I may not know much about thieving, fraud or con
artists, but I do know that Squad 38 exceeded my expectations. The drama Liar
Game was also related to a con artists and it was good, but this drama
presented a totally different environment and situation for the con artists to
do his job, which was thrilling to watch. This was the perfect crime created by
the perfect mind of the WRITER! -the con artist only followed what the writer
created haha!
Squad 38 -also known as 38 Task Force- is about honest
tax collector Baek Sung Il (Ma Dong Seok) looking for a way to have the richest
and corruptive people in Seoul to pay their million dollar debts in back taxes.
Not an easy task for an honest hard working poor citizen, but not impossible
with the help of con artist Yang Jung Do (Seo In Guk).
Writer Han Jung Hoon gives us a well written plot and
an even more well developed conflict in Squad 38. Everything is nicely link.
There is no time for coincidence in this drama, so I was really surprised at
the turn of events in each episode. I am glad no question was left unanswered
and thus every episode was full of content, although at time it did not look
like it. That is why each episode got more and more exciting. There were
moments I didn’t know what to expect or what was happening -I tell you I was
lost, but it was a fun ride. I kept asking if everything was going accordingly
or if they had messed up? Near the end, there was a lot going on, yet not much
was being said. This was a great element to create tension in a good way. I
will admit the ending was both interesting and confusing -I had to watch it
twice! Was that Sung Il’s twin brother or was it really him?
The events were not the only thing well written for I
could say the same of the villains. They made me really want to punch them in
the face with their arrogance and lack of common sense and justice, specially
Bang Pil Gyu (Kim Hong Fa) and Choi Chul Woo (Lee Ho Jae). From this side of
the characters -and I mean the villains- Ma Jin Suk (Oh Dae Hwan) was the only
dynamic character, and he truly had me at the edge of my sit at the end. Another
dynamic character was Jang Hak Joo (Heo Jae Ho). It was interesting to see the
change in the characters, not something I see very often in dramas. These kinds
of characters made it possible to sympathize with them when it would otherwise
be unlikely -plus they would seem superficial static characters that were just
there. Yang Jung Do was perfect for this role; it brought out his outstanding
acting skills -plus the looks! That being said, I would have love to see more
interaction between Chun Sung Hee (Sooyoung) and the group of cons, especially
with Jung Do. Ma Dong Seok’s character was the naive nice guy that was Kansai
Nao in The Liar Game. His character
did great progress, but I felt annoyed with him at times. One thing I did
notice, before moving on to the production side of the drama, is how some
characters suddenly disappeared from the canvas. For example, Baek Sung Il’s
family, or like his detective friend, Park Deok Bae (Oh Man Seok) among others.
Of course, I did not notice they weren’t really there anymore until late in the
drama because the events themselves were busy and intense -so much was going
on-, but it was something I observed.
Part of what made this drama work was the clever
editing. It played well with creating the tension and setting the mood. And so
did the music. Thanks to these I didn’t know how much I had submerge myself into
the drama until I found a moment to breathe again -and it’s not easy to make me
forget breathing. The theme song, “Run” by Sunyoul, Jinhoo, and Bit-to of UP10TION,
was nice and catchy at the same time. Also, the production seemed grand scaled
with lots of money needed to be moved around, like with the multiple cars and
props and all. Yet I got a humble feeling from the group of cons -though it was
at time, not always. That is not something you see often in this type of scenario;
take the movie “The Thieves” as an example.
Aside from the being left breathless at times part,
Squad 38 is a well-paced drama that will leave you thinking, guessing, feeling
frustrated, and it will surprise you in it’s clever jaw dropping way. I may be exaggerating
bit, but I thought I was good at predicting and guessing the outcome until now.
Don’t be surprise if you go through the same.
My rating for this drama is: ♥♥♥
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