Prison Playbook (2017)

Unsatisfying/Incomplete Ending(Beware Main Couple)

This is a wonderful and heartwarming drama.

The male lead is one of the kindest and most principled male lead and characters that I have ever seen on tv. He cares so much for others, especially those who have ever shown him a slither of kindness. He’s meant to be “stupid”, but I feel he’s actually an incredibly intelligent person-he resolves every problem that comes his way without ever compromising his values/principles.

The other characters are just as great-everybody brings their own brand of special to the story.

My issues with the show are as follows:

Loony- I don’t have as big an attachment to looney as most people seem to but I still have issues with the way his story ended. It was poor writing with really crappy logic. For starters, who gets into their dealer’s car the moment after they exit prison from serving time for drugs? It’s also highly unlikely that someone who spend months in agony to get sober for a reason tied to their sobriety, chooses to shoot up or use literally a minute after they get out and when they’re like 30 mins away from getting the love of their life back. That’s stupid and I know the show was basically a “anti-drug” ad and they were trying to show how bad addiction is but that was just ridiculous. Sober people don’t necessarily crave drugs the way those using do-he went through withdrawal, and he no longer had any in his system which means his rational faculties should’ve been intact enough for him to say fuck off and keep walking-if he had fallen off the wagon a month later or something-I’d get it-but this was a minute after he got out. You’re telling me that a sober person decided that all the pain he went through to get clean for his boyfriend was worth throwing away 30 minutes before he’s reunited with his boyfriend because someone gave him a syringe? Also, this whole thing was illogical as hell-there’s entrapment and there’s ENTRAPMENT and this was ENTRAPMENT. The entire sting was pointless because it would never hold up in a court of law, they intentionally caused a citizen they are meant to protect harm, and they essentially admitted that the justice and prison system are useless by entrapping looney. It also made no sense that the cops were so worried about a junkie being back on the streets that they wasted valuable hours and resources to find his release date, locate his dealer from Japan and carry out a sting operation to coerce him to use again so they could arrest him-no one would do this unless he was freaking El Chapo or something. Why did they do it? What are they going to say when they try to indict him-we waited until this completed his sentence for his crime and then we coerced him into re-using so that we could arrest him for using because…? This would make sense if like a month later he was dealing drugs, they knew and sent an undercover agent to try to buy some from him and then arrested him-but he wasn’t committing any crime(s). They created a crime and then forced him to be the main player. The only way this ends out is looney is released and suits are filed against the department, but all his efforts would have been wasted as he would have to start all over to get clean.

The male lead’s relationship-why? Why did they show us the flashback of who she is? It was a really cute relationship until then. I loved their story when I thought they were best friends from grade who ended up falling in love, but they ruined it by showing us that she was actually they child of their coach whose house they used to stay at. I can’t reconcile with that. Some people have argued that there’s nothing wrong with their relationship because they aren’t blood related and big age differences in adults dating is a non-issue but no, just no. They aren’t blood related, but they knew each from when she was like 8 and he was like 18-he lived in her house, and she called him and his best friend uncle and then it changed to brother as time went by. He looked after her and she looked up to him as an older figure in her life. It’s one thing if he knew her when she was 8 and he was 18 and then he left and never saw her again until she was an adult and while getting reacquainted, he fell in love with her, but this is not the case. He was in her life the entire time-that’s low-key grooming. Like how can we be certain that the emotional attachment she feels towards him rn is romantic and not admiration mistaken for romantic feelings?

The ending-I understand that the show is about Je hyeok but it was also sort of an ensemble cast yet we never got to see how everybody else was doing after the time jump and that bothered me. Min-Chul who’s been in prison for like 22 years finally gets out and also gains 2 children in the process-I want to see how they are, how is he acclimating to the new world and so much more. We never get to see Captain Yoo walk out of prison, I also wanted to see if his brother’s life got back on track after pausing it to help captain yoo. Even Crony-we don’t get an estimate on how much time he has left, if he got out-has he remembered how to “be a human/person” on the outside or did he regress? What is he doing? -i thought he had a real knack for catching and could’ve potentially become a catcher.

I don’t know, if felt incomplete without knowing how everybody fared-it would have also been cool if they ended it with them in the stands at his first game back, but this really is a great show and despite this issues that I personally had with it, you should give a try. You won’t regret it.

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One of my favoutites…

I don’t think I could write a long review without dissecting every part of the story told by this drama. This drama has a bit of everything, friendship, romance, comedy, tragedy.

This story is so well written and I catch myself re-watching this every few months, it isn’t overly dramatic or overdoes it in any other aspect of it.

You will laugh, cry and scream at the screen as if it is a football game. Amazing acting, I don’t think I could pick one actor over another. And the main story is not the only interesting one, the story of side characters are so well thought and even though we get bits and pieces all over, it all comes together.

Phenomenal watch, 10/10.

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a story about friendship.

this series is a beautiful story about friendship. it's about facing struggles and leaning on one another when the going gets tough. i love ALL of the characters, and they're developed in a clear and senseful way. this show takes place mostly in a prison, but it reminds you that all of the people in a prison are indeed people. with their good sides, their bad sides, and their crazy sides. the ML is just incredible, his personality blossoms and grows throughout the series like a flower as he's faced with adversity and has the trajectory of his life hit by an asteroid. characters you started out hating, you'll grow to love, understand, and root for. watch it now.

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Soooo Pleasantly Surprised!!

So most of the dramas I watch are romcoms, and for this one, I let my co-worker choose from my "plan to watch" list as I have such a hard time deciding what to watch next. I was unsure for the first 1-2 episodes, but I find I feel like that with almost all dramas just because it's new at the time and I'm still not over whatever drama I just finished. lol

So for this review I actually made notes on this site as I watched it so I wouldn't forget things so some of this will be written as if I'm currently watching it. I'm going to make bullet points.

* So far the sister is irritating because she is VERY "woe is me". I get he's where he is because of her (at least in her mind), but it's enough already. He's the one in prison, then he's the one forced to retire from the job he loves, and she's over here sobbing away feeling sorry for herself. To make it worse, she won't even visit him. She's really pissing me off.

* I feel ZERO chemistry between ML and his girlfriend. Maybe it's his dry personality in the beginning, but I don't care about them as a couple at all. He has more chemistry with his best friend and other prisoners than he does her.

* I was SO happy that Crony turned out the way he did. That was a great direction to take that storyline. I also (at the time) loved the college girl visiting and writing a paper on Min Chul. Little did I know!!! ML's girlfriend being "too busy" to visit was just as annoying as the sister doing the same thing to him.

* He just can't figure out how to pitch straight, and 'ex-gf' comes up with the idea to put an X in the glove and suddenly that solves it and she's a genius who knows him better than anyone and no one else could have pulled that off. Really? Like it hadn't occurred to him to aim at the glove before the X? *eye roll*

* I do NOT want to do another villain arc where someone tries to kill him but here we are with the wood shop guy scheming in the greenhouse.

* NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO Please tell me this was a fever dream and he did not do ALL that hard work, for a year, quitting drugs, only to immediately do them again the moment he left. I swear to god, I will riot.

* Stating the obvious here, but Lt. Na is an insufferable grunt.

* His POS sister has still not visited. On top of that she's dating his best friend, who is also a guard there. What a shitty sister.

* I'm so happy that Lt. Paeng went to his daughter's career day. Crony being left behind made me sad, even though he did some heinous shit, and he'll obviously have the company of Captain Yoo for awhile. Also, would've liked to see him get out as well, maybe even Crony, so they could all meet up like they talked about.

* I love that Min-Chul had a daughter and that she reached out.

* The entire story is amazing and the friendships and chemistry is unmatched with this cast. I could've done without the girlfriend as there's no chemistry there. I also could've done without the sister because she was insufferable and selfish. They could've just had him saving any random chick.

I wanted to give this a 10/10 but I cannot forgive Loony's ending. It doesn't make any sense for his character. NONE. Also, I hated that we didn't get to see them all out of prison living their lives, or at least meeting up. Even if they just did a flash forward like they did with ML.

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If you like the American drama Orange Is The New Black, you'd like this drama too!

I have one episode left, and I am shocked. I guess this drama was so good, that I didn't realize that I had made it to episode 15. If you like the American TV show, Orange Is The New Black on Netflix, you'd like this drama too! It's 90% similar, the main difference is Orange Is The New Black, setting is in a female prison, and Prison Playbook setting is in a male prison. Even the characters are very similar (e.g. the female lead in OISTNB vs male lead in PP - they are both ditsy, and Crazy Eye in OISTNB vs Looney in PP). Essentially the same show, but different actors/actresses, and a different country.

This drama is not your typical Korean drama, the whole vibe is different (it rings American lol). I really liked the male lead character, besides his wonderful physique, his character was so likeable, I actually really found the actor attractive. BTW, I am not into BL, and that's the reason why I rated this drama a 9.5, instead of a 10.

Oh yeah, the soundtrack is dope (meaning good). There's this one song that is sung by a woman Korean singer on this drama, it plays every time the female and male lead characters are together, and I freaking love that song. It gives me 90's R&B vibes!

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This drama has something that many other dramas lack: a great story. It showed the dark side behind the prison yet was comical in its way. The bond between each character were just what u require. Multiple bromances and u even wish for some BL(Hanyang with captain too)(though he fits perfectly with anyone ????). The friendship between junho×jaehyuk was great. The understanding between then though the later one is shown as airhead????. I particularly started this drama because of my love for Jung Kyung ho oppa but rooted for every character. Every character has their own essence and back story and how they grow up behind the walls regardless of bad people around. For the first time I felt I don't need a romance because the story kept me on edge. Both the female lead were great(even Krystal did not disappoint me for the first time as am not a fan of her acting). Overall I can only say the drama is amazing, adorkable and the most important thing it's my first dark comedy as am not a fan of that genre still I adore this one
The ost are great. Each actor/cast did a wonderfull job

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I definitely gave this drama 10/10. You should’t hesitate to watch this drama. To be honest I seldom give drama that I watched a review unless it really gave a deep impression to me & this drama is superb.

The story was inspiring & the characters were really funny and developing. Be patient if you watch episode 1 because the story will definitely get interesting. I couldn’t say more but I just want to say. you Must Watch This Drama??

Storyline: from sad, funny, suspense, romance... all are blended well in da drama.

Characters: every actors played important role not just the main role. I still love the additional Ji Ho, I think she played really important role as well. The rest of the actors were amazing & really funny ???? 

You won’t regret it.

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Não existem pessoas ruins, apenas pessoas que fizeram escolhas ruins.

A trama conta a história de Je-Hyuk, um famoso jogador de beisebol que está prestes a assinar com um time americano, até que um acidente ocorre e ele descobre que irá perder sua liberdade indo para a prisão. Ele defende sua irmã de uma tentativa de estupro, e o estuprador acaba falecendo.

Comecei achando que seria uma série pesada por se passar em uma prisão e por já começar desse jeito, mas a verdade é que todos os episódios contam com uma BOA dose de humor. Com personagens carismáticos (saudades, Pancada), a autora nos mostra que não existem pessoas ruins, mas sim pessoas que tomam decisões erradas na vida.

A série fala sobre resiliência, amizade e amor. Mesmo em um ambiente que parece nada ter a ver com isso.

Os episódios têm em torno de 1h30 (juro que por mim teria até mais) e a trama se aprofunda em cada um dos personagens para conhecermos suas histórias a fundo. Total o estilo da autora Lee Woo-jeong, que também foi responsável por Reply 1988 e Hospital Playlist. Inclusive, se você viu esses dois, vai se surpreender com vááários atores atuando nessa série também.

Minha única decepção foi o último episódio não ter mostrado MUITA coisa dos personagens que passaram pela vida do Je-Hyuk. Mas fica na imaginação, já que segunda temporada que é bom, nada. Coreia, por que faz isso comigo?

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