Early Access: The Devil Judge E1

E1. Well, this certainly turned out to be a rollercoaster of a first episode. I had no idea what to expect, going into this, but I am definitely intrigued, by what Show is serving up.

First of all, this dystopian version of Seoul does open up a lot of narrative possibilities; things don't have to happen the way we'd expect in the present, because this story world is a completely different time and place than what we're used to.

This gives writer-nim a lot of room to experiment, and I'm already quite fascinated by this post-epidemic situation that Show is painting for us: people out of work, making it impossible for the government to collect taxes; companies going bankrupt; people made homeless; arson, terrorism and even rioting. Honestly, it's partly this thought-provoking, because in reality, we are in a pandemic right now, and this is one possible version of our future, isn't it? That makes the experience of watching this show all the more morbidly fascinating.

And then, there's our devil judge, who's just as compelling, all on his own. Ji Sung really sells it, with his personal charisma. Kang Yo Han really does have shades of Shin Se Gi from Kill Me, Heal Me, down to the dangerous, unpredictable, maybe-a-little-crazy sort of flair. I kind of love Kang Yo Han already, and possibly even more than Shin Se Gi, because Kang Yo Han's got more gravitas, magnetism and presence, thanks to being older, more mature, and in possession of more power.

My impression of Kang Yo Han really went through a bit of a rollercoaster this episode. At first, he's inscrutable, and then he's a badass shooting at a bus, all while appearing to be completely aloof and cold. Then, he seems so suspicious, with all the fragmented soundbites that Ga On manages to get, from bugging Kang Yo Han's office.

Following that, during the trial, it almost seems like he's going to align himself with Chairman Ju Il Do's attorney, after the testimony of the caretaker takes the trial in a whole new wild direction - that is, until he unleashes his bombshell of a sentence. For a long second, it almost seems like Ga On's misunderstood Kang Yo Han all along, and Kang Yo Han really is a righteous judge after all - until he yawns, while comforting that old lady, and we see in a flashback, that Kang Yo Han had actually prepared everything for the trial, to maximize its entertainment value.

From what Show's shown us so far, Kang Yo Han really is a strange, unpredictable, antihero sort of protagonist. He's definitely not all good, but from what we've seen, he's possibly not all bad either. And, it definitely seems that he has some kind of hidden backstory, based on that flashback that we see, of him standing in a burning church.

..Speaking of which, the whole aesthetic of the TV trial is so.. dysfunctionally fascinating. First, the Chief Justice and Ga On remark that the courtroom itself looks like a temple. And then, on the day of the trial, Kang Ho Yan's judicial robe legit looks like a stylized, futuristic, rich priest's robe. Altogether, this definitely gives off deity vibes, like Kang Ho Yan's now positioned to be God, handing out judgments, while dressed like a priest. It's weirdly mesmerizing.

As for Ga On, Show gives us a pretty good idea of the kind of person that he is, in just this one episode. He's the kind of person who won't hesitate to put himself in danger, in order to save someone else, as he demonstrates, not once, but twice, in the scene outside the Supreme Court. Right after saving that little girl from the oncoming bus, he heads straight to the burning bus, and risks his life, to pull the bus driver to safety.

He's also the kind of person who can't seem to stay still, if he perceives a potential for injustice. I mean, there's some serious personal risk, to him sneaking into the Supreme Court storage room, to look up old case records, and to him planting bugs in Kang Yo Han's office, but he does these things anyway, because he just can't.. not do them, it seems.

It's going to be interesting to see Ga On try to go up against Kang Yo Han, because Kang Yo Han is clearly a lot more shrewd, and more powerful, than Ga On.

Speaking of judges working together, I'm inordinately pleased to see Kim Jae Kyung playing the other judge who's involved in the TV trial. I loved her as the iconic Veronica Park in The Secret Life Of My Secretary, and now, as a result, just seeing her on my screen makes me happy. This is a very different role for her, of course, but I just like seeing tiny glimpses of Veronica Park in her smile and mannerisms.

I don't quite have an opinion yet on Kim Min Jung's character Sun Ah, but so far, she does strike me as a pretty smooth, passive-aggressive sort. In the scene with the Minister of Justice, she's all docile decorum on the surface, but she definitely makes her point clear, before leaving. She might be kind of dangerous, even.

So far, I really like Soo Hyun, and I really enjoy her friendship with Ga On as well. I like that Soo Hyun's such a badass; the way she saved that girl, and singlehandedly fought off that man and cuffed him, was impressive.

I also like that she's a candid, forthright person; it somehow warms my heart, that she's told Ga On multiple times that she likes him, and wants to marry him, and yet, this hasn't affected their friendship. This kind of thing, where feelings like this - which most people fear will ruin friendships, or simply change everything - are just allowed to be out there, and breathe, and not have any effect on the friendship whatsoever, really gets me right in the heart. I love that there's this degree of comfort and openness between Ga On and Soo Hyun.

And then, later in the episode, when we see that Ga On listens back to Soo Hyun's confession on the recording multiple times, we get our first hint that he probably likes her back. Guh. That really got me. I was surprised, because if she likes him, and he likes her back, I'd have expected that he would have accepted her love confession at some point. But he says that he doesn't want to lose his best friend, and that's why he's rejected her so consistently.

I'm intrigued by this. Does he really simply like her too much, to risk jeopardizing what they have, or is there another reason that he doesn't want to be romantically involved with her?

All in all, this was a really strong first episode, even though it was 1 hour 20 minutes long. I confess I'd balked when I saw the episode length. 😅 But this episode turned out to be absorbing enough, that I didn't even mind the length of it. Looks like we're off to a pretty great start!