I saw this series during a time that I was craving for something other than the normal. I needed some mental stimulation and this, even though not as heart racing or anxiety triggering as some of the horror movies I occupied myself with, it was enough for the weekend. It is not horror after all. More of a psychological thing.
The Devil Judge is a South Korean crime and mystery series set in a dystopian era where a judge makes court sessions something of a reality show to involve the masses. The Judge, Kang Yo-han has his own vendetta and I watched with bated breath as he went after each of his goals.
The most complicated character at the beginning to me was Kang Yo-han. At first I did not know what to think about him because I have learned from watching and reading a substantial amount of mystery to understand that it is not always what it seems at the surface. Kang Yo-han would do something that would make me think he has been misunderstood and then turn around to do something to make me doubt his person.
From the beginning of the series where his character was revealed at a certain depth to the end when it all came crashing down, I watched with bated breath. It almost seemed like I could not guess what would happen next especially with his unpredictable and almost erratic behaviours.
On the other hand, Kim Ga-on made me roll my eyes hard every time with his overly righteous and straight at a ruler perspective. The whole series was centered on the corruption of government bodies and their involvement with organ trafficking amongst other things. Kim Ga-on is one of those people who are naive to think that justice still prevails especially in the face of absolute authority. He was unbendable and his nature made him an easy target. He was used by the puppet master to manipulate Kang Yo-han. He was also used as a weapon thanks to his naivety. For someone who lost his parents to criminal schemes and then found that the perpetrator had gone scot free, he was very slow.
Jeong Seon-a on the other hand left me conflicted. Maybe because she is a woman who experienced hell in the hands of people who were meant to love her or maybe because she was a victim in the hands of powerful men? I don’t know. What I know is as mean, cruel and scheming as she was, I understood that she was born from the ruins of a harsh society. Unfortunately, she let the scars run too deep and let the darkness consume her. Or maybe she had always possessed that darkness.
I do not want to go into details about this character as it would lead to me giving spoilers. What you should know about her if you do decide to watch is that there is more to her than meets the eye. You will find out as the plot progresses.
What I enjoyed the most about this series is how well it progressed and how much I got to understand the characters with very little actions or dialogues. Everything was laid bare from the drama to the crime. Not just that. The chemistry between the characters was just amazing or should I attribute that to the actors? Probably. It felt like watching siblings bicker between those two, and Elijah was just adorable thrown in the mix.
For some reason, the romance did nothing for me. I was more interested in the bromance. Oh and yeah, I always saw the end part coming from episode 10. Call it intuition but I saw that last part coming. I wasn’t in the least bit surprised even if I was taken for a run through the entire process. Despite that, it was good. It kept me on my toes, gave me sugary and tear jerking moments.
I’ll give this a 9/10! I recommend it.
