The Uncanny Counter (2020 - 21) Life After Victory

Although I was concerned that Episode 15 came across somewhat fillery, it turned out not to be as unnecessary as I had initially thought. Not most of it at least. Continuing on the theme that this is about So Mun's development as a superhero and adult, we're meant to witness him transition into someone quite remarkable even among Counters. Long ago, when my firstborn was just a bub, I used to watch ("persevere" might be the better word) Dragonball Z on television just to while the early morning away. Mun's recent levelling up events evoke key moments from that popular anime series. When pushed to the brink, our chief protagonist(s) tap into some kind of inner reserve or hit new heights (Super Saiyan mode), taking another step further towards becoming the best of the best. As if we can't already see it for ourselves, Mo-tak declares repeatedly (like a proud uncle) that Mun is the "ace of the team". ;)

Although I pity the HK-based Counter, Jeong-gu, for an unceremonious, quick entry and equally speedy exit, his presence in Episode 15 did serve a twofold purpose. He saved Mae-ok's life -- he became the sacrificial lamb in that regard but that also demonstrated another level to Mun's extraordinariness. Rather than being a formerly comatosed host with a spirit guide, Mun is in fact a gateway between earth and Yung. 

Like the first Avengers film, I'm of the view that this series is largely about building a team of heroes from disparate backgrounds, having a variety of skill sets. The seeming underdog rookie joins an already established group of demon hunters as the latest addition. As expected he suffers growing pains initially but potentially becomes the most powerful of them all. The fact that these men and women are of diverse ages adds to a strong sense of familial bond that was displayed all throughout the series. Despite the importance attached to them,  the birch staffs were just pieces of wood. There was no power in them. The real power came from the team members combining their strength to create some kind of force field to facilitate Mun's ability to summon Ji Cheong-sin and his inner demon. In the final analysis the team work was really what mattered as the show is at pains to reiterate all throughout the last two episodes. No one person or two persons can deal with the Level 4 evil spirit on their own. The entire team had to be in it together doing their little bit. Mo-tak emphasizes this when he reminds Mun that this isn't his fight alone. Everyone of them has got a personal stake in it and not just because it's their job.

The purpose of the finale is not too different from Mystic Pop-up Bar and Chocolate from last year. Grief, loss and moving on with no regrets. Death comes to us all eventually and there's really no knowing when it could hit anyone. Most aren't as prepared as we should be because truth be told, death is a subject matter that most would prefer to postpone discussion of or avoid altogether. Except for the knotty issue that it's one of the few certainties of life. Young So Mun grew up shouldering a whole lot of guilt on his young shoulders because he blamed himself for the "accident" and by extension, the death of his mum and dad. When the truth eluded him, it added a layer of responsibility on him that most kids his age can't understand. Knowing that other persons were responsible for their murder did take a load of his mind but the need to come clean never left him. Confession... as it has often been said... is good for the soul. When the entire family finally reunites, Mun's burden is lifted.

The show also celebrates the heroism of the ordinary men and women who have no superpowers. In the normal course of life it's a thankless task but when corruption is rife particularly in the public service, the burden is all the more greater. Seeing Mun's mother in her uniform before saying her final farewells is a sober reminder that both parents died in the line of duty. They were killed by the unoriginal truck of doom because they were attempting to do their job despite the dangers attached and the opposition they were faced with. Detective Kim Jeong-yeong was another fallen hero. For seven years she had no one to rely on and yet she persisted right to the bitter end. She too paid the ultimate price for holding on to her principles. It was tragic and yet her life was meaningful because she did the right thing when it was hard to do so. 

It's true that the final showdown with the mayor and the level four demon had a cheesy flavour to it but it had at least a couple of chuckle worthy moments. The chairman is always good for a few laughs. Superficially the chairman and Ha-na didn't seem to achieve all that much despite the huffing and puffing but it seemed  that they were holding back the demon's telekinetic abilities in that vital moment. At least that was what was implied by the dialogue. The team was acting as a team in whatever capacity they were in at the time.

I don't know how readers of my blog feel about the afterlife but I am one of those people who reflect a lot about what comes after death especially in these difficult days. Although my theology doesn't mesh with that of the drama's in most ways, raising such issues is never a waste of time. Hopefully it can even spur conversations of substance about deeper things that keep us awake at night. There is something innately human about clinging on to thoughts about heaven and hell. For one it's tied in with universal justice and secondly, it gives hope that there's more to life than the pain and suffering in this world. When I watch the reunion between the living and the dead, I tear up. Why? It touches something profound that lurks in my soul and it resonates. Hell has become a taboo in some circles these days but honestly when I see the evil doers (corporeal and incorporeal) get their just desserts, I am relieved that justice is done. Even if the cogs in the law and order machinery turn over at snail's pace.

Aside from the fact that this show is brimming with palpable familial beats, the other thing that makes it satisfying is the fact that good does triumph over evil even if the costs are high... as long as there are people who are willing to stand up for the what's right. There's even room in the universe for those who come to their sense and turn from their wicked ways. Shin Hyeon-uk is one of those who is not too far gone that he can't be saved from a fate far worse than death. 

A final shoutout to the entire cast: the good, the bad and the ugly for doing such a fine job selling this engaging action adventure fantasy. Special mention must be made of the Counter family whose chemistry and interactions ensured that this would be much more than just a cheesy chopsocky screen outing. And a double portion of praise should be doled out to Jo Byung-gu who was stellar in the titular role. He humanized So Mun, made him relatable and caused us all to fall in love with the character warts and all. He was a kid when he had to be and a maturing superhero when the occasion called for it. Undoubtedly he is a talent to watch. There's no doubting that this is a lad that will go places.

 

The Uncanny Counter (2020 - 21) The "Orphan" Motif

 Until recently the exact nature of Ji Cheong-sin's relationship with Bae Sang-pil, the man he called "father" was unclear. I laboured under the impression that Cheong-sin might have been some kind of illegitimate son that he kept hidden while schooling him in the art of getting his hands dirty so that nasty rich people don't have to. That seemed particularly heartless but knowing now that Bae Sang-pil had adopted him for the sole purpose of training him to be a hitman doesn't make me feel any better about Bae Sang-pil. There's something very wrong even about thinking "at least he didn't use his own flesh and blood to carry out his dirty deeds" in this context especially. Ji Cheong-sin was an orphan that was adopted not because someone wanted to help a child and give him a home but because he was a potentially useful pawn in other people's sinister machinations. (Except that it has all come back to bite every single one of them with some measure of poetic justice)

Of course Ji Cheong-sin is not the only orphan in the show. The increasingly uncanny and youngest Counter, So Mun was left orphaned in a staged vehicle accident all those years ago when his parents succumbed to their injuries. The line of fate linked these two orphans from that time and the irony is that Cheong-sin became the architect of his own downfall when he allowed Mun to live. Perhaps he was sympathetic to the boy's orphaned state or perhaps (a more likely scenario) he got a kick that he was instrumental in leaving another child orphaned in this world. As a result of all the terrible things people do in this show... we have two orphans that are contrasted consistently in the big story. One becomes a tortured villain and the other a superhero in the making.  

Being an orphan isn't the worst thing to happen to anyone (as it is presumed by many in the culture) but as the show rightly points out, it is how the orphans are raised that matters. Thus there's a nature vs nurture theme woven through the storyline. So what's the difference between Ji Cheong and Mun? It's the kind of family they get adopted into that matters. It is natural for human beings to gravitate towards the idea of family whatever their background. Dysfunctional or supportive, family matters in how a child becomes an adult. Every time the two clash, the show reminds us that orphans can turn out very differently depending on how the nurturing that brings them to the position that they come to be at.

When Ji Cheong-sin returns to the orphanage, he declares that he has two surrogate fathers -- Bae Sang-pil who used his loner tendencies and turned him into a criminal as well as Lee Jung-yeong who exploited his currency as a prized commodity. Ji Cheong-sin knows what the children could become if they continue at the home so the part of him that's retained some degree of humanity wants to save them from a bleak future. Long before the demon possessed him, young Cheong-sin was already on the path to destruction because of the evil intent of humans. In better hands, it is suggested here, he might have turned out differently.

As I've said previously here and elsewhere, long before Mun became a Counter he was already a hero because even with his physical disability, he stood up to bullies and cared for his ageing grandparents good naturedly. His trajectory is deliberately antithetical to Cheong-sin's. The equally heroic Ha-na too was left orphaned after the death of her entire family although we aren't privy yet to the all the circumstances leading up to the family tragedy.

Orphans rate special mention all over the Bible in relation to their status (or non-status) as members of the vulnerable in society. They are to be protected and cared for rather than exploited because they have no one. It is just in the biblical worldview for the stronger to take care of the weak.

The orphan motif is also to my mind a metaphor for isolation and loneliness. The children at the orphanage are out in a remote area away from public scrutiny so they are especially vulnerable. It is a convenient location for all kinds of skullduggery to take place. Even when adopted Ji Cheong-sin was never part of Bae Sang-pil's family. He slept at the wrecking yard in a makeshift room although he craved a real father-son relationship with Bae Sang-pil. Since coming into the spotlight, his fugitive status has seen him living an increasingly transient existence hopping from one place to the next to evade capture. He has no home so even when he goes back to the orphanage, it cannot be home for him. He has become a danger to the children and himself. The demon which might have offered some measure of companionship has made him completely alone. Moreover Baek Hyang-hee is not much of a companion -- as there's really no honour among thieves.

While they are a family, the Counters are forced to be isolated for the rest of society and not get involved in human affairs. Which is impossible. Their secret necessarily means that they cannot tell people the most important feature about themselves because they have a higher "calling" that they are compelled to keep mum about.

Detective Kim Jeong-yeong was isolated in her workplace because of her integrity. The corruption at the very top meant that she would be considered a pariah by her colleagues for clinging on to her ideals regarding the job. Before the rookie, Kang Han-ul joined her one-woman team, she was working alone and hampered at every side. She was "orphaned" ie. ostracized from her context. On top of that, Mo-tak had no memory of their relationship and so she really had no one for a really long time in the force.

In an unfortunate case of good-intentions gone awry, one of the orphans stops Mun from summoning the demon from Cheong-sin. This gives Cheong-sin an opportunity to take his own life to disrupt things for Mun. It's not certain if that's the evil spirit or the man at work. They could be acting in concert. What's clear though is that there is no second chance for Ji Cheong-sin. Evil has so gripped him that he's reached a place of no return. He is sacrificed for the demon's longer term survival.

The Uncanny Counter (2020 - 21) Entering the Third Act and I Answer the Critics

There are a few good reasons why this show has become a runaway success for OCN. It certainly isn't because the plot says anything new or does anything new with the fantasy-superhero genre. What it does though is make use of familiar elements in an engaging way. And it certainly helps a lot that the actors are good and well-cast. It was always clear to me that this show was a superhero origins story and origins story follow a well-worn trajectory.

Why am I harping on this? There's been a fair bit of whinging and whining about Episodes 13 and 14 apparently in certain quarters of the internet. I shrug my shoulders like the jaded long-time Asian drama viewer that I am. Because first and foremost I've learnt never to have high expectations about the third act of any K drama (or C drama for that matter). Far too often K dramas suffer from the usual bout of third act self-destructiitis. It's eerily deliberate to the point that it's scary. The answer to that mystery continues to elude me. My dongsaeng seems to be of the charitable view that endings are hard to write... well. I'm sceptical because when I am awed by masterpieces like Prison Playbook, My Mister, Life on Mars and even minor successes like Mystic Pop-up Bar and 18 Again... I pose the obvious question... "Why can't they all do this all of the time?"

Perhaps I'm in a bit of a holiday fog, but I don't feel like there's anything really terrible about the last couple or even the last few episodes of Uncanny Counter. I'm not seeing the plot holes, or feeling the drag or even frustrated over the so-called repetitiousness of good vs evil encounters. Maybe I'm a creature from the dinosaur age from a different era when people used to get their escapist fixes from Tom and Jerry, Road Runner vs Wile E Coyote or any number of Loony Tunes foes. (Remember them?) These were perpetual cosmic existential battles that played out over and over and over and over... etc... again on our screens. But that was part of my childhood staple. I offer it as an explanation for the disconnect I feel when I read such comments. To me there's a difference when the bad guys elude justice in preparation for another confrontation because the bad guys aren't weaklings. 

We used to call this sort of back and forth a cat and mouse game -- probably in honour of a particular adversarial duo of feline and rodent previously mentioned. I suppose some are sick of the Mayor-Taesin mob. That's actually understandable. I am deeply sympathetic. Very much so. Each time they emerge victorious from a skirmish, I have an incredible urge to punch their smug mugs myself except now that they're either in detention or dead. (Although Noh Chang-gyu did provide some laughs so he will be missed) Which should get a resounding "yay" from all of us.

The good guy, to their credit did try at the start to do things through the proper channels and they kept coming up against brick walls because the Jungjin villains were just too ingrained in the system, too well-connected to be demolished in one fell swoop. And that doesn't include baddies of the incorporeal kind. The insatiable black smokey types. There is the expectation that villains fight back. But because they're villains with resources and connections at their disposal they don't care how they do it (ie. they fight dirty), they also bring out the bigger guns when they feel the need to. 

No doubt that SK dramas love their corruption tropes and tearing politicians apart. I get that. They're a great punching bag in countries that still enjoy some democracy. I also gather that a lot of international viewers are suffering corruption fatigue for a variety of reasons. But I think we all knew what we were getting from Episode 1 even if we didn't know how it was all coming together. To say at this stage that we were expecting a wider of variety of villains... is odd. It's not really how Koreans do drama business as a rule. Let's look no further than the third act of A Korean Odyssey as a point of comparison.

There was a lot of criticism about how quickly Mun got back his Counter privileges... well... why not? From the perspective of the Big People at Yung, stripping him of his powers was something they had to do. They had to make an example out of him. I didn't think it would last long either because they desperately needed him. And he is uncanny. However, from a storytelling perspective, stripping him of his abilities was more than just a punitive gesture. It made him realise some crucial home truths. Losing his abilities was never the end in itself. As far as the primary arc was concerned, it was about him realising the powerlessness from not being able to save the people he cared about because of his recklessness. When we saw him strung up helplessly in that abandoned warehouse, crying his eyes out pleading and sobbing piteously, that was his real punishment. He had drawn unnecessary attention to himself and in so doing had put other people in jeopardy through his actions. That is the lesson that he had to learn. For better or for worse, he is now a member of a team. He has to function now... at all times, power or no power... as a member of the Counter team. His actions had consequences, not just for himself but for his nearest and dearest.

A large chunk of the drama is about (and so it should be) So Mun's growth as a superhero. Being a superhero isn't just about power or even about having a noble agenda -- saving the souls of his parents for instance. It is also about being a particular type of person. In his case, it is about him learning that endangering his own self endangers others. Mun doesn't lack courage or the desire to do good. But those two qualities aren't enough. He needs wisdom. Every time he gains some measure of wisdom, he levels up physically as well as mentally. When he's driven to the brink (like all good superheroes) he taps into something he didn't know that was there and becomes a better version of himself each time. This draws on a core principle of fitness training. And it is a well-understood life hack as well.

I'm also enjoying what the show has been doing with the host-demon duality. Of course it is in the interest of the demon to maintain his survival even if it means killing off the host. The drama differentiates between the humanity of the host (which it has always done in Ji Cheong-sin) and the demons. Sure, their respective agendas intersect at times but not always because the demons' modus operandi is their survival.

So why hasn't the demons done more killing to power up in the past? That's a question I've heard and apparently it's a plothole. Well, I don't agree. The vast majority of people do what's easiest or what they have to when they have to. No one does more than they have to at any given time and perhaps they can't anyway. They might not have the capacity to handle "more" until they have "more". My understanding of the demons here is that they do only what they need to keep hidden. It doesn't appear to me that they're after Jungjin much less world domination. They certainly feed off the negative energy of the host but most remain concealed but will feed on a soul only out of necessity. So it makes sense to me that the Level 4 psionic demon would feel the need to power up against the Counters and Mun in particular to protect itself. It's a typical manichean struggle. The two sides are fairly evenly matched. One side powers up and then the other side feels the need to do the same. When there was no So Mun, Ji Cheong-sin and his demon felt no real threat. He was a hired hitman, his demon went along and helped himself to the leftovers. Ji Cheong-sin is also a completely different kettle of fish to Mayor Shin in terms of greed. He was never ambitious, all he wanted fatherly approval and acknowledgment. That's the point of him returning to the children's home. The human is an orphan who has human desires, the demon doesn't want to be summoned to Yung. Even in Mayor Shin's body we see the same tension. The human is a dad and a greedy politician. The demon has other notions and no earthly attachments. It's only concerned about its own survival.

I've also heard it said that So Mun has turned into a one-note (whiny) hero. "I've got to save my mum and dad" seems to be his mantra. In his defence, it is the reason why he joined the Counters in the first place. And he is 18. The scope of vision is understandably limited. However, while he harps on about his parents, he is a deeply caring person especially where children are concerned. His impulse there is to protect. Moreover, he is driven to try harder and to keep trying because of his parents. He doesn't give up because he can't accept that they're doomed permanently for annihilation and oblivion. That prospect is a key asset that empowers him to persevere and even to go beyond what we know him to be capable of. This story is also very much about him, the uncanny Counter finding himself: Finding who he is and why he belongs where he belongs.

As is consistently seen, So Mun is true to himself. He may be impulsive but his instinct is to protect even when he lashes out. It's clear he has a soft spot for the kiddies and would do anything to ensure their safety. Props to Jo Byeong-gu for making Mun relatable and likeable. His chemistry with his teammates and the little ones is pitch-perfect. Whoever cast him in the role really knew what they were doing.

The Uncanny Counter (2020 -21) Recent Episodes

The best thing about So Mun getting stripped of his Counter privileges is seeing how much Mae-ok and the rest miss him and feel their loss acutely. On an occasion Go-tak and Mae-ok watch him leave the school gate from across the road wondering if he's okay. In their eyes, he wasn't just a fellow team member, he was family. Losing him from the roster hurt them emotionally as much it hurt him. Mae-ok seemed especially crushed by recent events despite having sacrificed a year of her strength to ensure his survival after his near-death altercation with Ji Cheong-sin. Her empathetic nature sees her heading to the Yung immigration office to seek other avenues of having him reinstated. In her mind, he did everything for family and as someone who cares deeply about family, it's good enough of a reason for her to have more gray hairs.

This is one of the reasons why this drama is gaining widespread adoration. It knows exactly how to make you like characters.

I was wondering how they were going to handle Mun losing his abilities and memories but thanks to some good sense on the part of Chairman Choi, Mun retained his memories.  Logically speaking, there could be no other way. Especially with the school bullies still nipping at his heels. What's surprising though is that he seems to have kept his physical strength to some degree. Though not yet explained, that could be the unintended benefit of the rigorous training or perhaps there's something else going on with Mun that's not yet revealed. That's entirely possible considering how he wasn't recruited in the usual way and he has the ability to manipulate Yung territory. Well, he is supposed to be the Uncanny Counter after all. :D

Speaking of recruitment, it seemed that the spirit guides were trying to co-opt the services of an ex-firefighter who is in a coma. He seemed to be a ripe candidate for the vacancy but he turned it down immediately. For some people death is a relief and release. I've seen it first hand. Even though the people around them would prefer that they remain, they're exhausted, the body's had enough and they know better than most that their time is up. Death isn't always to be avoided. Sometimes it's a welcomed prospect particularly when there's been much suffering.

Even though divesting Mun of his abilities was the right thing to do because he was on a slippery slope to the dark side, it was never ideal. There were never any good or easy choices to begin with. I had an inkling a while back that it would leave him and the rest of the team rather vulnerable. It was never a good solution even if on some level it was a necessary one. As I had feared, this change of status quo played into the hands of the demons. I suppose one could argue that it was  Mun's fault for creating this scenario but there's a war looming and he's the raw recruit who hasn't been given a lot of time to make mistakes and learn from them. He was thrown into the deep end. To his credit he acknowledges his shortcomings to the high school bully, the mayor's son. But I'm also convinced that there are extenuating circumstances also at play. Mae-ok seems to understand the urgency on his part and the recklessness that goes with it. Ultimately he's a kid with a lot on his shoulders who has had very little time to process everything. The ramifications of being a Counter has only just sunk in. It was always a double-edge sword bestowing superhuman abilities to a teenage boy who is working against the clock to save his parents from complete oblivion. On top of that, the window for his training and on the job experience has been limited. The circumstances surrounding his selection as Counter was extraordinary from the first. 

The other thing that bothers me about the Counters Code of Conduct is this odd delineation between "human affairs" and demon expunging work. How is that supposed to work? It seems to me nearly impossible to compartmentalize in that way. How can anyone who has any sense of responsibility and convictions about justice be able to look on and turn a blind eye to things?  (Considering that it's a criteria for Counters) But the other problem too is that the "human affairs" and demon-hunting seems to be inextricably tied. For instance, Mayor Shin seems to be giggling rather too much for anybody's comfort levels. It's creepy teetering on maniacal. (I'm getting Ghostbusters feels) It's true that we haven't seen his eyes turn glowy red but there's something not quite right with him. The man appears to be off his rocker but it's more likely that he's a host to an evil spirit or an evil spirit that has found a way to take on human form. Looking at how Ji Cheong-sin and him interact, I feel we might be on the cusp of some kind of apocalypse.

Jeong-yeong is now sensibly working with the rest of the Counters. Now that she has got the full picture of what she's been up against, she takes the Counters into her confidence. Yeah, more gruesome stuff is happening as the demons go on a rampage for some kind of apocalypse. But it's not so clear why Ha-na isn't picking up on the most recent attacks. Is it distance? Is there something jamming the "signal"? 

As Jeong-yeong gets re-acquainted with Mo-tak in his new context, I wonder if they will rekindle their lost love. It isn't necessary for the plot presently but it seems to me that she hasn't really moved on from him. But there's the sticky thing about him not remembering.

I sound like a broken record when I say this but I really love how the women are written here. They have their own voices but more importantly they are smart, caring and dedicated. When I talk about "the women", I mean Mae-ok, Ha-na and Jeong-yeong. Not the crazy shopping spree spirit at the back of the paddy wagon. I shouldn't be so unusually elated but let's put it this way... I have one tumultuous relationship too many with K and C drama female leads. Far too often for my liking.

Awaken (2020) and The Uncanny Counter (2020) Superhero Stories: A Study in Difference

 I've been on the verge of dropping Awaken at least once but because of the subject matter and the presence of Nam Goongmin in it, I've hung on by the slenderest of thread. He's always fun to watch (no matter the production's quality) and the character he plays here has consistently been the most fleshed out (thanks in large part to him I expect). I have no doubt he took on this role because Do Jung-woo is potentially a great character -- a Loganesque superhero of a type. NGM with his history playing antiheroes, is undoubtedly the right actor to slip into those shoes. 

While that's the case, the script thus far (we have reached the halfway mark at the time of writing) is to my mind, weak. Floating in the ether that is Awaken are some really good ideas. If you've read my previous post on this, you know that I've always maintained this. The origins of the White Night Foundation and the subject of experimentation on humans if handled well, makes for a great story. It won't be anything startling original but putting a Korean flavour to it would be something worth exploring. I wouldn't go so far as to say I have a love-hate relationship with but I am disappointed that most of the characters especially the ones supposedly on the side of "right" aren't very well written. There's been a bit of controversy about the women and how they feature as romantic interests or not. But to me that has always been more symptomatic of the wobbly script. I don't think the show knows what to focus on or to keep the main thing the main thing. To be frank, I don't know if Gong Hye-won is even a necessary character at this point except as a possible romantic interest or to create a conflict of interest for Jung-woo. All of that might make for compelling viewing if the writing could convince me that it's needed in this drama.

I'm unabashedly fond of crazy sci-fi. I've been watching crazy sci-fi long before I started watching Korean dramas. So it wasn't especially hard for me to see where the show was going with the White Night Village practically from Episode 1. I wasn't a hundred percent certain at the time but I felt that I was in the ballpark. True enough the parts of the show that I'm most attentive too concerns the ominous cabal known as The Foundation which was formed to finance experiments on children. To what end? Just to create a miracle drug? To find the key to longevity? Or something far more sinister... along the lines of Dark Angel or The Pretender perhaps. 

The Foundation appears to be mysterious assortment of the wealthy and powerful. All male... as far as we've seen. But the chief scientist from when Jung-woo was living in White Night was a woman. Her absence in the present is conspicuous. The present cohort that make up the Foundation seem to me (at least) to have their own individual agendas. I don't think that they're one united group. The chap who is the president's chief secretary... who has recently been in the spotlight lately... seems to have his own angle that probably involves a member of his family.

I suspect most of us are in general agreement with Jung-woo that the Foundation and what it represents is an abomination. The moral and ethical implications alone are just mind boggling. I think by now we have a decent grasp of who Jung-woo, Jamie and Jae-woong are. The 3 Js as it so happens. Things were done to them perhaps even while they were in test-tubes. They were unique in that they survived. Two of them even managed to get away. Our curiosity is piqued: why did the rest die and why did they not only survive but become Korean versions of the X-men? I am supposing (presumptuously perhaps) that this is the part of the show that we're all really responding to because it is the most consistently coherent part of the drama. 

In the morass of multiple moving parts including a serial killer case, politics and corruption, there is a superhero story that's gradually emerging. On the surface the show purports to be a police procedural although that doesn't fit comfortably. On some level that gives Jung-woo a context to do what he does and an excuse for some kind of romance between Jung-woo and Hye-won. Which I'm not a fan of mainly because the actors don't have that kind of chemistry for me. 

In comparison we have The Uncanny Counter. It's clear even with the most cursory analysis,  that the drama doesn't do anything startlingly original. To be fair, it doesn't pretend to. I can certainly see the comparisons with Mystic Pop-up Bar and perhaps even Missing: The Other Side. Two examples from this year's offerings. However, despite all of that, the show does what it does remarkably well. It is a reminder that though originality can be an asset, it is only an asset in the right hands. It's also a reminder that it's far more important to take care of the fundamentals... like storytelling, casting, character development and relationship building etc... and get them right before reaching for gimmickry and suspense for suspense sake.

Right off the bat we know exactly what the drama is. The intro says it all. It's unabashedly a superhero team-up story with fantasy elements. It starts off fairly predictable, formulaic even... following a superhero origins story almost to a T. Yet it is now breaking rating records for OCN. So predictability isn't necessarily a screen-writing sin. Neither does it represent a minus for engagement or widespread appeal.

What the show does well and often that's where others fall down is that it gets the balance right. It's the secret sauce. The show doesn't fall into the trap of meandering and giving more than it needs to because it knows exactly what it wants to be. The best part is that the show gives me exactly what I want even when I didn't know I needed it. It also strikes the right note with its comedic and emotional moments. 

First and foremost, the women are done right here. And I don't mean that they are trained in martial arts and can go toe-to-toe with the baddies and strut their stuff. While that's great and wonderful on some level, what's even better is that they are well-fleshed out, have strength of character and their nurturing instincts remain intact. Perhaps it's just me and the kind of shows I've been watching lately but I have less and less patience for wacky, over-the-top female leads who use disproportionate violence, as a way of playing one upmanship with the male leads. Some of that may be played for laughs... don't know... but I'm finding it tiresome. In contrast, I love how Ha-na is written and portrayed as an older sister figure. She's an angry girl but there are other dimensions to her. I also especially love what Yeom Hye-ran is doing with Mae-ok. She's a take-charge, motherly character who can bare her teeth when that's called for. They both feel real. Not like caricatures. I have similar sentiments about Detective Kim Jeong-yeong. She's weathered many storms in the police department and she hasn't backed down from her principles. These are strong, smart women because they've endured much and been true to themselves without trying to be like men. Or trying to prove something for that matter.

Next, the cast chemistry is super good when you consider how diverse they are and the age differences. They've got a great group of actors that interact so well together especially as each of them mentors So Mun in their own way. Jo Byung-gu is himself a rising star but he knows how to be part of an ensemble without the need for overacting on his part. Even though there's apparently supposed to be no romance between Mun and Ha-na, the chemistry between them is good enough if the showrunners are keen to take their relationship to a different level at a different time. The show itself knows romance isn't needed the usual jokes are made about it. But there's no denying the chemistry between the pair.

And of course Mun himself is a great character. As I've said before Mun was standing up to school bullies and baddies well-before he had superpowers or had two working legs. He already had a hero's heart like Steve Rogers aka Captain America. What he needs to learn is to control his emotions, become stronger and choose his battles carefully but he has always been a good-hearted, gutsy kid who accords respect to his elders. Everything that the show does with him contributes in some way to his development and the overall storyline. 

Finally the integration of all the moving parts appears seamless. Everything fits together really well. Sure, the gallery of rogues here aren't anything we haven't seen before, neither is the corruption angle ground-breaking stuff. There's even a serial murderer on the loose here. But it's so far well incorporated into the demon-hunting side of things and the characters' own individual trajectory. No one is wasted or is extraneous in the storytelling. 

This is not to denigrate the achievement of Uncanny Counter because it should be given credit for its disciplined, tight plotting while managing to connect the audience with the characters and key character moments. It does just about everything right with the material because it never tries to pretend it is anything more or less than what it is.

Personally I think Awaken could have taken a simpler approach. The mystery within a mystery technique used to indifferent effect was supposed to create suspense and signal a darker tone but all that ended up feeling fillery because it was never the actual goal. The whole thing about using children as experimental subjects is already a dark subject with its own story potential with all kinds of political reverberations. Maybe it should have been a 12-episode drama. But then a good drama about the Foundation and its shady dealings could easily provide material for a 16-episode drama.