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Multilayered villain and no easy cop out
The premise was very interesting, though I might be biased as I loved low/urban fantasy like these.
Romance on its own was clearly meh. It's very easy to understand why the ML got taken in, but the opposite isn't really true, so it feels like it moves very (too?) quickly for the suspension of disbelief, even taking into account the adrenaline probably pumping through their veins considering their cases and the actor admittedly being rich and physically attractive. The good thing though is that they have decent chemistry, it's not overdone to the point it becomes cringe (e.g. no "destined one true love" vibes, just a "normal" one, if fast moving), ML even admits that he has no idea whether or not they'll be together to the end or separate further down the road, he's just happy and eager to have the chance to find out. But more importantly, the romance isn't really that critical as the plot could have easily been the same if they had just remained close friends. If you're going into this for the romance, then you probably won't like it, but personally I'm getting tired of seeing romantic plotlines taking over series that had the potential to be really interesting (e.g. Memories of Alhambra or Hotel del Luna) so I was quite happy about this one. In my opinion, though it could be unconvincing in isolation, it worked very well when balanced with the other elements, only being a subdued component of the overall series rather than the main focus.
The lowkey fantasy element was nicely woven in; and I think it fitted really well into how the characters behaved and grew into. Rather than exploring his powers per say, the writers decided to focus on how such an ability would impact them. The ML's mindset, the way other characters react to the news, and debate on how to use it, or even if it's real or not, as well as how it ended up warping the main villain; overall, I felt it was very well done
I found the thriller aspect quite compelling. I admit that I was quite taken aback by the pacing however. It's not that it was bad, but I felt it was a bit non-standard. The villain is identified quickly, but gathering the evidence turns out much more difficult than expected. It wasn't a full series rush with constant cliffhangers like 365 Repeat the year for example, nor was it a constant roller coaster like he is Psychometric. It was moving forward, but with some lulls at time. I don't really know how to explain it; it was ok but it did throw me off a bit.
The villain is the one who carry the show in my opinion. The conflict, both within and without he portrayed was really interesting. He was both a victim and then a perpetrator, and the people around forcing that distinction got him. It was really interesting in that this gave him several layers. And what I really liked about this series is that the writers didn't take the easy way out, they didn't try to downplay one element or the other, but instead the conclusion is that he is BOTH a victim and a killer. His pitiable circumstances do not excuse his murders in any way, but conversely (and the final insistence on that was surprising) neither should his wrongdoings make his struggles disappear or become any less important. He killed, and he needs to be punished and repent from that, but he was also genuinely wronged, and he earned the apologies from the police, state and people who unfairly made his life hell growing up. His actions were understandable, but never justified. He was a criminal who took lives, but still human.
This can be very tricky for writers, which is why villains in series are often black or white, or die at the end. But he didn't get killed either, nor did he have one sad sappy scene before sacrificing his life or anything. No, he stayed fucking alive to pay for his crimes, and genuinely embarked on a thorny path to redemption for the reminder of his life. The writers managed to do it rather gracefully overall, and the series ended that plotline in a very satisfying way.
Now the main problem I've had with this series is that near the end, subverting the death visions came a bit too easily for my taste. It wasn't necessarily easy, but I still think the series would have benefitted from another unavoidable death after Mi-Jin, to really hammer it in that changing the visions is really, really difficult.
But overall, still a good series I enjoyed
Romance on its own was clearly meh. It's very easy to understand why the ML got taken in, but the opposite isn't really true, so it feels like it moves very (too?) quickly for the suspension of disbelief, even taking into account the adrenaline probably pumping through their veins considering their cases and the actor admittedly being rich and physically attractive. The good thing though is that they have decent chemistry, it's not overdone to the point it becomes cringe (e.g. no "destined one true love" vibes, just a "normal" one, if fast moving), ML even admits that he has no idea whether or not they'll be together to the end or separate further down the road, he's just happy and eager to have the chance to find out. But more importantly, the romance isn't really that critical as the plot could have easily been the same if they had just remained close friends. If you're going into this for the romance, then you probably won't like it, but personally I'm getting tired of seeing romantic plotlines taking over series that had the potential to be really interesting (e.g. Memories of Alhambra or Hotel del Luna) so I was quite happy about this one. In my opinion, though it could be unconvincing in isolation, it worked very well when balanced with the other elements, only being a subdued component of the overall series rather than the main focus.
The lowkey fantasy element was nicely woven in; and I think it fitted really well into how the characters behaved and grew into. Rather than exploring his powers per say, the writers decided to focus on how such an ability would impact them. The ML's mindset, the way other characters react to the news, and debate on how to use it, or even if it's real or not, as well as how it ended up warping the main villain; overall, I felt it was very well done
I found the thriller aspect quite compelling. I admit that I was quite taken aback by the pacing however. It's not that it was bad, but I felt it was a bit non-standard. The villain is identified quickly, but gathering the evidence turns out much more difficult than expected. It wasn't a full series rush with constant cliffhangers like 365 Repeat the year for example, nor was it a constant roller coaster like he is Psychometric. It was moving forward, but with some lulls at time. I don't really know how to explain it; it was ok but it did throw me off a bit.
The villain is the one who carry the show in my opinion. The conflict, both within and without he portrayed was really interesting. He was both a victim and then a perpetrator, and the people around forcing that distinction got him. It was really interesting in that this gave him several layers. And what I really liked about this series is that the writers didn't take the easy way out, they didn't try to downplay one element or the other, but instead the conclusion is that he is BOTH a victim and a killer. His pitiable circumstances do not excuse his murders in any way, but conversely (and the final insistence on that was surprising) neither should his wrongdoings make his struggles disappear or become any less important. He killed, and he needs to be punished and repent from that, but he was also genuinely wronged, and he earned the apologies from the police, state and people who unfairly made his life hell growing up. His actions were understandable, but never justified. He was a criminal who took lives, but still human.
This can be very tricky for writers, which is why villains in series are often black or white, or die at the end. But he didn't get killed either, nor did he have one sad sappy scene before sacrificing his life or anything. No, he stayed fucking alive to pay for his crimes, and genuinely embarked on a thorny path to redemption for the reminder of his life. The writers managed to do it rather gracefully overall, and the series ended that plotline in a very satisfying way.
Now the main problem I've had with this series is that near the end, subverting the death visions came a bit too easily for my taste. It wasn't necessarily easy, but I still think the series would have benefitted from another unavoidable death after Mi-Jin, to really hammer it in that changing the visions is really, really difficult.
But overall, still a good series I enjoyed
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