THE DEVIL JUDGE has been on my watchlist for a while, but I’ve never been in the mood for a dystopia. When I did start watching it, I quickly realised that the drama is not as dystopian or set in the future as I had assumed, but that we have already experienced some of the visions. Even now, populists are trying to mobilise and incite their supporters through fear and are more or (currently still) less successful, depending on which country you look at.

THE DEVIL JUDGE has managed to catapult itself to the top of my list of the best KDramas. One reason for this is Ji Sung, who exudes charisma as the judge with the seductive power of a Mephisto in a way I have rarely seen.

In addition to the story of revenge, vigilante justice, obsession and manipulation, I was also fascinated by the relationships between the characters. Firstly, there’s the relationship between Kang Yo-han and Kim Ga-on, which I’m not sure whether it’s really just a kind of friendship between two very different men or whether it’s more than that. Some of the scenes in which Yo-han strokes Ga-on’s lapel or grabs his wrist had an erotic touch. In any case, Yo-han and Ga-on had more chemistry than Ga-on and his policeman girlfriend.

I found Yo-han’s relationship with his niece equally fascinating. Their story was what touched me the most.