MBC's latest Monday/Tuesday drama
"Lookout"
is a 32 episode run, but don't let that number fool you. It is a part
of a new test split that both MBC and SBS are trying. A single hour-long
episode is chopped into two half-hour episodes and aired the same
night. In terms of your time, you'll be spending 16 episodes with the
characters and stories of
"Lookout".
It's just all in a different package. Despite the awkward cut that the
split has thrown into the middle of this first episode, Director
Son Hyeong-seok (
"Two Weeks",
"Personal Taste") and Writer
Kim Soo-eun have delivered quite the riveting first two episodes.
Everything
about this drama screams of polish: the music, the cinematography, the
action, the acting, the dialogue, the editing. Within seconds we not
only have amazing camera work, but a female-led chase scene that
introduces us to the amazing heroine, Jo Soo-ji played by
Lee Si-young.
She is bloodthirsty for revenge and the story flashes back to May of
2016 to show us why. During this time period we meet all of the other
major players involved in the death, whether they be the perpetrayers of
corruption or those who seek to rid society of the immoral. Promo
material tells us that there will be a ragtag team of heroes who help
solve the crimes that the system can't. Soo-ji will be an obvious
leader. A sweet-tempered, mooney-eyed prosecutor named Kim Eun-joong (
Lee Tae-hoon) who seems like a stiff neck turns out to have much more to him than meets the eye. Jang Do-han (
Kim Young-kwang)
appears to be nothing more than a country-bumpkin turned ladder
climbing prosecutor until we see his intimate involvement in the case
that Si-young worked when her daughter's life was lost. Seo Bo-mi (Lee
Seul-gi-I) and Kong Kyeong-soo (Key) mysteriously involve themselves
into Soo-ji's search for her daughter's killer under orders of -- wait
for it -- a priest. Which is just a most fantastic turn of events. As a
side note, while I loved Key in "Drinking Solo" I wasn't sure if he was
cut out for acting, but he proved me wrong. Yoon Seung-ro (
Choi Moo-sung) and Oh Gwang-ho (
Kim Sang-ho)
play crooked prosecutors who are tied up in affairs we don't yet know
about save for the fact that those affairs are much more than just
shady.
That's just a basic introduction of who we have. The cast is
excellent and the way gender dynamics are fleshed out with what is
shaping up to be a strong mystery-driven plot, I'm pretty pleased as a
reviewer.
Lee Si-young
is an especially strong stand out as a young, single mother who has a
great relationship with her child and her grandmother, but who, like
many working parents, doesn't have enough time to spend with her kid.
The mother/daughter pair have a winning relationship that can win anyone
over in one episode (or two episodes if the drama is split like this
one!)
Kim Young-kwang
plays an arrogant man, as usual, but there is a touch of the
overdramatic that has not yet been seen in his work. I'm looking forward
to seeing more of what he can do with this character who is proving to
be quite interesting. As a
Kim Seul-gi-I fan I want her to appear on screen for more than a minute. She has never disappointed before.
These
first two episodes are put together quite well, using the past and
present to great effect and making sure each time period is delineated
clearly, either by a tiny bit of grey scale to indicate the past, or a
chyron to indicate the actual date. Or a series of scenes montaged
quickly to reveal an intriguing secret as with Do-han's.
There is, of course, the killer who seems to be a student. I'm
already curious as to his motivation. Was it revenge? Is he just crazy?
Was it put up to it by someone else for money? So far the teenager
himself isn't interesting, but his role in this tightly-woven plot is.
Until episodes 3 and 4!
Written by: Lisa Espinosa AKA Raine from '
Raine's Dichotomy'
"Lookout" is directed by
Son Hyeong-seok, written
Kim Soo-eun, and features
Lee Si-young,
Kim Young-kwang,
Kim Tae-hoon,
Kim Seul-gi-I, Key, and
Choi Moo-sung.
