To be honest, I really hope there is no romance. The world is full of rom-coms, I just want to enjoy a good thriller.
Of course there are times where romance, love relationships and marriage can become either a tragedy or a thriller as nasty as any. Even a horror movie.
As bad as National Geographic animal documentaries where you see someone being torn to pieces.
Yes, but I donāt go around demanding every single rom-com have a murder in it, why do people do this for thrillers?
I think Koreans, like Indians, like multi-genre films and dramas. In Bollywood films you often have comedy, tragedy, dance and songs, murders, heartbreak, politics, violent fights, cheesy family reconciliation, whatever. Because the whole family watches, not women alone or men alone or their kids alone. The boundaries between genres are not as clear-cut as in the West. So that everyone can find something to like. They call these āmasala moviesā: masala being a blend of various different spices.
Coming back to Corea.
You probably didnāt watch Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, but itās a good example of genre mix. It was a rom com plus murder mystery plus fantasy plus slapstick comedy (this last part was for the most part very badly done and cringe-worthy).
So was Chicago Typewriter : it had romance, fantasy aspect (ghost, reincarnation, time travel), social commentary (the press and celebrities), politics, torture, ideals. Present dayās romance was sweet and slightly comedic, past time romance was heartbreaking.
This might explain in part why people wouldnāt find it strange to have some romance in a thriller.
In most American thrillers and action movies, you often have a beautiful woman even if sheās more or less irrelevant to the plot. Why? Canāt there be a thriller with only men? Of course it could. But they put a woman to make it more marketable to the male public which likes thrills and chases but also seeing long legs and bare skin. (Okay, maybe women can also scream more convincingly and make more likely victims? A bit of stereotype here)
I think you miss my point.
Just see every post here and elsewhere:
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Thereās a new drama about a serial killer.
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Oh, I hope the leads have a romantic relationship.
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Thatās a drama about a plane crash.
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I hope there is a romance.
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Thatās a drama about alien invasion.
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Yes, but is there a romance in it?
I watched Do Bong Soon (not the best drama Iāve seen and not because of the romance). I know you donāt mean it, but you sound a bit condescending. I donāt object romance in a thriller or anywhere and Iām not that one-dimensional, but I donāt agree with the public demand to have a romance line shoved down our throats in.every.single.drama.
I am following it and I must say it is very good. As you say itās not on Viki which is my favourite site but alas when a great drama comes along must needs. Not for the casual viewer and cannot dare miss a moment but strong cast and a treat as it keeps one guessing. Top quality in by opinion.
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I tried watching while eating and I ended up with cold supper because I couldnāt take my eyes off. Not only the lines, but their expressions, even a glance, make a difference.
I donāt think there can be romance remember he said he would be alone until death. They destroyed his emotional brain when they operated on him as a young lad. He cannot feel empathy with the victims only strives for justice. I think we will see him respect the police officer as he already trusts her.
glykeria, I also am a romantic, so I just envision a romance starting any where, and I also agree donāt force a romance down our throats everytime a drama is shown. as for forest, I am thinking if this guy doesnāt have emotions per his surgery, kinda wish there could have been kind of a spark of some kind. I need to google that condition. does that mean all emotions, his anger issues was reason for that surgery anyway, so whats left, a shell???(hey heres a thought! SPOCK an emotionless guy!! )
and as for these at least 3 I am watching, serial killer, love triangle and good & bad cops/detectives/prosecutes. theres no end huh? well regardless love or not, I like forest, look out & suspicious partner. and close to ends too.
oh yeah ger_o_malley; did kind of forget about that. but can I hope for a āsparkā at least with him and the detective??
I think he isnāt completely emotionless, but he is persuaded he is, and maybe his journey to discover and accept heās not a robot will be part of the plot.
If you like romance, watch In the mood for love (2000). Itās one of the best romantic movies ever and one of my favorites.
Mood for love? hmm I will check it out today
I did google that ailment its too long to put here that kind of surgery is mainly used for people with epilepsy
still quite interesting though. wouldnāt be neat that he was brainwashed tfor him to believe he didnāt have any emotions. oh and that article did mention about memory loss and decision making. would be really cool if that did happen in the show!! thanks glykeria,
Towards whom? Thrillers? Writers? Indians and Koreans? U.S. audiences? You? Where?
I just read my post again and for the life o me I cannot find such a thing. But if you felt it, this means that something, for someone, can be interpreted that way. In that case, Iām sorry!
Towards me. That I canāt recognize. appreciate or understand a genre mix and/ or that my tastes are so basic that I need someone to explain to me that thrillers and horror stories can have traces or whole subplots of other genres in them. Or why this happens. And presuming that my only reference in judging is American cheap action. By the way, there are plenty of American action movies with only men (no trace of women eye- candy), but not the opposite. Action/ thriller/ horror doesnāt necessarily equal ācheap and targeted towards men, with guns and boobsā.
Many, many Korean dramas and movies are straight up horror (some of the best), so itās not like the whole country watches only family-oriented stuff. And Gulaab Gang is Indian (I donāt recommend watching it, though).
I have nothing against romance, as you seem to believe, but I firmly believe it has its place, and that place is not in every possible drama.
My point was very clear from the beginning: people demand a love story everywhere and they complain if itās not there, as if we are supposed to have only the genre that they want (romance) and other peopleās tastes donāt matter.
And this can cause fanservice that doesnāt belong and ruin the drama. The romcom lovers wonāt t care about the plot, because āoh, kiss!!!ā, āoh, backhug!!!ā but to the rest of us, itās still a ruined plot.
For the life of me, I canāt understand people who tune it to watch a thriller/ horror and always complain that itās too scary and thereās not enough romance. Either they have their genres mixed up or they canāt even fathom that there might exist something outside their personal preferences.
But I still know you didnāt do it intentionally, because I donāt think thatās who you are.
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I guess youāre right.
Iām just loving the chemistry between the leads too much, haha.
I like the police officerās chemistry with her coworker, tbh. The young one that they always joke together.
Didnāt he play the killer in another drama? EDIT: I remember, in Achiara. That was a weird one, too.
Iām pretty sure that Lee Joon Hyuk is a great, upstanding guy and he was distressed that he had to slap around Bae Doo Na like that, but oh boy is he good at playing the bad guy. I had only seen him play the good second lead and thatās such a waste of his talent. I hope his next drama is a serial killer role, heās THAT good.
Minor irritation: what about Cho Seung Wooās brows? The shape is how a make-up artist would imagine them (yes, I know literally everyone in dramas has them penciled on) but they donāt look right. The height and the length in particular.
Well, I guess nobody watched this.
I just got around to finishing this and yāall are missing out.
Itās one of the best dramas ever. From start to finish.
Iām currently on episode 3 and I am enjoying atm. The hour goes by so quickly and thatās rare for me cos I tend to find an hour long drama too boring if the story is, well, boring LOL. In any case, I like the mystery side to it, the characters and how the bad guys are not only bad guys for the sake of being a bad guy but because itās become of them ā thereās that understanding/justification for us, as why they are doing what they do. Itās quite realistic, probs the most realistic k-drama Iāve seen so far.
In another note though, am I the only one who guessed that the āmanā on the window in the CCTV wasnāt Mr. Park and was exactly the killer and that the tv-cable guy who got blamed for the murder was indeed telling the truth? I assumed this on episode 1 already btw lol. Iāve watched too much detective series XD
I guessed it, too. I think that it was supposed to be a minor twist, or us seasoned viewers are just too good. 
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I wasnāt looking for the romance like you mentioned, just wish it could have had a better ending is all.