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This post is by guest writer Alyssa Zhang.
Crime and Punishment
What if you woke up to find that you were convicted of killing loved ones? This is the harrowing reality that Park Jeong Woo, the protagonist of Defendant, must face. Defendant is a thrilling legal mystery drama centering around the quick-witted prosecutor Jeong Woo (Ji Sung) who finds himself wrongly imprisoned for murdering both wife and daughter, without a memory of what actually happened. As he pieces clues together to unravel the mystery of that fateful night, other characters’ stories get interweaved into the mix.
Because Jeong Woo has forgotten everything from the night of the crime to present day, the main villain, Cha Min Ho (Um Ki Joon), exploits the situation by ensuring that Jeong Woo gets a death sentence and can’t reunite with his daughter (who is still alive). Min Ho is the CEO of the conglomerate Chamyung, except with a twist. Min Ho is on the run for previous murders, so he pretends to be his twin brother, Seon Ho (the actual CEO), to shield himself from the legal consequences. This includes adapting his mannerisms, pretending to be married to Seon Ho’s wife, and the list goes on. As Jeong Woo is the only one to suspect that he is not Seon Ho, Min Ho holds a bitter grudge against him.
The other characters are as confused as Jeong Woo about what happened the night his wife died and his daughter disappeared. Though they initially assume the best of Jeong Woo, all the evidence directs the blame squarely at him. Kang Jun Hyuk (Oh Chang Seok), Jeong Woo’s colleague, Yoon Tae Soo (Kang Sung Min), Jeong Woo’s brother-in-law, and Seo Eun Hye (Kwon Yu Ri), Jeong Woo’s attorney, all grapple with the juxtaposition between the decisive evidence and Jeong Woo’s moral soundness.
The writers continually dazzle us mentally and emotionally
The drama soars with off the charts intensity and a tightly executed plot line. This is easily one of the most well-written dramas I’ve watched in a while. I’m thoroughly impressed by the writers’ ability to continually dazzle us mentally and emotionally at a breakneck speed. They’re truly masters of suspense, overturning the audience’s assumptions with plot twists in nearly every episode that actually make sense in retrospect. Even when major changes in plot direction occurred, the drama always felt cohesive. It delivers on every plot setup, even inserting a thought-provoking parallel or symbol here and there, displaying great literary merit throughout.
But a melodramatic script cannot take flight without a brilliant cast to flesh out its emotional intensity. To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of Ji Sung before Defendant, but now I’m fully aware of his acting range — and it’s astounding. His portrayal of Jeong Woo was an emotional tour de force, transitioning from authoritative boldness to weakened hopelessness to crazed outrage. It was like watching a kaleidoscope of Jeong Woo’s soul as he grappled with his new shocking and unbelievable reality. I definitely feel he was robbed of a Baeksang nomination, but I’m glad the drama had high ratings, for this performance deserved to be watched.
I also found the acting of the side characters to be exceptionally strong: Min Ho is unnerving, the two children (Ha Yeon and Eun Soo) are endearing, and Joon Hyuk and Tae Soo express their inner confusion well. The acting team does an excellent job portraying the characters’ moral ambiguities as they oscillate between believing and disbelieving Jeong Woo’s proclamation of innocence. I would say the exception to the strong acting was Kwon Yuri, who was initially quite stiff, but eventually made us warm up to her character, Eun Hye.
Many characters move along the spectrum of good and evil throughout
The standout strength of this drama was that nearly every character was fleshed-out, multifaceted, and humanized. Unlike most dramas I watch where characterizations are black and white, the villains were written so well that I felt an ounce of sorrow after each met their fatal end. Every action had a logical reason behind it, and every character had vulnerabilities that they couldn’t move past. I also love how we still learn insightful information about each character’s past until the very end, shedding light on their previous actions. These factors made for a very interesting watch, as many characters move along the spectrum of good and evil throughout the drama.
One of the drama’s few flaws is its format recycling
There are barely any flaws in Defendant. However, as it progressed, it increasingly felt overdramatic. At first, I was pleased with the extreme circumstances that Jeong Woo was placed in. But episode after episode, new drastic obstacles would appear, many of which didn’t seem realistic. It was easier to become emotionally numb because it seemed that the drama was recycling a format — obstacle, mental breakdown, solution — over and over. Thankfully, my mind was still engaged with the puzzles that Jeong Woo had to solve.
Moreover, there are many corrupt systems (the police department, law firms, medical examiners) that align with Min Ho automatically to the point of absurdity. He’s able to weasel his way out of a number of situations by exerting his power over these authoritative institutions, which lead to a lot of annoyance on my end.
Both of these factors made me feel somewhat emotionally drained by the drama’s end. With Min Ho averting punishment ’till the end and Jeong Woo having to fight for every ounce of victory, it was easy to become tired of this game of whack-a-mole. Considering how much I still enjoyed the drama after Min Ho was finally gone, I wish the production team had wrapped up Min Ho’s case more quickly and focused more on Jeong Woo’s stabilized life.
Overall, Defendant was a mesmerizing crime drama jam-packed with astonishing mind puzzles, authentic characters, and plenty of heart. It is definitely one of my personal favorites and exceeds expectations on all fronts. Its phenomenal acting, production value, storyline, and emotional impact will wow you throughout.
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