the good detective

i'm just waiting for start up to finish before i'll start watching it, so in the meantime, i decided to watch the good detective. i've heard somewhere that it's good, so let's hope it's not disappointing.

title: the good detective

cast: son hyun joo, jang seung jo, lee elijah, oh jung se, ji seung hyun

genre: crime mystery, police story

kang do chang (son hyun joo) is a veteran detective that hasn't been promoted yet even though he's worked as detective for many years. while oh ji hyeok (jang seung jo) is a rich boy that became detective more than people could guess. both of them, came from different background and had different investigating method, forced to work together as partner. unfortunately, they stumbled upon a new case that's connecting to old case.

park gun ho claimed to kidnapped lee eun hye, lee dae cheol's daughter. lee dae cheol is a famous criminal convicted of a murder of a young woman and a police detective. do chang was the one that's apprehended lee dae cheol, 5 years ago. now, lee dae cheol is facing an execution as the public is reminded that there are brutal criminals that's still alive and the victim's family is against the death penalty abolishment. park gun ho, apparently, was a warden where lee dae cheol is serving his sentence, and even tried to murder lee dae cheol once. but seeing that lee dae cheol didn't try to get back at him, he was convinced that lee dae cheol is innocent. park gun ho then tried to make a case with the police department to open lee dae cheol's case again, claiming that he was innocent.

do chang, suddenly facing new facts, became uncertain that he was making the right decision. he decided to help lee dae cheol getting a retrial. together with oh ji hyeok, they helped lee dae cheol to get retrial, and even found new evidence to prove lee dae cheol's innocence. later they found out that the real culprit was probably oh jong tae, oh ji hyeok's cousin, a chaebol that used to get everything. they also got help from jin seo kyung (lee elijah), a new reporter, whom ji hyeok liked later on. together, they put pieces and pieces, unfolding both police department and public prosecutor department's corruption to cover this case.

at first, they thought that jong tae killed both the young woman's victim and detective jang. but as the case evolved, they found out that both case had separate culprit. at first, we would see that despite all efforts put by do chang and ji hyeok, even the whole team 2, lee dae cheol's still being executed. but that didn't put an end to their work. they even became more enthusiastic in finding out who's the real culprit behind both cases. later they found out that seo kyung's boss, yoo jung seok, had a dark past. his older sister was assaulted by a police officer and then got suicide. the police officer then ran away, changed his name and went into hiding, so the police department couldn't catch him. jung seok apparently managed to find the police officer and decided to punish him himself. unfortunately, detective jang was nearby. was detective jang really killed by jung seok? or was it nam gyeong hyeok, detective jang's partner at that time? 

what i like:

- well put clothing style and makeup for the actors and actress. no flashy outfit for the policemen, no flashy makeup as well. polished look for the wealthy and in power. but i do feel lee elijah is too polished for a reporter.

- solid storyline, though it has twists and turns, but they cover everything up. a bit open ending as well, so they leave possibility for another season maybe?

- most actors and actresses are good, especially for oh jung se and son hyun joo. both are veteran actors, and it's a bit confusing for my mind watching oh jung se from being autistic in "it's okay not to be okay" to a evil chaebol in this drama. though i still don't like lee elijah's acting. but in some scenes she's okay.

what i don't like:

- how jang jeung soo was similar to park gun ho's at first. i can't separate those two at first. how confusing.

- nothing new about police and prosecutor corruption and how they would cover up those in power. but i guess it would keep good faith portraying that there are still people like do chang who would stand up against power and money and do what he's supposed to do even though there are no one supporting him.

rating: 8/10

binge worthy: so-so

recommended for: people who like typical crime mystery drama, don't mind violent scenes (though they blur some really violent scenes), don't mind a drama without good looking actor or actress (lee elijah is the only pretty face in this drama, though you can probably count jang jeung soo too) and without a romance story as well.