[Drama 2016] Signal 시그널

[liddi]

Happy Lunar New Year to everyone!

It's Seollal now... so I hope that our amazing cast and crew are resting and enjoying quality time with family and friends. Wonder how they are with their filming... are they still pretty much ahead? If I remember correctly, the script is already complete, so that should hopefully mean far less reasons (none, please!) for live shooting. Loving this drama so much, which has utterly exceeded my expectations... and looking forward to more incredible reveals this week. 

[kasjady]

Watched the film "My Paparotti" last night to see more of Lee Je Hoon's acting and didn't realise Jo Jin Woong was in the film as well! Anyone else watched it?   

[liddi]

7 minutes ago, kasjady said:

Watched the film "My Paparotti" last night to see more of Lee Je Hoon's acting and didn't realise Jo Jin Woong was in the film as well! Anyone else watched it?   

Yes, I watched it two years ago and really loved it - a heartwarming, funny and poignant story which truly showcased the talents of LJH, HSK and JJW. Was really sad over JJW's fate... loving his role in LJH's life. So pleased that they got to collaborate once more... though we have yet to see them in the same shot in Signal. Will we see LJH survive thanks to their tampering with events and reality, and perhaps, at the end, see them meet, finally for the first time in the same timeline? Dare we hope?

[kasjady]

19 minutes ago, liddi said:

Yes, I watched it two years ago and really loved it - a heartwarming, funny and poignant story which truly showcased the talents of LJH, HSK and JJW. Was really sad over JJW's fate... loving his role in LJH's life. So pleased that they got to collaborate once more... though we have yet to see them in the same shot in Signal. Will we see LJH survive thanks to their tampering with events and reality, and perhaps, at the end, see them meet, finally for the first time in the same timeline? Dare we hope?

 

I hope so! That would be wonderful though to have LJH live and finally meet PHY, however it would come at a cost ..... there is also PHY's brother....

 I'm still slightly burned from having watched "Nine" and previous episodes of Signal. 

[louisawatson]

 Happy Lunar New Year! 

I'm glad I decided to watch Signal! It's so great. <3

also I love Lee Je-hoon! I first saw him in Secret Door and I have fall in love with his acting, voice, and looks!

Though I never got to finish Secret Door... then again I hardly finish any dramas lol;;;

other actors and actresses are awesome as well. the casts are perfect.

i never thought the writer would kill CSH off, but now that she's dead. i think it was a such a great idea to kill her off, especially when we have a chance to save her from her death!

her dying is realistic because it could actually happen. they are cops after all. and the emotion impact of her death cannot be expressed in words.

the preview of episode 7 makes me hard to wait for next Friday. 

now that CSH died, i think there is a possibility that PHY would die in the future episode. if it happens, it will probably happen in the almost end of the drama during their last case that they are working on. either PHY's brother's case or Kim Yoon-Jung's case. I think the last case will be Kim Yoon-Jung's case because that's when LJH is killed, even though not like other cases, her case is already closed during PHY's time. so when PHY dies during their last case, CSH would have already known about the walkie-talkie and she would solve the last case with LJH (perhaps even with her old self either directly or indirectly) to solve the crime and save both LJH and PHY from their death. i think PHY will be saved no matter what. i wonder after PHY comes back to life, he will notice/remember the change or perhaps the drama will end with only CSH and LJH knowing the truth.

about the loveline in the drama.. unless LJH ends up dying again (probably sacrificing himself to save someone), it would probably end up as LJH+CSH loveline. If this loveline happens, then there is a chance of Kim Yoon-Jung+PHY loveline happening. because if the drama is happy/bittersweet ending, then kdrama might not want our lovely hero to end up alone at the end of the drama. lol but if LJH does end up dying again, then CSH+PHY loveline will probably happen. well, when i say loveline, probably at the 썸 some relationship stage, love confessing stage, or couple beginning stage, since Signal's focus is hardly on loveline. The drama is more focused on general deep close relationship than actual loveline, which is good because realistic relationship needs to first develop into close relationship before anything like love relationship to happen, even if we might not get to see the actual love relationship in the drama.

anyway, i agree with some of the reviewers here that LJH probably can't put real culprit in jail but proves that Oh Kyung-Tae is innocent, so it ends up "unsolved" case. then PHY will put the real culprit in jail.

i really can't wait for the next episode!!! 

EDIT: OMG, that's it! perhaps it's not only LJH who is repeating his timeline! PHY is also repeating his own timeline as well. if i'm correct, then "present-present" PHY does die during LJH's Kim Yoon-Jung's case. that's why "past-present" LJH suddenly began talking to current "present-past" PHY. then "past-present" LJH died again, so he couldn't change anything which meant he couldn't save "present-present" PHY's death either. therefore, current "present-past" PHY started to talk with current "past-past" LJH. if this theory is correct, then both are currently repeating their own timelines, but their repeated timelines are constantly changing because of their influence.

if we look at my theory, then current "past-past" LJH's timeline is at least second repeated timeline (because "past-present" LJH knew and was absolutely sure that his own timeline will be repeated and past can change in ep2). Therefore, "past-present" LJH was already in repeated timeline. but for that theory to work, current "present-past" PHY's timeline also must be at least first/second repeated timeline.

when first walkie-talkie happened, both LJH's and PHY's timelines are "fresh" unrepeated timelines. timelines are repeated because they have died and they couldn't change the timelines to save one another. now, if this is correct, then who died first during their conversation through walkie-talkie?

if LJH died first/at least scenario: PHY was alive little bit longer to tell first-repeated LJH about unrepeated LJH and told first-repeated LJH to not go to the hospital (PHY knew/figured out where unrepeated LJH was killed, but didn't have time to tell first-repeated LJH that reason because PHY was killed). then after PHY's death, first-repeated PHY talks with first-repeated LJH, but as we know, first-repeated LJH ends up dying, but before he dies, he tells first-repeated PHY that timeline will repeat again. then after first-repeated LJH's death, second-repeated LJH talks with first-repeated PHY. 

if PHY died first/at least scenario: LJH was alive little bit longer to talk with first-repeated PHY (and he might have talked about unrepeated PHY to first-repeated PHY). then after LJH's death, first-repeated LJH talks with first-repeated PHY. and first-repeated PHY tells first-repeated LJH about unrepeated LJH (and also possibly about unrepeated himself PHY). then he told first-repeated LJH to not go to the hospital because he knew/figured out where unrepeated LJH was killed, but didn't have time to tell first-repeated LJH that reason because he was killed. then after first-repeared PHY's death, second-repeated PHY talks with first-repeated LJH. but as we know, first-repeated LJH ends up dying, but before he dies, he tells second-repeated PHY that timeline will repeat again. then after first-repeated LJH's death, second-repeated LJH talks with second-repeated PHY.

i think they never had a third party before. but this time, there will be a third party aka CSH involved in this walkie-talkie situation. CSH will be the key to solving this unstoppable repeated timelines situation.

what do you guys think about my timeline theory? 

[drmjs]

@bebebisous33 Interesting thoughts on those timelines.  So you think OKT needs to die so that CSH would live? But in the first and second timelines he doesn't die. 

LJH seemed convinced he could finally nail Han Se Kyu with his car color theory. He asked PHY what color of car HSK was driving then (Red) and we saw him camped near the perpetrator's house witnessing HSK alight from a chauffeur driven black car. Maybe the reason why he couldn't find HSK's stash was because he hid it in his car? Or maybe his car was involved in one of the his burglaries and LJH knew it sustained some telling mark? I would like LJH to solve this case in his timeline without OKT dying in the process.

OKT led a pretty miserable life and he lived for a daughter who believed he has turned a new leaf. I'd like to see them alive and well, especially coming from the heels of the horrific Geonggi murders. A good outcome will also uplift LJH and PHY's morale, make them feel less burdened and would motivate them to be more careful with their future exchanges.

But since this drama's theme is dark, I'm not entirely convinced with what I just said. With the way this drama is going, I'm sure we'll be getting something unexpected. You can tell a drama is richly woven when seemingly mundane scenes would suddenly take on deeper meanings in the latter episodes. For instance, who sent the bouquet of white flowers on CSH's desk? What was the significance of those old DVDs featuring what looked like a belly dancer on the cover? There are so many things. Plus our characters are not clearly defined morally, they're all swathed in grays, so we're not entirely sure if they're essentially good or bad. 

[louisawatson]

1 hour ago, drmjs said:

 

But since this drama's theme is dark, I'm not entirely convinced with what I just said. With the way this drama is going, I'm sure we'll be getting something unexpected. You can tell a drama is richly woven when seemingly mundane scenes would suddenly take on deeper meanings in the latter episodes. For instance, who sent the bouquet of white flowers on CSH's desk? What was the significance of those old DVDs featuring what looked like a belly dancer on the cover? There are so many things. Plus our characters are not clearly defined morally, they're all swathed in grays, so we're not entirely sure if they're essentially good or bad. 

 

even if OKT stays alive, sadly his daughter cannot be saved. i think that's a loss that we definitely have to deal with. and are you talking about old DVDs that appeared in PHY's flashback with his older brother? that's just "funny scenes" of young PHY asking "weird" questions to his older brother not understanding the sexual innuendo. young PHY read titles of those and asked questions what that means to his brother. that belly dancer like cover had a title of "stolen apple tastes better" and young PHY asks his brother why stolen apple tastes better. 

 

[flybabyfly]

19 hours ago, TeBe said:

 

I cried my heart out every time LJH shed tears. Such an amazing actor . The one playing Eun Ji's father also is just so impressive on how he played every emotion so well. His fatherly smiling face made me warm up for him and his sad face when he was on his way to the police station made me feel his pain. I couldn't stop my tears from falling . His transformation to a cold emotionless living body with no soul  after his daughter's death and 20 years of prison is just so real I can't believe how good this actor is. The director of Signal  is one hell of a genius for sure .

 

 

The cinema scene, the conversation between PHY and LJH after the EunJi’s father is imprisoned - those scenes are too good they made me cry too. No pretty tears there but raw and heart wrenching I felt as if I was there in his place.

As you mentioned, Eun Ji’s father too is also amazing. He is one of those actors that I am ashamed to say I wouldn’t be able to tell their names if asked, are usually secondary or cameos in credits but their faces are so familiar and the memories those faces evoke are just powerful even though I wouldn’t be able to tell what work it was either. Veteran actors they are and they bring to life the roles they are given no matter how big or small the roles are. 

[bebebisous33]

41 minutes ago, drmjs said:

@bebebisous33 Interesting thoughts on those timelines.  So you think OKT needs to die so that CSH would live? But in the first and second timelines he doesn't die. 

LJH seemed convinced he could finally nail Han Se Kyu with his car color theory. He asked PHY what color of car HSK was driving then (Red) and we saw him camped near the perpetrator's house witnessing HSK alight from a chauffeur driven black car. Maybe the reason why he couldn't find HSK's stash was because he hid it in his car? Or maybe his car was involved in one of the his burglaries and LJH knew it sustained some telling mark? I would like LJH to solve this case in his timeline without OKT dying in the process.

OKT led a pretty miserable life and he lived for a daughter who believed he has turned a new leaf. I'd like to see them alive and well, especially coming from the heels of the horrific Geonggi murders. A good outcome will also uplift LJH and PHY's morale, make them feel less burdened and would motivate them to be more careful with their future exchanges.

But since this drama's theme is dark, I'm not entirely convinced with what I just said. With the way this drama is going, I'm sure we'll be getting something unexpected. You can tell a drama is richly woven when seemingly mundane scenes would suddenly take on deeper meanings in the latter episodes. For instance, who sent the bouquet of white flowers on CSH's desk? What was the significance of those old DVDs featuring what looked like a belly dancer on the cover? There are so many things. Plus our characters are not clearly defined morally, they're all swathed in grays, so we're not entirely sure if they're essentially good or bad. 

We don't know anything about the first timeline. Why were the bluglaries stopped? Maybe OKT got killed back then too but it was never related to the case. We don't know if OKT died back then in the first timeline. He wasn't a famous thief to get on the news if he had died, especially if the case was unsolved! LJH stopped the last buglary because he knew the location of the last buglary. But he hadn't known it, he wouldn't have sent police forces there. Maybe OKT would have been a witness to the crime and he would have been killed. We know that OKT worked early in the morning and that's when the last theft took place!

[louisawatson]

50 minutes ago, Lawyerh said:

This drama is so good, at first i wont pick it up to watch as the poster didnt look too catchy. But omg i'm hooked, the first case sold me out. The storyline is super smart and all the actors do a great job here. I read some title news criticized LJH acting, which i didnt bother to continue read as i totally didnt agree. Without his superb performance its not so easy to carried out procedural drama which often lack of loveline. I even think loveline is not really necessary here, even i will be glad if there will be any. I watched sign, phantom, vampire prosecutor, mrs.cop, and was waiting for similar drama that will be as good as them. Looking forward for Ep.7... Fighting Signal team.

 

i agree! i was surprised to find out that k-netizens complained about Lee Je-Hoon's acting! he is a great actor! i saw a blog saying that because so many k-netizens complained that even LJH's entertainment officially talked about it. but k-netizens tend to be harsh on younger actor especially when he's the only young main actor and other mains are really well known veteran actors. even though he is not that young, he's 31? i think. but he does look very young.

[louisawatson]

17 minutes ago, Lawyerh said:

Oh hes 31? Really didnt look at that age. Well if his acting is bad, then not sure if i try acting in korea maybe they will throw me an ice bucket for sure haha  I agree knetizen tend to be harsh nowadays, maybe they watched too much drama already hehe. I found his acting really refreshing and his look and tall slender built seal the deal for me haha. Btw nice to read your analysis about the time logic it's interesting....

i think his acting is fine. k-netizens often love to criticize especially the younger the actor is in the whole cast.  LJH is the only youngest main cast. and i think Secret Door drama that he acted in had a low rating, though to be fair, it was more because of writing/script than his acting. maybe that's why k-netizens find him as an easy target. since Signal became a big hit, it's easy for trolls to take an interest and find him as an easy target. 

oh, and thank you for reading my timeline theory. XD it just came to me as i was writing my post. 

[louisawatson]

i searched around and thankfully there are still some k-netizens who believe that Lee Je-Hoon's acting is great and do not understand why he gets criticized for his acting. =D

[eunsuhae]

First of all, happy Lunar New Year everyone!

I don't know what to say about this show. I love it but it's emotionally draining and I find myself with a heavy heart every week. I think many of you already expressed more eloquently my feelings about this new case. It does look like they're going to stick with the dark theme and the fact that tampering with the past will always have consequences, some of them that can never be undone.

The show continues to deliver with the same intensity on both the emotional aspect and plot wise. Almost every scene is poignant but the ones that stood out are certainly the bridge collapsing and Ji-eun's death and Det Cha's death in the explosion. Excellent direction and another great performance by Kim Hye Soo (the look in her eyes as she registers everything in that split second before the explosion) and Lee Je Hoon.

A special mention for the last transmission scene where LJH asks in anger if 20 years later things are still the same with PHY looking at present-HSK, older but with the exact same status, as rich and powerful as ever. I liked it a lot, there is the uncertainty of whether our men will make that change happen or not. We know they are determined more than even to do it but who knows what "fate" has in store for them (and for us).

[kaqueski]

Happy lunar new year!!! 

I find it intriguing that PHY actually think about the "why" the radio transmission from present and past exist. I know it is his character to question that, however, to us the viewers it's kinda a given that this is a fantasy/paranormal type of drama so those transmission can be the work of some higher beings (aka God) so we just kinda think of it's as a given fact. Maybe it's all science fiction (that someone in the future who's related to PHY or LJH create this signal between them)? So I'm curious if PHY would ever figure out that 'Why' question in the end. 

I think we all refer to the original timeline a lot of times, but is it safe to say that original timeline = no transmission between PHY and LJH exist (however we still have LJH's missing/death)? I think everything start to change the moment PHY picked up that walkie talkie from the trash bag (LJH's belonging that supposed to be taken off by the higher polices). However it is super interesting that it happened as a loop = PHY's first transmission is not the first transmission of LJH.

There are quite many foreshadowings in the drama, I realize. Noticeably is LJH: "What can go wrong if I just caught the culprit for a bulgar case?" and I remember the lines between LJH and CSH as well when CSH mentioned "If i can talk to someone in the past, I'd tell that person to protect someone who's dear to me." We can easily guess that CSH would try to protect LJH, and as for PHY, I'm sure he would tell LJH to protect his hyung. This leads me to think whether PHY's hyung is destined to die or if his death can be preventable, because if you try to bring someone who's suppose dead back to life, I think you need to exchange it for something else.

[plappi]

Dramabeans recap 6 ep.

http://www.dramabeans.com/2016/02/signal-episode-6/

[tablohigh]

22 hours ago, louisawatson said:

i searched around and thankfully there are still some k-netizens who believe that Lee Je-Hoon's acting is great and do not understand why he gets criticized for his acting. =D

 

Someone posted a link a while ago to a blog that had translated the top comments on Naver, and all of them were defending Lee Je-hoon.  Due to us getting only a few articles here and there, it may be possible we don't know the whole story.  Of course, these comments are from one news site, but it makes me wonder how many criticized him and how many are loving him.  I'm on the latter boat.  I'm ecstatic that he finally has a great drama so that more people can know about him.

mmm...Here it is.  http://kkuljaem.blogspot.com/2016/01/spoilers-madame-antoine-signal.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Kkuljaem+%28kkuljaem+%EA%BF%80%EC%9E%BC%29&m=1

[YoonSicShidae]

I love signal!! It's so exciting and thrilling. I hope they can keep the pace. Episode extensions please.

[louisawatson]

8 hours ago, tablohigh said:

 

Someone posted a link a while ago to a blog that had translated the top comments on Naver, and all of them were defending Lee Je-hoon.  Due to us getting only a few articles here and there, it may be possible we don't know the whole story.  Of course, these comments are from one news site, but it makes me wonder how many criticized him and how many are loving him.  I'm on the latter boat.  I'm ecstatic that he finally has a great drama so that more people can know about him.

mmm...Here it is.  http://kkuljaem.blogspot.com/2016/01/spoilers-madame-antoine-signal.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Kkuljaem+%28kkuljaem+%EA%BF%80%EC%9E%BC%29&m=1

oh, thanks for the link! i'm glad to know many k-netizens support him! it didn't make sense to me that such a great actor was treated bad T_T i'm glad people can see how a great actor he is. i hope this nonsense controversy will soon disappear into thin air. XD

[cafe99]

Nothing comes for free, and I think that at the end of the series, LJH will remain dead (or whatever) or PHY will die as a consequence of changing the past and saving someone. Because I think that LJH has something to do with the false accusations PHY's brother, maybe he found the real culprits and I think the police knew too, but, for pride and/or money, they covered up that case.

It's just a hunch I'm having... Since in ep1 someone is shot (either LJH or another person)

[Akmuse79]

If ever we need a reset of events in a drama it is now. #Ep6 #Signal #Recap

 

https://dramaswithasideofkimchi.wordpress.com/2016/02/09/signal-episode-6-reset-please/#more-14603