Stranger

Overall Rating: A-
Subtitles: Good subs!
Brief Synopsis: A murder case reveals the deep corruption of the police and prosecutor’s office. Watch it on Netflix here.

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

Ending Type: Satisfying. In a crime thriller it’s hard to pin point what a happy ending would be– the case was solved and the guilty parties brought to justice, but it was bittersweet in some aspects.
Characters:
Hwang Shi Mok (Cho Seung Woo)
Han Yeo Jin (Bae Doo Na)
Lee Chang Joon (Yoo Jae Myung)
Full review:
This will be brief because this show did not have much for me in terms of emotional investment. It was a phenomenally written mystery with really clever twists and turns and ultimately a powerful message. I was very satisfied by the overall story arc and the conclusion.
However, I never felt any kind of connection to or investment in the characters or their relationships, so this one didn’t have me really screaming or feeling anything.
The main character’s entire deal is that he can’t really feel emotions and to be honest this was a cool concept for an episode or two and then it was just kind of like… OK? It made it real hard to feel any kind of connection to him or feel any investment in his relationships because he sure didn’t seem invested. I love Bae Doo Na but her character felt very peripheral in this and she didn’t have much to play off of because her on screen partner was flat affect the entire time.
I do recommend this for a well written mystery show about exposing deep levels of corruption and the power of taking responsibility (and the dangers of power). But otherwise I don’t have much to say because it was mostly just the plot that kept it interesting, and there was pretty much nothing in the character/relationship department.
If you are familiar with my reviews you’ll know the characters and relationships are typically my focus, which is what made this fall a little flat for me. I will definitely watch Season 2 though– it seemed like the story was getting ready for a breakthrough in the emotions department and if that happens I’m here for it.
High Points: Really well written mystery with constant corruption escalation.
Low Points: I’m not really sure what the whole “main character can’t feel emotions” was supposed to add to the show? Like to me it just made him kind of hard to connect to as a character.