Title: 듀얼 | Dyueol | Duel
Genre: Suspense | Thriller | Science Fiction
Episodes: 16
Broadcast Network: OCN
Broadcast Period: June 3 to July 23, 2017

Synopsis:

Jang Deuk Chun is a first grade homicide detective. He is not perfect but he is a good father to his daughter, Jang Soo-Yeon, who is suffering from leukaemia. She has the chance to get better by undergoing an experimental stem cell treatment. Although, a long shot and without much money, he tried to make sure his daughter gets the treatment. He even made a deal with the ambitious prosecutor, Choi Jo-Hye, who indirectly caused the death of his wife, just to have the money to pay for his daughter’s treatment. But, by cruel twist of fate, his daughter got kidnapped on the way to the treatment center. He finally had the chance to find her daughter when he caught the culprit, Lee Sung Joon, or so he thought but another challenge faces him, Lee Sung Joon has no recollection of who he is and it seems he has an accomplish who looks exactly like him who actually has his daughter. The situation looks not the way it seems to be so Jang Deuk Chun has no choice but to forge a reluctant partnership with Lee Sung Joon to find and save his daughter. What they both discovered is even more what they both can ever imagine that goes beyond the kidnapping.

Characters:

• Jung Jae Young as Jang Deuk Chun
• Kim Jung Eun as Choi Jo Hye
• Yang Se Jong as Lee Sung Joon | Lee Sung Hoon | Lee Yong Sup
• Seo Eun Soo as Ryu Mi Rae
• Lee Na Yoon as Jang Soo Yun
• Yoon Kyung Ho as Lee Hyung Shik
• Choi Woong as Na Soo Ho
• Lee Ye Eun as Na Song Yi
• Lee Sung Wook as Goo Boon Suk
• Kim Ki Doo as Kim Ik Hong
• Lee Chul Min as Park Yoo Shik
• Shim Wan Joon as Yang Man Choon
• Jung Doo Gyum as Woo Byung Chun
• Lee Jae Woo as Police Officer
• Kim Bo Jung as Ryu Jung Sook
• Jo Jae Ryong as Jin Byung Joon
• Jo Jae Wan as Choi Joo Shik
• Lee Hae Young as Park Dong Sool
• Jo Soo Hyang as Park Seo Jin
• Uhm Soo Jung as Han Yoo Ra

My Review:

OCN like tvN generally shows a different kind of k-dramas. They mostly features thrillers and action k-dramas and most of the time, they are of great calibre. This is certainly not an exception and it allowed me to be entertained with breathtaking and well done production. From start to finish, it never lets up for you to take a rest and be bored. I may not be into technical the stuff of making dramas but, holy cow…what brilliance as to how the director and editor did on this k-drama. They were able to show the background of the characters and goes back in the past without confusing the audience and make flawlessly flow with the present time. Such an exceptional work of film making.

So, What do I Like About this K-Drama?

(1) On the very second that episode 1 started, this k-drama already starts pounding ones heart with emotions. From the tense searching of a child to the touching scenes show of love between a father to his daughter and vice-versa. It didn’t let up in encouraging me to want to stay and see the rest of the episodes even if it is not that light and happy romcom k-drama that I love. My interest got heightened to move forward with it.

(2) I don’t know the actors except Kim Jung Eun as Choi Jo Hye, whom I almost didn’t recognized because she seemed like she had plastic surgery done but, anyway, that’s beyond the point, the point is all the actors brought the house down by their showcase of talent specially Jung Jae Young as Jang Deuk Chun and Lee Na Yoon as Jang Soo Yun. Lee Na Yoon is such an exceptional child actress.

(3) There are a lot of emotional scenes that one can appreciate in the midst of the suspense thrill. The love of a father to his child and the love of the child to ones parent. This love is even highlighted in contrast to the love of a parent more on his ambition rather than his own child and how one can totally bring up his child to become as twisted as he is.

(4) Not only Yang Se Jong similarly looks like Kim Beom, so, he was pleasing to the eyes to watch but he is also such an effective actor considering he plays 3 roles. He does it so well that I can’t help but admire his talent for this craft.

(5) The twists and turns of the story are riveting. Most of the things happening are quite unpredictable which is a rarity in k-drama world wherein more often than not it reeks with predictability.

What I do Not Like About this K-Drama?

This K-drama even with its brilliance have certain flaws, however, having said that, the mistakes on the details are not detrimental for it to be still great. How I wish most people gets the opportunity to watch k-dramas in cable tv because frequently they do make exceptional k-dramas worthy to waste 16 hours or so of your life.

(1) I think k-dramas should hire a medical consultant when they are doing medical scenes. As always, the details of the situation is not being given a particular attention. For somebody that’s been beaten up several times in his stomach, not having bruises in it is an impossibility unless you are man of steel like Superman.

(2) Tackling a subject that is as complicated as cloning is difficult indeed to maintain its flow of realism. There are so many things unknown about the subject. However, there are some basics that one can consider to remain true to its situation, the consistency of facts being laid out on the story. There are some instances that as an audience I get a bit confuse due to lack of consistency, for example, how come one clone cannot live day by day without injecting himself with maintenance while the other can still survive without it? Moreover, considering that the organs of the clone is supposedly aging, he can still fight like a young man which doesn’t really make sense. These details even with certain mysteries about the scientific effect of cloning can certainly become more realistic if the facts given in the story have been true to its logic of what we do know in the real world. But, I guess, that wouldn’t do for cinematic effect. Hence, I can certainly forgive the license that the director decided to use so audience like me gets fully riveted to the delivery of the story.

Would I recommend this K-Drama? 10x 100% Yes

My Rating to this Drama
( See My Rating System: ) 5/5 Stars

OST:
01. Because Of You – Kang Si-Ra

Play Me:

02. Nightmare – Mad Soul Child

For Lyrics in English, Romanization and Hangul, CLICK HERE