I will start off by saying that you, yes you who is currently reading this review, should give this one a shot, cause it is not as bad as the ratings suggest.

No Way Out: The Roulette was definitely a ride, messy at times, but still fun to watch (for the most part).



What I liked:
PRODUCTION QUALITY
They surely invested some money on this series. Nothing more to say.

ACTING
If you are watching Kdramas for a while you will see many -and I mean MANY- familiar faces. Generally, even though there was some overacting here and there, the performances were pretty good and one of the best aspects of the series.
Yoo Jae Myung as the evil Kim Guk Ho, Sung Yoo Bin as Seo Dong Ha (Kim Guk Ho’s son) and Kim Sung Cheol as well as the actor that portrayed him as a child did a truly amazing job with their roles.

MR. SMILE
See how I didn’t mention Greg Hsu above? It’s because that man deserves a separate mention. Was Mr. Smile the most fun to watch character in the series? Yes. Would that be possible without Greg Hsu giving a freaking great performance? No. I am shallow, I know, but that man did so well and his sexy voice while speaking English -that didn't sound cringe for once- was like the cherry on top.

THEME OF JUSTICE
Again, if you have been watching Kdramas and Kmovies for a while, you know justice is a prevalent theme. This series may not be the best in the long catalog of "moral dilemmas dramas", but it is definitely a good one.

VIOLENCE + DISTURBING/SENSITIVE THEMES
I like my dramas extra violent, and this one delivers in that aspect. Of course, because this is an OTT drama, there is zero censorship, something that adds to the atmosphere they are trying to create.

SOME GREAT SCENES AND EPISODES
No Way Out is a bit divided in my head. It had some truly amazing scenes, with great directing and fantastic tension and some that were exactly the opposite -but we will get to that later-.
For me, episode 5 was the best episode of the series and the one that truly reminded me of Korean cinema.

UNPREDICTABILITY
Now, “unpredictability where?” you will say and you will be right. Despite the fact that the show has many predictable moments, I can’t help but praise the fact that there are also some things I did not expect to happen.

FINALE
Generally a pretty entertaining ending, but those last ten minutes or so where a bit unnecessary.


What I disliked:
MAIN LEAD WAS NOT MAIN LEADING
Baek Jung Sik is the main character and he is -of course- a police officer. My problem with him, besides the fact that he is either purely unlikable or uninteresting most of the show, is that he is again a typical police officer that you have probably seen in many Korean series. What do I mean? He can get (very) dumb! And that aside, at times it seems like he changes personalities, like when he suddenly remembers he is a police officer…

CHARACTERS
Don’t shoot me (pun intended). The series had some pretty great and generally well written characters like Mr. Smile and Dong Ha. BUT, it also had some plain bland and boring ones, like the mayor and that lawyer.

There are two things that went very wrong with these two characters -there are others that were bad, but these two take the cake-. One, the approach of the scriptwriter. It is a typical technique introducing characters separately and then as the series proceeds, heading slowly to the climax. However, in this case, the characters were not only super boring, but basically felt like plot tools to keep the series going. Two, they were such typical Kdrama characters, especially the mayor. Like think of any political figure in a Kdrama (you know the corrupt, evil one) and there you go.

PLOT ARMOR
Some of the characters and mostly Kim Guk Ho have a crazy plot amour. They literally feel like the superhuman characters you see in comics, where they just do not die no matter how much someone tries.

CONVENIENCE
There are some things happening way too conveniently for some of the characters, something that made some scenes look quite dumb and unbelievably irrational. You know, like things conveniently appearing somewhere to help the characters.

PACING
Now, second half of the drama was definitely better overall, but first half and especially episodes 3 and 4 were draggy and boring as hell. No Way Out could be a magnificent and suspenseful series, but it was impossible cause of the pacing and (half of) the writing.

MISSING CHARACTERS
There are some characters that feel super important to the plot -or at least they are important enough- and they just simply disappear. I expected to find out what happened to some of them, but no, ending was like ''we don't remember of their existence''.



All in all, this is one of the better Kdramas than you can find on Disney+, but it does feel like two completely different series at times. One that is draggy with some typical Kdrama characters and boring moments and another one that is super entertaining with some fun to watch and intense scenes. I feel that the series would be much better if it focused more on Guk Ho and less on the officer or even if it focused on the attempted murders and the stories of the people behind them. There is only one conclusion though. No Way Out: The Roulette may be flawed in many aspects with the worst being the pacing, but it is certainly worth the watch.