Not a fun watch

I came to this show expecting a thriller like "Celebrity," which I thought was corny and pretty fun to watch. This was crazy - excessive feats of R-rated nonsense that did NOT need to be involved in the show. The premise had a lot of promise, as do lots of webtoon-adapted k-dramas, but it really reminded me of that messed up manga (Juujika no Rounen?? I'm really not sure) where it was a premise of revenge from different characters with evil intents but ultimately showcased the torture and assault (I'm talking extremely uncomfortable) There's no way to defend this as realistic - it's just messed up. And it is not fun nor interesting to watch. I can't accurately judge the acting because no way am I seriously watching all the scenes of a dude with a jiggling doll in his house and more pornographic scenes of him - as well as him as a R*PIST??? Really disgusted me, I felt bad for the main character but that was really it. Had to fast forward some scenes because it made me extremely uncomfortable, as I've said.

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Needs a redemption arc.

ok this is my first review because I just binge watched this absurdity... and I have so much to say about it. The title also means the show needs a redemption arc not the murderer(s)... if anything, they kind of got one anyway.

The filming direction of this drama was very creative. Not a new concept, but very well-done and very fitting for the theme and story of this drama. I really liked that! Props to the director for doing this as a first-timer and in a way that impressed me as a frequent media consumer.

Umm, the story was... I didn't really know how to feel about it. I appreciate the openminded-ness for the s*x scenes (I am asexual so I had to skip them but I did notice the change in music and filming styles as I fast-forwarded) and how it might contribute to the tension between the characters but are we seriously going to let this serial killer and someone he was taking advantage of (at least in the first place, will talk about this shift in his character later) for being on the spectrum - turn this drama into a hornfest?? I was very uncomfortable, but that might also be me. It just didn't feel right that they kept showing it as if it was this fantasy that viewers were supposed to... what were viewers even supposed to do?? Join them on their own? Fantasize with them? I feel like if all of those scenes had to be included, then the purpose should be more definite, like showing his eeriness. Of course, I saw that this was loosely based on American Psycho, which makes me seem like a hypocrite because there were explicit scenes of Bateman and his soon-to-be victims. But that was an exaggerated satire piece mocking the higher-level NPCs in corporate business where he was driven to madness from ~society~ so what is more reasonable??

Going on with the story, I read a bunch of other reviews and opinions on people and the main thing I saw was how most people agreed on how stupid "police lady" was. I honestly agree, even after seeing clever theories that she was wearing black the second time she tried to meet Yun-o because she wanted to just "let go," but who is she kidding... that is stupid no matter what... I really couldn't stand her character but that meant that the acting had to be incredible. Huge props to the actors. And also the shaman was a great character. In a lot of media recently shamans are viewed as kind of ridiculous and unbelievable (I've been watching The Glory) and I really liked the character... plus she was the only sane one. It made me pretty angry to see how Sum was ignoring her telling her that her "boyfriend" was literally a SERIAL KILLER but I guess I kind of understood when she coded the face-hacking-video calling thing.
Yun-o's character had so much potential. I liked how his backstory didn't have to be extremely bad or long, even though I was curious whenever the AI asked him about what he regretted/wanted gone in his childhood - but I feel like that could have been a reference to how nothing was really wrong with it and he became this way only recently when he got the Somebody app. It was easy to wince but also easy to be intrigued when his character appeared on screen, because the actor just nailed his vibe so well! I liked that he fell for Sum, I think it was not random - to find someone "like him" in a world where he is wrong for his actions (he still is, of course, and I'm very against him but I am defending the writers for once) who was not afraid of him would obviously make him feel some kind of way.

The ending was creative (cool reference to the blade that the shaman hated and given in the first episode) but also NOT ENOUGH!! It's my love for revenge dramas that drives me to write this mostly, but also he killed probably over a dozen people and more that weren't on screen (in the story, not in real life). And when Sum killed him, I didn't know how to feel either. She was right for killing horrible people who wanted to and DID commit crimes toward women, but I felt like the showrunners wanted to justify her doing it and calling her "emotionless-ness" or "euphoria" when she did so to her being on the spectrum, or mental illness/neurodivergency... I understand why she had to do it and the way she was written to do it in the end, but the whole drama revolves around this idea of mental illness = connection to a murder = a ton of cinematic sex. That's only my take though, and I can see different points of views and how people would like this drama. I'm not a drama writer nor a formal critic, but I felt very strongly about some parts of this show, even though it was 8 episodes, so it definitely did its job of being compelling and provocative.

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