The way the police let their personal interests and relationships compromise their professionalism and affect their investigation methods, as well as the way small-town dynamics inevitably mix up the personal and the professional, are common to a lot of police/legal kdramas. This one focuses on those themes as much as it does on the murder mysteries. There is one episode where the investigation relies partly on amateurs, but that’s in a “who can we trust?” situation and for me at least it isn’t so unrealistic as to spoil the show’s overall brilliance.
Do you mean when Jae-yi goes on that hilarious misbegotten “stake-out” with Ji-hoon? The levity brought by her face when she realizes that she’s not catching a killer but instead only revealing something embarrassing about a long-time acquaintance was so great, though!
@attiton To be honest, I don’t remember a lot about this drama 😅 Mainly, the egg scene because the BTS was pretty fun and his car.
But my vaguely feeling, it was this drama brought anything new to the genre (old-young cop team, and of course the famous serial kiler), the investigation was very messy, the characters were written purposely not very likable… But it was intense and the actors were great. The direction was pretty good too.
One of the things I most appreciate about the writing in this show is that the dialogue sounds like people, not drama characters – and each character is given their own voice, with almost no stock characters who remain so and who serve only a narrative purpose. There’s neither extensive expository “conversation” nor a refusal to respond to others, to correct a mistake or challenge an assumption, when it would be natural to do so. Dong-shik does the least assumption-challenging and he’s maddening because he wants to be. He lets those (false?) accusations hang in the air to force his interlocutors to think about them, and about what else they may have gotten wrong.
Beyond Evil is a most impressive drama in recent years. I consider it being “the parts are greater than the sum” as opposed to “the sum is greater than the parts”.
As @midnight and others noted, the acting from side to main characters is universally good and Shin Ha-kyun is phenomenal. I always wonder whether the script was written for him specifically.
What I like most, besides acting, is how well each character is thrashed out and becomes a ‘distinct’ person that you’d remember for a long time. I watched it twice as binge-watch in the year when the drama came out. Now, three years later, all those characters remain vivid in my mind – that’s a real strength and accomplishment.
It is however not an all rounded masterpiece – comparable to Stranger / Forest of Secrets – as let down by its writing and the plot construct. I still find the police investigation is written poorly – not that we are looking for a flawless investigation as after all it’s a story about sub-par investigation leading to injustice. But bad investigation still needs good storytelling to make it convincing. That aspect of the story just glided by fleetingly without depth or precision. If you look at FoS 1 and FoS 2, you can already picture Lee Soo-yeon’s white board and spaghetti map linking plots and characters with glove-fit tightness. Here, the loose plot writing unfortunately fails to take this drama to the next level of greatness – a brilliant drama nonetheless. Thought-provoking too!
I’m pretty sure from her comments that @attiton has not finished the show, so it would be a kindness to avoid commenting on how it ends – especially when it’s on her fanwall, so she can’t help seeing the notifications. I’ve had a show spoiled for me this way and it really took the enjoyment out of it.
I disagree with your conclusions. I think it would be boring if all police dramas were about being like “real police.” This drama stretched reality to make something even better than a boring police procedural
Sorry if you thought I was saying that it had to be a ‘real police procedural’. That is not at all what I was trying to convey.
Drama is an art form of interpretation of stories and characters. There are unlimited ways to do it with no fixed formula. Beyond Evil excels in creating a compelling story with equally compelling characters that the excellent cast had brought them to life. Where it falls short of is the uneven writing in that there are the very good parts (or heavier emphasis on) what the writer wants to tell with however less attention on the background – or what the writer considers to be – secondary stuff. The good parts are thus very good, making the weak parts looking weaker.
As an audience, I just thought, for example, there should be better explanation or more scenes on why the initial investigation was botched – is it due to personal issues or laziness on the part of the police or some black hands behind and so forth? Such coverage could really enrich the context of the story development leading to justified sympathy or otherwise for those affected by the poorly executed investigation.
I never consider this drama a police procedural. I’d classify it primarily a character study dressed as a psycho thriller. The story is really about those characters caught in the traps created by themselves or others and have to live through the consequences. There are so many things we can unpack and enjoy in unpacking / witnessing how they get off the traps or get further down the abyss. Beyond Evil is without doubt a superb drama and praise-worthy but somehow miss the mark of becoming an all time master piece due to the uneven writing.
The initial investigation was botched because the local Police Chief (the big bad Dad Han Gi-Hwan) called it off publicly, shockingly and intentionally. The level of public surprise was even written up in the newspapers, something we were shown directly. He was selfishly covering up his own mistake. There was no mystery about it.
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Seon-ha
October 1, 2024 at 10:19 AM
I’d never need any other praise again, if were Han Ju-won and I got this nod.
Beyond Evil, a show that easily rivals Stranger in quality of writing and tone-setting, episode 11.
Midnight
October 1, 2024 at 10:35 AM
Tone-setting,yes, definitely. Writing… not a fan. At all. Sorry.
Kurama
October 1, 2024 at 12:10 PM
Yeah, I didn’t like how the characters investigate in this drama. They were so unprofessionnal.
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
October 1, 2024 at 12:30 PM
The way the police let their personal interests and relationships compromise their professionalism and affect their investigation methods, as well as the way small-town dynamics inevitably mix up the personal and the professional, are common to a lot of police/legal kdramas. This one focuses on those themes as much as it does on the murder mysteries. There is one episode where the investigation relies partly on amateurs, but that’s in a “who can we trust?” situation and for me at least it isn’t so unrealistic as to spoil the show’s overall brilliance.
Seon-ha
October 1, 2024 at 12:38 PM
Do you mean when Jae-yi goes on that hilarious misbegotten “stake-out” with Ji-hoon? The levity brought by her face when she realizes that she’s not catching a killer but instead only revealing something embarrassing about a long-time acquaintance was so great, though!
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
October 1, 2024 at 12:40 PM
Yup. So funny. There’s not a lot of humor in this show but when there is, it hits.
Kurama
October 1, 2024 at 12:45 PM
But the beginning was the cop choosing a villain then trying to match the evidences instead to follow the evidences and to find the villain…
Yeah, it’s common in a lot of police dramas and it’s always frustrating. But for me, the writing wasn’t the best, it was more the actors.
Seon-ha
October 1, 2024 at 12:46 PM
By “writing” do you mean “plot construction?”
Kurama
October 2, 2024 at 12:17 AM
@attiton To be honest, I don’t remember a lot about this drama 😅 Mainly, the egg scene because the BTS was pretty fun and his car.
But my vaguely feeling, it was this drama brought anything new to the genre (old-young cop team, and of course the famous serial kiler), the investigation was very messy, the characters were written purposely not very likable… But it was intense and the actors were great. The direction was pretty good too.
Seon-ha
October 3, 2024 at 8:51 AM
So what you didn’t like was that it wasn’t the way you would have written it?
Kurama
October 3, 2024 at 10:41 AM
no, because I didn’t feel anything except frustration by watching it.
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
October 1, 2024 at 12:13 PM
One of the things I most appreciate about the writing in this show is that the dialogue sounds like people, not drama characters – and each character is given their own voice, with almost no stock characters who remain so and who serve only a narrative purpose. There’s neither extensive expository “conversation” nor a refusal to respond to others, to correct a mistake or challenge an assumption, when it would be natural to do so. Dong-shik does the least assumption-challenging and he’s maddening because he wants to be. He lets those (false?) accusations hang in the air to force his interlocutors to think about them, and about what else they may have gotten wrong.
Seon-ha
October 1, 2024 at 12:32 PM
…and everyone–every last person–is a Monster of sorts either out here in reality or in the hell that is their own minds.
Midnight
October 1, 2024 at 1:21 PM
My 2 short reviews, just because:
Ep 5:
https://www.dramabeans.com/members/midnight/activity/1341558/
Ep 16:
https://www.dramabeans.com/members/midnight/activity/1342580/
(For when you finish it)
Seon-ha
October 1, 2024 at 1:24 PM
Thank you for adding context.
wonhwa
October 1, 2024 at 6:47 PM
I thought this was an extraordinary show, with some of the most compelling character arcs I’ve seen in a drama. Hope you enjoy the rest of it!
PYC
October 2, 2024 at 9:11 AM
Beyond Evil is a most impressive drama in recent years. I consider it being “the parts are greater than the sum” as opposed to “the sum is greater than the parts”.
As @midnight and others noted, the acting from side to main characters is universally good and Shin Ha-kyun is phenomenal. I always wonder whether the script was written for him specifically.
What I like most, besides acting, is how well each character is thrashed out and becomes a ‘distinct’ person that you’d remember for a long time. I watched it twice as binge-watch in the year when the drama came out. Now, three years later, all those characters remain vivid in my mind – that’s a real strength and accomplishment.
It is however not an all rounded masterpiece – comparable to Stranger / Forest of Secrets – as let down by its writing and the plot construct. I still find the police investigation is written poorly – not that we are looking for a flawless investigation as after all it’s a story about sub-par investigation leading to injustice. But bad investigation still needs good storytelling to make it convincing. That aspect of the story just glided by fleetingly without depth or precision. If you look at FoS 1 and FoS 2, you can already picture Lee Soo-yeon’s white board and spaghetti map linking plots and characters with glove-fit tightness. Here, the loose plot writing unfortunately fails to take this drama to the next level of greatness – a brilliant drama nonetheless. Thought-provoking too!
After you finish Beyond Evil, you may like tocheck out the review by our esteemed Beanie, @Lee Tenant, at her website: https://invisibledragon.leetennant.com/2021/07/08/open-thread-beyond-evil-episode-13-16-end/
Midnight
October 2, 2024 at 9:22 AM
Comment was deleted
Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
October 2, 2024 at 9:42 AM
I’m pretty sure from her comments that @attiton has not finished the show, so it would be a kindness to avoid commenting on how it ends – especially when it’s on her fanwall, so she can’t help seeing the notifications. I’ve had a show spoiled for me this way and it really took the enjoyment out of it.
Midnight
October 2, 2024 at 9:50 AM
I was careful to note when posting the links, but completely forgot this time 🤦🏻♀️ Thanks for the reminder
Seon-ha
October 3, 2024 at 8:50 AM
I disagree with your conclusions. I think it would be boring if all police dramas were about being like “real police.” This drama stretched reality to make something even better than a boring police procedural
PYC
October 3, 2024 at 9:46 AM
Sorry if you thought I was saying that it had to be a ‘real police procedural’. That is not at all what I was trying to convey.
Drama is an art form of interpretation of stories and characters. There are unlimited ways to do it with no fixed formula. Beyond Evil excels in creating a compelling story with equally compelling characters that the excellent cast had brought them to life. Where it falls short of is the uneven writing in that there are the very good parts (or heavier emphasis on) what the writer wants to tell with however less attention on the background – or what the writer considers to be – secondary stuff. The good parts are thus very good, making the weak parts looking weaker.
As an audience, I just thought, for example, there should be better explanation or more scenes on why the initial investigation was botched – is it due to personal issues or laziness on the part of the police or some black hands behind and so forth? Such coverage could really enrich the context of the story development leading to justified sympathy or otherwise for those affected by the poorly executed investigation.
I never consider this drama a police procedural. I’d classify it primarily a character study dressed as a psycho thriller. The story is really about those characters caught in the traps created by themselves or others and have to live through the consequences. There are so many things we can unpack and enjoy in unpacking / witnessing how they get off the traps or get further down the abyss. Beyond Evil is without doubt a superb drama and praise-worthy but somehow miss the mark of becoming an all time master piece due to the uneven writing.
Seon-ha
October 3, 2024 at 9:52 AM
The initial investigation was botched because the local Police Chief (the big bad Dad Han Gi-Hwan) called it off publicly, shockingly and intentionally. The level of public surprise was even written up in the newspapers, something we were shown directly. He was selfishly covering up his own mistake. There was no mystery about it.