4th Period Murder Mystery

A.K.A.: The Clue

Genre: Mystery/ Thriller

Rating: ♥♥♥♥ (4 hearts)

Cast: Yoo Seung Ho
          Kang So Ra
          Jo Sang Geun
          Park Chul Min
          Kim Dong Bum

Link(s): My Soju
               Youtube



Sypnosis
Han Jeong Hun [Yoo Seung Ho] doesn't have much on his mind when he enters his classroom and finds his classmate Tae Gyu [Jo Sang Geun] dead. Only minutes pass before murder mystery fanatic, Lee Da Jeong, [Sora Kang], enters the room. The evidence and recent fights between Jeong Hun and Tae Gyu leave Jeong Hun as the main suspect in the eyes of public. When Da Jeong sees Jeong Hun next to the body, his t-shirt stained with blood, no matter how much she tries, she cannot truly believe that Jeong Hun is the murderer.  Only one thought passes through her head, they have 40 minutes to gather clues and find the real killer before the next period begins when the rest of the students will enter the classroom and find the dead body.

Plot
The storyline is interesting... typical and predictable, but interesting. The plot is so similar to all the other basic mysteries out there. Clues were usually easy to find and typical. There's not really anything that makes you say 'Wow, how in the world did they figure that out?' or ' Om-jay how did they do that?' When they think they caught the suspect, they've really just begun. Almost last minute they finally find the tiniest piece of a clue that leads them in a completely different direction than they were initially heading. Still, the setting is pretty new since it is a high school, and I haven't seen really seen that anywhere.

Ooh and clues! I thought they were rare yet good... ish. It took me a while to figure out who the murder was, but once the button clue came on screen, I immediately got it. In fact when they caught decoy, the person they thought was the killer, I was like 'Whaa? I'm wrong? How?!'

I know one thing from watching so many movies. Buttons seem to play a big role in mysteries.


Characters
 Am I the only one who thought that Da Jeong was supposed to be the main character? The girl is simply too intelligent to be second in line to Jeong Hun. Except for figuring out who the real killer is, he practically just sits back and watches Da Jeong solve the case that might just possibly put him in jail. Only in the ending does he actually outsmart his 'sensei' [Da Jeong].

Hehe... Lo♥e this part right here.

There also seems to be some background info left out. Usually, the viewer gets an inside peak at the character's life in a touching moment buried beneath the most suspenseful second in the movie. This small break from reality not only allows us to take a breath from all the drama, but also gives us the opportunity to relate or at the very least have an 'Aww' moment. That 'Aww' moment is very important. Anyway, I was surprised that we have absolutely no history to the characters whatsoever. As I was watching the movie this didn't really bother me. But once everything was over, I had this feeling of wanting to know more. Why is Da Jeong so obsessed with mystery and gore? Why do the students exclude her? Is purely because she is so different form the typical girl, and our society today cannot accept that, or does it have a deeper story?

 Instead, the movie seems to have an abundance of scenes where the characters are doing nothing but running. The big chase towards the ending is necessary to the movie, but the rest of the scenes aren't as critical to the story. I'm sure that the director could have cut some of those scenes short, and instead squeeze some more meaningful scenes in. Some touching past story for instance?

Endless running scene. Aww, they're holding hands!! ♥

Personally I loved the characters. Yoo Seung Ho looks very young and childish in this movie. He gives this sense of innocence whenever he is standing next to Kang So Ra's character. She too fits her character quite well. Together they create an odd, but adorable couple. It is much different than the usual stereotype that the guy has to lead in the relationship. In fact, towards the ending Da Jeong [Kang So Ra] seems to be in complete control. This quirk seems to fit perfectly especially since the movie already stands out as something different from others of its kind. Jo Sang Geun doesn't fall behind either. He portrays the typical misjudged and troubled teenager perfectly. In some scenes he has the whole evil eye thingy completely under control. Creepy...


Recommendation

Perfect ending. ♥♥

If you are a hard core mystery junkie, I don't think you should pass on this movie. Although it's not the type of movie that spins the case into a brilliant web of lies and 'Om-jay how did they come up with that?' moments, it gives you a moment to enjoy a simple mystery on a nice week-end night. Which is when I watched it. ☺ If you like a cute romance, where the girl gets a chance to lead, then I definitely recommend this movie. Overall, I don't think the mystery was the main focus in this film. The romance seems to take the spotlight.

The Devil

Genre: Drama/ Thriller

Length: 20 episodes
  
Rating: ♥♥♥♥ (4.5 hearts)

Cast: Shin Min Ah
          Joo Ji Hoon
          Uhm Tae Woong
          Park Gri Na
          Joo Jin Mo

Link(s): My Soju
               Drama Crazy
               Drama Load
               Good Drama

Synopsis  
During a fight in high school, Kang Oh Soo [Uhm Tae Woong] killed a classmate in high school. Due to his rich family's sly manipulations, Oh Soo bought his way out of a trial and a sentence in prison. Two years later, Oh Soo has erased all evidence of his dark past and has a promising career as a detective. When he hits a dead end in two, seemingly unrelated cases, he seeks the help of Seo Hae In [Shin Min Ah], a woman with psychometric abilities. After assessing the case, and looking over the bare evidence left behind in each case, two tarot cards left at each crime scene, she reveals that the killers were different in each murder, but victims are chosen due to their connection with a high school boy's death. This severely bruises Detective Kang Oh Soo's walls which he built over his dreadful memory. As the drama continues, another character keeps popping up. Defense attorney Oh Seung Ha [Joo Ji Hoon] seems to be representing each murderer in Oh Soo's cases. Seung Ha's solid defense violently shakes Oh Soo's peruse to catch the Tarot Card puppet master.

Plot~ Intelligent, intriguing, and 100% evil. 
Although the story moves a little slow in the beginning, it picks up fairly quickly, and I definitely recommend sticking with it. Watching The Devil is comparable to finding your way out of a  maze. There are so many twists and turns, after a while you just give up on the whole 'Guessing What's Next' game. This story was so intriguing and intelligent that it leads me to think that the writers were psychos or detectives in some past life because the story seemed that real. And don't even get me started on the ending! Until this drama, I had the illusion that all K-Dramas end with a bubbly and happy ending, but by the 20th episode, I had a completely different view on the whole drama world. 

Characters
So, I totally love Shin Min Ah in this drama. Her character, Hae In is so kind and sweet, that her character really grew on me.A total plus to that is that she is psychometric, so she can tell the history of an object just by touching it. Isn't that like completely awesome? How many of us wouldn't want to have that power?
 

Okaii... So enough of my obsessing over the girl's super powers. 
Kang Oh Soo, played by Uhm Tae Woong, is great. He portrays the character's feeling perfectly, and at times he reminds me of a lost puppy, especially when he visits Hae In at night. But I have to say, in a not-so-proudly fashion that this is the drama that introduced me to people yelling, in a very over-dramatic way at the sky. He does that a million times over the period of only 20 episodes. While some may call that perfect in-character acting, I find it very disturbing when for some unknown reason, my video has to buffer at the exact moment where his expression is in the weirdest positions possible. 

Ooh, and Joo Ji Hoon... This is the drama that got me addicted to him! Not only does he have great looks, but he can also engulf himself in the feelings of the character. I can't possibly imagine anyone besides him playing that role. Every time that he pops on screen, I swear hell freezes, that guy is pure evil!!


Recommendation
If you're looking for one hot, mysterious, mind-blowing melodrama, then I totally suggest The Devil. By the end of the episode you will need to clear out the air in the room, because this one is just that suffocating with pure melodrama aura. I highly recommend watching this, even if you're more into quirky romances.  

I don't really know any dramas similar to this one. This is probably because after watching this one I placed myself around a bunch of cute romance dramas. But although I have not watched it yet, after reading its synopsis, Resurrection seemed to have a similar story line. I've also head about the Japanese remake of the drama, Maou. If I find any more in the future, I'll make sure to update this post.♥