Hello, All. I am here to express my sincere love, admiration and excitement for the drama The Worst of Evil, which I have reduced to the acronym WOE, which kind of declares what the whole drama might be about when I think about it.
I have been posting here on Soompi since about 2014 (maybe earlier) on one forum or another, but I haven’t posted much of anything for the last 2-3 years, since Covid.
I am a Westerner, and a huge fan of Actor Ji Chang Wook. As far as entertainment in the theater/drama/movie/television scene goes, Eastern or Western, he’s my main man. If art keeps your soul alive, then he expresses what I would most like to see in a vision of an efficacious human being. For me, he is art personified for many reasons which I won’t go into now, and aren’t really needed.
But…..this drama is composed of many elements which have grabbed my attention from the start. One of those elements is Actor Ji himself. That kind of goes without saying.
The other is the connection between him as the drama’s policeman Park Jun Mo, and his wife, policewoman Yoo EiJung (played by actress Im Se Mi.) She has attained a higher police rank than he has, and he is belittled by her family for being somewhat of a loser. He himself is characterized as a "bit of a handful" by his colleagues who have affection for him, even though he has a tendency to express himself with physical violence in pursuit of justice for victims of crime. He hates criminals; his colleagues understand this, though they try to tame him.
He also loves his wife, although their attachment to each other is seen as a quiet attraction, a sweetness covered up by his need to be seen by her as an equal. He had a lousy childhood, with a druggie as an only parent, who embarrassed him beyond redemption in the past in front of his wife and condescending family. In order to attain the possibility of being seen as an equal to EiJung and her family, and to be her personal and private loving protector, Jun Mo jumps at the chance to be embedded in a gang as an undercover cop if he is given a two-grade promotion after successful completion; he gets the bad guys and he gets to show to EiJung his personal value as her husband.
Therein lies the drama and it governs the unfolding of the rest of the plot. The drug war between three different countries is only the backdrop for the conflict between the main characters and their motivations.
I see the love between the two as the controlling element of what is the “worst of evil;” throughout the drama the two act only to protect each other, without each one knowing what moves or actions the other has to take due to the secrecy of the undercover operation. This leads to great confusion and suspicion, as when EiJung has to confess her love for the gang leader to keep Jun Mo from being suspected and killed, and when Jun Mo has to viciously kill everyone he sees to keep EiJung protected, and from being suspected and then possibly killed by the gang leader.
What each one does to protect the other is seen, in the heat of battle, as a basic violation of trust and civilized behavior. Jun Mo becomes a vicious killer to save the one he loves. EiJung becomes a liar and deceiver to keep the one she loves from being discovered as a police undercover plant. What, exactly, is the worst evil?
I have even enjoyed every violent scene, despite my often denounced hatred of empty violence for violence’s sake. These violent scenes have a reason, as they contribute to the characterizations, and are stylistically very moving and existential, even. I have loved every scene with garishly-lit “80’s drama lighting.” They are gloriously colored. I love the cliff-hanging excitement when each segment leaves off, and am dying for the eventually ending and I really don’t care what happens because so far all of the scenes have been very emotionally fulfilling.
Many of the other various characters are most memorable scene-stealing vampires!! BiBi as Lee HaeRyeon, Yoon Gyung Ho as MinGoo (most recently as the rapist/killer made to vanish in The Sound of Magic -starring Ji Chang Wook!) and Im Sung Jae as Choi Jeong Bae, who suspects too much and pays dearly for it. There are other important characters and subplots, but all I wanted to do was to express my overall emotional and rational acceptance of the overwhelming drama.
I have often read that other Chang Wook fans say they are eager to only see him back again in an action drama. Well, here he is….but I suspect this may not be exactly what they meant, or thought they wanted. But, may be it is…..
He has surpassed himself yet again. Congratulations Chang Wook, from an admiring fan