[Drama 2018] Life on Mars, 라이프 온 마스

[bedifferent]

@triplem cop doesn’t look like the person in picture.  Much younger. He didn’t have breathing problem either right?

 

The man in shadow with breathing problem should be older since COPD tends to be an older disease, more consistent with the older man.  The wheezing that you hear is not asthma like.

 

@katakwasabi IKR, but at least we know Seo Hyun is alive and why she is absent in 2018.

[aisling]

I’ll be sharing my thoughts after watching episode 10 with subs.

 

For now... I love these two. They’re just stealing glances and it makes me giddy like they’re been doing something more haha  Never thought they’d have such amazing chemistry! 

 

 

 

[katakwasabi]

3 minutes ago, triplem said:

@bedifferent @katakwasabi @aisling Now I am a bit confused...does this look like KMS' s dad??

I think this cop is some uncle or friend? Does not really look like the dad right?

 

Yeah i'm confused too. I think the cop at the end is a bro or uncle because minsuk called out 'hyung' on the stairs.

 

I'm wondering who is the cop that carried little taejoo (min 1.30-2.00 in clip below). Where did he came from, since the police team were on the other side.

 

 

 

 

 

[bedifferent]

@katakwasabi  hmmmm good question. Little Tae-joo ran a different way than the confrontation,  hard to make out name and face on video.

 

We are all confused at this point till subs! 

[aisling]

I’m suspicious of the cop who carried little Tae Joo from a tunnel. He appeared from nowhere and we didn’t even get a glimpse at his face. Maybe he’ll play a larger role later. Or maybe I’m paranoid 

[bedifferent]

LOL. Just watched subbed E10. Got it now.  This show is doing a number on my reasoning.

 

Apparently, KMS is adopted by two parent of the year (NOT) people for their own purpose and not purely out of love.  His parents wanted to get government subsidies and a quick jump on the wait list for government housing.  He's been physically abused by his mom (?) according to school records.  His adopted mom, Kim Bok Rye, was the latest homicidal victim Tae Joo is investigating.  She was beaten to death.  Her injuries mirror the injuries little Min Seok received over several months according to school records.  

From there, it's possible that the school may have recorded the suspected abuse to the police station and KMS' "hyung" may have known about the case.  His "hyung" is one the police officers at the Insung station.  KMS has been missing for several days when Tae-joo and company investigated Kim Bok Rye's death so I don't know why he is at the station at the end of the episode.  

 

This is quite a twist, heh?  Is our killer some kind of angel or vigilante on behalf of abused kids out there?  I can't connect this story to the killings of women yet.  The manicure, the asphyxiation... BTW, seems like killer does have asthma and uses the inhaler.  How can he be at the scene where HCH's murder was?  Unless he has been there in the past and dropped the inhaler at another time.

 

Even more confused than before trying to connect the killings and killers.

 

BTW, was curious about the Saemaul movement so google it, not sure if this is relevant to the drama.  It's about the government enlisting the community to improve the rural areas that they live by modernization of services and infrastructure.

 

https://communityleddev.org/2016/03/29/saemaul-undong-the-republic-of-koreas-new-village-movement-part-1/

 

Spoiler

 

[Jonah Kyle]

My first comment on this show, and all I have to say is AWESOME! This cover of LOM is, by far, the best of every version done by any country, save of course for the original BBC release starring John Sims as the main protagonist. The production is top-notch, the period property manager is incredibly on the mark, and the music is fantastic. There are a lot of inferences of 80's Korea that many non-Koreans are also learning about, including Marshal law requirements such as frequent lights out drills(if you think Kim Jong Un was scary recently, North Korea 50 kilometers away during the height of the Cold War was a nightmare compared to today) , and even music references that are fun to look up after viewing.

 

But the drama is unique in its ability to create standalone episodes that a viewer can watch, say, episode 6 without needing to watch 1 through 5, and still enjoy the show on its merits, even though the show's most prolific arc is to determine the actual reality of the protagonist. I have watched most, if not all of the other reboots: US, Czech, and Spanish TV had version. The US version was ok, but it never really struck a nerve with me, particularly as I grew up on 60's through 80's series crime tv, from Mannix through Magnum, and there didn't seem to be a resonance with US LOM.

 

Until Korean Life on Mars. Out-STANDING! And, to top it off, it's in ultrawide 2.35:1, and happily, my monitor allows me to crop so I get the whole screen in play (though the ads look a tad weird). I do cheat and get the subs and put the whole spaghetti through my video app that allows me to start/stop the subs past the ads, but that's a small price to pay for quality ultrawide viewing. When this show is put on DVD, I'm snagging it.

 

I'll probably comment more as the series goes by, but some Korean productions are definitely on par with Hollywood and the Beeb with their excellence in directing, acting, and writing, and in fact is better than 90% of all American/English productions. I'll definitely have individual assessments as the series continues.

 

PS: The original Life on Mars protagonist, Sam Tyler, was played by John Sims, who also portrayed the Master in Doctor Who in the 2005 reboot series of the show, though his first appearance didn't occur until 2007. When LOM was first bandied about by the writers and producers, they were trying to come up with the protagonist name. John Sims daughter had suggested "Tyler" after her favorite Doctor Who character, companion Rose Tyler, portrayed by Billie Piper. To complete the Easter Egg connection, Sam Tyler's mother was named "Rose." Just for kicks, I would love director Lee Jung Hyo or writer Lee Dae II throw in a DW reference. Maybe a blue police box...

[40somethingahjumma]

I am constantly in awe at the creativity of the writer and the PD in adapting the stories in the original for this version adding their own twists and turns. This... everyone... is an example of how an excellent adaptation can be done. Last night's episode saw the adaptation of two BBC stories. I won't mention names just in case anybody wants to watch that series later.  But Episode 10 was really good and the last 10 minutes was a nail-biter.

 

I have always suspected (since Day 1) that KMS' protector/guardian was a cop. In fact, I have always had a particular cop in mind but I didn't really want to post it here because I had a feeling that it would be potentially spoilery. It's not really hard to make that leap because in 2018, HTJ was shot while trying to arrest KMS in a dark alley way. This person knew very quickly that TJ was in pursuit of KMS and the only way he could know that is if he was a cop. And then HCH was shot in 1988 by someone who really knows how to use a pistol very well. I don't imagine guns were highly accessible to the general SK public in 1988. So it's a case of gangsters or cops.

 

In this episode we find out the roots of KMS' pathological need to kill women and make them look pretty post-mortem. An abusive adoptive mother who's only interest in him was to rort the system for personal gain. Years of systematic verbal and physical abuse coupled with a codependent relationship with a off-kilter saviour figure. It seems, the show tells us, that the young KMS didn't have a hope on this side of hell. 

 

2018 KMS somehow managed to sneak into TJ's hospital bedroom to whisper nasty nothings into his ear. Undoubtedly he was aided and abetted by his ubiquitous cop protector who snuck him with a disguise. It seems like the ex-fiancee might still be alive.

 

Magic Tech really came alive in this episode. Television screens, radios, tape players went berserk. Even TJ entire person went into overdrive because of it.   But the tech that really gave them the breakthrough was the humble voice recorder which TJ introduced and NS took up in timely fashion. It finally gave them a glimpse into the killer of HCH and the dark protector of the serial killer KMS. As a whole though, Magic Tech, makes it hard for me to believe that TJ has time travelled in the conventional sense. All the different characters appearing on some Magic Screen telling him contradictory things... some encouraging him to press on, others telling him not to try too hard and even others telling him that he hasn't got a hope. What should the man believe?

 

Police brutality took a bit of a beating  when YG thought that he might have inadvertently killed the meth addict when applying severe interrogation techniques. But lucky him... he was saved from a lifetime of guilt by the tape recorder.

 

Poor NY, literally looking downcast when TJ tells her that he's still looking for a way to get out of dodge. Of course she wants him to stay. Although he apparently hasn't found a reason to... yet.  She is still his most compatible, intellectual equal. They do actual detective work together. With DC, he's just there for the jokes, the banter and the pep talk. Mostly. But with NY, they think through stuff together. There was a funny moment between them when TJ was in the bunker (or whatever it was) and she was trying to help him up with a stick. He falls and she falls. They both look embarrassed. LOL. 

 

Ack! That cliffhanger. This show is rather too good with them... but thank you PD for the preview... it may tie me over for another week. Barely. But it's something.  

[katakwasabi]

Oh no. Hopefully they beef up security at the filming location.

 

“Life On Mars” Staff Injured Due To Gang Member Attack On Drama Set

L. Kim July 15, 2018

Three staff members of OCN’s “Life on Mars” were injured on set due to a violent attack.

 

According to Busan Seobu Police Station on July 16, a 51-year-old (hereafter referred to as “A”) was arrested without physical detention on charges of obstruction of business, assault, inflicting injury, and more. The police shared that he is a member of the major gang Chil Sung Pa (The Seven Star).

 

Around 12:05 a.m. on June 14, “A” trespassed the drama set in a drunken state and started a quarrel with the actors. He then injured three members of the crew who attempted to stop him. “A” also hit his head in a glass door of the filming set, causing himself to bleed and preventing the filming of the drama.

After receiving the report, the police analyzed the security cameras around the site, checked the scene of the crime, and arrested the suspect in a criminal case. During the investigation, “A” stated, “I made a mistake because I was drunk.”

A source from the drama commented, “There was an incident when filming was delayed last month because an intoxicated person trespassed on set, but we do not know of his personal information or the progress of the investigation. Filming is currently continuing without any problems.”

 

https://www.soompi.com/2018/07/15/life-mars-staff-injured-due-gang-member-attack-drama-set/

 

[bedifferent]

@40somethingahjumma LoM shows that things are really what they appeared and the simplest explanation is correct.    It’s not asking us to think out of the box.  We just need to turn the box upside down and look at it differently from another angle.  

 

Is this reasoning correct, someone help me out? LOL So now we know that KMS’ protector is a vigilante cop of some sort.  His targets are women who have sinned in one way or another (an adulterer in HCH’s mistress and an abusive mother in Kim Bok Rye).  He’s a police officer who has access to the cases and has informations on his victims.  He choked Go Yeong Suk to death; choosing that method since he knows how terrible it feels as a person with his own breathing problem.  In Kim Bok Rye’s case, he avenged KMS’ pain on the abusive mother.  HCH was killed as the eyewitness since he saw him at the apartment.  He planted the evidence (Kim Bok Rye’s earrings) at the drug addict’s home to lead the investigation to the wrong suspect.  We can assume that he was also responsible for the tampering of crime scene in 2018 for KMS’ sake.

 

KMS did indeed hero worship his hyung. We don’t know yet if there was some sort of psychological killer training by hyung toward KMS over the years or it was just KMS’s own twisted upbringing.  It raised the question once again of whether the criminal mind is a product of nature vs nuture.  Little KMS was once empathetic toward little Tae-joo and identified the bullying as similar to his own abuse when he defended TJ.  How much of this heroism is from his own hyung’s teaching at this young age I wonder.  We still need to know how KMS eventually project his hate toward his mom to his future victims.  For sure at this point, Tae-joo has a chance to change 2018  if he can stop the future serial killer from becoming one now.

 

 

[allegramente]

On 6/30/2018 at 12:19 AM, bedifferent said:

@allegramente did you watch the US version? Any thought so far? 

..

I know it's a late reply... but I did. It was good... The 'literal' ending resolution had me laughing, kinda took the edge off of the ride/experiences although I applauded the attempt on twists.  I personally prefered the BBC's Sam Tyler, ending, and mostly its 'Manchester' setting. 

 

What's with the psychiatric patient at the beginning of episode 10 (the ET-handshake guy from the 2018)? He got me thinking that perhaps this adaptation would also use bits from the 'Ashes to Ashes'... that....

 

**BBC VER SPOILER ALERT!!!**

Spoiler

the others are like HTJ here. That this is a collective subconscious or the bridging world, where cops fallen in the line of duty and unable to move on live...

 

Speculating here... I am not sure if the killer cop is a vigilante. Kim Min-Seok and he could be biologically related, brothers who are long separated. He could have murdered Kim Bok-Rye the way he did simply because he wanted revenge for his abused little brother (since there is no post-humous grooming with manicure and cosmetics). The rest of the murders, with dead women manicured, are surrogate for another woman in their life, perhaps their mother? 

 

Anyway, love the surprises thrown that indeed make the resolutions feel simple..

 

edited to add praises for JKH... I like him since 'Time Between Dog and Wolf'. He does a thinking man up for action games so well. HTJ's lines are few but his internal struggles feel real without exaggeration.

[sheelatpsfm]

Oh my! After watching ep10, I didn't expect the killer in 1988 could be a cop. 

 

Now I don't know what's going to happen in the next episode.. Have to wait.. 

[anjelikaeyes13]

Waaah O my! KMS called him oopa. 

 

I really find this production an amazing gem and awesome.  This is the only story that I cannot do fast phase watching. You really have to watch every action, listen to the conversation and watch body language which means a lot a actually to understand the story.  I am a criminal minds series addict and I am glued like it and addicted to all cast of this series! 

 

What’s faciscinating is the so called “love line of  TJ and NY is not flirty and straight forward but you will definitely feel they have something for each other! I always have look forward to their conversation and analysis on the cases; their way of quietly supporting for each other. So sweet!  I hope TJ will not go back to the present and marry NY! Power house profiling couple! Although we need to find the present day ex-girlfriend. Haha! just hopeful. 

 

Going back... I have suspected the police who got Tae Joo is the killer and already assumed that a cop is very much involved.  That cop was shown twice or thrice out of nowhere similar to Criminal Minds cases in one of the episodes.  He injects quietly in the investigation that you would not notice how he was injected but if you are watchful you would know. But what amazed me is that I was glued to the reveal until the last minute and doubted my “criminal minds.”

 

Amazing editing and execution of acting of all actors! How the production was able to produce 1980’s setting also amazes me.   

 

Can’t wait for the remaining episodes! 

 

@Jonah Kyle I envy you — you watched the original way before. I am watching some portions that I found in the net and apparently,  it was highly louded and even until now.  

[__jesse]

1. "Wiretap in my ear" is a reference to a broadcast accident in 1988, where this fella came out of nowhere and said, "There's a wiretap in my ear..."

 

2. And ET is a cheeky nod to, well, Life on Mars.

 

3. The song DC and Yonggi sang is Mona Lisa by Cho Yong Pil. He's nearly 70 and still singing.

 

4. Came across this on Life on Mars (UK) wiki page:

Spoiler

 

If Sam's 1973 self (Hyde) was an alter ego, then perhaps HTJ's 1988 self (Insung) is an introspective look at human nature.

 

 

[0ly40]

OST part 2

 

[aisling]

Now that I’ve watched episode 10 with subs where it was revealed that KMS’s protector is a cop, I’m inclined to think a cop carrying little TJ from a tunnel must’ve been really him.

 

Also that ET guy at a beginning of episode 10 probably knows something about the Inhaler killer, so we’ll see the ET guy again, I’m sure about it. It was really fast but when the ET guy passed that young cop/Inhaler killer he said:

 

”Oh, it’s you. It’s me, Young Soo. I’m Young Soo.”

 

 

Doesn’t it sound like they know each other from before?

[katakwasabi]

5 hours ago, __jesse said:

1. "Wiretap in my ear" is a reference to a broadcast accident in 1988, where this fella came out of nowhere and said, "There's a wiretap in my ear..."

 

2. And ET is a cheeky nod to, well, Life on Mars.

 

3. The song DC and Yonggi sang is Mona Lisa by Cho Yong Pil. He's nearly 70 and still singing.

 

4. Came across this on Life on Mars (UK) wiki page:

  Hide contents

 

 

 

Thank you for sharing! This is really interesting and i continue to be amazed by how the writer includes real life events in the drama.

 

And i would also like to applaud the sound effects team, i think the sound effects and background music is awesome. Especially during tae joo's headaches and episodes. 

[allegramente]

12 hours ago, __jesse said:

3. The song DC and Yonggi sang is Mona Lisa by Cho Yong Pil. He's nearly 70 and still singing.

 

Spoiler

This is a nod to the original's use, among other cultural references, of the band Santana, formed around the 60s of which frontman Carlos Santana is still active in 2006 where Sam comes from. On 20 July, Santana will be 71.

 

12 hours ago, __jesse said:

4. Came across this on Life on Mars (UK) wiki page:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

If Sam's 1973 self (Hyde) was an alter ego, then perhaps HTJ's 1988 self (Insung) is an introspective look at human nature.

 

  

 

Spoiler

Whereas 1973 Sam transfers from Hyde, 1988 HTJ transfers from Seoul to Inseong, to see his younger self, the child HTJ and KMS pre innocence lost.

 

My memory is a bit hazy but I don't recall Sam Tyler ever bond with his younger self the way HTJs do. 

 

 

 

[katakwasabi]

21 hours ago, allegramente said:

..

I know it's a late reply... but I did. It was good... The 'literal' ending resolution had me laughing, kinda took the edge off of the ride/experiences although I applauded the attempt on twists.  I personally prefered the BBC's Sam Tyler, ending, and mostly its 'Manchester' setting. 

 

What's with the psychiatric patient at the beginning of episode 10 (the ET-handshake guy from the 2018)? He got me thinking that perhaps this adaptation would also use bits from the 'Ashes to Ashes'... that....

 

**BBC VER SPOILER ALERT!!!**

  Hide contents

the others are like HTJ here. That this is a collective subconscious or the bridging world, where cops fallen in the line of duty and unable to move on live...

 

Speculating here... I am not sure if the killer cop is a vigilante. Kim Min-Seok and he could be biologically related, brothers who are long separated. He could have murdered Kim Bok-Rye the way he did simply because he wanted revenge for his abused little brother (since there is no post-humous grooming with manicure and cosmetics). The rest of the murders, with dead women manicured, are surrogate for another woman in their life, perhaps their mother? 

 

Anyway, love the surprises thrown that indeed make the resolutions feel simple..

 

edited to add praises for JKH... I like him since 'Time Between Dog and Wolf'. He does a thinking man up for action games so well. HTJ's lines are few but his internal struggles feel real without exaggeration.

 

Uuu. I Iike the spoiler bit. I can see the drama going that route. Hoho 

[40somethingahjumma]

21 hours ago, bedifferent said:

@40somethingahjumma LoM shows that things are really what they appeared and the simplest explanation is correct.    It’s not asking us to think out of the box.  We just need to turn the box upside down and look at it differently from another angle.  

 

 

 

Yes, I like your analogy. Good one.

In the nature vs nurture debate I always think it's a bit of both or different proportions of both. But there's always the possibility of some kind of intervention in the course of life so that the individual doesn't just become another mental health statistic. 

 

It probably doesn't really matter at the end of the day if KMS' cop protector is a biological relative or just someone he met in his neighbourhood. The important thing is that this person seems to think of himself as some kind of vigilante justice provider and becomes a powerful but rather disturbing influence on KMS. I'm still waiting for an explanation as to why he killed HCH or the woman he was shacking up with. Did he feel sorry for little TJ? He must have known about little TJ from KMS.

 

What really interests me is the fact that the escapee from the mental hospital seemed to recognize said cop. Now, I know these days police officers do psych tests before they're allowed entry into the police academy but in the 1980s, I wonder if things were rather more lax. What if that cop did spend some time institutionalised somewhere and hid his past? What if he is KMS' older relative (for instance) but was in some kind of facility for a period of time while MS grew up in the orphanage and was later adopted out? Of course, they could have also met at the orphanage prior to MS being adopted out.