Wednesday, January 13, 2016

"Remember" Episode 9 recap

The cliffhanger from the last episode ends up being solved with surprisingly little urgency. Which is to be expected, given the obvious misstep on the part of the gangster. It's one thing to kill ordinary people while on the payroll of the vast corporate conspiracy. Going after an actual prosecutor though, that's, that's just a really bad idea. Even bribed officials have to go after those crimes seriously, lest every two bit hood with a piece of string starts to try and avoid legal troubles by murdering cops.
Speaking of logic, does Dong-ho have access to a special fund that gets doled out to random victims of Gyoo-man's temper tantrums? This is actually one of the more plausible story elements of "Remember", and yet on its face the notion is so completely ridiculous I couldn't help but burst out laughing. I get the impression that Il-ho wishes he'd had more children, because Gyoo-man really is the worst possible heir.
I might have really hated this episode of "Remember" except for one sheer dumb coincidence- earlier that same day I watched "Inside Men". And for that dumb coincidence, I have to offer this compliment- at least "Remember" is honest when it comes to its obvious political agenda. Nobody is going to pop into an episode of this drama and mistake it for a serious commentary on what Korean corporations are allowed to get away with.
That's because there's no constancy in tone. "Remember" is all about wild vacillations between extreme emotions. One minute it's a tense chase scene, the next intense melodrama over tragic backstory, then a fight, then a tearful encounter in lockup. "Remember" doesn't have an off switch. It's honestly surprising for me to think back to the first episode and its cuter moments because such scenes are now practically nonexistent. Unless you want to count the pizza parlor?
By the way, am I only the one who sees the irony there? That a drama which is about a vast corporate conspiracy is using explicit product placement from Papa John's? All right, fine, maybe I am overthinking "Remember" just a little bit. But it's kind of hard not to considering how much plot this drama is able to go through so quickly. If the first four episodes moved a little slowly everything since then has been working on hyperspeed. The question is never "will Jin-woo find the evidence", it's "will Jin-woo be able to present the evidence in court before the conspiracy hits him with another sucker punch".
Review by William Schwartz

"Remember" is directed by Lee Chang-min-I, written by Yoon Hyeon-ho and features Yoo Seung-ho, Park Min-yeong, Park Seong-woong, Nam Goong-min, Jeong Hye-seong and Jeon Kwang-ryeol
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