Memorist (2020)

TLDR: A fantastic drama that is worth the watch!

Overall, extremely impressed with the show. It's certainly one of, if not the most, well-written serial killer mystery k-drama I've had the pleasure of watching. Unlike most other dramas that reveal the killer relatively early on (with the latter half just focused on finding evidence / catching said killer), this drama continuously keeps you guessing–every character is a potential suspect, and no one is free from suspicion until you learn the Eraser's true identity the very last episode.

The story was also incredibly compelling. Dong Baek's powers are badass, and the ways it's used is so cool. It's also been a while since I genuinely felt so bad for a character–Dong Baek's past (death of his mother, guilt from the death of his best friend), coupled with the burden he has to carry from all the memories of crimes, really struck me. He's just a poor soul :(

Admittedly, the drama does become messy with all the twists and turns it tries to plot. There's a huge ensemble of characters, which makes it sometimes difficult to follow. The show sometimes feels like it's just revealing pieces of information one by one instead of allowing you to figure it out yourself, as a mystery drama should (SPOILER: for example, there are no hints about Dong Baek's past / the existence of his sister until the very last episode, beyond the fact that the Eraser has similar powers).

Some plot points are also retrospectively strange given the final reveal. For one, what was the point of the Eraser sending a painting of the angel with the claw hammer to the cult leader, if it was just to taunt her own brother? Or of the two women in plaster casts, to taunt Sun Mi? (Or maybe I'm just missing something....)

Acting-wise, Yoo Seung Ho and Lee Se Young did an absolutely fantastic job with their roles. Yoo Seung Ho is probably born for these hard, badass detective roles tbh, and Lee Se Young kills it as a takes-no-bullshit officer. The Avengers team (the two main + the two sidekick police officers) make an absolutely adorable team. I was pleasantly surprised that there was no romance between the two main leads. Not to say the leads didn't have chemistry (they did–a lot), but it was incredibly refreshing to see a drama where the leads just work in a professional capacity.

Not too many sung OSTs, but the instrumentals were all great! A lot more than I thought there were, and gave the drama a great ambiance. Would recommend a listen to OST: Sad Song.

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Sep 2020
Well written, gripping thriller with fair bit of fighting and some gruesome, disturbing murders.
Seung-ho can read people's memories and so is employed by the police to help identify criminals. He's quite an angry character when he 'sees' the crimes committed by felons and reacts by regularly attacking them, which would never be a good or helpful reaction really.
The story connects him with a profiler, the past and re-emergence of serial killings from years ago.
I love watching this actor; he's a favourite and looks good in this. He always acts well, but for me this isn't the best character he's played.
Good cast, with a few of my favourite support actors (M & F).
I found the reactions of the main characters and police, on a number of occasions, quite frustrating.
However, it kept me glued, although the pace of the drama isn't exactly fast. That didn't bother my viewing pleasure though.

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WHO IS ERASER ?

DISCLAIMER - THIS INCLUDES SPOILERS!

STORY -
The storyline was great, this physic detective with this memory reading power works alongside his partner Oh See-Hoon and Gu Kyung Tan. This trio is full of surprises. I loved their bromance. Anyways, Han Sun-Mi comes along to work out who Easer is. Easer is a memory-erasing serial killer. This person kills wrongful and lying criminal's families. Easer never gets caught until Episode 16. You have to watch everything and not skip anything for the full experience. Overall, the storyline was very powerful. It had me always thinking who the eraser was. It made me feel a lot of emotions, it made me continuously think because, at times, you would feel like you know who the eraser is but then you wouldn't be right. Trust me when I say that you will constantly feel like you know it all but you don't. And This show has a lot of plot twists so expect them and You will be saying Holy shii or OMG the whole time.

ACTING -
I was not disappointed, the acting was amazing tbh. They showed their real emotions and you could feel them through the screen. The bromance between the trio was the cutest. The acting from all the cast members was the best and honestly, I loved it. Overall, I have no complaints there.

MUSIC -
I don't understand the language, therefore, I can't judge it well but I think it was good. On the other hand, the suspense music was killing me, literally killing me. I would mute the show because of how scary it was. It made me jump and that's what you would call a great show.

REWATCH -
If you miss something or need more confirmation then rewatch it but in my case, I don't need to rewatch it. I would say that I did rewatch some parts because they were that good. Overall, I loved this show lol.

SPOILERS -
Now for the fun part, THE SPOILERS.
- Eraser is Dong Baek's Older Sister ( I won't say who though )
- None of the main characters die
- There isn't any romance between the main leads
- It does take until Episode 15 to find out who the ERASER is
- The bad people end up going to jail
- Dong Baek gets his job back at the end
- There's a happy ending

QUESTIONS -
These are my questions
- How are Dong Baek and Han Sun-Mi connected? In one of the episodes, the eraser is going for both their past but there must be a more in-depth reason for how they are connected
- Who killed his mom? I saw the man but who is he exactly and why did he want that tape?
- Why did NIS keep Dong Baek's sister a secret?
- Is there a season 2?
Anyways, I loved this drama a lot, it is definitely worth your time and I would absolutely recommend it!

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REALLY THRILLING

This drama is one those action drama that keeps you at the edge of your seat,like if you blink you might miss a detail. Beautyful story to thrill its viewers to end,when watching this drama,i felt ,i knew how it would end,like yea,i solved the case ... Naaaa i wasnt even close 😀😀😀
Lovely cast,they all did well, good acting ,good chemistry and good show of emotions ,the anger,the suspense,plot twist was good,i loved they included the power play in religious groups , over all, the casts all did well,its a good thrilling drama to watch,it gets you clued and curious with every episode,i liked it,if you are into the thriller genres,you will definitly enjoy this drama.

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Wonderfully Illustrated Crime

Overall:
What an incredible crime drama. It started off high & consistently made you question your decision of who the suspect was. At one point you would believe it was "suspect 1" but then a few episodes later you would change it to "suspect 2". Usually in most crime dramas you could figure out who the suspect is pretty quickly. However, in this case they made you work for the answer which made me personally want to continue watching.

This drama also makes great use of the 16 hours that it is televised for. There is not a single minute wasted - if you happen to not pay attention for a few minutes you might be lost at what is taking place. Hence, do not use the fast forward button while watching this drama.

The writer did an absolute wonderful job intertwining the crimes together - things you believed did not make sense at the beginning, started to towards the end.

Acting:
I never actually watched any of Yoo Seung Hoo's dramas before but he was absolutely amazing in this drama. He made you believe in the persona he was giving off with such ease. The other actors/actresses were also quite amazing but to me Yoo Seung Hoo definitely stole the show whenever he was on the screen. The way he showed anger & pain during the cases made you believe that he could actually see the memories of those that he touched (he is able to read people's memories).

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A wild ride

Is this show perfect? No, but I rated it 10 because that’s how much I enjoyed it. In fact, while the first few episodes were fun, I wasn’t super hooked. Around episode 4 the plot really starts to kick in, and things become crazy and so intriguing.

I saw many comments that the show is too confusing, and that there are too many misdirects while trying to catch the killer. Well, that’s what I liked about it. It wouldn’t make sense for the main villain to be caught quickly and easily- and I had no idea what to think or who it was. However, as confusing as things were at times, it all made sense once more and more clues were found. The show lays out a huge web of different events and then shows how they’re connected, and I thought it was brilliant how the mystery would simultaneously clear up and deepen. The characters were lovable, even some of the villains.

This show was super intriguing and fun. Episode 5 was one of the creepiest things I’ve seen in a while, more so than strangers from hell, and that really hooked me. If you just pay attention to the show, it’s really not that confusing- rather a crazy, addicting ride.

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Ignore MyDramaList average rating; This show is so much more.

I really loved this series and am glad I didn't trust the measly 8.4 ratings MyDramaList gave it going in.

TLDR: It's a crime series and drama with supernatural and suspenseful elements that truly elevate the show past any other normal cat-mouse serial killer series. I really loved the supernatural aspect and that it was often explained and used in a way that makes sense to the viewer - how there was legislation drafted around the discovery of this superpower, how it can be villanized and ostracized or conflated into celebrity and obsession. How it's an enigma to Government and law enforcement procedure, but also highly coveted in its usefulness and power.

Our main lead, played by Yoo Seung Ho is complex, charismatic, funny, and infuriating to his colleagues in a charming and amusing way. I laughed often at his antics and cried and clenched my teeth with him during his harder moments. I fell in love with his partners, Oh Se Hoon and Goo Kyung Tan, who were more easily identified as family vs work colleagues early into the series. I cared about them, laughed with them, worried for them, and rooted for them. I also thought most of their police colleagues were pretty funny; they didn't like Dong Baek at first and still didn't really near the end, but they protected him and vouched for him knowing his true character and I thought it was very endearing.

The mystery was very interesting and kept me firmly rooted in suspense, I was tricked several times and liked the final reveal, although I figured out some of it by myself. The plot literally never meandered and out of 16 episodes, I didn't feel any moment was wasted or thrown in as filler. I was very impressed by that. Honestly, I've felt a bit meh about some of the dramas I've watched recently and often find myself skipping through the scenes, so I was pleasantly surprised when I realized I was already 9 or 10 episodes in and hadn't done that once. Also, for any whump fans (physical and emotional angst/pain), there is a TON and it mostly involves Dong Baek so I was very, very happy about that, haha.

Great show.

P.S This happens to be my 5th drama watching Lee Se Young (I'd previously seen her in The Crowned Clown, The Red Sleeve Cuff, Doctor John, and The Korean Odyssey) and she continues to amaze me. She's a chameleon! First drama watching Yoo Seung Ho and I'm about to deep dive into his MyDramaList filmography.

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A complex suspenseful thrill ride

8/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 South Korean supernatural crime drama with 16, 60 minute, episodes.

Dong Baek/Sung Ju-ho (Yoo Seung-ho) has the power to read living people's memories a skill which is well used as a criminal detective yet has made him many enemies within the police community as there is a fear that who needs the rest of them when he is around. Han Sun-mi (Lee Se-young) profile to the extent that she may as well be able to read people's minds.
At first, she is not a fan of the arrogant, shoot at the hip Dong Baek and even suspects he could be involved in some of the serial crimes she is investigating. After all several of the crime scenes have the trade mark of someone with supernatural abilities. However, the more the two encounter each other in the course of their work, the more they find they have some things from their deep dark pasts in common. And they are not the only one that knows it, the serial killer seems to be using their past to draw them toward someone future event he planned especially for them. Every clue they uncover reveals involvement of very high level public figures and more ties to events that occurred 20 years ago. Can they beat the serial killer at his own game and uncover the mysteries of their past?

The suspense in this was incredible. Had me on the edge of my seat frequently. I really liked the memorist character and found his abilities fascinating. Sun-mi was very talented as a criminal profiler and the interplay between the two was very interesting. They made a great, if at times reluctant, team. There were a lot of characters to keep track of so pictures with names and faces would be a helpful guide otherwise it is easy to lose track of who they are talking about at times. There were a lot of twist and turns and they did a great job of keeping you guessing. I felt like it was so complicated at times I would lose interest. If I had a character map or guide it would have helped. I also wish the rest of the law enforcement community was not so down on Dong Baek as he spent a significant amount of time hiding and skirting to investigate. I love romance so was a little disappointed there was no real romance. I really liked Dong Baek’s partners and the bromance between them was very heart warming. This would be a good one to watch for someone that likes complexity and does not mind or actually prefers it focuses on suspense, thriller and not romance.

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Memories doesn’t have any power

This is a great story about a detective with a superpower that make him able to see the memories of anyone he touch. He could definitely see whose the bad guy and whose the good guy, but memories it self doesn’t have any power... you still need to gather evidence and all the usual stuff. It’s such a struggle to keep being a good guy if you could see all the dark side of everyone memories. These struggles are conveyed wonderfully by this drama.

When I first start watching this, I think that it’s not that interesting, the first few episode feels like your typical villain of the week set up, you know, like CSI, but it’s actually just a set up before we got to the main plot of this drama. There are so many subplots and twists that you could never guess where everything would go. When you think you already have everything figured out, it turns out to be another red herring, or it’s just part of a bigger picture that’s still covered in shadows.

It’s beautifully written and there’s no obvious plot hole, but the pacing is a bit uneven. There are a few episodes that feels like there’s too many things happening while there are episodes where it feels dragging. I wish they give a little bit more hint, because the conclusion for me feels a bit too out of the left field. But overall, I’m very satisfied with the stories.

The acting is top notch. Everyone portray their role wonderfully. I really love Dong Baek, our ML portrayed by Yoo Seung Ho, he have such a complex character, sometimes I really want to punch him, but other time I want to cry with him. He’s so miss understood and it’s understandable why a lot of people hate him, but once you know the real him, you could see what he show the world is not who he really are.

Our FL, SunMi, played by Lee Se Young is such a strong woman. She have great confidence on her own ability, she also have such a strong moral code and a very intellectual mind. Her chemistry with Dong Baek is great. The two side kick of Dong Baek, played by Co Chang Suk and Jang Eui Su also have a really great chemistry with our ML and help build his character.

The music is ok, I love the ending theme song, not really paying attention to the other music. Cinematography is also good, since this is adapted from a webtoon, some of the scene reminds you of reading it in the webtoon, very nice.

I think you definitely need to rewatched this drama, because you would want to recheck what you miss during the first time watching it. There are so many plot twist and side characters that could be important shown in the beginning that you may not pay attention to but are actually quite important. I will start rewatching this after I finish this review ;)

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Don't judge too quickly

I'm a fan of mystery and mind blowing dramas so I watched this. I thought I already know the culprit after watching the first five episodes so I almost stop, GOOD thing is I continue to watch it cause after every episode you will be confused. The story is twisted until the end. Even if you watched every part and you already made up your mind on who the real culprit is another thing will happen so don't judge quickly.
I also like the fact on how they connect each story to the main problem. And the fact that the lead man is Yoo Seung ho is great! He never disappoint me in his actings. And of course, the support roles also did a great job! 👍👍👍

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This show started off slow and borderline dumb. I almost dropped this show but after Ep 5-6 the show started getting darker and more suspenseful . The show started to find its purpose and meaning. The show became a thriller with a lot of mystery Vs a comic book goofy start.

Midway thru the show they start introducing more characters and let’s just say there is one particular crazy dude that spices up this show to a must watch level of excitement and entertainment.

Bottom line: Memorist becomes a must see thriller that has moments of great suspense and the acting picks up with the addition of the “crazy” guy.

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This show till date is one of the most confusing shows ever! It'll keep you on the edge of your seat at all times,keep you questioning and always making theories.
The show has a good concept but wasn't executed well enough in my opinion. It starts off pretty well and dives right into the story without properly introducing the characters well,which I found little iffy,still didn't make me loose interest or anything. The middle few episodes were really really mess! oh my gosh!these episodes were not even needed,they dragged it a lot. It made me want to stop watching sometimes. Still,I held on,and the last four episodes were a treat,very good ending,plot twist and character development.
The acting was as expected ,good they are both amazing and did their part very well. The osts were nothing special tbh,it was a little flat.
overall would recommend if you are looking for something interesting :)

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