Wow. Um. So this show is really good. The central relationship and acting are just SO good that you can just gloss over everything else. But I feel like I want to highlight both the good and not-so-good.
Good:
-Fresh take on the typical thriller/serial killer plot. Firstly, rather than the typical antagonistic clash between the pair of detectives due to personality differences, one of them literally thinks the other is the murderer. And the other thinks he’s an idiot. It’s great! Secondly, the main serial killer plot wraps up a little over halfway, but the show keeps going. I was impressed by how the show still had unanswered questions and so even once the central mystery was solved there was still more to uncover. It was really engaging (mostly). Third, this show focuses a lot on this small town and all the close relationships, and you get the sense that these people would cover up for each other if they did something wrong, so that lends weight to your suspicions towards them.
-Characters. Many of them are very well fleshed out, primarily the main two but also quite a bit of the rest of the cast. Especially the main group in Munju. It feels like an ensemble piece, at least during the first half.
-Relationships. The main two’s relationship is of course the highlight, and they have so much chemistry it’s ridiculous. Whenever the two of them are onscreen it is *chef’s kiss*. But all the other friendships and relationships get their screen time and I love the group of police buddies. I love it when they all meet up at the butcher shop.
-Acting. I have to point out Shin Ha Kyun in particular, he was really amazing. He’s such an interesting character, and I don’t how to describe what “good acting” is but if you asked me I’d just show a scene from this show and say “Him.” Everyone else is great too.
The not-so-good stuff:
No sections here, because it’s just one thing: the plot. Oof. Okay, the first half or so of this show is well written. The plot twists are good as you learn more information about the series of events. You suspect almost everyone at some point, and then it still turns out to be someone else. It’s a good mystery and thriller. As mentioned above, once the serial killer gets caught, there are still things to unravel. Initially, something happens so you can’t uncover any more information from a certain character. Then they pull the same sh*t again with another character. Not that this wasn’t meaningful or impactful, but at that point it started to feel more like it was done to extend the plot. Then a certain plot twist happens and you’re like “oh wow!” Then another frickin plot twist happens and you’re like “… oh wow.” Basically I feel like we could have skipped maybe one or two plot twists. They felt more like “ahahaha plot twist 😈” rather than “plot twist 😱.” The ultimate “whodunnit” felt a little meh to me because who gives a crap about that person? So the last ~5 episodes are weaker than the ones preceding them. They start to focus on characters you don’t care about and the Munju crew get relegated to the background. It focuses less on the small town and the characters and more on, uh, “police corruption” I guess. Don’t get me wrong, it was still mostly good (though the few episodes where they pull those plot twists were kind of eye roll inducing). The plot twists also happen during flashbacks for some reason rather then when our characters actually discover the facts, which I feel like is a weird writing decision. They still did a good job on focusing on the main two characters, and the ultimate whodunnit is probably written that way to help focus on the main relationship, but it still felt oddly forced. The last few episodes also have some, uh, plot holes in them (I guess we didn’t need to gather evidence after all, cause we gotta wrap this plot up! Oh shoot, that character got in trouble, jk we need them for the plot so they’re free now), but the final scenes with our main two are so excellent it really left me with a very good impression of the show, despite being very tempted to give this a lower rating.
I definitely do recommend this show. Would I rewatch it? Maybe the first half-ish and the last episode. It’s an excellent show, truly, but I just think the plot has some major weak spots.
P.S. Park Jung Je :”(