Mad Dog (2017)

Overall I thought this show was kind of decent. It has parts that were really good and other parts that were just okay. This drama essentially revolves around a team that goes out to catch people who commit insurance fraud. Just as mentioned in the synopsis. You sort of see this at a case by case basis at the beginning of the drama. As we proceed closer to the end we see a big overlap of how this one fraud case caused many deaths and casualties that affects our main characters.

Story [8.0/10]: The story wasn't too bad, but it's definitely not anything new. It's your typical crime drama that you often see. It often starts out with episodic cases that the main cast is trying to solve. Eventually some cases may begin to overlap and then play a larger role in overarching story. Mad Dog really isn't too different from that. In my opinion, this story lacks a little bit of rising action as well as a climax. With dramas like these, you generally have the same recurring problems. You know what happens at the beginning and at the end. The drama's job is to often tell you what happens in the middle as it helps you fill in the dots.

Acting/Cast [8.5/10]: I was more of a fan of the cast than of the story. I'm a big fan of Ryu Hwa Young who recently starred in Age of Youth as well as Hong Soo Hyun. I became a big ban of hers after watching The Princess' Man and History of the Salaryman. I only wished she got more leading roles. The male actors are not too bad as well.  Jo Jae Yun is also one of my most favorite supporting characters. He's absolutely hilarious and he's the same here too while playing "Cheetah" in the drama. There are hints of romance, but there really wasn't too much of it between two of the main characters. The acting was very good as well considering you had mostly seasoned veterans playing the main roles.

Music [8.0/10]: The music was so-so. I pretty much give the same rating to most music in dramas unless it has a nice OST, is a music drama, or just has really really good songs.

Overall I was decently glad that I watched the show. It kept me mostly interested the whole time. Although I more so watched it to see my favorite actors and actresses rather than for the story itself. This show was definitely more about the characters than the actual plot.

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All in all this was a very enjoyable series. The acting was phenomenal, the story was interesting and the characters were complex and likable.

I have always liked character-driven stories more than plot-driven stories. I would rather stay with a bad story with great characters than a great story with bad characters. The characters in this drama, especially Kim Min Joon, were the reason I loved this drama so much. The story can be a bit slow at times and I didn't really find the villains all that interesting, but the main team makes up for that. This story does have quite a lot of political elements that some people might like, and some people might not.  It does slow down the drama a bit, but not for long at the time as they have some sort of action in every episode.  

The acting was done very well, especially by our two main leads. Both of them are able to portray the main characters as the complex characters they are and have great chemistry with each-other which is why their relationship works so well. Their slow-building friendship is one of the best things in this drama.

If you enjoy watching a team of complex characters working together to fight a common enemy, a bit of action and an overall serious drama (with a a little comic relief here and there) you should try this one.

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Story line drags

I cant lie the only reason why I started this drama is purely because of woo do hwan and also the briefing sounded interesting.

Once I started the drama I was hooked at first and then it just seemed that the story dragged. The whole getting behind what caused the flight to crash and who was behind the crash was a whole bunch of beating around the bush, it could of easily be packed up in 8-10 episodes. The cast were okay, although the chemistry was meh. Why I say this is because they kept pushing a chemistry or spark going on between the FL and woo do hwan but its useless and doesn't really need to be in the drama, it felt like they were trying to fill their one hour duration episode by pushing that romance narrative which never got nowhere. The only chemistry I liked and the only characters I liked was cheetah and the IT guy as they had a cute father and son relationship ( they aren't father and son in the drama).

There were funny parts to the drama and interesting parts like when they are on operation and all, other than that it's just boring with predictable storyline which dragged for 16 episodes and took alot out of me to not drop it. Also the revenge or justice isn't brought entirely until like 15mins before the last episode ends - like i said the story drags.

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Mad Dog is a drama that has been on my plan-to-watch list for quite some time due to watching some really intense music videos on Youtube with clips from the drama. The clips were really sad and intense, which left me feeling very intrigued. I finally started it and enjoyed it well enough, but it's not a favorite.

To start, I wasn't really a fan of Kim Min Joon for the first half of the series- he was arrogant and rude and that made his scenes with the other characters unpleasant to watch for me. Even after finding out why Min Joon was the way he was, it didn't make it any less uncomfortable/infuriating to watch him treat others so harshly.

The other thing that bothered me was how the bad guys seemed to literally be getting away with everything every single time the Mad Dog team tried to catch them, which got old. I don't feel that the amount of times the bad guys got away made logical sense. Due to the bad guys getting away every time, it made the story drag much more than I think it should have.

Mad Dog is one of those dramas that if I didn't watch all of the episodes back-to-back, I probably wouldn't have finished watching the drama. What *did* keep me interested were the small moments of comedy within the Mad Dog team.

Would I recommend this drama? Meh. I don't think it was bad and it *did* have it's enjoyable moments - if you're intrigued by what you see in clips, I think it's worth satisfying that curiosity for you. The actors are really fantastic and the soundtrack and the plot are enjoyable enough. If your curiosity is not stirred by the clips you see, I would say that you are not missing too terribly much so it wouldn't be a big deal if you skipped this drama. I liked the drama overall, I didn't love it, but it was worth the watch to satiate my curiosity.

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I was curious about the drama right from the beginning. And when it started, I found myself slowly enjoying this more than I thought.

If there's one word that describes this drama the best, it would be "family", closely followed by "bromance". Right from the beginning but even clearer the more you trail the story.

I always prefer those shows that don't seem like something special and later on start to emerge from their cocoon. Even tough I wouldn't say that Mad Dog is a stroke of genius regarding the plot, I'd still claim that the writers were genius enough to make a common plot with clichés into an enjoyable evening pastime.

The summary doesn't reveal much of the actual story and some of you might be slightly disturbed by the starting event later on because of its obviousness to a certain real-time happening some years ago - I certainly was because the drama did link with my country. And I didn't really know how to feel about it. I still don't know how to feel about it after watching the drama and the way it dealt with that issue. But I can say for sure that they handled it the Korean drama way which actually soothed my uneasiness a little, even though it was such a trope.

If I discard that one point, everything else looks like the usual crime drama - and then again it's not really an only crime show. There is more to its charm, more humor, more romance, more shrewdness than necessary. Maybe even a little too much cleverness. It's your common plot of push and pull between the good and the bad. Nothing you haven't seen before already.

But still.
What makes this drama so much fun are the actors and their characters. Conspicuous individuals who look unique (even though they are not). More closely viewed they are actually very predictable and stereotype. But I didn't really pay attention to that because I enjoyed them so much. What's so special about those guys are their team dynamics. I don't even know how to describe it best. They had great chemistry from start to end, and yes, sometimes their actions seemed a little overboard. I still couldn't care less.

If I had to tell who my favorite was out of them all, I'd say Jo Jae Yun. Seriously, that guy is a genius. He can pull so many different characters, making them his own, give them his unique touch, and bait his audience. And I'm so glad that he got the opportunity to show some rarer sides of his skills in this drama. Not always only the joking guy, but also someone who gets really serious about things and people. I want to see him in a romance drama - a serious one, not a comedy.

Of course I liked the other ones as well. Woo Do Wan is definitely next in line (not only because of his sweet attempts at talking German~).  I haven't seen anything with him yet, but I'll definitely catch up on that gap. He delivered his role with impressive finesse.

Yoo Ji Tae... The only other drama I watched him in was Healer, and even though I'm not the right one to judge him yet, I think I can still say that I got what I expected of him. As one of the (younger) veterans he knows how to capture the viewers with confidence.

Same applies for the rest of the cast - though I must also say that you either love or hate certain kinds of people. I for myself was entertained quite well by the bad guys as well. It even turned out that the one I disliked the most in the beginning, became my favorite in the end. Hell yeah, he was an annoying guy and that never changed. But he also knew how to counter-attack when it was needed. There was a nice dissonance within that group of evil guys and I found it enjoyable how they always tried to turn on each other.

If I had to name a disappointment, it would be Hong Soo Hyun. I don't know why but her character stayed the same throughout the whole show. Very bland and unmoving. Always the same expression, always the same repetitive acting.

I think what surprised me the most was the romance that suddenly bloomed out of nowhere. Okay, not totally out of the blue. It appeared in small steps early on but never seemed real, so I certainly didn't expect it to become more serious. Maybe I'm the only dumb one on this though, I don't know. Even though I did notice it, I thought the writers were only teasing me. Thank god they didn't... I really liked the development in the end. It fitted the moments, was never too prominent and took its sweet time.

I know this show has some faults and clichés and whatnot. But sometimes you just need something flawed that makes you fall in love with it to remember that there's no such thing as perfect on this earth.

Definitely recommended~

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Woo Do-hwan (as Kim Min-joon) is the greatest advantage of this series. I love it! At first a repulsive character, then an affectionate one. I'm not saying that I was particularly touched by his story. I am convinced by his acting.

I also liked the chemistry between Kim Min-Joon and Jang Ha-Ri. It's just a pity that this plot wasn't treated enough.

The drama had a lot of common patterns, which made the plot an ordinary story. There were some logical mistakes.

I also missed emphasizing the role or character of the other members of the Mad Dog group.

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This review is going to be long, but if you read anything in it, read about Min Joon.

I'll split into sections!

Characters:
Min Joon: I don't know if I've ever loved a kdrama character as much as I love Min Joon. He's just written so well. First, he shouldn't be relatable. But he is so relatable. His story is a big one. From his profession, being a scam artist, to his mission to hunt down what happened to his brother, it's not a common real world story. Yet I relate to his character so much, even though on paper, our life experiences are nothing the same. This clearly has to do with amazing acting, by Woo Do Hwan, and writing. Do Hwan really brings this character to life, and throughout the drama we see Min Joon grow and change for the better. The beautiful part is, I can't pin down exactly when he changes. It happens slowly and naturally, and I never find myself thinking "sure. Min Joon would do that" His character is a hard one to write. He is shown at first with all his walls, that make it appear that he has little emotion. Later though, when we see he truly does have emotion, it is acted and written in a very Min Joon way. When Min Joon shows emotion it's not just, angst and yelling, the way it is portrayed is true to his character. So many actors, when they have to be emotional, just act angsty. I really appreciate how that's not always the case for Do Hwan, and when he shows emotion it still feels true to his character. Additionally, when we see the process of Min Joon taking down his walls, he doesn't feel like a totally new person. Oh he's changed, but he's still Min Joon. Talent if you ask me, to change one's character, but still feel like their character. His character is written and acted very well, and has become my favorite kdrama character of all time due to this.

Kang Woo: He's like the dad of the team and I love him. He takes care of them all, and really binds the team together. While he isn't given a lot of screen time (Min Joon is given most of the screen time, it is truly his story) he really creates a presence, and our Mad Dog team wouldn't be anywhere without him. Really loved him.

Ha Ri: Ya know I like her. She isn't perfect, yet she's still admirable. She cares fiercely for her friends, and is great in action, but dang. That girl got a lot of pride. She sometimes says things she shouldn't, and has a hard time directly apologizing (she will make amends in her own way though). She has a temper, but she cares a lot. While sometimes her temper got on my nerves, I really appreciate that the writer just didn't make her to be this perfect female, like. so. many. writers. She has flaws, she has strengths, and she's all the more lovable because of it.

Noo Ri: Side characters that deserve their own drama: Noo Ri. Gosh. His character is so interesting, yet they only start delving into it after ep 12. waaaaae. I can't really talk about him much because of spoilers....but don't be fooled! You'll think that he's just another comedy side-character no one really cares about, and then boom he's your second favorite character (ok. my second favorite character). He's just so precious, and gah I love him.

Cheetah: How did this guy do the immensly creepy apostle jo in save me (btw do hwan is in that too. y'all should check it out it's awesome), and then lovable captain of the ha ri and min joon ship??? Seriously though, love him. He's hilarious and our ship would be no where without him.

Baddies: yup. I grouped them all. There's nothing special. Whenever it was bad guy on bad guy, I started playing with my phone. If you want interesting villains or politics look else where.

Relationships:

The relationships MADE this show for me. The true charm of Mad Dog is the relationships, I'll list the 3 that stood out to me.

Ha Ri and Min Joon: dang. That chemistry be something else. Petition for romcom drama starring hwa young (that's her name right?) and do hwan? Anyone? Can we do this? Please. Pretty please? They are FIRE. They're relationship is hilarious, because they know they care, mad dog knows they care, we know they care, and yet they still "pretend" like they don't. They both put up walls, and to see them crack those walls and care for one another is really sweet.

Kang Woo and Min Joon: YEEESSS. I love this relationship! I love how out of everyone on the team, if Min Joon is gonna get emotional and open up with someone, it's gonna be Kang Woo. They understand each other so well, and bring out the best in each other. I loved their bromance, and their heart-felt talks. Kang Woo is like the older brother, who pulls Min Joon into this surrogate family, and they just become so close and I adore it. Definitely one of the highlights of the show for me.

Noo Ri and Min Joon: Is this my favorite relationship? That started in ep 12? and there's 16 ep? Yes. Yes it is. No spoilers, trust me. But Noo Ri, in my opinion, is the first one to so verbally acknowledge Min Joon as part of the Mad Dog family. I mean everyone else acts like it! But Noo Ri verbalizes it. Actions are great, but sometimes people need to be told that they're loved and have a family, and that's what Noo Ri does for Min Joon. Though their scenes are few, their scenes are my favorite moments on the show.

BONUS:

Bum Joon and Min Joon: Want to cry yourself to sleep? Watch this relationship. I can't say much, cause spoilers, but it will break your heart in all the right ways.

Word Choice:
Am I giving a section to word choice? Yes. Yes I am. Because it is just done so well. Literally, any time the word hyung is used, or speech is dropped down a level, is sign of character growth. The word hyung has never meant so much to me before, and that is due to this drama using it the right way all the time. It is never casually used. It's an important word, and whenever used delivers emotion and depth well. This drama is very conscientious of words and how they're used.

Team Work:

The team work in this show is awesome, and honestly the best I've seen. All their interactions are perfect and so cute. Definitely worth it.

Plot:
meh. Watch this show for the relationships and Min Joon. The plot was alright, and whenever it was villain on villain I just turned on my phone. It's not a terrible plot, and I personally loved the Min Joon and Bum Joon story line, it's nothing overly-special. This shows strength and meaning is in its relationships and characterizations.

Music:
Do I have what I want on repeat? Yes I do. Lol. I love the ost in this drama, and the sad song by eric nam, is so calming and peaceful.

Overall, this drama is amazing and I'd highly recommend it. Watching the characters grow, and become closer has been a true delight, and I will miss my Mad Dog family! 

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There is really nothing to look up on this drama, unless you are a fan of Woo Do Hwan (Kim Min Joon) and Jo Jae Yun (Cheetah) aka the only characters who carried this show.

One of the basic action kdrama I have seen. I find the story bland, and the pace of the drama slow. The chemistry between Jang Hari and Kim Minjoon is too weak and dry. The team "Mad Dog" doesn't have any impact on me, though I think the roles of the members in the team are cool, I still can't deny the fact that they look boring. I love Woo Do hwan but this drama is just not it.

I'll just give it a 4 out of 10. In my opinion, this drama is the type where you will forgot after you are done watching.

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Important info: This review will be entirely spoiler free.

Once again after watching a drama I'm at a loss for words. How do you describe something that you liked so much?
When I started watching Mad Dog I didn't know any of the cast, never watched a similar story or knew much about it. I just dived in because it looked interesting. I don't regret that decision at all.

The story itself doesn't need any more explanation beside the fact that while the team Mad Dog do solve insurance crimes this is not the main storyline. There's a red thread going through the whole drama which is about a plane crash that happened two years ago in the drama's timeline. I suffered throughout the drama, but in a good way. The whole story touched me and made me feel with the characters. I won't give away anything but if you have a strong sense of justice you'll might feel the same. I encourage you to keep watching though. Trust me. ;)

This leads me directly to the characters. The actors all did a superb job and I applaud them for their great talent in portraying the characters so authentic. When there's a character you despise then you have to pay respect to the actor's ability to make you feel so upset towards the characters doings and personality. That's exactly how I felt here. I loved to watch the characters develop and the relationships. If you're out looking for romance though, you won't find it here. The comments saying it's subtly there are right. Not that I felt like something was missing, though.
Each character was shown in depth with their motives and their background. I really liked that.

The OST made it right into my music collection and was played on repeat. I love the calm song from Eric Nam as much as the catchy tune of NiiWHA and Chan Yang's ballad. Giving it a well deserved 10. :)

I will definitely rewatch the drama whenever I'm in need of Woo Do Hwan as Kim Min Joon and Mad Dog in action. It's so fun to watch them.

Overall I can recommend this drama to anyone out there who wants a drama with a good story and great cast.
I enjoyed it from episode one to the satisfying end. Mad Dog made it into my favorites list and many of its cast in my custom lists. It's one of those gems that are not well known but so good. Give it a try when you want.

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I watched this for two reasons: 1)  Ryu Hwa Young was in Father is Strange and I adored that drama.  2) I watched the KBS awards and I was impressed with the amount of awards the show won.  

Anyways, after watching it, I was not disappointed.  It certainly deserved the awards, IMO.  A few things you might want to know before starting the drama.  It is VERY low on romance.  But it still has some, which is nice.  It is about insurance fraud, which can seem a bit boring.  But the show makes up for it by giving you a bunch of characters you will fall in love with.   I think most of us here already know this, but in case you are new to the Korean Drama World then I feel I must tell you the word Hyung is VERY important in this drama.  It means older brother.  It is hard to explain but it is also like a term of endearment.  So, yeah, that is all I will say about that matter. 

I watched this on viki.  It is not currently availabe on dramafever.

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Okay

This drama falls into the realm of being passable, but not much more than that. While the first two episodes succeeded in establishing an intriguing backstory, subsequent episodes failed to maintain a consistently engaging narrative. A clearer direction was lacking, as the drama attempted to blend various genres, resulting in a somewhat disjointed experience.The cast was a mix of half-decent performers and others who fell into the realm of generic and unremarkable. Characters such as Noo Ri and Soon Jung, for example, could easily be replaced with anyone from any team investigation drama and it wouldn't matter. Furthermore, in terms of team dynamics, there was a noticeable absence of a genuine connection. With the exception of the two main guys, the remaining members felt more like background extras in a team project.

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