The K2: A Missed Opportunity That Fumbled Its Potential Due to One Character's Existence...

***Major Spoilers***

I try to give thorough reviews, normally of higher quality and good writing/pacing, but this will be a more scattered review. I just want to start by saying I watched it for the first time and I have to say, this show aged too poorly. Korean production has significantly improved in recent years, both in terms of quality and narrative depth. Society has developed in a different direction with its portrayals. So now, watching in 2024 (and as an adult) I have to say that the drama shows its age. This wasn't an enjoyable watch due to the poor plotline, the ridiculous level of disbelief I'm expected to suspend, and outdated character portrayals. What started as a strong political thriller quickly devolved into a frustratingly poor viewing experience.
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A Promising Start That Went Off the Rails

Like many others, I feel that this show was a missed opportunity. This show started out soo good. It truly had so much potential—an action-packed story centered on a framed mercenary navigating political intrigue while battling his own trauma. This premise alone could have carried the entire series. Sadly, the writers derailed this promising narrative by forcing a romance that felt unnecessary and contrived. The transition from gripping political drama to sappy love story was jarring and destroyed the show’s cohesion. From that point the romance was introduced and on, everything in the show became little more than a stepping stone to prop up the most forced romance known to man. So many interesting side characters that likely got their content cut due to the heavy focus on the needless romance that the show could have gone without.
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The Utterly Needless and Forced Romance

The romance between K2 and Anna was one of the most forced I’ve ever seen -- actually, I have to say if my memory serves me right... the WORST I've seen. I'm not being hyperbolic. I have been watching dramas since I was 10, so it's been 16 years now. And in all my time, this has been the most forced. I’m supposed to believe K2 started falling for Anna because she danced with ramen and looked 'pure'? Really? 😂 Give me a break. Watching K2 gush about her while he basically creeped on her through the camera felt more like a blooper and Ji Chang Wook playing himself rather than his character. I think he's a good actor and in that moment, I doubted his skills and thought maybe he isn't so great. I know he is, but those scenes really did him no favors as his lines did seem adlibbed there. Perhaps people think I am nitpicking but I disagree, the show took itself seriously, it wasn't meant to be silly and unserious so such a moment can't really be excused. Moments of comedy do not equal complete lapses of character. Even if you ignore the ridiculousness of that, it's still ridiculous. It was meant to be cute that he made the ramen for her, honestly it was all kind of creepy, voyeuristic and one sided. I get it was his job, but what separates him from stalkers that "bond" with their targets by watching them? If Ji Chang wasn't a hottie it'd honestly be creepy and disturbing, and she should not have any good memories of him at that point. But nevertheless, it was a ridiculous scene that showed his reasons for falling for her were so forced and contrived. Someone argued there's more bonding that happens offscreen, and that time is just likely condensed...fine, and I agree with that. But then don't expect the audience to buy the romance that you failed to sell. That goes for the bodyguard romance too. They all seemed to come out of nowhere. I know the writers are capable, because they portrayed Choi's feelings just fine. Yet they completely failed to sell me on the relationship between the two leads due to the lack of (and delayed) screen time Anna got with him. When you have to show a moment of bonding as a flashback that was an ad for Subway that never even happened onscreen, you've completely failed! I can't blame Anna's actor for this but the writers and maybe editing choices if this footage was cut out or they created too many scenes to cram into the show.
Ignoring the forced weirdness of the romance, the pacing of their relationship was horrible. For a man haunted by the trauma of watching his RECENTLY BETROTHED die before his eyes—a trauma that supposedly defines him and drives his revenge, his reason to wake up in the morning!—he sure moved on quickly. Other than a fleeting nightmare scene and a conversation on the roof, his grief and guilt are barely even paid any mind, making his sudden infatuation with Anna feel wildly inconsistent. This man is willing to live his life for the sole purpose of revenge, no way he should be moving on happily and NOT wary of getting close to people again.

The romance wasn’t just forced—it actively undermined the story and other characters. K2, a supposed ingenious mercenary capable of evading international authorities, suddenly devolves into a fool who makes reckless choices for Anna. He also survives and fights through mortal wounds somehow in order to save her. And Anna is the epitome of a plot-device damsel in distress. Watching her get kidnapped over and over again was both predictable and exhausting. And the incnsistencies in his character due to her existence in the story -- they say he's the guy who can't pull the trigger to kill and yet is fine pulling the trigger (or knife) to harm sometimes or indirectly be the reason for someone's death (the very end scenes, and pulling off some guy's poison gas mask). His character went from bada*s to complete simp that acted senselessly and completely lost interest in getting revenge for the death of his loved one. This all happens due to Anna's existence in the story.

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Anna’s Weak Character

What gets me is the people defending this poor writing by saying it's expected that a girl hidden away from the world is naive. Obviously I don't expect a girl in her circumstances to NOT be naive and weak, or to fight against trained operatives. But just bc it makes sense for her to be weak doesn't make for a fun viewing experience for the audience. Watching this is the same reason why we don't want to watch characters sleeping, taking their transport home, going to the bathroom and all the dull yet realistic things between scenes. None of those things are particularly fun to see on screen. Her portrayal as a helpless damsel dragged down the more interesting parts of the plot. It's not a fun watch but it's also not fair to a character, because she only exists for the sake of showing how great K2 is. It's problematic and the worthless damsel in distress is a painful watch in 2024. I recognize this is hindsight, but I'm finding old comments from when this show first aired of people making the same complaints. It seemed outdated then so it's definitely outdated now.

But worse, her character wasn’t even consistent. I'll bite and accept that excuse, but then you'd better have a good explanation for why a girl with a panic disorder who's been locked away from the world suddenly has great social skills and is giving speeches in front of crowds and at fashion shows filmed for the world to see! If we are chalking her portrayal up to her naivete then it's all or nothing, and this must be criticized as well. She is only a useless damsel when the plot needs her to be. If we are speaking of realism, she probably wouldn't even be able to step outside. Someone essentially imprisoned and isolated since childhood would have severe mental impairment that affects their ability to function normally, learn normally, or even communicate with words...she'd be unable to take care of herself let alone deal with a crowd. if we are speaking of realism, this entire show wouldn't exist as Anna would be mentally fried. You can't pick and choose when to use the realism argument. If we’re leaning on realism to defend her weaknesses, then we should also critique the lack of realism in her sudden competence (and everyone else's subsequent incompetence to give her plot armor.)

Anna’s arc was supposed to be about reclaiming her agency, but we never saw her actually overcoming anything. We never saw her overcome her phobias, or even what happened in that random one-day addiction on anxiety pills. We never saw the conclusion or any closure with the dude who ended up killing her mom. We never saw her character really grow or develop. She was static in the end, despite clearly the writers wanting to portray her as having grown. To the very end, it was K2 doing everything and never her taking fate into her own hands. We never really saw her bond with anyone to the point where her care for them made sense. Like the female bodyguard who spent years talking badly about her, and the "uncle" who she completely trusts for no reason in favor of K2 in a frustrating sequence of events. Perhaps they filmed too much and had to cram, but I have doubt it when in later episodes, they were desperately padding out runtime with long flashbacks of previous episodes. Poor plotting, plain and simple. She drags the rest of the plot down with her as it becomes about saving her over anything else.
A moment fresh for me where this really sticks out is the ending deaths of her father and Choi (not to mention the poor writing to allow the utter foolishness of even bringing Anna there around her "Uncle" and turning their backs to an enemy without subduing him). Characters seem to survive fatal gunshots, the father and Choi could have escaped at the end with Choi able to survive with medical attention. When he put the bomb inside the glass, Choi told him to save himself. But since he already gave the heroic dad speech, even though he had time to spare and get back, he was like..nahhh ima just die here it'd be awk to go back now after I sounded like a cool dad. He decided to stay and die for no reason. He also could have carried Choi and saved them both, and she could have still commanded Mirror to close the glass. What a silly scene with preventable deaths that only happened for the sake of poeticism and plot. I understand the way it wraps their characters up but the writing was poor and didn't convince me that the father and Choi Yoo-Jin's choices here were really any redemption or sacrifice. They were needless deaths, them dying served no sacrifice because they could have escaped with their lives as well and it wouldn't have changed anything. So it, in my opinion, failed to have any narrative payoff or redemption that these characters deserved.

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Choi Yoo-jin: The Star of the Show

In contrast to my critiques, Choi Yoo-jin was an absolute powerhouse. I ONLY, ONLY watched this show really for her. I arrived for Ji Chang but left for Song Yoon. The actress...WOW. Just WOW. Not only was her acting beyond just..AMAZING, but I do have to give it to the writers for creating such a character. I don't consider her a villain but she's the top of my list as favorite kdrama "villain" ever, and one of the best characters overall I've come across. What a beautiful character. Her duality as a ruthless political player and a deeply human character made her the most compelling figure in the series. The tension between her and K2 was far more interesting than anything involving Anna. Some folks might get mad that people liked the romantic tension between Choi and K2, but the show itself is to blame for setting it up. Anna wasn’t introduced until much later, and the original focus was on Choi and K2’s dynamic. Naturally, the audience will become invested based on when and HOW characters are showni. If the director wanted to be more balanced with character's liking Anna, then it was their total failure because checkov's gun is one of the most basic rules of cinema. I see people fussing in comments, but blame the director for the mixed signals, not the audience who only take in what they are shown.

But regardless, even without the romantic tension, Choi Yoo-jin carried the show. Her complexity, ambition, and vulnerability were brilliantly portrayed, making her a character you couldn’t take your eyes off. Her moral ambiguity—doing whatever it takes to survive in a cutthroat world—was more realistic and relatable than Anna’s one-dimensional purity. People who dismiss Choi as a villain probably view the world with tinted glasses that they are the heroes of their own story. But human beings are morally gray; they operate under moral ambiguity and have justifications for their behaviors all the same. Choi often saw herself as a victim. Now, I don't think her having people killed that are trying to kill her makes her a villain, but her using others and targeting innocents isn't okay. My point isn't to glamorize her actions but to point out that it isn't so simple to see her as some wicked villain. (And the comments that sound like this tend to be from younger viewers/ e.g. minors) The context of the world she has been brought up in of corruption and betrayal shouldn't be understated. Her character is a beautiful study on human nature and all its complexities. But yeah I found this character carried the show.

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Conclusion

The K2 might have been groundbreaking in its time, but watching it in 2024 highlights how poorly it has aged. Its outdated tropes and inconsistent writing make it a frustrating experience, especially when compared to the more nuanced and polished K-dramas of today. While it had a few redeeming qualities—primarily Choi Yoo-jin’s character, and small moments of humor or bromance; Ji Chang's good looking self; I liked the music well enough—they weren’t enough to save it from its own poor decisions. What could have been a gripping political thriller turned into a forgettable melodrama weighed down by an unnecessary and poorly executed romance. That's not even getting into the silly (but still entertaining enough) fight choreography. There ARE sweet moments between the leads but in order to enjoy them, I had to think of them as in a vacuum and ignore the rest of the story. For anyone considering this show, be prepared for a lot of missed opportunities. Healer with Ji Chang was much better, I loved it a lot when I watched it long ago (and he kisses better there and has actual chemistry with the FL.) For now, I'm off to find a drama that hopefully gives me what this drama COULD have been.

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