Title: 시그널 | Sigeuneol | Signal
Genre: Suspense | Thriller | Drama
Episodes: 16
Broadcast Network: tvN
Broadcast Period: January 22 to March 12, 2016

Synopsis:

Park Hae-Young is a young, smart and intense profiler who takes his work very seriously as a new detective. His immediate superior, Cha Soo-Hyun, a no-nonsense strong woman, felt he wasn’t a cop material and that he actually feels some disdain to the police force. As Park Hae-Young was about to go home, after a case was resolved from the correct profile he rendered and heated discussion with his co-workers, he accidentally found an old police radio that was giving a signal. The person on the other line, Lee Jae-Han, still a constable at that time in the year 1989, was reporting a search about another victim of a serial killer at his time and remains an unsolved case in Park Hae-Young’s time in 2015. That first communication was followed by several series of communications between them even if they were both confused and didn’t understand what’s really going on. Lee Jae-Han, who was now an honest and honorable detective in the 90’s, and Park Hae-Young, who became a part of the Cold Case Police Department helped each other to solve cases and catch the real culprits. As they solved crimes, Park Hae-Young, realized that they are solving 4 cold cases investigated by Lee Jae-Han at his time in its timeline and as they change the past, the future also changes through the information they exchange with each other and these changes may result to consequences that both may not be able to accept and bear in the end.

Characters:

• Lee Je-Hoon as Park Hae-Young
• Kim Hye-Soo as Cha Soo-Hyun
• Cho Jin-Woong as Lee Jae-Han
• Jang Hyun-Sung as Kim Bum-Joo
• Jung Hae-Kyun as Ahn Chi-Soo
• Kim Won-Hae as Kim Kye-Chul
• Jung Han-Bi as Oh Yoon-Seo
• Lee Yoo-Jun as Jung Han-Ki
• Kim Min-Kyu as Hwang Ui-Kyung
• Kang Chan-Hee as Park Sun-Woo
• Oh Yeon-Ah as Yoon Soo-Ah
• Lee Young-Eun as Kim Yoon-Jung
• Lee Si-A as Kim Won-Kyung
• Hwang Tae-Gwang as Kim Jung-Je
• Kang Chan-Hee as Park Sun-Woo
• Lee Dong-Ha as Han Se-Gyoo
• Kim Hyun-Bin as Younger Park Hae-Young
• Jung Suk-Yong as Oh Gyung-Tae from Episode 5 to 7
• Park Si-Eun as Oh Eun-Ji from Episode 5 to 6
• Son Hyun-Joo as Jang Young-Chul from Episodes 7, 11 and 14
• Lee Eun-Woo as Shin Da-Hye from Episodes 7 to 8
• Lee Sang-Yeob as Jin-Woo from Episodes 9 and 11
• Shin Yi-Joon as Younger Kang Hye-Seung from Episodes 11 to 14
• Hwang Seung-Eon as Han Do-Yeon on Episode 13
• Jeon Su-Ji as Older Kang Hye-Seung on Episodes 13 to 14
• Seo Ji-Hoon as Jang Tae-Jin on Episode 14

My Review:

Once is a blue moon I get to watched an unexpected gem, something to see not only to entertain but gives me a reason why people like me gets addicted to watching K-Dramas and make it truly worth it. Such is this K-Drama, Signal. Just like Misaeng, another great creation of K-Dramas, the actors here are not your typical K-Pop idols. They are not the type that you will swoon over and will watch the film or drama just because you want to admire their looks even if the story sucks and stupid. When I do find such gems not only I admire the actors in it but the entire production as well because everyone knows that in order for a film or drama to be as flawless as it should be, it is a group effort and in its helm is the director. Signal is such a masterpiece, orchestrated by a director, Kim Won-Suk, whom to my surprise directed other 2 of the best K-Dramas worthy to watch and I love, Misaeng and Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Such brilliance is something I can’t help but be in awe of the talent to create a body of works like that. And, it seems there’s a TV production that continuously produce such quality K-Dramas, tvN. It really lives up to its slogan, “Content Trend Leader”.

Signal has made me think of a lot of things including its messages that it delivers to its audience, about justice, fate and hope. I am always in the belief that, although, we are given freedom to choose, there’s already something destined to happen when we do make that certain choice. And, that, although, our lives maybe challenging and difficult, there’s always a chance we can change it through determination and that we can triumph through love and hope. Of the same belief as mine, is what Signal was able to reflect in its story even if its genre is a suspense-thriller. That’s the beauty of this K-Drama, it’s not romcom yet it gives you a love story, it’s not comedy yet it gives you something to laugh about, it’s not melodrama yet it makes you feel deep sadness, it’s not total fantasy yet it gives you science fiction and it’s not horror but it gives you fear of what lies ahead. It really gives you a perfect blend of everything yet it treats you like an intelligent audience and naturally evokes the desired emotions without trying too hard.

May I dare say, this is going to be 2016 best K-Drama of the year.

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

(1) I’ve never seen any of the actors on this K-Drama before except definitely, Jang Hyun-Sung, or probably I did some of them but forgotten but they’ve certainly made a mark to me now. They all delivered such an spectacular performances on their roles that put depth in their characters especially the 3 lead actors. Stellar performances indeed from the lead down to the very small roles and guests stars. Just to show you, that audience, although, would still like to see our favorite pop stars in their K-Dramas, we can still appreciate and be a fan of a true blue work of cinematic art.
(2) I like the fact that I share the same feelings as the character, Park Hae-Young, on certain disdain with the police force and government officials who abuse their power and use them for their own benefit. Finally a character who calls out of how the police force and officials act in most of the K-Dramas I watched, corrupt and unprofessional. His frustration on the inability of the people whom we thought will protect us are actually those who are apathetic to our flight as ordinary citizens and even the villains that victimizes us. I always wonder if that is really the way it is in Korea. I thought it is only prevalent to 3rd world countries like mine but it seems it is all over no matter what country you live in and real justice is not of this world because ours is governed by greed and human frailties.
(3) I like that this K-Drama was able to make the implausible plausible. It doesn’t make excuses to the science fiction that’s part of the story because it gives a very consistent and logical streamline of its premise and existence. It provides you a reason to believe and is used as a vehicle to render the message of the story. And, the ending is befitting to what life truly is for real.
(4) It brings drama, comedy and fear with a touch of subtlety that any viewer can appreciate. I can’t help but be affected in the heartrending scenes without the typical whaling and exaggerated acting to extract emotions from the audience such as when Cha Soo-Hyun and Lee Jae-Han’s father finally knew what happened to Lee Jae-Han. Or, the amusement and laughter I felt when Cha Soo-Hyun cooked to celebrate Lee Jae-Han’s father’s birthday. And, the fear of impending doom as Cha Soo-Hyun is about to blow up in the truck and much, much more. It is a serious and dark K-Drama but they are able to make it palatable for even those who may not like the genre. Every scenes that evokes emotions are done in such a perfect blend of timing and editing that you want to see more instead of wanting to turn it off.
(5) Hats off to all who did this K-Drama. The riveting story and the twist and turns on how the events occurred are unbelievably done that I often wonder if I am indeed watching a K-Drama. I have seen some great suspense-thriller K-Dramas in the more than 10 years I’ve been addicted to it but this one takes the top of the prize of being one of a kind.

What I do Not Like About this K-Drama?

Nothing. It is one of the rare gem that I wouldn’t asked anything to be changed. For once, a K-Drama sincerely worthy to truly waste your more than 18 hours of your life.

Would I recommend this K-Drama? Definitely, Yes, Yes, Yes. If you are a K-Drama Addict or even not, this is one of the best K-Drama you’ll see right beside Misaeng from the same director.

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

OST:
01. Reminiscence | Recall – Jang Bum Joon
02. Petal – leeSA
03. The Road – Kim Yoon Ah
04. Person – Inky