The premiere is here!
Remember my Bitch rule: If a guest monopolizes the conversation with oppa-drivels (i.e., oppa is handsome, oppa is heart-eu, oppa has abs/pecs/mantitty, oppa is hawt, oppa is as;dga;sdkg!), it’s my sole discretion to remove or block that post. Let’s stick with our usual discussion of plots and characters, not overwhelming fangirl’s feelings. 🙂
Let’s enjoy the show!
Hi! Where is everyone watching this? It’s not on Viki.
Thanks for the thread @pkml3. Instead of oppa anything I’ll go doensaengs are scary, doensaengs make me anxious, doensaengs are being ridiculous LOLOL.
I checked back that I did say I’d check out this show to know what kind of hero LDW was supposed to be. I might hang out for WHJ and Han Ji Eun whom I could not even recognise as the same girl in Lovestruck!! 😆
Welcome to the blog, @UnnieShimkoong.
I think it’s on Iqi Yi but since I’m being careful not to subscribe to that site, I’m waiting to hear from Viki whether it’ll carry the drama like it did with Roommate is a Gumiho, and Jirisan.
Meanwhile, Kissasian will have it up in no time. 😂
I managed to FFD through Episode 1. Starts off pretty bloody and has intermittent violence (yeah, more blood). As a set-up for the series episode, it was action packed (read fight scenes), fast paced and introduced the major characters. Show is elevated from the usual violent, dirty cop and corruption themes by the ambiguous character of K. We are to wonder if K exists or not, or is part of the ML’s psyche. I hope future episodes tone down on all that action and gore.
There’s a repeated theme of water/being submerged. Perhaps someone has started drowning in guilt, shame? Officer Oh’s trusting, sincere, good cop character is ML’s foil. I trust he will survive until the end, in the bad and crazy world.
I’m not sure if I’ll be watching this but as usual, will read the posts!
@PM3 – I think it’s my first time to see/read the Welcome/Unwelcome link. Aww, I feel so previleged to be listed as one of your favorites! Thank you again for this safe space to talk about our drama-watching pastime. It’s been a year since I actively joined this esteemed group and it’s the best! Holiday cheers to all!
You can watch it on iqiyi. I was able to watch the first two episodes for free there. Perhaps a good try-before-you-buy plan?
*rather spoiler-free*
I really struggled through the first episode bc I couldn’t see much of a plot other than chaotic OTT antics. I found myself doing anything but watching the episode. It also seemed like the LDW show. The second episode fared much better for me. I had hope that maybe the crime plot was more complex than what was shown so far, with some twists being thrown in. K, Wi Ha-Joon’s character, is still pretty one-dimensional (the dimension being “crazy”). However, I do like seeing our main lead struggle between doing the right thing and getting his promotion.
Well, that was violent.
I had to laugh, that within the first minutes of the episode we get to see LDW’s bloodied, naked torso in a fight club scene (I notice we don’t see the face of his opponent); fifteen minutes into the first episode we see LDW’s sweaty, naked torso in a sauna; and watching both scenes I imagine @Packmule3 clucking her tongue, shaking her head, and muttering, “He must not have enough pull to include a no-nudity clause in his contract.” But on his own talk show, he displayed side-by-side photos of Gong Yoo and himself with torsos bared, and the two of them talked about exercising regularly and being happy with the results. My impression is that LDW is all too happy to displayed his toned upper body to the world.
Setting aside the fan service, scenes with the character Soo Yeol being only partially clothed emphasize his vulnerability. They are accompanied with images of Soo Yeol being submerged in water, suspended in a state of unconsciousness. Violence against his body is paired with lack of mental awareness. SY repeatedly has blackout periods, and when he comes back to himself he’s not sure if he’s dreamed up the violence he experienced, or if it really happened. We, along with Soo Yeol, have to ask if what we see is real or not. Throughout the two episodes we get hints:
– SY drinks alcohol, to excess at times
– SY, under the affects of alcohol, causes himself physical harm: almost drowning by falling asleep–fully clothed–in a bathtub full of water; tripping over his own feet when trying to remove his wet pants.
– SY frequently complains of head pain. Sometimes he attributes it to hangover. Sometimes he attributes it to physical trauma.
– In other people’s experience of him (his mother, his direct superior on the force) displaying heroics is out of character for SY.
I’m not surprised by the reveal at the end of episode 2, that K is SY’s alter ego. My guess is that there will be a further reveal that SY has something going on in his brain, perhaps a tumor or a slow bleed from head trauma. Mental illness has also been hinted at, but that wouldn’t be likely to cause SY head pain.
Both LDW and Wi Ha Jun are engaging in their roles, but I’m dubious about how Show will pull off this two-as-one/one-is-two twist. Will the main plot tension be SY versus K to see who will ultimately dominate his sense of self? Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? White Swan versus Black Swan? Will the plot tension be SY and K, in alliance, fighting the evil within the police force and government?
For two episodes Show had us seeing two characters, physically distinct, often simultaneously in different locations onscreen: one upstairs, one downstairs; one inside, one outside. I feel we viewers have been aggressively misled. How can one person, even with split personality, be upstairs looking in a closet and finding an important clue while fighting a mob of baddies downstairs. I suppose the quack psychiatrist (and probable drug dealer) gave us a hint when he told SY, “After going through a traumatic incident, people start talking nonsense and seeing things…You start to confuse the timeline, think you saw someone when you didn’t, and feel as if you experienced something that you never did…” We are being warned that SY isn’t a reliable narrator.
If Show is going to use mental illness as the reason for the SY-K dynamic, here’s something that may give perspective:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dissociative-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20355215
I imagine that as Show progresses, we’ll learn more about the traumatic incident that was the genesis of K from within SY. As SY said, it wouldn’t be his fall from the burning rooftop apartment onto the car below as he cradled the good policeman in his arms, since K appeared to him before that.
I have been impressed by the camera work in this drama. It is not just showing us the story, but helping to tell it, if that makes any sense: for instance, seeing SY’s reflection in K’s helmet from SY’s perspective.
@Welmaris, thanks for the link. I too was looking up Dissociative Disorders after Episode 1. So his other personality (an embodiment of the part of him who wants to do good, like a hero) pops up whenever he has accumulated enough guilt/stress from colluding with the bad guys. Truly a case of a person at war with himself. It reminds me of those cartoons where conscience (embodied in an angel) and temptation (looks like a demon) battle it out for their owner’s soul.
I felt that LDW’s expressions have gone back to being OTT. They would sit better in the person of his crazy self ie they might be more appropriate if he and WHJ changed roles.
In any case I’m glad there’s almost no bloodshed in Episode 2, a marked improvement!
I have now watched both episodes and I was completely immersed in the story. Much like the ML was immersed in water quite a few times. I did wonder constantly if he needed an MRI scan but the end of episode 2 gives us some clarity.
It’s fast paced, with crazy fight sequences, which I love. I admired Lee Dong Wook for taking on such a project. He can pull off the morally corrupt individual with a ‘hero’ side to him still fighting with such panache to be let out. I am interested to see how he ends up. I don’t foresee a rosy ending but some justice will be served.
The character K can be hard one to have around all the time. There is no easy way to live alongside K. He is full on and unrelenting. And an excellent choice of actor to play this role. What a fantastic year this actor has had!
As someone who likes the high octane action dramas with humour thrown in, this ticks all the boxes. Shame it isn’t on a more accessible platform as with the current appetite for kdrama from a wider audience, this one would do well.
Kalimera Everyone!
For reasons unknown,I haven’t received an email and I didn’t see this thread! 🙁
I have watched both episodes and it is bad and crazy, indeed! 😀
I have realized from the very beginning that the guy with the helmet is his alter ego or his split personality. Still, it is refreshing to see Lee Dong Wook playing such a role. I like it. And Wi Ha Jun is brilliat as well. His smile is joker like.
I think Soo Yeol’s trauma is before the fall.
The first time he encountered K was in the Sauna, but the fight while he was drowning in that bathtub showed us that he is was drifting in his subconscious. Something has happened before, that made him have the Dissociative Disorder!
Have you seen “It’s okay, that’s love”? It shows there how it happened…
Hi @Cleo, although I did watch It’s Okay, That’s Love, I can’t recall what the trauma was or how the Dissociative Disorder took place. I recall only that he was OCD and there was an imaginary person too. Would you mind refreshing my memory of that Show?
I’ve no time to watch Episode 2. I will have to maybe decide which Shows I have to postpone watching (or drop altogether), because too many have started at the same time. 😉
@GB Unnie,
In “It’s okay, that’s love”, when his hyung stabbed Jang Jae-Yeol in that party, then his split personality showed up as one of his fans who was present at the incident. We didn’t know, until some episodes later, when JY was caught up in a cctv fighting an imaginary enemy. JY thought he was saving the boy from his abusive father.
I know what you mean. There are so plenty to watch these days. Tonight Moonshine is premiering as well…
Thank you my agapimeni Doensaeng Cleo. I really can’t recall the details of most Shows. That’s why I can rewatch and the twist is again a pleasant surprise LOL.
I don’t think I’ll try Moonshine. Please let us know what you think of it. 🙂
@GB Unnie,
You are welcome. I started it two months ago, so it is kinda fresh. I haven’t finished “It’s okay, that’s love”, though. I have it on pause.
I don’t know, if I will manage to watch “Moonshine”. There are things to be done and if I find time the following days I might watch it. I will inform you about it!