[REVIEW] JTBC TV series "Padam Padam" - 1st episode

Scene from JTBC TV series "Padam Padam" [JTBC]

JTBC TV series "Padam Padam" - Monday/Tuesday 8:45 p.m.
"Padam Padam," screenwriter Noh Hee-kyung and actor Jung Woo-sung's comprehensive programming channel series, is an odd collaboration of unexpected names. And those who have waited long for Noh Hee-kyung's work are now in dilemma due to the hostility toward so-called 'pay-television channel celebrities' and distrust toward conservative media firms which is where these channels are rooted. Yet the drama is powerful enough to make one forget about the error regarding its platform.

Yang Kang-chil (Jung Woo-sung) does not have any feelings left for the world after getting locked up in jail for 16 years for a murder his friend committed and hearing his cellmate badmouth him behind his back when he had saved his life twice. Befitting his role as a man who has aged in isolation from the world, Jung Woo-sung who looked both funny and pathetic in an unfashionable shirt and pants which flutter at the cuffs at an awkward length, nonchalantly pulled off his character Yang Kang-chil with the droopy wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and close-to-frivolous outspoken gaze. And his coincidental encounters with Jina (Han Ji-min), totally to three times during his brief final leave from prison, may seem too forced yet it is not about the love triangle between them and Kook-soo (Kim Beom) but rather the method used to show flashes of each character's pain which makes the viewer become curious of and look forward to what will happen to them, their relationship and how they will heal. That is why it is important how Kang-chil will overcome the pain he feels, from having made a mistake that led to the death of prison warden Kim (Yoon Joo-sang) who held him dear, which is much more severe and painful than when he was accused of murder. It will also be worth looking forward to how the show is directed by Kim Kyu-tae who so eloquently depicted on the boundary between life and death when unconscious, Kang-chil's death sentence and accident overlapped. "Padam Padam" is a pay-television channel series. But ahead of that, it is a drama by Noh Hee-kyung. And for a change, poses a meaningful question to its viewers. Hence this is where public broadcasters, which allot time slots for shows depending on the ratings and profit they will draw in, should look back on themselves before criticizing those channels.

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10 아시아 Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@
10 아시아 Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@