Title: 피리부는 사나이 | Piribuneun Sanai | Pied Piper
Genre: Action | Suspense | Drama
Episodes: 16
Broadcast Network: tvN
Broadcast Period: March 7, 2016 to April 26, 2016
Synopsis:
Joo Sung-Chan is a very successful negotiator. He is well sought-after especially on critical situations may it be business or political. He is very logical and makes decisions irregardless of the sacrifice for others as he needs to do what needs to be done at that given time. He can’t let his emotions gets the best of him. Yeo Myung-Ha, on the other hand, is a young and highly competent trainee of the SWAT Team but prefers to work under the Negotiation Division of the Police Department instead. Her choice is related to the tragedy that happened in her life when she was still young. She wants to work under the Negotiation Team because she wants to give purpose in her life and to make sure that what happened to her will not happen again to others. While, Yoon Hee-Sung, is a mixture of ambition and idealism. He wants to gain power to make a difference, thus, he became the citizens’ newscaster. He wants to make a difference and made a definitive decision in his life to do something about it. All the three characters’ lives became intertwined because of the event that happened 13 years ago, at the Newton Development site, wherein so many of its poor and weaker inhabitants died due to the brute force done by the police as influenced by the powerful and rich conglomerate, the K-Group. For justice to happen, presently, critical events started happening seemingly unrelated to each other. Supposedly these events are masterminded and pulled off by a mysterious character, Pied Piper, a name from the character of one of the children’s fairytale books written in Germany. Searching for the real Pied Piper will reveal the true characters of Joo Sung-Chan, Yeo Myung-Ha and Yoon Hee-Sung that may affect the final outcome for the lives of others.
Characters:
- Choi Won-hong as Younger Joo Sung-Chan
- Jo Yoon-Hee as Yeo Myung-Ha
- Jeon Min-Seo as Younger Yeo Myung-Ha
- Yoo Jun-Sang as Yoon Hee-Sung
- Lee Shin-Sung as Jung Soo-Kyung
- Jung Gook-Hwan as Seo Geon-Il
- Choi Won-Hong as Seo Joon
- Park Sung-Geun as Kang Hong-Seok
- Kim Hong-Fa as Jung Tae-Soo
- Jo Jae-Yoon as Han Ji-Hoon
- Lee Jung-Eun as Oh Ha-Na
- Yoo Seung-Mok as Gong Ji-Man
- Oh Eui-Shik as Choi Sung-Beom
- Jang Sung-Beom as Jo Jae-Hee
- Kim Jong-Soo as Yang Dong-Woo
- Jung Hae-Na as Yoon Bo-ram
- Go Yoon as Jung Hyun-Ho
- Jung Dong-Gyu as Director Lee Joon-Kyung
- Park Ji-Hwan as Heo Tae-Woong
- Kwon Hyuk-Joon as Suicidal Man on the Bridge
- Woo Jung-Gook as Kim Jae-Gon
- Kwak Dong-Yeon as Gong Jung-In
- Park Choong-Seok as Noh Kyung-Seok
- Lee Kan-Hee as Moon Ji-Hye
- Kim Ik-Tae as Judge
- Gong Ye-Ji as Yeon Joon-Hee
- Kim Ki-Moo as Goo Dong-Man
- Park Shi-In as Jung Chan-Gyu
- Shin Cheol-Jin as Shin Won-Chang
- Kim Byung-Choon as Factory Manager
- Kim Jung-Seok as Factory’s CEO
- Cao Fei Fei as Shanshan
- Lee Won-Jong as Detective Lee Cheol-Yong
- Yoo Joon-Hong as Airplane Hacker
- Sung Dong-Il as Oh Jung-Hak
- Kim Min-Seo as Lee Joo-Eun
- Park Hyo-Seon
- Na Kwang-Hoon
- Cha Soon-Hyung
- Yang Fan
- Lee Hae-Young
- Heo Min-Young
- Kim Ji-Eun
My Review:
Pied Piper is a different kind of K-Drama. It’s solely an action police procedural drama all through out. I must say I’m quite surprise with such an undertaking especially in a K-Drama. tvN really tries to live with its motto as a content trend leader, and, with this K-Drama, it certainly tries to be one. I must salute its director, actors and the rest of the production staff because this K-Drama never deviated from the story. It may give a slight hint of love story to give flavor but its delivery is tight, concise and definitely, a K-Drama that’s unique for Korean television albeit shown in cable. Its story very current to our times and asks you to think about certain things not only that revolves around your life but to the rest of the world. It wants to awaken the audience of our indifference to what’s happening in our world when it doesn’t directly involves us. And, our own personal answer to the question, “What does it really take for us to truly care for others?” Such a strong message, unfortunately, I doubt if its message can be really heard in real life. Because just like the story, people in general are like that, apathetic. I, personally, never believe people are naturally good. You might cursed me for stating that and gasp in surprise of why I believe that. Well, really now? Hypocrisy aside. Every single day, we struggle to be good, so, if we are indeed naturally born good, then, why is it so difficult to be so? The being good I’m referring to does not mean doing good to feel good or doing the things we do that doesn’t require sacrifice on our part whether big or small. Because my meaning of being good is choosing to do something even if it will require us to do something we really don’t want to do or doing something that demands from us to make a sacrifice no matter how small it maybe without personal gain. That’s why I believe humans are naturally born selfish and, most of the time, what we only really care about is our own survival. Thus, we admire and get affected when we see and hear people who are indeed good and selfless in the social media because deep in our hearts we are what we are, a selfish race. We would like to think we are good but, when push comes to shove, we will choose ourselves first before others except when we feel deep love. And, that’s what this K-Drama has successfully shown. That, although, we are all a selfish bunch if we care and love enough in the right way for others even in our very own simple ways we can indeed make a difference to make our world better.
So, What do I Like About this K-Drama?
(1) I’ve always declared I’m a romcom kind of a gal and I prefer to be entertained to escape reality rather than be reminded of it, so, this K-Drama is something I probably generally would prefer not to watch. But, on this particular case, it was done so well, that a dose of reality and making me think while watching it is something I don’t really mind. In fact, I relish and enjoy it. I must admit that in the first few scenes I can’t connect and even dose off to slumber for awhile on certain parts but it definitely gave me a 100x shots of espresso in my veins on the last 2 episodes. It woke me up from my slumber and my own indifference. The unification of all the different and seemingly unrelated cases shown on all the episodes to give credence as to why the Pied Piper are doing all these horrible stuff was quite phenomenal. It was 100% unadulterated successful delivery of the message of the story in my book.
(2) If you are going to ask me which one I prefer among Cruel City, Signal and Pied Piper, it is going to be truly difficult. I must say, if it comes to suspense, I will choose Signal. If it comes to drama, then, Cruel City. But, if it comes to social and human relevance, then, Pied Piper, certainly takes the cake. But, if it is about which one to watch? Then, I encourage you to watch all of them. Even if you are a true blue romcom gal like me, you will find that they are all great K-Dramas and worthy to watch even if more often than not it gets you out of trying to be oblivious to reality. Pied Piper delivers a clear message and if we all get it and make it part of how we do things in our lives now, then, well, the world will really become a better place to live in.
(3) I like the debates of the characters on issues and how they are expressing themselves to defend their beliefs. As I listen to them, I can’t help but admire the writers of this K-Drama. Such a diverse and real points of view. The writers have brought the characters in such a dimension that they really do become you and me. The characters didn’t deviate from who they are just to satisfy the viewers. They are who they are. They don’t suddenly become good just so it can satisfy the audience’s craving of a happy ending. Such brilliance in writing deserve an accolade not only from my review but, hopefully, the public at large.
(4) I like that this K-Drama never swayed by being that it is not. It has stayed in its course and never deviated from what it ultimately wants to deliver. Its been true to its message that we all have choices and the result of our own choices is no ones responsibility but our own. More so, though, typically, people tend to go to the easiest answer for its way out, but, once in awhile, it hopes that there will be indeed times that we can make the ultimate sacrifice, choose a difficult road, and just hope for the best outcome. Well, as this K-Drama has shown, one can certainly choose to go through a difficult way, and, one can definitely arrive at the best result.
(5) I must commend the actors especially the two leading men, Shin Ha-Kyun and Yu Jun-Sang. They are not the usual K-Pop male stars I get to see, but, I am impress. They are both quite effective actors and bring the emotions of their characters into life.
What I do Not Like About this K-Drama?
There’s not much I don’t like. It is very well made. However, I always wonder, why ambulances in any K-Drama or Film for that matter, have very minimal medical first aid equipments, especially, when the situation is critical as it is the main reason why you need an ambulance in the first place? Then, miraculously the character is brought into life and working in a matter of days. Unfortunately, this K-Drama is no exception even if what’s important has been excellently done. This kind of lack of care into details makes me feel annoyed most of the time.
Would I recommend this K-Drama?
My Rating to this Drama
( See My Rating System: ) 5/5 Stars
OST:
01. Our Story – Kim Bo Hyung (김보형) of SPICA
02. The Night is Still – Unknown Dress (언노운드레스)
03. The Way To Tomorrow – Tete (테테)
For Lyrics in English, Romanization and Hangul, CLICK HERE