SIGNAL

Overall Rating: A+ (please note, however, that this is not recommended if you have trouble handling very dark, explicit, gritty, and raw crime dramas– lots of upsetting and disturbing content)
Subtitles: Per usual the Netflix subtitles were strong and very fluent, and I think (I think) they even kept the name order for the Romanized names in this one (at the very least I don’t recall rolling my eyes as I heard the Korean orders spoken and then saw it Romanized in Western order).
Brief Synopsis: A profiler in 2015 finds a radio that allows him to contact a detective from the past, and together they are determined to solve some of Korea’s most heinous cold cases, and perhaps even the mystery of the detective’s own disappearance. Watch it on Netflix here.

**Full show spoilers below the image. If you do not wish to be spoiled, do not proceed**

Ending Type: This had a cliffhanger ending which you know makes me a total rage machine. I’m not here for it. There is actually a Season 2 in production (delayed by COVID-19) and yes, no doubt this story can continue and would certainly take a while to map out as masterfully as this season. I’m all about an awesome concept like this continuing. However I wish they would have left this one at the conclusion of the actual story– Detective Lee managed to escape his own murder and went on an actual date with Detective Cha. Profiler Park’s past was re-written to allow him and his family to live a fuller and more healed life knowing the truth of what happened with his brother. That was the conclusion I needed (AND GOT!!!) and then they went and introduced a whole new disappearance mystery for Detective Lee and ended on a cryptic scene. Like look, I am HERE for the concept of next season with someone else on the other end of the radio and Cha, Lee, and Park working together. Here for it. I just needed that to be the opening of the next season, not a tease at the end of this one. Like have some mercy!!! Have some mercy!!! This show was one of the most painful shows I have ever watched, the least the writers could have done was left us with a feeling of closure. (SCREAMS INTERNALLY. PERHAPS ALSO EXTERNALLY).
Characters: This show featured a truly evil villain, another villain with a bit of redemption arc (I see you Ahn Chi Soo), one of my favorite actors in a classically wonderful sidekick role (Kim Won Hae as Kim Gye Chul), and some other memorable characters and roles, but it was really about our main three so I’ll focus on them. I will say this show’s extras/ small roles were truly standout. Literally every single person who had a scene in this, no matter how small, truly slayed it. Like wow such incredible acting, writing, and direction. (This show is a masterpiece).
Park Hae Young (Lee Je Hoon) is a profiler with a dark past– his brother committed suicide after being convicted as the main culprit in a gnarly gang rape case and Hae Young found the body as a child. His family was ripped apart by the tragedy and his conviction that his brother had to have been framed led him to his current career. He hears a radio come on that’s being disposed of one day and that transmission leads to the discovery of remains that help to solve an old case related to the murder of a child at a mental hospital. The transmission is from a Detective Lee in the year 2000. The next time the radio turns on (this radio is dead, btw), it’s 1989 for Detective Lee in the midst of a serial murder case. Hae Young is passionate (often to a fault), and buys in very quickly to the need to solve these old cases with what he knows in the future coupled with Detective Lee’s experience in the past. He’s sharp and smart but extremely emotional, and Lee Je Hoon captures him perfectly. In every scene you know exactly what he’s feeling, exactly what he’s thinking, and what thin ice his mental stability is on. It’s a roller-coaster ride, and Je Hoon sells every second of it. I loved how this character was dynamic and complex– he made his fair share of serious mistakes, from bad judgement calls to endangering other people in his passion to discover the truth about what happened to his brother. But he was real, and believable, and ultimately trying to do the right thing. This made him a highly compelling lead.
Cha Soo Hyun (Kim Hye Soo) was our intrepid female detective who got to be in both timelines– as the hardened detective partnered with Hae Young in the present timeline and the doe-eyed junior of Detective Lee in the past timeline. Hard kudos to Kim Hye Soo for capturing both versions of Detective Cha so well. In the past she is meek and gentle and not at all suited to the life of a Detective, but deeply earnest and adorably in love with Detective Lee. She was soft but still capable, and clearly beloved by all her co-workers. In the present she has Seen Things and is brisk and serious and not taking anyone’s shit. The definition of strong female lead without being needlessly aggressive– she was the kind of person you could understand and trust and connect with, she just wasn’t taking anyone’s crap. The writing did a great job of tying these two versions together and helping explain how she got from point A to point B, but overall she was just amazing. Not a highly emotional female lead (PROPS!!!), but still somehow the emotional thrust of the whole thing. I can’t tell you how badly I wanted Detective Lee to survive for her. I can’t tell you how much it meant when she went out of her way to protect Hae Young. Hugely impressive character, portrayed perfectly.
Detective Lee Jae Han (Cho Jin Woong) was one of the best and most interesting K Drama characters I’ve come across. Talk about dynamic and viscerally REAL person. Yes, he was heroic. At the end of the day he was guided entirely by his principles and his passion to catch criminals and stop the heinous crimes around him from happening. Yes, there was a softness to him when it came to caring for the people he felt responsible for, even if he was never great at expressing his care, even before he got mega jaded. But he was not exactly a kind person. He was not a highly controlled person. He was not soft, nor did he have any interest in placating anyone around him. He had some anger issues, he lost control sometimes. He made some bad choices. Like Hae Young, he got very obsessed with the concept of changing the outcome of things without fully thinking through potential consequences. But god was he compelling, and the acting was just absolutely top notch. Like wow. I honestly believed this show would still end in his death, and I’m supremely happy that we’ll get him again next season but also still bitter about the cliffhanger. That is all.
**PLEASE NOTE ALL 3 OF THESE CHARACTERS DIE AND COME BACK TO LIFE IN THIS SEASON IT SURE IS A FEEL!!
Relationships: This is gonna be quick because this isn’t really a romance, and honestly the relationships were so well done that there isn’t that much to comment on?
Detective Cha and Hae Young had a wonderful partner relationship that I was relieved never went romantic. They had phenomenal give and take, did not immediately trust or rely on each other, but developed rapport through actual experiences so when it came time for them to go beyond the law with each other’s help it was natural and believable and wonderful. The final scene of them in the car together going to follow the last clue Detective Lee left was a whole entire feel.
Detective Cha and Detective Lee did have a bit of a romantic plot that was not fully resolved– it’s clear Detective Lee does have feeling for Detective Cha so it’s not one-sided, but they never get a chance to really explore it. Mostly it’s Detective Cha’s devotion to Detective Lee that drives a lot of her own story, and seeing the interplay between them was very sweet.
Detective Lee and Hae Young definitely gave me the most feels, from their inherent trust in each other despite the absurdity of their situation, to the lengths they went to for each other, to Detective Lee in the past finding child Hae Young and caring for him from afar— like dang. This is the kind of bromance that gives you ALL THE FEELINGS. ALL OF THEM. Here’s hoping they meet and work together in the next season in the present timeline because that’d be rad.
High Points: Just like actually the whole thing, like this is flawless except maybe for having a flat villain but honestly that fit into the narrative so??? Just wow. Yeah. This show.
Low Points: This show DOES NOT PLAY when it comes to expressing the horror of crimes. Like wow it was raw and visceral and explicit and I had to stop watching multiple times to come back later because of how uncomfortable it made me. Especially in regards to rape/sexual assault, though some of the murder scenes were also highly disturbing. I don’t know that this is actually a low point because honestly I think that was extremely important to portray and really added to the story’s realism and intensity, but it was definitely hard to watch at times so. That was a thing.
Final comments: Easily the best crime drama I’ve ever seen. Not for the faint of heart. I honestly do not believe I could watch this again because of how intense and uncomfortable it was with its realism and darkness, but I eagerly await Season 2 and would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys crime dramas and can handle some of the heavier shit.