The thread is now open for analysis and discussion.
gifs from natahjikio’s tumblr
Hmmm…this is an intriguing premise since it proposes that the male lead Kim Heewoo turn himself into a bigger monster than his enemy in order to take him down. This runs counter to Heewoo’s central belief that a prosecutor is someone clothed in the righteousness of law and justice.
I think the significant conflict here is not between Heewoo and the corrupt politician but between Heewoo and himself since he made a Faustian bargain with the Devil herself. A Faustian bargain is self-defeating because the person unwittingly gives up something more precious than he originally bargained for.
According to the legend, Dr. Faustus was a scholar and magician who traded his immortal soul for unlimited knowledge and pleasure. The inevitable moral crisis that he would face so fascinated writers through the centuries that the legend has been coopted as a cautionary tale of “unholy” alliances and pacts. This kdrama is basically another adaptation of the legend. Heewoo hasn’t yet discovered that he might have compromised something more valuable than he intended. Fortunately for him, though, guardian angels are all around him, like that pesky classmate of his, Lee Minsoo.
Enjoy the show!
Thanks for the thread @pkml3!
Episode 5
While Show is not a particularly compelling watch, even compared to the simpler ‘Reset’, I do like this production that really gives Hee Woo a chance to do over, to make friends, to form collaborations for the future, to save individuals with his prior knowledge, in other words, to really live Again, his Life, with a specific view to making a better future than the one he lived before.
It’s good that the situations he acts on, and characters he meets and influences, do not end up just as forgettable side stories but will make the difference to him in the future.
Each episode, we are given the de rigueur fight scenes and our Lee Junki/Joongi just dazzles, at least the parts that are not hidden during lights out LOL. The Show must have a fight choreographer with lots of work to do, and they wisely switched off the lights so that everyone did not get overworked!
I guess Show has put in place most of the characters (chess pieces?) needed for the steps HW will take, to bring down CTS ultimately.
Our cliffhanger is a slap to the face when we expected HW to receive congratulations. A good ploy so that we anticipate tonight’s episode.
From what little I’ve seen of this kdrama, the comparison to chess is apt, @GB. The mistake of the male lead in his previous life (aka Before He Died) was that he did it alone. His messianic complex got the better of his professional conduct and performance.
— but then, this character flaw can also be the writer’s perception of what constitutes a model prosecutor. The writer thinks that prosecutor sees the world as black or white, and does not need to exercise sound discretion in the use of prosecutorial power in pursuit of criminals. I rolled my eyes when I saw the male lead smash his head with the wood beam, karate-chop his way through a gang arrest, and the following day, buy the street vendor’s kimbap like a benevolent overlord.
That said, if I ignore the weird notion of a prosecutor as a street vigilante and avenging messiah, the theme of a do-over is believable. In a way, this storyline reminds me of:
a. “Hello, Me!” a kdrama where the female lead had to meet her 17-year-old self in order to heal her trauma, find herself, and get back on her feet.
b. “Legally Romance” the chinese drama I’m currently watching where a comatose female lead relives her 18-year-old self in order to gain the right perspective on her past relationships and sort her life out in the present time.
c. “Tomorrow” the kdrama about grim reapers currently showing on netflix.
In Episode 3, I noticed that male lead met another one of his chess pieces, or his guardian angels. His real estate mentor and financial backer, the old man, Woo Yung Soo. I’ve to point out that this Woo Yung Soo warned him of the danger of the “Faustian pact” that I mentioned in this thread.
He said that the real estate is about greed and the loss of character.
He said that real estate starts off with the ground (or piece of property), then the building, and then planting trees. He meant that beautifying the property to raise its value for the resale. That’s greed, for him.
And what’s the price of greed, he asked?
“It’s a business that robs you of your character.”
Like the Faustian bargain.
Dr. Faust’s desire for knowledge = a real estate developer’s greed = the male lead’s overzealous desire to win
Dr’s Faust’s loss of his soul = a real estate developer’s loss of character = the male lead’s loss of life
That’s true @pkml3. I noted in Ep 1 that the trope I noticed was the ‘one, great hero’. It was a mistake to think he could do it all on his own. In his do-over, he has decided that to prepare to take on CTS, he has to grow a team or the pawns, knight, bishop… and we can guess at the queen. In the opening credits we see chess pieces and the suggestion that the black king faces a black rook. I assume CTS is the king to HW’s rook (who falls off the table in the opening credits). It’s interesting that he is not white rook. The thought of the Faustian pact emerges. Is he choosing among the black pieces only?
I am surprised that despite the legal and political aspects of this show, you have at least given it a glance. I’m glad to get your take on it.
I watched “Hello Me!” It was quite cathartic. I laughed over the squid analogy: she was trapped in her squid costume and was overlooked, although she had loads of untapped ability (those squid tentacles! LOL). It needed her teenage self to remind her of her greater potential.
So many shows, so little time. *sigh*
I like the scenario you raised about how HW’s ultimate fight is not against CTS, but against himself. The question we watch to find out is, instead of choosing between being a black rook or black king, whether he will choose white.
We missed out on seeing more of HW’s guardian angels in Ep 5. I hope we’ll get to see them tonight!
We are slopping toward the “dream team” trope.
Episode 5. I liked the funny situation in the provincial presecutor office.
These sleepy guys never work of the year… first afraid about Kim Hee Woo, then relaxed when they see he don’t come to the office all day and think he’s lazy too. And then… “do it before the end of the day”… as if it was an additionnal delay. 🙂
Episode 6 cliffhanger.
4th wall breaking!!!
“Move yourself”, the guy moves, so KHW can shoot his finger to the camera.
EP 6 – It’s still so satisfying watching HW help individuals while assembling his ‘chess pieces’ (I counted 10 without the 2 Seoul Prosecutors) and preparing to head back to Seoul. I guess it will only be there when he’ll run afoul of ‘dear’ CTS and we’ll have the suspense of a real chess game.
I’m not sure yet where the Chief Prosecutor will stand, since he’s pally with CTS. His daughter being Reporter Kim Han Mi, though, makes it interesting.
I forgot to add that it’s nice to see all the ladies of Hee Woo’s youth, grown into capable women, and also the overly chatty Min Soo again. I was just saying yesterday that I hoped we’d get to see the guardian angels, and these are possibly the angels in HW’s life.
I’m enjoying it. I’m not majorly invested – the plot doesn’t give time to really develop the characters but I am enjoying the build up of the story and the ‘dream team’ as @WEncanteur put it.
It worries me sometimes when our hero is intervening as much as he is and reassuring people that they will x, y and z. He simply can’t know that, for instance, in the case of the regional prosecutor that he promises to take with him to Seoul. So I watch nervously in places for his confidence to be misplaced. That hasn’t happened yet – not really – other than being slapped in ep 5 and the surprise of having to do his military service again!
But thinking about this… I am then not sure what kind of drama I am watching. Robin Hood (almost invincible, light, Errol Flynn style… LJK has something of EF about him), Count of Monte Cristo… quiet, irresistible revenge snowballing forward, or as @Packmule3 proposes, Faustian contract.
For me the bets are off but he will have to make a tough decision later on…
I am not liking the use of Holst… clunky in extreme and I much prefer the more contemporary driving sound track to convey his resolve and vision.