After a few unfortunate mishaps along the road (delay because of elections, Lee Seung Gi's eye injury), 'You're Surrounded' finally came to a conclusion with all twenty episodes, and boy oh boy was the second half a roller coaster of a ride!
I don't know where to start -- there are so many things I want to say!
The first half was heavily focused on getting the main antagonist, the evil Yoo Moon Bae, so that a lot of the other side stories were pushed aside and forgotten.
Firstly, I have to say the frustration that built up during Dae Gu's misunderstanding of Seo Pan Seok were not relieved to my satisfaction. That bubble needed to pop and gush out all that negativity, but it was more like... they were awkward the entire time. I absolutely love how Dae Gu salutes a demoted Seo Pan Seok in the very final episode, but was that enough? I wanted more broments from the two of them -- there were definitely not enough to meet my expectations and make up for the fact they nearly wanted to kill each other at first.
This also applies to Seo Pan Seok's relationship with his ex-wife, Sa Kyung. Their relationship had such a heavy emotional burden in the first half, but after she decides to accept him back, nothing really happens after that. There are some signs of jealousy from Pan Seok in relation to her and Tae Il, but they don't go on dates, they barely interact. I felt almost bad for the actress like she had been demoted herself in the process. Sure, she helped the team out, but she became almost a dispensable character.
Thirdly, Soo Sun. Don't get me wrong, her relationship with Dae Gu blossomed and oh man, it blossomed bea-u-tifully, but she became the moral support for Dae Gu, someone whom he could lean and rely on and that was really it. That final scene in which he sends her out so she could live was a bit melodrama-ish, and I didn't want her to be rendered to the helpless heroine, the side dish to the tragic hero, if you will. There wasn't as much action from her, although she proved she had gotten a lot smarter because she was usually finding the most important piece of the jigsaw puzzle. Still, I was really seeing a lot more of girlfriend Soo Sun rather than Detective Soo Sun. Also, what was with those loose, buttoned up grandma blouses they started forcing into her wardrobe?
There were many plot twists and exciting things going on between Seo Pan Seok's team and the evil Yoo family -- a great back and forth that kept my interest, but there were also, yet again, a lot of dumb, inexcusable things going on. For example, did Seo Pan Seok's team believe they were the villains of some 'Disney' movie? Why did they keep telling the enemy that they secured some form of evidence and what they were planning to do with it? Shouldn't they know that's how their target escapes?
Some good plot twists were when we found out about the falsified paternity test results (a nice variation on the classic "who's my real parent" device) and Seo Pan Seok's dramatic press conference. These parts were definitely creative and interesting, albeit complicated, but there were some "what the hell" moments. For example, I was not convinced that an old mobile phone was the perfect size to fit in that large manila envelope. I thought they would say there was an outline of an object that had been inside and that very outline resembled that of an old cell phone. Not, "Oh hey... this manila envelope is big enough to hold an old cell phone so that must have been what was inside." I'm sorry, what? I must have missed something. For all you know, it could've been a calculator and the joke would be on you (although I love how Jin Goo got ahold of said phone, as clearly illegal as that was).
The ending was not to my satisfaction, at all. It was too dramatized. I wanted it to be solved through detective work and investigation, not the hook and bait. Not a desperate evil man who resorts to holding up a gun and idiotically gets himself caught. I'm sorry, it may have seemed dramatic, but to me, it was utterly anticlimactic (was rollin' my eyes). Also, his "daughter" looks way too old, but I actually liked her character. She did despicable well, maybe because it was odd seeing such an older woman act like a spoiled brat crying home to her daddy. Plus, she grew a bit near the end with the revelation she had been tricked the entire time by her "daddy."
I knew somebody had to die and Chief Kang was actually my second guess. I think it was her redemption in some ways -- she did too much wrong and was clearly repenting. She had pretty much dug her own grave, sadly enough. Although, I'm glad secondary leader of Seo Pan Seok's team was spared (and I love his adorable and huge family).
There wasn't much of this in the second half... Dae Gu was pretty much his normal, angry self. Soo Sun actually receded to her girlfriend role (although, don't get me wrong it was super cute -- even the awkward bandaid-on-the-heart scene). Still, there were three characters that did grow. Seo Pan Seok came to realize that he had really hardened as a detective. While Dae Gu denied Chief Kang was a bad person from the getgo, Seo Pan Seok was much more resigned and accepting of the fact, which is the difference between a rookie and a veteran detective. I thought this was pretty deep.
Another person was Tae Il, who had been so mysterious the whole time. He finally opened up about his tragic past in which he accidentally got his brother hit by a car after his brother came out of the closet by bringing his boyfriend home to be introduced to the very angry family (I was pleasantly surprised because this is pretty progressive for a primetime Korean drama). This happened after he showed his dedication to being a detective and a friend by fighting hard against two thugs to the point he got stabbed (very sad moment... tear).
The third person was The Toad, the right hand man to Chief Kang whom I will only refer to as The Toad. I found him annoying at first and was suspicious of him, but then I couldn't help but love his character, especially after his spew about everything happening with Seo Pan Seok's team to be very characteristic of makjang dramas. Kudos to the writers for being able to poke fun at themselves for using some very typical drama cliches. And then, he starts tossing red beans all over the office, walks around with a boss cane, and shows that he's not all bad as he really devotes himself to the case later on and gives them high tech equipment.
The ending was sweet, but I wanted more. I love that it was pretty much a happy ending for every character and we got to see all those happy endings through a quick summary in the end, but I wanted to see what state the evil antagonist Yoo Moon Bae was in -- sort of like a "Where are they now?" criminal edition. What is Yoo Ae Yeon's husband and son doing now after giving away all their stocks? Did she go back to the mental ward?
I am glad I watched this drama. It was something to look forward to every Wednesday and Thursday. Would I watch it again? Probably not. It really was not the best drama out there, but it was entertaining and satisfactory enough for me to have watched it once; not to mention, it has a pretty good OST (again, though, you can rarely go wrong with OST).
Would I recommend you watch the drama? I would, but somewhat halfheartedly. Still, if you want to fill in the emptiness that comes with the conclusion of this drama, I recommend 'Incarnation of Money,' starring Kang Ji Hwan and Hwang Jung Eum, as well as 'Prosecutor Princess,' starring Kim So Yeon and Park Si Hoo. The second one shows things from the prosecutors' point of view, and of course, I can't forget about 'I Hear Your Voice'! I personally couldn't finish the drama and found it way overrated, but since it's so popular, if you haven't tried it yet, you should still give it a go.
What are your thoughts on the overall drama series, 'You're Surrounded'?
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