#not tagging this bc i dont think wholehearted fans of the show would like to see a critical post in their show tag

[majiburger]

so, i finished the devil judge. spoiler-laden thoughts about the show under the cut

never have i seen a show that made me WILDLY oscillate between enjoyment and frustration like this before. i swear my opinion changed every single minute of every single episode and that was the case with the last episode too, but before i get ahead of myself, i do want to note that the casting choices for this show were excellent and i enjoyed all the actors' performances. i think they all did a great job and i'd love to see more of whatever they're in.

as for the show itself and the writing – idk! it frustrated me! there were definitely moments where i enjoyed the twists, especially the reveal that yo han had been protecting elijah all along but there were some glaring plot holes and plot twists that felt goofy and unearned. i enjoyed the live court concept and i think the show did have a nuanced portrayal of what would happen if something like that came into effect, but sometimes it stretches credulity an insane amount and you'd have to suspend your disbelief a whole lot to accept some of the events. even if it's a fictional dystopia or whatever, i feel like it still has to have some believability, but the amount yo han and the other main characters get away with is crazy. the only thing that redeems it from being completely outrageous is that the villains are rich and powerful, and i can't find it in myself to be too mad that they get cornered and punished in brutal ways with little to no opposition. clearly the show understands the public frustration with the wealth gap — the last episode having the 99% vote guilty and the 1% vote innocent is an on-the-nose representation of that sentiment, and i really liked it, but sometimes i wish the show took itself seriously! it felt rushed in a lot of places, and the lowkey ableist resolution to elijah's character arc was annoying. re-arrange some of the existing scenes and it would feel like a more tightly-knit show but as it exists now, in its current state, the pacing was all over the place.

the silver lining of this show is that even in its wildest moments, the cast is very likeable. i liked every single character (except the villains), even if i felt like some of them were underwritten/their motivations were not believable for how much the show has told us about them. that being said, they're all charming. i don't usually like numerical ratings but i'd give the show an 8 for yo han's face alone (i'm docking two points off because they made sun-ah and minister cha kill themselves though. gorgeous evil women deserve to live forever etc etc). i liked that the show was bold enough to actually let yo han get away with blowing up a bunch of rich people, i definitely thought ga-on would successfully talk him out of it😅 but i also liked the vague implication towards the end that the world isn't necessarily "fixed" because of what yo han did, and that even if yo han started a movement, its quick hype-and-die-down probably wouldn't have a long-lasting effect, but that's not what he had hoped for anyway, as his general goal as a character was to take down the srf and he did exactly that. it was realistic, even amidst the unrealistic chaos of it all, and i thought it was a decent concession for the show to make in exchange for yo han getting his revenge 😂 when the show first began, i thought we'd have more court cases but i can see how that would get monotonous after an episode or two so maybe this is the wisest route to take for a thriller. the court room scenes were very well shot though, even though i feel like the show uses the conceit of a live court WAY too much as a writing shorthand to resolve some of its plots. but. at the end of the day, i did enjoy my watch-through and i had a good time, so i consider it time well-spent