#can you not sense kim taehyung in yeo jin goo

[perqedel]

beyond evil (2021) / ★★★★★

psychological thriller isn’t really my best cup of tea. probably because it requires braincells to understand the work. but of course i’m giving a baeksang arts awards winner a chance. 

to be frank, there are still some parts i can’t quite get my head wrapped around. i lost focus every now and then watching it (partly because of yeo jin goo’s looks being served as a whole meal with ruffled hair style and extremely straight personality).

the drama gives you a slight slice of life with a closer-than-family neighborhood background. but that’s what it is, though. nothing more than a background. every person in the neighborhood is drawn to have a backstory, a motive. everyone is a piece. a pawn (i don’t play chess).

the writers and director has a way with making the viewers think they know something. they think they figure out or at least could guess who the culprit is, and then they create a totally different scene. it’s not even a twist. it felt more like a slap in the face because you tried to keep guessing instead of watching the drama moves by itself.

shin ha kyun, on the other hand, deserves the loudest claps an auditorium of artistic people could give. i believe. the looks he served (and i mean literal looks, the one they usually describe as soul-piercing, laser-beaming in books) throughout the drama. i did not exaggerate one bit when i say i had shivers whenever he laughed or smiled. he showed laughter and smirks and slight smiles in this oddly cold way that you feel weird seeing them. it feels like walking alone at night in an empty road after trying to study with your friends (and you’ve failed because studying with friends usually end in talks and meals anyways). the analogy was weird but just go along. i feel like the term ‘nut case’ couldn’t match his character (lee dong sik) better. i think he received an award for this one? 

yeo jin goo, the partner. i really have to get this out but does anyone also see bts kim taehyung in jin goo? maybe it’s the hair? the side profile? the way he talks? i keep seeing taehyung in him throughout the drama i almost think i missed watching bts contents. i don’t think i’ve watched other works with him involved before. but i have to say, the man caught my attention. his character (han ju won) here was the usual best-selling character in kdrama universe if such thing exists. the superior type: attractive man with unresolved trauma and ugly relationship with his dad who’s usually either a hotshot or a disgustingly rich jackass. with the cold, i-know-everything-because-i-was-brought-better-than-you attitude, the man managed to make you feel things. more like pissed on one episode and then shocked, sometimes followed by adoration. 

i feel sorry about not knowing the other actors but this one’s for nam yoon su. because you have to write about the cute guy with irresistible dimples. that’s like the common rule of existing in the harsh world. as a rookie actor (not really rookie to me because i’ve seen him in extracurricular before and he was also amazing there). his character didn’t stood up so much here, but he was this comfort character you had to see. and i’m SO glad he wasn’t a blank character. the way i almost felt like i fell in love watching the cremating scene.

shall we start on the other characters and plots? my pitiful brain couldn’t manage to remember every one of them, of course. but i AM absolutely loving the details. kang jin mook apparently has tics (if i’m not mistaken i’m sorry it has been a year since i’ve taken a neuropsychiatry class), and they showed details on how people with tics could have the symptoms milder when they’re focused. the movements or manifestations could be worse depending on their mental state or any other stimulus. park jeong je might or might not have a ptsd (not really sure about this, let me check on dsm), the way his brain could only recall some parts of a memory because a big chunk of it was very traumatic. 

it’s getting too long now, hope i could plug in a specific scene i love.