I'm so tired of Meaningless Media where that either straight up is, or seems to be, or just ends up being out of sheer stupidity, the entire point.

I would say watch this for JCW's performance, which was actually very good, but also... don't, even if you're the kind of person who can do that, because it's not worth it.

For me, the biggest issue this show faced for basically its entire run was that not a single person's motivations for why they did literally anything was properly justified, if it was justified at all.

There was no point during this show where I thought, "Yes, it makes sense for you to be doing this, and for this to actually be happening." And I don't mean surface level immediate actions, although plenty of those made no sense either, I mean not a single greater point in this was actually justified.
They tried, at times, but nothing was convincing, about why these people would be doing this, to these lengths, that the result or the reasoning was somehow WORTH it.

Especially, ESPECIALLY not the starting motivation to begin this at all:
"Drugs = bad" is not enough. Not for these characters, not for these stakes.
"Insecurities/ Self Worth" is not enough either, and functions as a plot device not properly set up or developed anyway.
So what. What else is there? That's what it boils down to!
So if your starting motivation is THAT unjustified, therefore the entire plot, and therefore the show's entire existence... doesn't have a good enough reason to exist.

And then I got to the end episode with my trusty ffwd button and went, "maybe that was the point?"

But then that begs the question, WHY was it the point, and since I also don't have an answer for that, and the show didn't provide one either, that leads me to the charming conclusion that actually still, no, not a single thing in this show was justified, not even its nihilism, which I would've rejected anyway. Yay.

Actually, I suppose that is fitting, isn't it, that in the end it was merely inherently irrational, beginning to end, because that's inevitable if you approach your storytelling like that.

What This Show Does Well:

--The acting across the board is strong, with JCW giving what is perhaps his career-best performance. (If you want to skip the rest of this review and just find out immediately if you should watch it, my bottom line is: JCW: A+; The Show Itself: C+.)

--It captures a very specific gangster aesthetic that's immediately recognizable (because you've probably seen it before) but still visually gripping.

--The suspense never lets up.

--Despite the fact that it's completely and totally implausible, the plot sucks you in.

--There are a handful of poignant and powerful scenes (especially in episodes 3 & 4) that manage to resonate emotionally, even when things start to go off the rails.

--And again, JCW is great in this. His complete immersion in the role paired with the lackluster writing could have so easily turned into him just chewing up scenery, but that never happens. The camera often is tightly focused on his face, and it's definitely to his credit that I was not distracted by how handsome that face is, but instead, was completely riveted by the two layers of emotions (Seung-ho's and Junmo's) he was channeling in those moments.

What's Lacking:

--The writing very clearly prioritizes style over substance, with everything from excessive smoking to extended scenes of violence and gore standing in for actual character development.

--Initially, it seems like the show is treading water a bit trying to set up the plot, and therefore gives the mistaken impression that once that's done we'll get some kind of interesting backstory or flashbacks or a secret will be revealed that will give the story more weight. But these things never come.

--There is a LOT of stomach-turning violence and gore, plus an endless stream of images of people inhaling and exhaling cigarette smoke. I don't have a moral objection to this because it is a gangster drama after all, but it does start to feel like scenes of people bashing each other's bodies in new and gruesome ways or endlessly inhaling and exhaling smoke are standing in for the missing dialogue and scenes that would make our characters feel more dynamic and developed.

--Like all the relationships in the show, the marriage between the leads remains a mystery all the way through to its demise. I wasn't expecting or wanting scenes of these two dancing among the cherry blossoms, but for the emotional hook to work here, we did need to see more of what drew these people to each other, what struggles they had, and what ultimately drove them apart. We got a little bit of this, but not nearly enough to give the story the emotional heft it so desperately needed.

--The story is very dark and the characters are mired in misery pretty much from start to finish. At the same time, the end feels frustrating and undercooked, even if it's not really a surprise.

Bottom Line:

If you want to see an actor (or just JCW) completely immerse himself and relish every moment he's playing a part, this is worth watching. Or if you simply love violent thrillers, you'll be somewhat entertained.

This one definitely had potential to be great, but needed one more script revision and a few more hours in the editing room.

Am I the only one who likes Wi Ha joon? I thought his acting was quite strong but I could not watch til the end because I kind guess the ending....

Beautifully directed and well-acted, but ultimately soulless. The characters were skeletons built to follow the plot without ever getting fleshed out, an ultimately unsatisfying and frankly uninteresting ride.

This was a gangster drama with lots of gory violence fights, fists, knives and baseball sticks, too much of it in my view. Too much smoking as well.

But there was a different layer to it that I really liked, but which could have been explored better. It is the journeys of Park Jun-mo and Jung Gi-cheol. They almost switch places. Police officer Jun-mo becomes more and more violent, like a real gangster, from somebody who cannot shoot at a person at first to a merciless killer, literally soaked in blood. Gangster Gi-cheul does the opposite and tries to leave the gangster life behind to become a normal person to be acceptable to the woman he loves.

Another story in there is the marriage of Jun-mo and Eu-jung. From the start it did not look like a good, balanced relationship. Jun-mo had a chip on his shoulders was not respected by her family and Eu-jung was still somehow attached (keeping the necklace) to her first love - Gi-cheul. Eu-jung allowed herself to be part of the 'investigation', putting an immense strain on the marriage. Jun-mo also developed an attachment to the Chinese girl. These emotional troubles should have taken more screen time than the fight scenes.

Ji Chang-wook was by far the strongest actor in this drama and I was pleased to see him shine again. I liked the ending, it made sense to me.