|
Post by sageuk on Mar 6, 2016 21:10:39 GMT -5
(source:wikipedia) I give my thanks to truth for recommending this, since I finished all epsiodes that have been released during the weekend. It's been a while since a cop show got me excited. Its suspenseful, characters are engaging, and even gets you guessing. I've seen alot of cop shows, but after watching this, this will probably make anything else I see of this genre look mediocre. There's still two episodes left, so I could be completely wrong, but regardless, it's a good ride. I do have one major issue though: the victims. Its pretty common in crime dramas for victims to be composed of mainly women, but this drama relies too much on "women in refrigerators" device; the fact some of these fridged girls include an elementary and middle school student just adds fuel to the fire. Even America's cop shows that depend on refigerators have an abundance of male corpses. I personally would have diversified it more, since women aren't the only ones that can be targets. Fun fact. There's actually a movie that came out in 2000 called Frequency, which has a similar premise, with a detective talking to his deceased firefighter father in the past. One of the cases that kickstarts the series took place in 2000, so I think this film was a major inspiration.
|
|
|
Post by truth on Mar 7, 2016 1:11:26 GMT -5
I'm glad you gave this drama a try, sageuk. This is arguably my favorite drama of 2016. You're right, only male victims I can remember in this drama so far are Seo Young-jun and the main character's brother. Who's your favorite villain in this drama? Mine is the nurse in Episode 1. Her cold look under the umbrella gave me the creeps. Seriously. I think I found my new favorite actress. She's been cast as Jang Hee-bin in upcoming SBS sageuk Daebak by the way, which is ironic since the actress who plays the cop that arrests her played Jang Hee-bin in 2002.
|
|
|
Post by jewel on Mar 9, 2016 17:46:44 GMT -5
I would like to try this drama since you guys are saying it's so good but how scary is it? How bad is it in the violence scale?
|
|
|
Post by truth on Mar 9, 2016 18:45:07 GMT -5
I would like to try this drama since you guys are saying it's so good but how scary is it? How bad is it in the violence scale? It's not scary at all. The drama got a 15 years or older rating, which probably equals to something like PG13 in the US. The drama on your profile picture also had 15 years or older rating, so this drama wouldn't be a problem if you watched the drama on your profile picture. The writer's previous drama was SBS Phantom if that helps anything.
|
|
|
Post by sageuk on Mar 9, 2016 19:28:41 GMT -5
I think suspenseful and thrilling is a better description for this show. It also deals with heavy stuff.
I just realized this weekend is going to be the end.
|
|
|
Post by truth on Mar 11, 2016 12:41:52 GMT -5
Can't believe there's only 1 more episode to go.
I just want to punch the hell out of Kim Beomju.
|
|
|
Post by jewel on Mar 11, 2016 13:39:41 GMT -5
Okay I'm not gonna look up who Kim Beomju is, afraid it'll give something away.
I watched episodes 1 and 2. It was not gruesome-scary but still plenty spooky-scary. Watched both episodes before bed last night and I had one of the scariest nightmares in a long time. Can't remember much but I was seriously hurt and was being rushed to the hospital and everyone around me was screaming... It was awful, woke up with like the worst feeling and didn't know why at first. Then realized I had a nightmare and also knew what caused it.
Anyway. Yes the drama is really good - very suspenseful and exciting. At the end of the first episode when there was only 20 minutes left to the statute of limitations I was totally confused on how this drama had 14 plus episodes but then realized it's several cases. Really enjoyed the two episodes so far but too scary to watch late at night. Maybe I'll try to watch earlier.
I did have a few problems with the first episode though (2nd episode perfect).
1) I found it hard to believe that the murderer would actually have a calendar marked with the last day of statute of limitations. I mean the calendar wasn't like in her home, it was hanging in her locker at work where any other nurse could see it. What would she have said if someone asked her what "The End" meant? I found that hard to believe.
2) Why did she leave the vial and syringe behind at the murder scene when she wanted to make it look like a suicide? And she's supposed to be so smart. That was also hard to swallow.
3) They said the nurse cut off the guy's thumb with a scalpel but I don't know if a scalpel can cut through bones. At least not easily. I think scalpels are mostly used to make precise incisions. And I thought it funny when they said she was someone who's an expert with a scalpel. How much of an expert do you have to be to lop off a dead person's thumb?
4) And lastly, I really didn't understand the extent of grief the mother of the girl showed when the murderer was arrested. I thought she would be satisfied to see the person who abducted and killed her daughter get arrested. But she was so upset because the nurse was arrested for the murder of the guy but not her daughter. What's the difference? They all know she is the murderer of both.
Other than these little bothersome oddities I thought the acting and storyline really wonderful.
(I guess they're stricter in Korea but here nurses are allowed to wear any kind of nail polish they want. I never heard of any area where nurses are restricted from wearing nail polish - maybe in ER or OR? Although everyone wears gloves so it shouldn't matter.)
|
|
|
Post by truth on Mar 11, 2016 14:00:11 GMT -5
Okay I'm not gonna look up who Kim Beomju is.... Kim Beomju is the director of police you saw in Episode 1. Of course, I won't be giving away why I hate him. But you can already tell that he's a detestable character in Episode 1.
|
|
|
Post by jewel on Mar 11, 2016 17:10:52 GMT -5
I know now who you mean... yeah he is evil alright. I guess he's gonna get worse...
Just finished episode 3, so good. But why can't they see what seems obvious to me - the guy has to be the bus driver's son. Am I right? Don't tell me!!
|
|
|
Post by jewel on Mar 11, 2016 20:11:06 GMT -5
Finished episode 4. The movie theater scene was so sad with Dectective Lee crying while everyone around him is laughing.
This is is what I don't understand. So the father killed the blackmailing woman, right? And then tied her up just like the murders of all the girls 26 years ago. What I don't get is why? Why did he tie her up like that? Wouldn't it make more sense if he killed her and made it look like a burglary or something? Why make it look exactly the same as when his son killed all those girls? Makes no sense to me. I don't think any father who's trying everything he can to protect his son would do that...
|
|
|
Post by jewel on Mar 12, 2016 16:21:07 GMT -5
Finished episode 9.
This is why when I go hiking I never wanna look at the grounds around me too closely. I never wanna be that person who discovers a dead body. So scary.
Totally addicted to this drama, can't stop watching.
|
|
|
Post by truth on Mar 12, 2016 16:53:40 GMT -5
Just finished the drama today.
All I'm gonna say is that I hate the ending, which I thought made no sense.
|
|
|
Post by sageuk on Mar 12, 2016 23:19:45 GMT -5
So....I just watched the final episode.....it's gonna be weird having bad things to say after giving it so much praise earlier....
SPOILERS * * * * * * The first thing to say is that the timeline change felt tacked on, even with the confirmation that Detective Cha changed the past by being the one to warn Detective Lee about Sunil Psychiatric Hospital. It should also be pointed out that Detective Lee STILL asked Lt. Park why he was warned about the place to begin with in said altered timeline, even if he added Cha's nickname (I don't remember if this was in the first episode). I'm aware of the butterfly effect theory of how a little alteration can have drastic consequences, but I don't see how that's able to get reinforcements to arrive in time in order to save Lee from death.
In what's practically the Hwaseong murders, the damage the alterations caused made sense: Lee saved a victim, and when he took chase, ended up getting the wrong person, leading to said person die in custody and speeding up the next murders. The burglary case: when Lee arrests the ex-con, leading to a bridge collapsing and killing said ex-con's daughter which in turn indirectly causes Cha's death; even when Lee clears the ex-con's name, it still ends up leaving a father dead. The only one with a happier outcome was the asphyxiation killings with Lee catching the culprit earlier, but even then, that case concludes with knowledge that misfortune befell on someone else, but Park and the audience just doesn't know who or what it is. The final case though? The episode gives no indication as to how the cops managed to come to Lee Jae-han's rescue. Was there a tipoff? Did Lee say something in advance? Was there something in the original script that was scrapped? Why have the first "Lee Jae-han is missing" case just so you could have another one? I suppose the idea is that even if you take down one evil, there will still be another; that theme itself is fine, but it feels like the writer lost steam and couldn't figure out how to conclude the Park Sunwoo murder case without a deus ex machina.
As for the open ending....prior the the finale, I felt this was a series that was strong on its own and in no need of a sequel. It seems they're pulling what they did with the ending of Nightmare on Elm Street; tack on a cliffhanger in case we want to make more.
Sigh....and the past 15 episodes was such a thrilling ride too. I definitely don't regret watching this series, but this needed a better conclusion.
|
|
|
Post by truth on Mar 13, 2016 0:50:49 GMT -5
SPOILERS * * * * * *
Lee probably told his ex co-workers what's going to happen since he now knows that he's supposed to die there if he went to Sunil alone. Like I said above, I don't like the ending, either. It makes no sense whatsoever. Why the heck would he hide in a hospital for 15 years? It's hard to believe that he would just lie in a hospital bed doing nothing for 15 years. It would've made much more sense to have him die again and just let Park and Cha go out to investigate and arrest the culprit. Going into hiding in a foreign country might have made more sense as well.
I agree with your opinion on your last paragraph.
One other thing that bothered me was the obvious Subway advertisement. There were like 3 scenes where they randomly went to Subway to grab a sandwich, with a very visible Subway logo, and then there's this one scene where Cha's mom served Park a Subway sandwich with a medium sized soda out of nowhere when he was visiting Cha's house.
|
|
|
Post by jewel on Mar 13, 2016 2:42:44 GMT -5
Ohmgod I'm about to have a heart attack! I thought 15 was the last episode for some reason! When there was like 10 minutes left only, I was wondering how the heck it was all gonna wrap up that quick. Then I saw the next episode preview at the end... How did you guys see the final episode?? Or I should ask how many episodes are there and how come I only have 15??
|
|