Somebody (2022)

HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL.

Like the majority of watchers, i was also intrigued by the trailer. With a promising storyline and everything that i love in a drama -thriller, mystery, psychological... it had so much potential but unfortunately just fell short for me.


THE GOOD.

- the FL was alright, the representation of Aspergers syndrome was interesting to see. Kim young Kwang is amazing as always. His portrayal of a psycho was scarily good.

- the cinematography, acting and overall production was incredible- it was something that kept me watching.


THE BAD

- The pacing was abit off. The first 2 episodes were great- the establishment of the main leads were solid and the interesting plot was set into motion. But as the episodes continued, the storyline became somewhat slow and incoherent, with unnecessary plots line and filler episodes (ep 6). Then as the series came to an end, it begins to escalate- with the serial killer receiving weird calls from his past victims and him finally feeling threatened, for him to then be killed?

- I wish they delved further into the serial killers background. We get a VERY brief insight into his past; he had a mother who apparently abandoned him. We also see how his first murder was accidental but then what!? TELL ME MORE. Did he not have any friends /family? How did he get that scar? how did he target his victims? and how did he easily get away with it??

- most characters lacked any depth. what was the point of the boss lady please.

- The police character was infuriately STUPID. You first decided to meet an unknown guy at a far away secluded location, find out he lied about his disability and slept with him, for him to then abandon you after disposing your wheelchair- yet you decide to meet him again? i don't understand how she didn't use the police facilities to identify the guy? the wheelchair friend had the potential to be a badass character, but ended up being a disappointment. why he didn't kill her is truly a mystery to me?

- LETS TALK ABOUT EPISODE 6. This ep must've solely been made to annoy the hell out of viewers. At this point she's aware of his psycho nature but she decides to meet him again for revenge with nothing but her wheelchair and half a brain. atleast take some backup smh. ALSO why/how do pedestrians have easy access to demolition sites?

- the police were useless as usual.

- was the extreme nudity and sex scene necessary? i'm not a prude, but they didn't really add anything to the story.

- The main leads apparently fall in love. but there was no build up to that. They met rarely and briefly, for them to suddenly be madly in love?? We get to see the 'human' side of the serial killer in the final episode. He starts to show ¿remorse? for his actions. the complete 180 of his character was too sudden and uneventful.

Overall, the story was very promising. has great momentum in the beginning, to come to a halt towards the end. The ending was just right for me, but with the weird pacing it was rather anti-climatic.

Leia Mais

Korean cinema and thriller were born to be together

The first Korean work of television I have encountered that I can call a work of art. Now this is not the same as My Mister or Mr. Sunshine which are highest quality television. But Somebody felt like watching a class Korean film over eight episodes with a shot selection, attention to character expressions, and subtle dialogue and hidden motives that makes me think of Hamlet, the Mona Lisa, and American Psycho (which I didn't even know this adapted until looking it up). As well as the strongest use of score on the following terms: the greatest use of classical music for socio/psychopaths' trope, dual leitmotif for the two leads, interspersed pop, and the show's own soundtrack which is just so good, that I have seen in Korean television. Modern social communication ft. dating apps, a shaman, a serial killer, an AI chatbot, and love. The only word I can properly use to describe Somebody is insane, and I'm glad that Netflix suggested it to me because this was so up my dark alley.

Shows like these make me excited for the future of Korean television, which in my opinion, is still nascent and only started showing its potential in the 2010s. The last time I tried to pull an all-nighter for a short series was Babylon 2-3 years ago (anime series about someone who makes people commit suicide). Somebody's sick at times but I just could not stop.

Leia Mais

Easy to love the cast but hard to love story

I love thrillers/murder mysteries and it's been a while since new psycho killer dramas. Kim Young Kwang with his jokerish smile was a great choice for this role and there's no question the whole cast can act but the weakness is in the script.  
The dialogue felt slow.

By Ep 6 I am just like what is this sloppy nonsense?  Literally poor decisions all around.

Why did disabled cop go meet him alone?
Why did she go party first before calling her colleague about discovering ...?
LGBT Shaman storyline felt random
ML and ML only shared a few lines and deeply connected?  There really should've been some development with that.
Overly dark lighting
Radom fingers on the phone screen...............

Lost potential with this great cast because there could've been so many interesting storylines:
ML back scar story?
FL first gambling hall employer?
FL and Cop friend, how were they able to grow close then fell apart at some point?
How did she become that way?
Shaman and cop, what's the story there?
FL & ML 's emotional connection at a deeper level?

Leia Mais

Casting Kim Young Kwang was the only good thing about this drama

Kim Young Kwang blew me away with his acting. His character literally made my skin crawl. He's the embodiment of creepy. The story however feels flat and it makes no sense. The FMC's best friend is disabled and she sees MMC's face multiple times so she would be able to easily identify him and the fact that he leaves her alone despite knowing that she could go to the police with this information was unbelievable. And on top of that, the best friend is disabled and despite this, she chooses to pursue. Honestly I wouldn't have cared if she died because the choices she made were utterly stupid. If she were to die, it would just be evolution doing it's thing. Yeah, it was utterly stupid and I was so disappointed because I was actually excited for this drama.

Leia Mais

What did Bret Easton Ellis do to these writers?

Before we started this show, my sister said to me, "I like the concept but you can't trust Netflix," and I laughed because I thought she was being dramatic. Well. Am I the idiot or what. I've wasted hours and hours of my life on other things before and managed to walk away laughing about how much I like to torture myself with crap but this? I'm angry. None of this really matters and I have so many other things I should be worried about but this actually made me angry enough that I made an account for this review. I could be doing something constructive instead but since I've already wasted 8+ hours on this show, I might as well waste five more minutes.

Related to 'American Psycho' (both the novel and the movie) in neither plot nor substance, the only good thing about this show was the acting. I guess the ambience, as well. Really not sure what was worse between the nonsensical actions of the protagonists or that borderline criminal rendition of 'The House of the Rising Sun'. Like, I think they're really lucky that's a folk song and therefore has no single owner because otherwise, I'd be getting in touch with their descendents to suggest that they sue. Might suggest that Bret Easton Ellis sue them for what they did to his novel but I guess if he could be chill about what they did to his first novel, he'd be chill about this, too. But, like, I don't have to be.

Genuinely, someone who liked this show please let me know whether you've read that book and what you think this show had to do with the book it was supposedly adapting. If you're gonna say that it's about an (apparantly) attractive, (seemingly) successful guy killing women... damn near any show about a serial killer could be an adaptation of the book, then. For the love of God. The closest they came to the themes of the book was the Samantha character and even that was half baked at best and insulting at worst. I'm genuinely angry after watching this. I think I would've been less angry if they hadn't said it was an adaptation but by God, did anyone working on this even skim the book, let alone think about it critically?

Even if I'm to ignore that it's meant to be an adaptation, I have never encountered three more braindead protagonists in my life, and I'm almost mad they didn't end up dead. Except Mok Won. I would've been mad if Mok Won had died, even if she made the dumb mistake of giving those other two morons way too much grace to get their shit together. Seriously, how did they not all die?!

Leia Mais

I wish this was great, I wanted it to be great but alas ....

I was soooooo excited for this drama the moment I saw a preview on Netflix. I thought it was going to be a romance between a psychopath serial killer and a girl that was super intrigued by this killer (sort of like a fan). That was not what I got. I mean the romance part did show up like halfway through the series but it wasn't the romance I wanted or was expecting. I lowkey prefer what I thought was the concept of the show than the actual show.

A lot of the characters were so stupid. The stupidity of the cop in the wheel chair annoys me. Also the serial killer that evaded the police for 1+ year became the dumbest fucker in the end.

I also felt that a thorough explanation of certain events was lacking. A lot of interesting questions were raised or the show introduced a new concept, but none of them were properly developed. It truly felt like a lot of the characters' backstories were lacking and underdeveloped. Pivotal moments in the lives of characters weren't developed or shown even though they were essential to the character. It felt very lacking. As if they tried to do too much at once without giving each storyline or backstory the proper attention they needed and deserved.

I did really love the diversity of the show though. I loved how one of the main characters had asperger, while another badass girlie was part of the LGBTQ+ community, and that the cop in the wheel chair wasn't helpless despite her two brain cells. She wasn't helpless because she was in a wheel chair (more like she was helpless because girlie didn't use common sense).

Also why was there so much unnecessary nudity or like sexual imagery? The drama was very oversexualised in certain moments that just felt very cheap.

Lastly, I gotta give Kim Young Kwang all the kudos. His acting was superb! He was really good and basically the shining star of this show. I mean they truly made him look like the serial killer for who the hell knows why? He screamed 80's serial killer the way they made him look, while he looked the complete opposite when he killed someone for the very first time. His acting was amazing (also those abs). Anything else relating to this character was bad. He did the best he could. Everyone else just fucked up.

Oh I also have to say that I was again hella gay for Kim Yong Ji. She slayed again (despite how her character was written).

THIS COULD HAVE BEEN SO GOOD!!!!!! But it wasn't...... sad me.... there goes one of my most anticipated dramas .... it goes into the trashcan that says dumpsterfire ......

Leia Mais

interesting story

like most people, i was intrigued by the trailer and decided to watch. i can’t say i was incredibly amazed but i wasn’t disappointed either.

regardless of what others ratings are saying, this series is GOOD. it’s dark and raw and the acting is freaking amazing, special shout out to KYK!!!

having said that, it is rather slow ? at times and even though there is 8 hours of it, it feels like some essential parts were missed. the fact that our ML was in love with the FL was stated quite clearly at the end but we don’t see much of him rwallg caring for her that deeply. yes, he caressed her before leaving but that was canceled out by the fact he destroyed her beloved creation. yes, he tells the Sha-man our FL is different than others but we don’t see how he’s come to appreciate her like that. the most emotion that we see him share regarding her is when he’s outside her house crying saying he wishes he met her earlier.

i really did enjoy the series. i just wish i saw more of the development towards their emotional relationship. i feel it would benefit the story, ending aside.

Leia Mais

Why this isn't for everyone but it is good

This is not for everyone for many reasons. I thought it was creepy and shocking to the point of total surprise on what I was watching. The way it is filmed will make people think its "slow paced" or "boring" to me it was correct. It was making you get into the minds of these characters and how their thought process was actually working. If you are looking for a thrilling and exciting show this is not it. If you are looking for your mind to be messed with and brilliant acting from the villain, then watch this. This is the type of show were your secretly rooting for the killer and you can't understand why, because he gets into your head...just like these woman. I would say this is a rating of 8.5 or 8 but nothing lower. Do not watch if you don't like vaguer sexual talk or sexual content, this was a shocking show that had lots of it and blew my mind since most Korean shows do not have this type of content, I also think this is why people are rating it lower.

Leia Mais

I never wanted the evil to be good this badly

First of all: I started this drama in the evening, it is currently 1 am and I could not stop until now.

The acting is amazing, the characters are twisted and divers. This drama is sexy, evil and absolutely fantastic. There is also a lot of cursing, and explicit language, which makes it more relatable.

As other pointed out before, yes, there could be more depth when it comes to the history of the characters. But on the other hand I do like dramas to be a little open, so I do not only get entertained but involved.

It’s been a while since I was attached to a drama, nevertheless this one made me feel things. It makes you question yourself. Well, at least it did for me. How evil am I, emphasizing with human beings killing others? How can I stay so calm, engaged, because of two people connecting, even tho the outcome can not only be good.

I feel like the drama shows (myself) that all we want is to have a connection with others. In the end we are all lonely, pulling on the last string. And the loneliest, those who understand this the most, can take advantage of it. In the end, they still search for it to end. No matter what the price might be.

Leia Mais

Intriguing, Sensual, Fascinating, Flawed: VERY Worth A Watch

The intensity of the chemistry between the leads is scorching. Kim Young Kwang as Seong Yun-O is scorching and whether he is alone on-screen or in a scene with someone else, his understated but forceful performance is shiver-inducing. Kang Hae Lim portrays one of the most complex characters we’ve had in kdrama for a while, and part of that complexity comes from the fact that she is sophisticated enough to present different sides of herself to different people, even though people assume she is too innocent and pure to be manipulative.

This drama is definitely flawed. There are some plot holes that never get properly filled or explained. The worst flaw, in my opinion, is the clumsy over-reliance on the main character’s supposed Asperger’s diagnosis as a way of signaling different moral and cognitive dimensions of her thinking.

That said, when I was trying to think of how to rate and review this drama, I tried to consider how I experienced it ~overall~, not piecemeal. And overall, it was a fascinating experience that made me want to keep pursuing every drop, every moment, to the very end.

Kim Yong Ji as Im Mok Won and Kim Soo Yeon as Yeong Gi Eun also deserve special mention as Sum’s friends. KYJ’s performance is especially electric—her final scene with KYK (Yun-O) is blisteringly intense.

This is not a standard romance drama. Up to the very end, you may well be wondering what the leads really think and feel for and about each other. I suggest thinking of it instead as a thriller and not trying to view it as a romance.

As a thriller, you’re taken on a fairly wild ride, and one of my favorite kinds of ride: what happens when the dangerous killer gets a little too close to someone vulnerable, someone ill-equipped to fight back properly, and to her friends? What will he do to defend himself in that situation? It’s a really delicious scenario—for a thriller. Not so much for a romance. Or is it?? Only you can decide that for yourself.

I highly recommend this drama and I hope it gets all the attention it deserves, despite its serious flaws.

Leia Mais