Rants and Weekly Raves (RAWR) #385

Anne: Hope everyone had a non-eventful New Years. Despite having 5 days without doing any work, I don't think I managed to have gotten anything done. My house is still a mess. (At least the laundry got done.) I haven't managed to watch many shows, and I definitely have not finished Luoyang, so I will leave it up to any reader who has caught up over the holidays to give an overview. Again, I've only managed to watch one show with any attention, and still have not caught up with any of the other one's that I've started. I swear that vacation always throws off my schedule. I end up doing nothing and can't understand after 5 days how in the world did I spend my time. For some reason I spent a LOT of time watching YouTube bts videos of One and Only, Forever and Ever (so now I'm addicted to the soundtrack), and The Legends.  

Bad and Crazy

This is the show that I started last week due to how high the ratings were. And I have to say this show does not disappoint. There will be a total of 12 episodes at 2 episodes a week, and so far only 6 has been aired. If you read the synopsis, you might have thought that this was a mere redemption story about a cop with very loose morals being set on the right path. And it is.

Ryu Soo Yeol (upper left) is a cop, in the anti-corruption unit (the irony) who will take a bribe, over-look/destroy/"lose" evidence, and almost anything else in order to advance his career. The show started with Soo Yeol investigating his ex-girlfriend(lower left)'s team's captain in the death of his partner. From the first episodes, there is no question the type of person Soo Yeol is. And there was more than once when you will squirm in your seat at the type of things that he's willing to do. 

K (upper right) is the person who intrudes into Soo Yeol life basically to beat him up. And even from the very first episode, K always shows up during times when Soo Yeol does something that is "bad". When first K shows up, you think he's some crazy person that was probably another cop that just had Soo Yeol in his target. But then you realize the NO ONE else sees K. However, at the end of episode 1, even as the audience (and even one like me who usually suspends her brain when watching shows) can't help but come to the conclusion that K is Soo Yeol's split personality. And I really like how the revelation was done too. The entire reveal was set up and by the time K formally introduces himself, the audience has already come to that conclusion on their own.

The story is more of a crime drama than a mystery, since we all know who the bad guys are pretty quick. The first arc deals with a little girl looking for her missing mother, a case that a rookie, Oh Kyung Tae (the one on the bottom right) started to investigate. Kyung Tae was so righteous that he couldn't help but putting a spot light on things that shouldn't be seen and on people who doesn't want their extracurricular activities to be known. Near the end of the first arc, when the assemblyman was about to be brought down, we are introduced to the female head of the drug cartel, who carries on the story into the next arc. The drama is fast paced, and vastly entertaining.

The genius is casting two completely different actors to play the two different consciousness of Soo Yeol. Because once Soo Yeol recognizes who K really is, they can BOTH exists in the same situations. It's like Soo Yeol having an imaginary friend who can sometimes take over his body. It gets a little distracting when said friend doesn't leave you alone. 

So when you have to move back in with your mom and older brother because your imaginary friend donated all your money to charity, he moves in with you and becomes part of your family.

And when you are in a meeting, you see your friend doing his own thing outside the conference room and saying hi to you through the window.

And when you are driving, he's in the passenger seat providing the music.

And when you are washing your hair, someone has taken your shampoo for his bubble bath.

I'm not saying this odd split makes any logical sense. The fight scenes get oddly weird. It is like one of them is outside the body, looking in. And K can take over Soo Yeol's body almost with no resistance. It does make an interesting visual and works great on screen. 

I am eagerly waiting to this weeks episode to drop near the end of the week.

That's it folks! Hope everyone has a great week and crossing my fingers that 2022 will be an improvement on 2021.