With Beyond Evil, I finally realized that I enjoy psychological crime thrillers more than romances. Though it was one of those dramas that received a momentary hype while on air, I decided to check it out as the reviews seemed promising.

Well, well. Akiyama Shinichi would be pretty proud.

Set in Manyang, a small, rural town where all its inhabitants are more like a real family, Lee Dong Shik, a police officer, has a few strange eyes on him. He was the suspect of a case from 20 years ago, a double event that included the murder of a girl and the disappearance of his own sister Lee Yu Yeon. The almost forgotten cold case is brought back to life with the transfer of Han Ju Won, the perfect, elite son of the ambitious Chief Superintendent of the Korean Police Force. Han Ju Won, unfortunately, has a plan. He is hell bent on getting Dong Shik proven guilty for his supposed crimes… while harboring a secret of his own.

I kid you not, this drama is not "who is the culprit?" kind as in Flower of Evil. It's a game of 'tag, you are it!' between two police officers who are forcibly paired up and have no choice but to work together, setting aside their differences. The first two episodes were a whirl of confusion as I desperately tried to make sense of what exactly was going on.

If you are a constant viewer of dramas, then the plot is definitely not much of a suspense -- it's quite predictable. It's the very web of intrigue and questions that tempt viewers to keep watching episode after episode.
It was also a didactic experience for me as it shed light on some of the 'stupid' laws that lets criminals get away. This is a strong shadow over the "entire" drama --- characters take actions while attempting to circumvent these laws.

Lee Dong Shik is without a doubt, the soul and star of this drama. The story is nothing without him. He knew his game well. The first few episodes of tag between him and Han Ju Won were absolutely riveting. His mind games and rhetoric questions made everyone doubt themselves and drove me mad. His dubious actions even more so. I loved how confident he was in his craft and how easily he managed to rile up the very egoistic Han Ju Won. It's my first time seeing this actor and I'm in complete awe of his performance. How can a human being portray so many emotions? That too, wild, intense and absolutely mind numbing once with such clarity and depth? All in the same episode? I could figure out his thoughts and actions within the first two episodes, but without Shin Ha Kyun, I highly doubt if Dong Shik would be receiving my approval.

Han Ju Won… ah, yes. I remember seeing a post about why nobody had killed him yet. His stickler for rules and his holier-than-thou attitude made me want to smack him at times. But, he wasn't a hypocrite and I'm glad that the writers didn't make him one. Rather, he was a victim of circumstances.
It's strange, but I loved how Dong Shik finally managed to rub off on him. Yeo Jin Goo has proved himself a versatile actor from his previous works. He did not disappoint.

Park Jeong Je, Dong Shik's best friend, is another worthy mention. And everyone from the Manyang Butcher shop.

The bromance is really slow burn. But, absolutely worth every second of your time. I loved seeing Dong Shik and Ju Won together. Their 'I refuse to tell you that I like you' attitude was highly endearing and fun to watch. Both of them had a terrible habit of blackmailing each other, and watching them attempt to untangle their own net traps shouldn't have been this enjoyable under normal conditions.

I was surprised by how much I liked Lee Chang Jin. A very, very, gray/bad/confused character, I mirrored his reaction multiple times. He had several valid points, but he was also too dumb to exist.

Every single character reached a point where they were pushed to the inevitable moment of making crucial decisions, and watching it unfold on screen was absolutely thrilling. The story veers towards a game of deception during the latter half and had several nail biting scenes that had be binging three episodes a day.

However, there are a few answers that were told just in passing, making it seem almost as if the writer had conveniently written them in to avoid leaving out any plot holes. This is starkly visible as we near the finale. And judging by the fixed episode duration and number, I am willing to forgive everything.

The Soundtrack is to die for. Music is the second most important aspect of a drama and even an average one can become a masterpiece if it has an excellent audio team.
I have 'Timeless by BIBI' and several background scores on repeat since the time I first heard them.

This is definitely one of the best dramas I've watched.
It is an absolute feast for people who love looking like the Pepe Silvia meme and enjoy racking their brains to make connections and assumptions. Its thrilling, emotional, engaging and absolutely riveting.