Everyone here needs therapy, including me.

Did I just single-handedly binge the one and only drama that managed to score relatively close to my sleep paralysis demon, Mouse (2021), which had a chokehold on me for two years since it’s release?

Possibly.

First things first before I get into the actual review. How the HELL does this drama only have a rating of 7.8/10? Imo, it deserves at least an 8.6 if not greater!

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CINEMATOGRAPHY
Had some meaningful shots and unique transition scenes as well. The lighting in the drama changed depending on the scene. Overall, it was very fitting and helped to set the mood for the scene extremely well. The shots were also done very professionally and in a very abstract, artistic manner. I was blown away by how impactful doing something as simple as placing a camera and adjusting the lighting so that a character’s eyes had absolutely no light in them was. It really sent shivers up my spine and evoked a lot of complication emotions in me.

ACTING
I have to say, every actor and actress nailed their roles. I’ll especially acknowledge Yamada Rouske for delivering an impeccable performance throughout. After all, he played two roles that were drastically different from one another, but his acting blended seamlessly with each character’s personality. In all, emotions ran high for the drama, and that was mainly due to the fact that everyone in the cast were seasoned actors and actresses. Everyone acted with their eyes, which managed to capture the rawest emotions.

STORYLINE
Holy shit. That’s all I can say to summarize the plot of this drama. To put it more informally, this drama is a complete mindfuck. It’s convoluted.. but somehow MAKES SENSE. Even after all the series of events that unfolded, there were maybe only 2 plots holes left at the end that weren’t filled, but since they’re not vital to the plot as much as some of the other plot aspects, I’ll excuse it. The premise itself is very unique and almost mind-boggling of how good it is. Be warned that it is quite makjang— a Korean term meaning that a drama has an over-exaggerated, "what the fuck is going on?" kind of plot with a series of ridiculous twists and turns at every corner possible. This style of drama may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for those with short attention span like me who can’t handle slow burn and thrives off action, this drama will be right up your alley! The pacing of the story wasn’t too fast nor slow, and the flow of the events in the drama blew me away at how good it was. Every event linked to one another, so it really put me in that detective sort of mode when trying to connect them. Spoilers, but the ending couldn’t have been more perfect imo. Relationships between the characters progressed naturally and the screenwriters even sprinkled a generous amount of character development for the characters who needed it most towards the end of the drama. Possibly my only complaint regarding the plot is its predictability. Nonetheless, it really messes with your mind. One moment you’re sure that the person is the culprit, and 5 seconds later you’re questioning the meaning of life. Also, the length of the drama was great. At one point, I did feel like the plot got unnecessarily draggy, but those series of events really managed to unfold into something grand later on. Finally, one of my favorite aspects of the plot is the amount of morally-grey characters we have. It’s safe to say that almost all of the characters were developed, dimensional, and fully-fledged. Towards the end, the drama makes you wonder if justice was really served or not. Did the culprit deserve the punishment they got?


EXPERIENCE
Although there were some aspects of the plot that were relatively predictable, the thrill the drama brought along with it made up for that predictability. For the first time in a while, I truly felt like I removed the experience of watching a good thriller. Every since Mouse (2021), I was getting some serious PTDD (post-traumatic drama disorder) and still haven’t recovered from it, even two years later. However, watching this drama gave me so much thrill and really put me into the mindset of a detectives. It’s just a crazy, convoluted story that seems like there would be many plot holes, but before you even know it, all those plot holes got filled in seamlessly— and that was extremely satisfying to witness! It’s also a very thought-provoking experience. The drama really lives up to its psychological thriller tag. Every now and then I think back on some scenes and feel like my heart aches at how sad it is. Every character is pitiful, there isn’t no "pure villain." This drama really deserves some sort of tragedy tag because my heart simply wasn’t ready for the amount of angst it delivered.

SOUNDTRACK
Although the songs were very good, there was a lack of variety. Additionally, some scenes had improper OST / song placement, but hey, all the songs were fitted to the theme of the drama and were catchy!