Desperto (2020)

Just wow!

Let me start by saying that this is not my go-to genre. It's kind of hard for me to rate, because usually I rate on my enjoyment of a series. I, truthfully, can say that I didn't really enjoy it - wait, before you jump down my throat, hear me out. I didn't like the way it made me feel. It was dark and depressing, with the barest hint of clever repartee to lighten the mood slightly every so often. So, bottom line, the show achieved what it set out to do. It was so well written, and the acting was absolutely top-notch. I felt uncomfortable while watching it, watching morally/mentally gray characters. It raised a lot of questions while watching it: Where is the line between right and wrong? Is it hard to keep trying to straddle that line? Does absolute power corrupt absolutely? Do we ever really know those around us?

Most of the actors I had seen in other works, and they all seemed to be different versions of themselves than I had seen before. The sign of good acting.

If I didn't have to have a minimum word count, my review would consist of these two words - Namkoong Min. Always brilliant. I do have to make a complaint about the makeup on him. It looked like they went overboard on the self-tanner. His skin was so much darker than everyone else, it really bothered me. And I could have done without the sleazy moustache.

So, my suggestion is that you watch it, but be prepared to want to give up your daily life until you've finished it. It's just that good.

Leia Mais

Ups and downs in an overall decent drama

This drama goes through essentially 3 different stages so it's hard to talk about it as a whole. The first part is the classic murder mystery with a serial killer who seems to be able to do the impossible. It's pretty interesting and I liked how the story was evolving case by case. After about a third of the drama, the story changes and it becomes very fractured. Essentially it's like the table was flipped and now the pieces are all scattered. Characters get moved around and the status quo is broken in order to have some of the characters discover things on their own. Eventually they come all together for the last third of the story in a somewhat solid resolution. The last episode has some issues that trip it up and logically there were different ways for the story to unfold in the finale. Overall I would say that the first half is pretty interesting, second half also has some good plot reveals and twists, and the third half barely is able to make it all wrap up. My biggest critique is that there weren't palpable stakes. The actions of any of the villains were always against a third party or another villain. Very rarely were they actually acting against the main characters and there were very few moments where I felt there was real danger.

Another thing was that I just finished Kill It which had some very similar themes to this drama. That was a mistake in my opinion as I started getting details from both dramas mixed up.

Surprisingly I would say this is one of Nam Goong Min's weaker acting performances. There were moments where he shine or was given room to actually perform. But the moments where he was acting smarter than everyone else started to get boring for me. Seolhyun wasn't amazing but she gave a decent performance. Nothing to noteworthy besides Lee Chung Ha as I thought she has some really unique character traits in the first half of the drama. It got kinda lost as the story started centering mainly around Nam Goong Min's character.

Overall, solid watch and a good drama. Things could have been different or better in my opinion. If you want something that has a little bit more of a punch to it, dramas like Stranger are far superior in mystery and stakes.

Leia Mais

I liked it but it could have been better, Do Jung Woon is a one man army basically

There might be a mild spoiler but I'm not sure. Let me say first that I did enjoy it to a certain extend and that this show had a lot of my favourite genres. I just think it could have more you know? or maybe I have to stop comparing it to many of the other crime/thriller/mystery shows I watched.

Story: The story, for the most part, was quite compelling. I loved the premise and the mystery of the villaige kept me waiting on my toes. It was also one of the main reasons why I kept wathcing it, I just wanted to know what happened in the village. I found myself skipping quite a few parts, especially in the middle (after episode 6) because they felt so draggy. The way they revealed parts was both iteresting and a bit cheap because at one point you just know Do Jung woon probably already knew about it but didn't say anything. I am a bit sad knowing that I was in no rush to watch the next episode, which I had with the show mouse or beyond evil. I just knew I was gonna skip quite a bit, especially when Do Jung Woon wasn't on the screen because he was easily the most interesting and exciting character here.

Acting/Cast/Characters: Namkoong Min you damn genius. I love this mans acting and he was, once again, brilliant in the role of Do Jung Woon even though I am not the biggest fan of the beard he had. He is indeed a very good actor, who understands how the character should be played. He stole my attention everytime he was on screen and I looked forward to see his scenes. Do Jung Woon was the main attraction of the show and one of the reasons why I kept watching it in the first place. The problem is he could have done all of the detective work etc himself, and he basically did. The side characters didn't matter much and didn't do a lot since he is a genius who knows it all. This man is basically a one man army, he knew everything and could do everything. the others looked near useless next and/or without him.

I did not like Gong Hye Won at ALL, especially after episode 7 or so. She was miscasted in my opinion and like the others except maybe Jamie, not really needed at all. She is only there fro basically her dad. I skipped the majority of her "solo" scenes and her scenes with Do Jung Woon because she didn't interest me at all. The story would've still been quite comprehensive without her in there and only changing the story a little bit to get to the dad. It doesn't help that I don't like her acting here that much either, tho she is not a bad actress I just don't think she fits here that much.

Jamie was very interesting for like the first 6-8 Episodes, after that she became a bit of a side character and a plot used to get to Do Jung Woon and it makes me mad. She was a good character that had my interest and I really liked Lee Chung Ah's acting. I hate how they handled her character in the secong half of the show. It was a bit of a waste of her talent as an actor I think.

I am now a fan of Yoon Sun Woo, great acting, he played his character very well and I didn't really expect the twist. I wish to see more of him in roles like this in the future.

Special mention: the old man and his dealer companion were my favourites.

The villains were, well, you're typical "rich and powerful" kdrama villains, nothing too outstanding. They did their role and that was it, tho I rlly did dislike the goddamn scientist and Hye Wons father. Trash people.

Music: I don't remember much but I did like the OST at the end and there was nothing in musical terms disrupting the flow and mood of the show.

Rewatch Value: The rewatch value isn't rlly high for this show in my eyes, I skipped to many uninteresting scenes for this too, to wanting to rewatch it. Additionally, I don't rewatch shows or movies much, especially crime/mystery shows like this because well I already know the outcome etc so I think it's a bit boring. There are very few shows or movies I would and did rewatch like The Merciless.

Leia Mais

Mediocre, Had Some Fun Moments

Lee Shin Young and Woo Hyun's characters took the cake for me: Jang Ji Wan was the ditzy but well-intentioned crybaby sidekick that I find really endearing when juxtaposed with competent female colleagues. I'll admit it helped that he's horribly cute. Meanwhile, Jung Soon Gu was such a silly, over-acted character and I couldn't help but giggle at his facial expressions. The plot was somewhat novel to me, with the whole White Night Village experimentation and lucid dreaming thing.

Besides that, I found a lot of the drama fell flat. The acting from main guy, third child, and American girl were pretty rocky, though a lot of that could be due to bad directing. I didn't find Seolhyun's acting too bad, but that might be my affinity for her in AOA speaking. The characters weren't that interesting nor had much depth, including the villains. Do Jeong Woo was such a cocky, annoying character that I never really cared about him. I felt like the story got convoluted and uninteresting after around the middle. Ending was jarringly unsatisfying, though maybe that was amplified by how they did not leave time for you to take in the emotions of the quiet last scene before blasting full volume right into that cheesy outro song and stills from the show.

Leia Mais

I enjoyed it but...

The acting carried this drama. Namkoong Min steals the show in this series, delivering a powerful performance that keeps the audience hooked from beginning to end.

The problem with Jamie Leighton, don't live up to their special roles, feeling like regular officers rather than FBI or special agents. On god, she is just a burdened for everyone. The way Do Jung Wo dodges capture doesn't seem realistic. In this world, even thou he is a serial killer, you would think that his face would be everywhere in korea, but nope, he can just go anywhere he wants. And Jae Wong's Arc just sort of fizzles out without a satisfying ending. After his multiple identity merged together, he became nobody, and just a "Third child".

The Glass Fake Hype. I though DJW need that glass to have an insane focus inside his brain. They introduce this mysterious glass thing, and you think it's going to be a big deal. But nope, it's just a virtual reality tool for the bad guys to have the formula. It could have been cooler, especially for Do Jung Wo's plans.

The story is good, but it gets bogged down in places. Trimming about three to four episodes could have kept things moving along without unnecessary stuff getting in the way. The last episode feels rushed, cramming in too much at once. If they had taken a bit more time in the last two episodes, the ending could have been stronger and more satisfying.

Leia Mais

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It's a decent thriller mystery with an interesting premise and a good performance by the lead. Namkoong brought a lot of character to his character while trying to work with what turned out to be a mediocre flawed script with the usual plot holes. The pacing became problematic halfway through, as it felt sluggish and failed to maintain an engaging momentum. Its length is a contributing factor to that. The village story wasn't big enough to work with. Both female leads were poorly written and their inclusion affected the drama negatively. There was a poor attempt to force a romantic plot line which felt contrived and disrupted the narrative coherence. It would have been fine if they were to commit and go through with it rather than abandoning that. Both female leads lacked chemistry with Namkoong whether it was friendship/professional/romantic. The ending followed a typical and predictable pattern for its genre resulting in an underwhelming and unsatisfying ending. There was clearly a massive bait trying to capitalize on the "multi season" trend.

Leia Mais

A Good Series That Missed The Opportunity To Be Truly Incredible!

“Awaken” is a series with an interesting premise. One that seems to be part James Cameron’s “Dark Angel” and part horror of Nazi Germany where some of the most horrific medical experiments were conducted on Jews and other races thought to be inferior. While the series works as a whole, for the most part, it teeters between being a mystery/thriller and being a “moral compass” for those who commit unspeakable atrocities against others for the sake of science. And in some ways, the series comes up short on both.

Superintendent Jung Woo Do is a brilliant detective who heads the Police Special Agency’s special unit. At first, we’re given a glimpse into a man who’s quirkiness is merely the superficial layer of a man who’s like a Jason Bourne: he’s always thinking several moves ahead of everyone else. And while, we admire his intelligence, we also find that there’s a reason for it.

Go back 28 years to White Night Village, a locale on a remote island where horrifying medical experiments were conducted on orphan children for the sake of finding a drug that would slow/eradicate the aging process. Thanks to a young Jung Woo Do, he destroyed the village with only a few survivors as we find that Jung Woo Do is a man with more than a few exceptional abilities. Still, the very idea of scientists experimenting with children should be more than enough to stop anyone’s blood cold.

Jump to the present, and we find that the experiments from 28 years ago are being conducted again with top politicians and people in the higher echelons of society are also taking part for the hope of the miracle drug that will grant immortality.

Dr. Jamie Leighton is a Korean American who is a part of the FBI’s BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit), and one of the FBI’s elite. She finds herself summoned back to Korea to investigate a series of bizarre murders. Unfortunately, she also ends up being the weakest character of the series. She makes amateur mistakes that no FBI agent would ever make, not to mention that her English is heavily accented, which would also be an issue. Especially for someone who essentially grew up in the U.S. It seems that she’s more of a liability than anything else as she’s captured three times throughout the series. By the end of the series, we’re left to wonder what the point of her character was—aside from being a survivor of White Night Village.

To complete the trio, we have Lt. Gong Hye Won, who is a very capable police officer. She’s rash and has a hot temper. She’s also quite effective in hand-to-hand combat. It also becomes clear that she has feelings for Jung Woo Do, despite the fact that he really doesn’t feel the same. Gong Hye Won soon finds out that her own father is one of the principal scientists involved in the medical experiments. At first, she follows him, trying to figure out why he’s always at work. But when she finds out what he’s really up to, and that children are dying because of his experiments, she tries to talk to him. This is understandable—at first. I’m not exactly sure how Gong Hye Won’s character becomes so skewed, as she’s far more interested in trying to be diplomatic with her father than forcing him to account for the murders of innocent children, even after it’s more than apparent that her father doesn’t feel the slightest remorse of his actions because he firmly believes it’s all in the name of science. Nazi German doctors all but said the same thing. That didn’t make them any less of the monsters they truly were. Gong Hye Won is a huge disappointment where this is concerned. If the murders of children aren’t enough to get you to do what’s right, then I’m not sure what could.

While the immoral actions of the murders of children are addressed, it ultimately ends up taking a backseat to Jung Woo Do trying to discover who’s behind the experiments rather than trying to save the children as being in conjunction with the overall mission. There are a few scenes where Jung Woo Do—of all the characters—displays the most concern and outrage, but not much is done beyond that to try and save children who are still being slaughtered.

Namkoong Min (Jung Woo Do) is easily the best actor of the series, turning in a marvelous performance as the extremely intelligent and often quirky superintendent. The series takes some delight in making the viewer wait to see Jung Woo Do’s full complement of abilities, which makes him out to be like a superhero. He reminds me of Max from “Dark Angel.”

The end of the series is a little far-fetched and a slight letdown as Jung Woo Do and everyone confronts the mastermind and the scientists behind the experiments. And yet, there is really no acknowledgment about what was going on to the community at large. We have the reporter who leaks the story, but there are no scenes of public anger about what has happened or anything describing the experiments and the cost of the lives of so many children. I was even waiting to see if the Blue House would make some kind of announcement. Instead, the end was more about Jung Woo Do’s disappearance, Dr. Leighton finally going home—for all the good she did—and Gong Hye Won’s promotion.

The writers had a real opportunity to address and acknowledge the atrocities of the story, but they didn’t have the courage to go there, which is a real shame. This series could have been thought-provoking and asked for some serious soul-searching, but this doesn’t happen. All in all, the series is certainly entertaining, but it misses out on the chance to delve much deeper than it ended up doing.

Leia Mais