Watch if: You need a police drama with a good balance of comedy, action, and suspense. Warning: It can get bingeable.
Skip if: You are expecting serious police work or are turned off by laughable English subtitles.
The best way to enjoy this is to imagine it as a live-action of a manga featuring a rich and flamboyant Jin Yi Soo (styled in Johnny Bravo) who gets thrown into a Violent Crimes Investigation Unit led by a serious and dedicated female detective Lee Gang Hyun.
First episode gave me Millionaire Detective and Batman vibes, with Yi Soo’s ridiculous line-up of luxury cars, and a loyal butler at his beck and call. This is juxtaposed against Gang Hyun’s practical wardrobe, haircut, and bare face.
Other than the overarching mystery surrounding the dismissal of Gang Hyun’s dad from the force and the death of Yi Soo’s mom, the mini-cases that happen every few episodes are interesting and riveting enough to keep me on the edge of my seat.
Overall, the show is fast-paced and entertaining. Visually, the editing serves up a balance of stylish and fun, grit and glamour. I like how the script acknowledges its tropes and makjang-ness at times, while also subverting cliches in its more serious moments. Such as how there wasn’t a clichéd scene of Yi Soo having a moment after Gang Hyun got all glammed up and looked breathtaking for the undercover scene in Ep 6. The last few episodes do lean on the heavy side as the main mysteries are being unraveled.
The Leads & Squad Dynamics
I would say the main draw of the show is the development of the friendship between the starkly different leads, and how the OG trio comes around to accept Yi Soo (played by Ahn Bo Hyun) as part of their squad. It’s understandable why Gang Hyun (played by Park Ji Hyun) and Jun Young, who are more uptight by nature, would be frosty and skeptical towards an untrained “nepo baby” thrown into their high-functioning team.
Side note: If you’d seen Park Ji Hyun playing opposite Ahn Bo Hyun in Yumi’s Cells, you’d be amazed at how unrecognisable she is here.
What strikes me about Yi Soo is how likeable of a “chaebol” or “silver spoon” he is. He brims with tongue-in-cheek levity, takes on criminals with enthusiasm, and treats everyone (even peripheral characters) with friendliness and warmth. He lives in a world where anything is possible, and it was heartwarming (and hilarious) when he orders a catering service to the police station so that everyone’s lunch gets upgraded lol.
Lee Gang Hyun is my new girl crush – driven, capable, badass – and who responds with sensitivity when the situation calls for it. Clearly, she has put in the work to wind up as the youngest team leader and it’s admirable how she remains level-headed towards her seniors and captain, despite how her father was suddenly made to quit the force.
When our two leads are forced to work together, they initially rub each other the wrong way and we witness a generous number of eye-rolls directed at Yi Soo’s ridiculousness, like when he attempts to ahem buy an entire building to help solve a case. Jun Yong remains understandably surly towards Yi Soo for a good stretch of the show but Gang Hyun doesn’t completely write him off and considers his perspectives.
Fortunately, Yi Soo is quick on the uptake and makes up for his lack of training with his acute observations and deduction skills. Seeing how both leads are loyal and protective over their friends, and how they approach each case with fearlessness and determination, makes me realise they are very similar in their sensibilities after all.
There’s no big drama around the shift in team dynamics, just a natural flow of Yi Soo winning them over as he helps to untangle the knots in each case with his ingenuity and resourcefulness.
Ahn Bo Hyun nails the way his character moves from zany to serious to mournful and is utterly convincing as a lovable goof. The rapport between him and Park Ji Hyun was palpable as their characters built a strong and trusting partnership, making them a delight to watch!