If you want to talk about the most popular Korean drama recently, it must be "The Queen of Tears".
is so popular that it continues to set ratings records with its high-energy twists and sweet plots.
Audiences who watched the drama were conquered by Kim Ji-won's divine beauty every minute, and they had to admit that although it was just an idol drama, Kim Soo-hyun's acting skills were really top-notch.
However, just watching romantic dramas is not interesting.
At this moment, the next-door criminal investigation drama of the era, which focuses on using violence to fight violence, "returns", starring another young man from Chungmulu who can compete with Kim Soo-hyun, Lee Je-hoon.
It not only has a male god "selling meat" to fight for his life, but also has a hearty plot of punishing evil. The premiere ratings of
were 10.1%, ranking first in the history of MBC drama premieres.
At a time when the ratings of Korean dramas are becoming increasingly sluggish, only Lee Je-hoon broke the record in the first broadcast. No wonder fans of Korean dramas have said that MBC is going to be a high-profile show.
This drama is "Search Squad Leader 1958".
Many viewers said that it felt like the model driver had traveled back to 1958.
Indeed, Lee Je-hoon, who rose to fame as Park Hae-young in the drama " signal ", has had his own new representative role in recent years, Kim Do-ki, who specializes in punishing evildoers in the "Model Taxi" series.
Now Driver Jin drove the model taxi back to the police station, dialed the intercom and traveled back to 1958. He put on the police uniform and still did the work of punishing evil and promoting good.
What’s even more amazing is that the drama is the prequel to the national TV series “Search Squad Leader” that was broadcast for more than ten years in the 1970s. The director of
is Kim Sung-hoon, the great director of "Secret Alliance" and "Help".
started brushing immediately.
was captivated as soon as it started, it was indeed a familiar taste.
is warm enough, refreshing enough, and refreshing enough -
is a sharp-tongued policeman with a full personality, who wants to catch bad guys whenever he sees them. A little bit funny, a little retro, a little bit humane from the older generation.
I have to say that the comedy crime genre has been mastered by Lee Je-hoon.
It turns out that period dramas can still be shot like this.
01, story
We must first introduce the predecessor of "Search 1958" - from 1971 to 1989, the masterpiece of the classic criminal investigation drama "Search" was performed for 880 episodes.
After the drama premiered in 1971, it achieved an astonishing ratings of 70% and became a national TV drama in South Korea. The protagonist "Squad Leader Park" has also become a representative criminal police character who punishes evil and promotes good, and is upright.
Lee Je-hoon plays Park Young-hyun who has not yet become a police officer in that era.
starts off by pretending to be a disguise and taking down a well-dressed country cattle thief.
Wait a minute, why would a rural detective far away from Seoul have to disguise himself to catch thieves?
The reason is that he has been the best in the region for catching cattle thieves for three years. Newspapers have reported one after another that he is a general in catching cattle thieves and even published his photos.
He had no choice but to disguise himself as a beggar and sneak into the cattle thief's casino.
then directly pointed out the other party's flaws: he was wearing pointed leather shoes, which didn't look like a cattle farmer at all; there were obvious strangulation marks on his palms, because the stolen cattle didn't follow him at all, so he had to hold them so hard.
Since you are showing off your famous brand, let’s not bother with them and just start catching them.
After some arrests, the leader fled. Detective Park chased him, but the other party just took out a knife and was about to kill him.
The cow he had stolen before wandered over and hit him in the vital part with a hoof.
With the help of Lao Niu,
successfully arrested the cattle thief again.
Detective Park caught a thief in the countryside and published it in the newspaper. In this way, he came into the sight of an unsuccessful detective captain in the Seoul Police Station and was transferred to Seoul by him.
is unsuccessful because he does not fit in with others.
In those days, gangsters were rampant in Seoul, and ordinary people had to either obediently pay the gangs protection money or be beaten up.
Because the chief of the police department bows to the boss of the largest local gangster association,
Even the president has to rely on the assistance of these gangster forces.
Other criminal police officers have long been in cahoots with them.
This frustrated criminal police captain was the only one who refused to bow his head. As a result, other police teams made a lot of money, but his team was the only one who had no money and was often beaten.
made him become the commander-in-chief. All his subordinates were gone, so he had to transfer the rustic Park Young-hyun from the countryside.
Park Young-hyun's first mission was to capture the local gang leader who beat up the cloth shop owner.
All the new detectives in the past had the courage to go there, only to come back bruised and swollen.
Everyone is optimistic that Detective Park will make the same mistake again.
But this little policeman from the country set off without saying a word, as if he was going to visit someone.
Although his courage is commendable, how can he arrest a room full of gangsters who are celebrating their victory and drinking heavily.
Walking through the vegetable market, Detective Park became aware of his plan.
When they arrived at the gangster bar, Detective Park walked in with all his strength and made the other party easy to arrest.
The other party laughed, thinking how stupid he was.
then had the classic opening dialogue, "It turns out that people in Seoul will be very happy if they are caught."
then showed off his unique skill - "There are 30 people here. I bought 30 venomous snakes. Do you want to release them?"
The other party continued to laugh.
Okay, if you have to force your brother to use a bigger move, Detective Park took out a rattlesnake from the bag without saying a word and threw it directly on the floor.
The gangsters who were so arrogant just now turned into this expression.
The boss of the other party did not hesitate and simply surrendered. He followed Detective Park back to the police station and confessed to the crime, "We beat him, who told him not to pay the protection fee."
But while Detective Park was interrogating under the stunned gaze of the entire police station, the police chief who received the news came over angrily.
ordered Detective Park to release him immediately, with the reason - "This is just a neighborhood dispute."
If it were another soft persimmon, his legs would have been shaking with fear, but this is definitely a tough one. If the bad guy is caught, I will not give him the face of the king.
In the end, the captain insisted on dragging him out.
Want justice? Not as easy as a model taxi.
Detective Park cannot clean up the evil in this city alone.
But soon Detective Park came up with a new way. Just like in "Model Taxi", if one person is not enough, then form a team.
The group photo that appears many times at the beginning of the drama - the legendary police force of the Seoul Police Department is about to take shape.
Shudder, bad people.
02, perception
It is not difficult to see that the series is indeed full of the familiar formula of "Model Taxi" from top to bottom.
Punish evil and promote good, and face toughness head-on.
After all, whether it is the ratings or word-of-mouth, it is clear that Korean drama audiences are buying into this.
However, compared with the story of the model driver Jin Dodge that takes place in a contemporary city, this drama reveals a few of its own trump cards from the very beginning.
The first trick is a strong sense of age.
From the very beginning of the story, with the return of veteran actor Choi Bul-am who played "President Park" in the legendary drama "Searching Squad", the feeling of a period drama has already filled the screen.
The old squad leader Park first tidied up his clothes in the room, brought gifts, and then took a look at the photos with his teammates before limping off.
Passed by a familiar neighbor, picked up the rice cakes he ordered, took a bite of the fresh and sweet rice balls given by the neighbor, then continued on the road and walked into the familiar police station.
The new generation of detectives were getting ready. After a brief exchange of greetings, Lao Pu gave away the rice cakes he had brought.
The police station soon became empty. The old detective Park once again looked at the group photo in the police station with emotion. .
As soon as the story opens, it is full of nostalgia. As the camera moves to South Korea in 1958, every scene from the countryside to Seoul is restored to what it was back then.
The shabby scenes bring out a strong sense of freshness, and the humanistic criminal investigation stories of the era are always good to watch no matter where they take place.
The second trick is simple and crude, and you will be happy to the end.
Unlike domestic period criminal investigation dramas that are good at ineffective reversals and bloody love affairs, after the first episode of "Search Squad Leader 1958" was aired, not even the heroine appeared, let alone a love scene.
The male protagonist focuses on catching bad guys and never loses the connection. He focuses on being fast, accurate and ruthless.
releases snakes to catch people, and quickly harvests the battlefield.
Several protagonists from the future criminal police squad appeared one after another. Each of them beat up a gangster once, and there were several fierce fighting scenes, not to mention.
And as soon as the story begins, the biggest villain of this season is directly pointed out.
The plot is straightforward, just to defeat him.
's crisp narrative rhythm constantly throws out new story points.
This is cool enough.
If the all-out showdown between good and evil is a tough one, then this show has a few side dishes to spice things up.
The third trick is a feeling of passion and joy, with a degree of relaxation.
The passionate + cold humor throughout the play is the finishing touch, making the routine story interesting.
And this joy is largely caused by the legendary police team composed of the male protagonist + Kim Sang-soon (played by Lee Dong-hwi), Jo Kyung-hwan (played by Choi Woo-sung), and Seo Ho-jung (played by Yoon Hyun-soo).
The four of them are all considered to be misfits and weirdos by the police, but they all hate evil and are equally passionate. When the passionate detectives encounter this world where police and gangsters work together to destroy each other, a strange sense of joy arises.
For example, Lee Dong-hwi, who won the "Blue Dragon Award" for Best Supporting Actor, plays the desperate detective Kim Sang-soon this time. He often fights alone and is beaten to blood by gangsters.
was even beaten until he lost all energy, but he woke up and got up and beat him again, and bit off the opponent's ear when there were more than one.
But in the end, you still have to kneel down and admit your mistake under the pressure of your boss.
Really admit your mistake? When he heard that the other party continued to make mean remarks, he decisively changed from kneeling down to kicking him out.
When such a dog-loving madman meets Detective Park, the love-hate relationship between the two passionate straight men is bound to boil over.
There is also the physically strong Zhao Qinghuan, who can kill a gangster who collects protection money all by himself, just because the other party molested his beloved girl.
The process of the male protagonist teaming up is also full of the thieves' atmosphere like "Model Taxi".
The whole process was passionate and funny.
It’s enjoyable to watch and relieves your anger.
03, cool drama
Of course, this kind of criminal investigation and crime drama that relieves the audience's anger has long been a strange thing in the Korean drama market.
Just Lee Je-hoon, who traveled through time and space to fight against a serial killer in "The Signal",
formed a team in "Model Taxi" to fight violence with violence, specializing in dealing with bad guys who can't be dealt with by the law.
This time, he simply transformed into the Korean national police detective in his youth and confronted the powerful villain.
After watching it a lot, some viewers will inevitably feel that this routine is too repetitive.
Some people pointed out that since Lee Je-hoon filmed the "Model" series, he has always followed the same routine in everything he does.
However, the deeper intention of "Searching the Squad Leader 1958" is to expose and reflect.
For example, in the first episode, the story begins with the revelation of the collusion between the top police officials in Seoul, South Korea and the gangs. The plot does not save any face for the South Korean police.
People are charged protection fees, but the police don't care at all.
The police with a sense of justice took control, but the result was that they were marginalized.
Even if the male protagonist arrests someone and takes a confession, the police chief can still parachute and release the person. Justice was simply not worth mentioning in the Korean police station back then.
The counterattack of the four policemen certainly made the audience excited.
But it can also be seen in the play that a lot of harm has happened and cannot be undone.
For example, in the opening scene, the cloth shop owner was beaten up, which led Detective Park to go to the gang lair to arrest someone alone. No one served him justice. After being beaten, he obediently paid the protection fee, and his business could continue.
But because Detective Park came forward to arrest people, the cloth shop owner was retaliated against, the shop was destroyed, and he had to leave Seoul.
The passionate male protagonist does not always get a passionate ending.
What’s even more outrageous is that at the end of the first episode, the male protagonist was deliberately transferred away by a corrupt policeman. As a result, he followed the clues of Kim Sang-soon, another man who was not afraid of death, and discovered that the corrupt policeman was escorting local gangs to smuggle materials.
When the police become a pass for lawbreakers, the law loses credibility.
Even if the male protagonist dares to stand up and confront gangsters and corrupt police, he will still be outnumbered and stunned by the butt of a gun.
From "Model Taxi" to "Search Squad Leader 1958", they have repeatedly questioned the faults of Korean law enforcers, the darkness and loopholes of the police, and those facts that cannot be changed.
Whether it’s the Five Drivers Kim hiding in the dark and lynching criminals, or Police Park and his foursome openly standing in the light and declaring war on evil, they are all Korean film and television dramas, and we can re-examine them with the help of Shuang Drama. justice.
The protagonist group does not always have the upper hand in the story.
For example, at the end of the first episode, the protagonist group was severely beaten.
It seems that there are more difficult opponents waiting for them.
Talking about the young students of Chungmuro back then -
Yoo Ah In, Kim Soo Hyun, Song Joong Ki, and Lee Je Hoon.
Except Yoo Ah-in, who was once the best in the world, has self-destructed.
Kim Soo-hyun has reached new heights with idol dramas, and Song Joong-ki has regained his popularity with time-travel dramas.
Lee Je-hoon has become a spokesperson for justice in Korean dramas step by step.
The young policeman Park played by him is rustic and a little overly passionate, but he is also full of humanity. In those years when there was no high-tech assistance and darkness was rampant, he relied on perseverance and madman-like risklessness to become a police officer. The legendary detective.
This character and this type of period criminal investigation drama are somewhat old-fashioned and boring.
But why does it always get good ratings and attract viewers?
Because as many people have said, there is no point in filming this kind of cool drama and it cannot affect reality, but the audience just loves to watch it.
A Douban netizen commented, "The gangsters in Seoul are all ordinary people, and they have common knowledge in ancient and modern times."
However, it is meaningful for a cool drama that dares to reveal the dark side of society to be filmed. After
was happy, it seemed that nothing had changed, but it seemed that something could be left behind.
"Search Squad Leader 1958" will not become another drama like "The Signal", but I decided to follow the story of a handsome young man from the countryside who transformed into a passionate and righteous "Search Squad Leader".
A cool drama, with the joy of a cool drama.
