Early Access: The Worst of Evil E1-3

Administrative note: I've decided to cover this show while trying to mirror its airing schedule as closely as possible.

And so, since Show aired E1-3 first, followed by odd-even numbered episodes in pairs, I'm planning to follow the same rhythm, with the assumption that there's an intentional wisdom behind this airing pattern that would amplify the watch experience.

E1-3. I'm actually surprised myself, that I'm picking up this show, you guys.

I mean, of course I'm drawn by the fact that we get both Ji Chang Wook and Wi Ha Jun headlining a single show - that's double the leading man awesome, right there.

But, I'd been doubtful that I would take to the show, because this promised to be dark, gritty and dysfunctional, just based on the title alone.

And to be sure, there is violence in this, and yes, some of it is rather hard to watch.

But in terms of frequency and intensity, my impression is that it's a little less than what Moving served up, so there's that.

At the same time, though, this does feel grittier in comparison, probably because it was easy to believe that in Moving, all of this was intensified and extra violent and bloody because our characters had superpowers, not only to inflict but also, withstand, injury.

Here, there's no such superpower premise, and so, it actually feels harder to watch, in a way, even though the violence is less bloody and less intense, in comparison. 😅

And, because our opening scene is a gang fight with lots of injury and blood, I actually backed away from this very quickly, on my first attempt.

I was drawn back to give it a second try, however, because I saw the positive comments on MDL, about how this show is really very good, and one of the best shows airing at the moment, even.

I figured that I should at least push through the first gang fight to see what else Show had to offer, and y'know, I'm glad I did.

By the end of episode 1, I found myself drawn into this story a lot more than I'd originally been expecting to.

Before I get into that proper, though, I thought it might be good to mention that Show isn't - so far, anyway - serving up the kind of levels of evil that I'd originally feared, when I first saw Show's promo materials.

I'd say that Beyond Evil served up a lot more of that, than what we're seeing in this show.

In fact, so far, it feels like our main characters aren't actually evil.

I'd wondered if Wi Ha Jun's character, Gi Cheul, would be very evil, since he's the crime boss in this scenario, and Show's branded itself as the worst of evil.

In fact, we see that he's been making a living as a casually cool DJ who had no patience for troublemakers or shady business.

I'm thinking that if Sergeant Jang had left him alone, he might have never gotten into the crime business.

But, for reasons that haven't been made explicit, it does seem like Gi Cheul is keen to make a lot of money, and as soon as possible.

I do wonder if this has something to do with his family situation, or if he just wants a fast road to success.

I was a little surprised when, time-skip later, when Sergeant Jang refuses to make good on his promise to give Gi Cheul the benefits that he'd originally promised, for joining him, Gi Cheul hatches a plan to topple Sergeant Jang from his position.

Which, of course, involves ambushing Sergeant Jang and all his key men, and killing them off.

This decision feels like a very defining one, for Gi Cheul, because before this, he'd seemed like he'd been pulled into this world, almost against his better judgment.

But now, he's making an active choice to kill people, in order to gain control over Gangnam as a territory, and the freedom to make money through drugs - which Sergeant Jang had flatly refused.

On this point, like I mentioned, I do find Gi Cheul a bit of an enigma. I'm still curious about what's driving him to make drug money, despite the risks.

At the same time, we can see that Gi Cheul has real loyalty for his friends who have joined him in this line of work.

He'd brought them in because Sergeant Jang had made it a condition for Gi Cheul to join him, but you can see that he really is concerned about their welfare.

And when Tae Ho dies because of a moment of greed, Gi Cheul is genuinely horrified and upset - to the point of killing Sergeant Jang himself, on the spot, by stabbing him multiple times.

The rage and vengeance in this scene felt very real, and, I do think that it gives us a flavor for what Gi Cheul is capable of, not only in terms of violence, but also, in terms of his loyalty to those he cares about.

And then there's Ji Chang Wook's character, Jun Mo, who's a police officer stuck in the junior ranks because of his father's drug offenses, who desperately wants to prove himself to his wife's disdainful family of high-flying police officer hot-shots.

With the way they're so overtly scornful of him, I can see why Jun Mo would jump at the chance to snag a promotion, even if the mission is unconventional and highly dangerous.

Of course, it's not just about wanting to gain the approval of his wife's family; I can see that Jun Mo wants to be able to hold his head up as well, standing next to his wife. I do think that this is both for his sake as well as hers.

On that note, I have to say that I'm pleased to see Im Se Mi play Eui Jeong, Jun Mo's wife.

I do think that this is one of her first main lead roles, after doing a slew of supporting roles, yay her!

I was definitely kind of blindsided to learn, in episode 2, that Eui Jeong is actually Gi Cheul's first love.

My first thought was, HOW KDRAMA, snerk. 🤭 Like, couldn't they not do the first love connection thing, even with this being a gritty story on an international streaming platform, rather than a show on Korean TV - was my first thought.

But then, I realized that this does add a very significant layer of complication and angst into the mix, which does make everything more interesting.

It's clear that, 1, Eui Jeong had never told Jun Mo about her first love, which is why he's so shocked to hear about it, when Eui Jeong and Gi Cheul come face to face.

And 2, it's clear that Gi Cheul's never gotten over Eui Jeong, from the way he still wears that necklace that she'd given him.

Plus, how about the fact that the passcode to his private office turns out to be Eui Jeong's birthday, eh??

Nothing says "I'm still not over you" like the birthday passcode. 😉

And there's also the way Gi Cheul even looks into her husband, in order to see what kind of man she'd married - and whether that man was more handsome than he, ha.

On that note, I was SO relieved when it turns out that sunbae Do Hyung had already prepared for this possibility, by having Jun Mo's photo in the records replaced with his own.

These little details definitely added a thrill to my watch experience, because I'd be so anxious about Jun Mo being found out - and then we'd see, on hindsight, that he and Do Hyung had prepared ahead of time, in order to make his cover more foolproof.

I definitely found myself rooting for Jun Mo to succeed in infiltrating Gi Cheul's gang, but at the same time, I also find that I'm somehow rooting more for a bond to form between Gi Cheul and Jun Mo, rather than for Jun Mo to find evidence of Gi Cheul's drug dealings, so that the police can take Gi Cheul down.

Which means that I don't think I actually know what I want from this show, in terms the ending that it'll give me.

Surely something's going to go awry at some point, which will undoubtedly break down any bond that actually does form between Gi Cheul and Jun Mo, but I can't help rooting for them to bond anyway. 😅

Of course, there's also an undercurrent of danger stemming from the fact that Gi Cheul's position isn't actually watertight, and there are people scheming to take him out, lurking around every corner.

Gi Cheul's been able to evade every attempt on his position - and his life - so far, but that  begs the question of how long he'll be able to escape attempts on his life.

And related to that, of course, is how safe Jun Mo will be able to be, staying by Gi Cheul's side.

Add on the fact that Gi Cheul's not opposed to baiting and ambushing his detractors - which is when Jun Mo gains Gi Cheul's interest, for being able to fight well - AND, add on the fact that Jun Mo himself's not opposed to baiting Gi Cheul either, like with that fake gang attack, and we've got many layers of complication at play.

Also, let's not forget the complication that comes from the fact that Gi Cheul hasn't forgotten about Eui Jeong, and is, even now, looking for ways to be in her good books.

I was so nervous during that scene where Gi Cheul orders Jun Mo to drive him to the hospital where Eui Jeong's mother is receiving cancer treatment.

Like, ack, what if Jun Mo's cover gets blown, because he's at the same hospital as his mother-in-law?? 😱

And while I'm wondering about that, there's Gi Cheul smilingly tending to Mom-in-law, and it's hard not to notice that Mom-in-law doesn't actually correct her fellow patients, when they ooh and ahh over how handsome her "son-in-law" is. 😅

I'm suitably impressed that Jun Mo manages to gain Gi Cheul's confidence relatively quickly, given how new he is to the gang, but I'm always nervous that his cover's going to get blown, particularly when he starts snooping around.

And of course Gi Cheul's not actually fishing, when he's off on those fishing trips with his most trusted aides.

I'm still not super clear on the details of what his trips entail, but this particular trip in episode 3, has him fending off a would-be usurper of his drug business, and as we close out episode 3, he's ordering Jun Mo to finish off the guy with a gun, so that Gi Cheul would be able to trust him.

Ack. That's a tough place to be in, for sure.

I mean, Jun Mo's a police officer, after all. And surely it's not ok for a police officer to kill someone, while undercover..?

I'm very curious to see how Jun Mo deals with this, because even though we do see that he fires a shot before the credits roll, we don't know for sure, if he actually killed the guy.

Overall, I'm very much more engaged and interested in this story than I'd originally imagined, and I'd call this a very strong start indeed.

*This show will be covered on the VVIP Early Access (US$20) Tier*