The Judge from Hell: Episodes 1-2
by missvictrix
Park Shin-hye is The Judge from Hell, and she is having way too much fun in this role. Her performance is the highlight of our premiere week — which, if you can deal with the upside-down and backwards theology and treat this like a quirky fantasy — is quite watchable.
EPISODES 1-2
We start off our drama with some epic cameos… and some painful CGI and theological setups. I’ll preface this by saying that I have a pretty low tolerance for the gimmicky way K-dramas like to deal spiritual/religious themes, but them’s the breaks. So, we start off with our mousy judge KANG BIT-NA (Park Shin-hye) stabbed and left for dead. (Talk about an intro!) And dead she is. When she wakes up she’s in a level of hell expressly for murderers and JUSTITIA (cameo by Oh Nara) — aka our Lady Demon Justice is ready to brand her and send Bit-na to her eternal torment.
But there’s been a mixup up (because plot), and Bit-na is an innocent victim who’s about to get sentenced to a level of hell she doesn’t deserve. Luckily (?) BAEL (cameo by Shin Sung-rok) the ruler (?) of the underworld (?) doesn’t like this. I guess he thinks hell should be just. So he curses Justitia to take the body of Bit-na as punishment. She has to live on earth and has one year to kill ten unrepentant murderers, brand them, and send them to the proper level of hell. This entire sequence is kinda painful, but Shin Sung-rok and Oh Nara are absolutely stunning here (always giving 10/10, both), so I’m okay with it.
When we catch up with Justitia-as-Bit-na again, she’s completely not the judge anyone knew before. Through the course of the episodes we see everyone around her commenting that she has changed so much since “the accident.” She now wears bright flashy tweed suits with dyed hair and heavy makeup. Oh, and she’s also irreverent, snarky, and has a penchant for drinking soda (loudly and continually) out of a can while taking her judge duties far too lightly.
Her (as in Justitia’s) first case is that of DETECTIVE HAN DO-AN (Kim Jae-young and those gorgeous eyes of his), who’s refused an attorney because he says doesn’t need one. He explains his situation and the bogus law suit that a criminal is bringing against him for “hurting his hand” while Do-an was trying to disarm said criminal of his knife. Bit-na is electric in this scene, slurping soda, making a load of sarcastic comments, poking a hole in the entire case by showing the corruption that was at play behind the scenes, and then dismissing the whole case. There’s no way you can’t love her after this scene!
Our principled and heroic hero is also a bit starry-eyed over this courtroom moment, but when he next meets Bit-na she’s a) coaching kids visiting the courthouse to chant “Justice is dead!” and b) driving off in her red convertible and leaving him and his gratefulness in the dust.
But, these two are destined to meet again, and they wind up connected over another case. We enter this one in media res: a young woman who has been brutally beaten and threatened by her boyfriend has submitted a letter to the court that will let him off more leniently than he should. Bit-na cruises into the Catholic church where the young woman is praying — but first, sunglasses. Because crosses and any iconography related to Jesus Christ is too much for her to look at. (No comment.)
Bit-na can tell after talking to the young woman that she’s terrified for her life and safety, and Bit-na’s apparent sympathy for the woman’s side has Do-an all kinds of excited. He’s the detective on the case, and he’s got a passion to see Bad Boyfriend behind bars for a very long time (where he clearly belongs — the drama doesn’t hide the fact he’s vile, malicious, and incredibly twisted).
But Do-an (and the girl’s parents) are shocked on sentencing day. After seemingly being ready to deliver a harsh sentence to Bad Boyfriend, our Bit-na — with her attitude and flair — lets him off with a fine. It’s such a clear miss, and everyone knows it. What the heck, Bit-na?
Well, Bit-na is on earth to punish murderers — not abusers — so she hatches a self-serving plan. She’s convinced of Bad Boyfriend’s depravity and lets him off so he can wreak havoc and kill his girlfriend now that he’s free. (Yes, you read that correctly — and this is exactly what Do-an spends all his time trying to prevent.) Then, once he’s a murderer, Bit-na will murder him with her fancy supernatural dagger, brand him, send him to hell, and be 1 out of 10 with her mission.
And that’s basically how it goes down — except the drama plays with the “what is Bit-na doing” for a bit. We also get to see Do-an’s righteous indignation, and the girl get beaten and try to hang herself as the collateral damage to this. The girl survives, thank goodness, but now that she is metaphorically dead, Bit-na goes in for the kill. She steps around all the red tape of her human role, and one night delivers justice to Bad Boyfriend by way of some psychological torture, a beating more brutal than the ones he delivered, and then a stabbing and branding to send him on his way. I mean, the guy was awful, but there’s a little too much aplomb here for me to enjoy it. Either way, that’s one bad guy down.
Bit-na is giddy after her win, and her plan of action is to bat eyelashes at Do-an and get the inside edge on her next evildoer — thanks to him being a violent crimes detective and all. You see, the reason she’s having such a hard time finding bad people to kill is that they must also be unrepentant of their crime, and under punished. So, she turns up in front of Do-an one night and they have a late night BBQ with copious amounts of soju.
Bit-na pries him for information as he drinks, asking if there are a lot of unrepentant murderers on the loose. He says yes… but that the worst one is him. He admits to Bit-na that when he was young he stabbed three people. The smell of their blood still hasn’t left his mind. But is he sorry about it, Bit-na asks? Do-an says something to the effect of “why be sorry, it wouldn’t change anything” and Bit-na gets a flash of giddiness again.
Sure enough, the next misty morning Do-an wakes up and goes outside only to see Bit-na greeting him. She asks if he meant what he said last night and then pulls him close… for a stabbing, not a kiss. (*Disappointed*) Do-an drops to the ground and bleeds excessively while Bit-na rejoices over a three-for-one killing.
Talk about a cliffhanger: hero brutally stabbed and left to bleed out during premiere week. Way to leave an impression, Show. It was clear Do-an was nursing some deep wounds, but I didn’t expect them to come out so quickly. But with our stab-happy heroine on the loose, it makes sense. Since I’m sure Do-an is going to pull through, I can only expect that there’s some secret repentance in there… or some other loophole we’ll soon discover.
So, for a premiere week with a lot of world-building to accomplish, it was pretty fast-moving and ready to cover a lot with its 14 episodes. Like I said above, Park Shin-hye is the spark here — I’m not used to seeing her play character like this, and it’s bringing to mind Lee Sung-kyung in her Cheese in the Trap days in the best way possible.
Outside of her kill spree, Bit-na has some complications headed her way, though. Not only are her colleagues highly suspicious of her new demeanor and behavior, but in a preamble sequence, she was evaluated for a mental disorder due to the fact that she goes rolling through life laughing and telling people she’s a demon. (LOL) We also learn the real Bit-na has an ex-fiancé (Lee Kyu-han, interesting choice) — so there’s some drama being cooked up there as well (is that you, Love Triangle?).
Will we get more background and plot complications around Bit-na as she was versus who she is now? Or will we just get a new case each week with a whipping and branding from Bit-na? Orrr, will Do-an get into the supernatural mix more — because who wants to bet he has some buried history with Bit-na? Either way they decide to go, I might not care as long as I get to spend more time staring into Kim Jae-young’s eyes.
RELATED POSTS
- Premiere Watch: The Judge from Hell
- Kim Jae-young stands in the way of Judge Park Shin-hye’s Hell
- News bites: September 10, 2024
- News bites: September 8, 2024
- Kim Jae-young wants Park Shin-hye to stop killing in Judge teaser
- The Judge from Hell Park Shin-hye proclaims justice is dead
- News bites: August 28, 2024
- Descending into inferno with The Judge from Hell Park Shin-hye
- Detective Kim Jae-young meets The Judge from Hell, Park Shin-hye
- Park Shin-hye
- Kim Jae-young
Tags: Kim In-kwon, Kim Jae-hwa, Kim Jae-young, Kim Kwang-kyu, Kim Young-ok, Lee Kyu-han, Park Shin-hye, The Judge from Hell
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1 Rai-Su
September 22, 2024 at 3:26 PM
Wow! This is a Park Shin-hye character I've been waiting to see! I am not ashamed to admit I enjoyed the beat the Bad Boyfriend scene way too much! She ate that scene and left no crumbs!! I can't wait for more!
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2 Kairoskat 💐
September 22, 2024 at 3:39 PM
Glad to see Shin Sung Rok on screen again, wish he's more than a cameo though, because I want more scenes and I need to know why is his character a spider 🤣
Anyways, I enjoyed ep 1-2. Looking forward to see more Bit Na and hopefully more Sungrok~
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3 Lord Cobol (Kdramas, like water, flow downhill)
September 22, 2024 at 3:39 PM
"metaphorically dead"
As always, no body not dead.
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4 Blue (@mayhemf)
September 22, 2024 at 3:49 PM
This show wasn’t even in my radar but was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
Park Shin-hye Slayed this role. It was fun to watch the courtroom scenes and her cola can!!
The violence was disturbing yet I found myself enjoying that he was tasting his own deeds. It was a conflicting 10 minutes.
After having seen a million times on TV such violence being enacted on women it was weirdly cathartic to see that a man was being shown to be receiving this treatment. I was conflicted, a LOT.
I am looking forward to more badass PSH aka Demon. And all the conflicts that would arise between her and the righteous police officer. I don’t care for a romance.
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TwoCentsWorth
September 23, 2024 at 8:47 AM
The best part of the punishment was definitely him experiencing what it felt like to be a domestic violence victim himself. An eye for an eye indeed. (I happened to be reading about lex talionis by chance.) However, the gruesome punishment after that felt excessive and I skipped.
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Cecee is done DramaQueening
October 9, 2024 at 2:41 AM
I strongly suspect that the main purpose of the scene where the boyfriend is being thoroughly, mercilessly, violently tortured and beaten was to de-normalise domestic violence (in TV shows and elsewhere)
And, assuming it was the purpose, it works. It's not that I enjoyed or didn't enjoy it. I got bored half-way through the scene... Are we still beating him? Are we not done yet? For someone who's so stab-happy, she did show a lot of restrain. But, perhaps, this is hell's justice... or perhaps this is Justitia feeling sorrier than she'd care to admit for the victim. (Look at that, demon caring for a human? Surely, this can not be the purpose of the show, can it? *pretends to look innocent*)
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5 kay4625
September 22, 2024 at 4:48 PM
Park Shin-hye is delightfully evil here. And, not gonna lie, that 10 minute sequence of her just beating the crap out of the abuser? Yeah, I enjoyed every minute of that.
Do-an having "killed" before was such an obvious plot point because of the whole premise, but I admit, I wasn't expecting it to happen this early, and I definitely wasn't expecting her to kill him already. Oh, well, see you in hell.
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6 Soyesterday
September 22, 2024 at 5:21 PM
I had 0 expectations going into this, maybe thats why i loved the first episodes so much.
Park Shin-hye is fabulous!! (and suprisingly hilarious)
Definately sticking around, lets hope the drana maintains its momentum and sticks its landing.
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7 Britney
September 22, 2024 at 5:33 PM
I've only seen 1 episode and my first thought was wow, that Disney budget at work haha. Good gravy, does this look expensive haha. I wonder why it's airing a week later on Hulu (US). The same thing happened with No Way Out: The Roulette.
Park Shin Hye said this has some Dante Inferno inspiration. I don't know much about its depiction of Hell except I think it has different levels or rings. Don't know where murderers place.
I don't know if I'm into this because I kept looking to see how much time was left. I just hate the drawing out the comeuppence and also I kept getting in my head about how SK women really are just not valued. The way abuse and assault cases are treated is just ridiculously offensive to victims.
Someone on here said SK has a low recidivism rate and if that's true, kudos to them but it's hard to imagine certains crimes, such as assaults, not being perpetrated again.
Sorry to be such a downer.
One moment that did make me chuckle was when the judge was speaking to the kids and she had them saying "justice is dead! Who needs it" and the reactions of the people around them. Actually, the whole scene with the kids was cute and chuckleworthy to me.
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Seon-ha
September 26, 2024 at 6:11 AM
I didn't enjoy it either. Dreams of violent revenge are still a form of violence when you have to watch them. Worse yet, I suspect that the show will eventually settle into a theme of "forgiveness is better than revenge," so all the blood spitting, OTT CGI, and abusive language we had to hear in the name of said revenge will only be a set-up for a likely tedious morality play.
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8 Kafiyah Bello
September 22, 2024 at 5:55 PM
I LOVED IT. I especially appreciate how more dramas are showing how bad domestic violence is. PSH is so much fun in this role.
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9 9TailedVixen (formerly 9TailedFox)
September 22, 2024 at 7:13 PM
This drama is delightfully bonkers with flashes of campiness. I'm enjoying it so far (including the fittingly brutal comeuppance of that domestic abuser - he deserved it. I said what I said.)
I have a feeling that Writer-nim is setting things up for Bit-Na to inadvertently doing good while being evil. But will that affect her street cred in Gehenna/Hell?
I must say that this is also the first role in which I really like Park Shin-Hye. She's chewing the scenery and giving no f*cks!
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10 OldLawyer
September 22, 2024 at 7:47 PM
Unfortunately, I will not be seeing this one- too many video subscriptions as it is.
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Islander north
September 23, 2024 at 8:00 AM
Can't find this streaming to USA...anyone?
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Britney
September 23, 2024 at 10:49 AM
It will be on Hulu
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OldLawyer
September 28, 2024 at 7:44 PM
Thank you for that- it looks like I can watch this after all.
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Rai-Su
September 28, 2024 at 5:56 PM
You can watch on kisskh.co!!
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11 tabong
September 22, 2024 at 8:49 PM
I'm happily surprised!
1. By the comments it's obvious that we're all on the same page. Shin Hye unnie is rocking this role!
I just love Justitia/Bit Na.
2. Like a said in a post, I feel like the writer was angry... And I liked it.
This case felt more like a revenge story.
I loved the emphasis the show made about not being necessary for the victim to be physically dead, for them to be, you know, dead. And also the way they kept giving a few kicks to the legal system.
Min Jeong lost her entire life even if she was "alive". But no one would help her. The law would let her abuser go around free tomorrow or in a year. It didn't matter, he would go back anyway. And even when she was being "protected" he managed to break the only place she had left and attack her again.
Everyone kept getting angry at Bit Na because she let the guy go just like that, but the real problem is that she was able to do that. She didn't use any "demon" tricks for that. The law made by the humans let her do that. When her hoobae said that they weren't any other judges that would be as trash as her, the drama showed us one. Because what happened in these episodes is what happens in real life without the help of a pretty demon with fashion sense.
So, yeah, this felt like a revenge story for everyone out there living such a reality. I liked that. Especially in this era "revenge" stories that end with revictimization.
3. I guess this isn't the best way to start a romance, with all that stabbing and stuff, but tbh, I have no idea how this is going to work between a detective and a demon in the process of becoming a serial killer.
I mean, he seemed ready to kill the abuser with his own hands, but in this type of stories the ML is there just to be judgy and tell the FL she should be "nice and positive" and that "humans are good people on the inside"
It would be a pleasant surprise if he doesn't become that type of ML. Especially because I don't want Bit Na to become all soft and nice.
I want her to keep making kids chant "justice is dead" and yelling "NO" at her boss.
PS. was I the only one reminded of the villain of early 00's spiderman the second Bael entered the room? LOL the CGI looks the same.
Oh!! Btw, who wants to bet the ex-fiance and/or his dad are the ones who killed OG Bit Nah?
*Plot twist it was the ML and now they're even*
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12 miso
September 22, 2024 at 10:42 PM
Really liked it. Park Shin-hye was clearly having fun and so was I! I even liked the intro cameos and hilarious CGI!
I think this drama might actually be a better look into vigilantism than Vigilante because the accidental vigilante here has no tragic backstory, is entirely self-serving, and is not above leaving victims to die (metaphorically or otherwise!) as long as it creates the conditions she needs.
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13 Procrasti-NationFirstCitizen
September 22, 2024 at 11:57 PM
Whoa! I am taken in by the opening episodes!! I'm now wondering if Do An will also go to hell and come back as some kind of supernatural, like Bit Na did, in order to pit one against the other. Should be good to see these two go up against one another.
I've only see Park Shin Hye in Dr. Plump, which was so meh for me, so it's great to see her as such a bada$$ in this one.
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Procrasti-NationFirstCitizen
September 23, 2024 at 12:44 AM
Oops... I don't think PSH would ever be a Dr. Plump (though I would like to see more inclusive roles in kdrama, a la Bridgerton, that aren't only played for laughs)
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14 jillian
September 23, 2024 at 12:47 AM
I have been on the fence with this but decided to still watch to see how it goes. And....I really like Park Shin Hye in this! Gasp! I know! It feels like a breath of fresh air from the candy roles she has been known for. I am all for her Kang Bit Na/Justitia role.
I also enjoyed the cameos of Oh Nara and Shin Sung Rok. They were both gorgeously styled for their characters.
I am not sure where we go from how ep2 ended. I hope it will be an interesting one.
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15 Skiee
September 23, 2024 at 3:47 AM
Park Shinhye is nailing her role but Idk..I felt something off throughout these episodes. It's the direction or the editing 🤔. Some scenes felt forced just for the drama like killing the detective? Why would she stab him without any research like she did with her first victim. Overall It's not bad cgi is good but I'm not sure. We'll see.
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Le
September 23, 2024 at 6:16 AM
As shown in the first episode, she is impulsive. She acts first and thinks later, old habits don't die easily. 😂
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Skiee
September 23, 2024 at 6:25 AM
Yeah I also thought like that but still it felt way too fast action taken from her part even with her impulsiveness.
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TwoCentsWorth
September 23, 2024 at 8:42 AM
I did find some editing/scripting choices odd too. For example, I think having her adjust to being in a human body, act as a human judge could have made for some fun hijinks. But nope we were abruptly launched into the case. That was so fun, however, I forgave the show.
But in this, I also agree it may serve to reinforce her act first, think later persona, which is one of the lessons I'm sure she'll have to learn in order to become a good judge, in hell or on earth.
However, it could have been done better. But it's also a have-fun-first-ask-questions later show. 😂
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Skiee
September 23, 2024 at 8:48 AM
Hmmm..I think it's the execution. It is very fast paced. The writer is seriously angry with the system and it felt like it's her dream😂. I think a nuanced approach would've been better.
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16 Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
September 23, 2024 at 9:15 AM
First - it's NOT streaming in US so it makes me so mad. Disney, what's the deal?!!
Anyway, I went over to dark side and watched it anyway. And boy, I didn't realise I would have so much fun. Shin Hye is rocking it crazy 😂 I didn't expect she would be so much fun.
The style choice of the drama, though understandable, is a bit choppy and over dramatic. CGI is not quite on point. But the interactions are so much fun that I am OK to forgive it. Just one episode down.
I loved the choice of the first case. And I am so glad SK is doing so much to bring this mainstream.
Will catch the 2nd one sometime soon and will be back.
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Celebril
September 23, 2024 at 5:32 PM
Don't fret! It's coming to us on, I believe, Sep. 25th. It will be on Hulu. For some reason, there is a delay for us getting it.
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Rai-Su
September 28, 2024 at 5:59 PM
You can also watch on kisskh.co and they are ahead of Hulu!
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17 TwoCentsWorth
September 23, 2024 at 9:51 AM
Comment was deleted
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18 TwoCentsWorth
September 23, 2024 at 10:06 AM
It's ever so campy
PSH, oh so vampy
It ain't first class
Still, I'm having a blast
Was anyone reminded of Supernatural, the American show? It has a similar camp Gothic vibe and violence. It has a smorgasbord of beliefs: invented, Christian and ancient Greek. (I wouldn't be surprised if Buddhism and Shamanism also pop up.) It also has a somewhat B grade vibe to it as some have noted.
Tho nothing second class about PSH. When she tilts her head and gives a mocking look with her wing-tipped eyes... 🪭 Yup, that's a fan I'm needing. I'm hoping KJY soon gets in the game, and then we'll need two 🪭🪭 because it'll be as hot as, ahem, hell, or gehenna, or whatever.
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tabong
September 23, 2024 at 1:27 PM
😂😂😂
Your comment is first class. 💯 👌😂
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19 Kurama
September 23, 2024 at 11:21 AM
I think the comedy parts worked better than the serious ones. The whole punishing part was way too long and at the same time too fast to really feel the abuser's fear. I wonder she came back in a human body if she still has all her powers. What was the point?
It's fun to see PSH and KIK still comploting about her identity. The last time, he disguised as an idol, this time as a Judge! It's not as funny to see her confess she's a demon as it was in Lucifer.
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20 cita
September 24, 2024 at 4:16 AM
I'm hooked by Shinhye's acting...i love her role here, so different from her previous ones.I just hope that the story will be good until the end.
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21 Mr Everything
September 24, 2024 at 2:46 PM
The writing is really cheesy. I am lactose intolerant.
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Cecee is done DramaQueening
October 9, 2024 at 2:53 AM
https://youtu.be/AGHT-PpRFE0?feature=shared
Does this help?
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22 Vladdles
September 25, 2024 at 1:32 AM
@missvictrix super recap!
Bit-na's lesson for next week...think first kill later.
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23 🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
September 26, 2024 at 12:11 AM
The cameos were totally ten on ten. Eleven even!!😅 Surely Bael’s tentacles deserve an extra point. 🤣
Indeed the theology part is pretty questionable and even though I knew the whole show is about sending the unrepentant murderers to Hell, actually seeing the said unrepentant behaviour caught me unawares and it was difficult to watch the abuse even though we knew Justice (or rather Justitia) is coming for him. 🙌🏻 ⚖️ The justice of making him endure what the victim went through was equally icky but satisfying. Also Justice Kang’s coat cum shorts designer suit while meting out said justice!! 😅😂 Well what can I say … now I’m a fan. 🤷♀️🤣
Judge Kang’s court while not totally a kangaroo court is a fun sort of place - or so we thought during Detective Han Doan’s trial. Surely he was as captivated as us. While we did try to bear with her it seems Justitia literally stabbed (although not in the back) the ML and our trust. Hope they maintain the dark humor but not too much footage to carrying out the remaining nine murders please. 🙏
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24 snancy
September 26, 2024 at 11:23 AM
I love Park Shin-hye and Kim Jae-young, but I think this is just too violent for me.
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25 Kairoskat 💐
September 26, 2024 at 1:44 PM
Hoping Bael pops up in every episode. Lowkey hoping he takes over ML body, have 2 supernaturals punishing evil. Maybe Bael can use one of his tentacles as a puppet master 😂.
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26 gimbapslice
October 6, 2024 at 10:11 AM
I also have an ultra low tolerance for overly religious themed shows, but willing to give this one a chance if they just stick to punishing criminals and stay away from corny religious soapboxing.
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27 Dylan [is crying bc of Umi no Hajimari]
October 6, 2024 at 2:23 PM
Park Shin-hye is having fun with the role and I am having fun with this drama. HOWEVER, was it necessary to depict the brutal physical abuse of a woman in graphic detail repeatedly?
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