More Korean Netflix Series
by Barry Normal
Two more series I can recommend having thoroughly enjoyed them:
Diary Of A Prosecutor
South Koreans do psychopaths really well and there is a great one in this series who is a successful Seoul prosecutor who steps on the wrong toes and gets sent to a provincial city. Slight spoiler alert is usually the psychopaths turn out to have a good heart; they just got messed up early or are ambitiously doing what you just have to do! Although sometimes they are just plain old evil!!
What happens with a lot of South Korean Netflix series is they start really well and then become very, very, slow. Probably because they have to fill 16 episodes. The shortist I’ve seen is 12 and the longest 20.
But the Diary Of A Prosecutor is a bit like a Perry Mason without the murders with a different case or continuation of a case each episode, and the characters are really well drawn; a commonality in South Korean drama. This one did not get slow for me.
I really like the humility of their series. They are about regular people doing regular jobs dealing with everyday issues and they bring out the dignity and meaning in everyday lives.
Misaeng – Incomplete Life
When this started it reminded me of one of those Russian art house films where nothing much happens. It has that kind of downbeat feeling to it, but things begin happening soon.
It is about a big South Korean international trading company and one of the teams. Against the bosses wishes they have to take on this kid in his 20s who doesn’t have a university degree (point of contention for his peers). Turns out he was recommended by one of the big bosses who likes Go. He was a Go champion who quit. Things get interesting when he helps resolve difficult deals using his Go strategies.
This series is 20 episodes and I enjoyed unreservedly each one until the 20th! It suddenly turns into a Hollywood blockbuster. Weird is not the word. Out of context are words. But nevertheless a great watch and as usual excellent character portrayal and humility abounds. Real people in real life.
And something worth saying about both these is that Mrs. Normal liked them too and she won’t watch anything scary or with lots of killings in them.
One last thought: You can watch dubbed into English or most other languages, but I prefer the original Korean with English subtitles.