Is the life of a murderer’s worth more than a victim’s?

If you find yourself brooding over this question, you will love this drama. Because this is just a taster of what the Devil Judge offers to the mind.

A rating of 10/10 isn’t enough to show how much I recommend it.

I initially clicked because of Ji Sung (as we do), but this gave me so much more that I anticipated. The drama ticked the boxes for a great plot, twists and acting. Even the soundtrack is wonderful to accent certain moments (Something Stronger is fire), and not to mention we got to witness a brilliantly written anti hero and female villain (which is rare). Every drama has its flaws, and the lack of development in some of the characters, particularly Kim Ga On and Yoon Soo Hyun, had become the sacrifice for top tier setting and subject.

Personally, I found that the thought provoking element ultimately makes The Devil Judge one of, if not, THE best drama I’ve seen in my years of drama indulging, and I haven’t felt like this in a long time. In an era where dramas and film are churned out like a machine, most of it doesn’t actually involve thinking anymore.

There are certain scenes that would be enough to snag DOTY alone (particularly Ep4), if not for the depth which this drama possesses. You’ll find yourself noticing the sublime details (such as the total number of trials), that shows a lot of care has gone into this.

Given the heavy parts, I have to commend the humour sprinkled in between. There are a lot of good quotes and heartbreaking, beautiful, hilarious, intense scenes that linger in your mind long after the ep is over, more than I can say here. Just to give some perspective, I’m not someone who gets emotional easily, but there were parts where my heart was physically in pain, and the sudden realizations are the ones hurt the most.

I hope this drama doesn’t get buried, because much of the philosophical questions raised couldn’t be more important today. After the final scene has ended, I still contemplated if there’s a line to be drawn when it comes to achieving justice. And…what is justice?

Paired with dark themes, undertones of hatred and compassion, room for interpretation, and silent expressions that spoke more than dialogue, it attempts to answer this question through an anti hero, all the while never providing a straight answer.

And in the end, even the title hits very differently from when you first started; for you, as the viewer, have already judged Kang Yo Han before the episode had even begun. It was bait that I was guilty of taking up until Ep2. Everything about TDJ is really quite remarkable, and shows how much kdramas have evolved.

If you’re hesitating, don’t miss out on this craft. This drama has one of THE best opening episodes I’ve ever witnessed, and it’s coming from someone who’s only seen 1 other work of Ji Sung’s in 2020 (Doctor John) so far. I like to think I’m unbiased, but the man is an acting master if I ever saw one, and this work only further emphasizes it. The entire cast was sensational in their performances, for I just about covered every possible aspect of the human emotion watching this.

From the very start, unbeknownst to the viewer, the Devil Judge asks us to put our full trust in KYH and his choices, eventually siding with him when no one else did (when that is, depends on you). Where I’ve once faltered in Ep 1, I now find it hard to let go of his character.