this kind of aggression, all series long.

I rationalize that this was writer-nim’s way of giving our ex-Olympians a chance to showcase their excellence in their chosen sports, but I have to say, seeing Jae Hong swing that guy around and around, gave me a bad taste in my mouth.

That felt completely unprofessional and unnecessary, and with our various ex-Olympians kind of leaning in similar directions, this meant that I’m left with a sense that they’ve not only not grown at all, in the course of our story, but have actually become worse in all the areas that mattered..? 🙈

Another thing that had me sighing in frustrated resignation, is the fact that Dong Ju’s still out there giving and receiving violent blows, including to the head, even though he’s promised Han Na that he will start taking better care of himself.

I get that writer-nim didn’t want Dong Ju to be missing from all the action in the finale, but seriously, Dong Ju’s persistent reckless lack of self-care and self-preservation being waved away as something that getting a medical check-up and popping a few pills can solve, is just irresponsible.

And, we have him exchanging blows with not just Jong Gu, but Min Ju Yeong as well, in these finale episodes.

Sigh. The plot armor is extremely thick with this one. 🤦🏻‍♀️

By the time Min Ju Yeong’s caught and handcuffed, I found that I got zero satisfaction from it, even though it’s something that I’d been waiting for, for the entire show.

I guess it was a case of too little, too late?

Plus, Min Ju Yeong was unrepentant to the end, trying to take his life while Dong Ju was trying to subdue and arrest him.

I felt like he would’ve likely found a way to take his own life in prison, even if that unidentified (probably fake) prison guard hadn’t been shown taking it for him.

I guess it’s a case of anticipating something for too long, and hence, feeling underwhelmed because it becomes too hard for that something to live up to expectations?

It really felt quite underwhelming and anticlimactic to me, when Min Ju Yeong gets arrested, and we suddenly switch to an epilogue-toned last few minutes.

Like, that’s.. it? 😅

Also, while I’m glad for Man Sik that the baby’s supposedly his, I find it too convenient, that Show seems to have forgotten that Man Sik’s been living in a different country from his wife for a long time, and the way Show presents it, he hasn’t seen her for quite a while.

So how does this pregnancy make sense? 🤔

I can say that, officially, my silver linings in these finale episodes are:

1, the glimpses of bromance between Jong Hyeon and Dong Ju, as Jong Hyeon shows care for Dong Ju.

Those little moments where Jong Hyeon checks on Dong Ju, were the best. 🥲

2, the fact that Jong Hyeon returns to fencing, because this means that he’s no longer suffering from anxiety attacks.

3, Getting to see everyone in their uniformed best, happy, safe, and no longer the underdogs that they’d used to be.

It’s true that that’s not a lot, but it’s better than nothing at all, yes? 😅

THE FINAL VERDICT:

Interesting concept, but with an ultimately underwhelming execution.

FINAL GRADE: C+

TRAILER:

MV:

PATREON UPDATE!

The next drama I’m covering on Patreon, in place of  Good Boy is Beyond the Bar [Korea].

You can check out my episode 1-2 notes on Beyond the Bar 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 Drop (Sundays) + 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 Winning Try [Korea]

Early Access Plus (US$10): +Law and the City [Korea]

VIP (US$15): +A Calm Sea and Beautiful Days with You [Japan]