Netflix’s “Bloodhounds” has recently been released, let us discuss the drama!
I was initially under the impression that “Bloodhounds” would come out before “Joseon Attorney” and be the first acting project of Woo Do Hwan post military service, regardless, we’re here at last, lets talk about it!
Related: Netflix’s “Bloodhounds” Finale And Ending Explained- Episode 8 Recap And Review
Note: this will be a spoiler review of the said episodes in the title. This is a subjective review.
The plot
There is an elephant in the room that needs to be discussed before anything I am about to talk about because it heavily influenced my review, Kim Sae Ron.
The drama faced some setbacks last year after the young actress was caught drunk driving, and while she lost on a role in an SBS drama, this one had filmed most of its scenes so they were in a pickle. According to the director, they cut out the unnecessary scenes and only kept whats essential to not tamper with the plot too much.
Due to this, the bromance aspect of the drama went up considerably. In a sense, I am glad the drama didn’t edit her out so much so that it affected the plot immensely. I don’t condone her actions, but I think the hard work of over 100 people shouldn’t have to suffer due to the actions of one.
The drama is based on a webtoon of the same title, its written by Kim Joo-Hwan who also directed the drama. You most likely know him from “Midnight runners,” one of the sweetest bromance Korean movies, if you watch Korean movies, you most likely saw it.
I also saw his other movie “The Divine Fury,” which I recall being disappointed with despite Seo Joon and Do Hwan’s participation, but I couldn’t complain too much, we got a baddy role for Do Hwan, something I wanted to see for some time.
So, for him to go from writing 2-hours long movies to 8-episodes series must have not been an easy switch, writing for dramas differs greatly from writing for movies. But for the most part, I think he did a good job, especially with the situation we talked about earlier. I also think he has the potential to grow to an even bigger director if given the right projects to work on, as series.
Despite what could have been a worse situation, he truly managed to salvage it so much so that you might not have caught on easily; at first; that something wasn’t quite right.
The script lots of fun and very reminiscent of “Midnight runners,” in terms of feel and bromance level. I think he excels at that.
I also loved how the story wrapped up properly in 8 episodes and didn’t have an unnecessary ending to it. I think it didn’t need more than that. 8 episodes were just the right amount.
In certain plot points, I can see conveniences being applied but the director does a good job establishing a bromance between the leads, thus, its not quite annoying or too distracting.
In some places, I felt the director-screenwriter was sort of planting scenes to make us sad when the characters die. There is a certain feel to those scenes that some of you might have noticed, but I could have NEVER expected the 3 characters to die in episode 6, I think it’s the highlight of the series and what truly shows how ruthless Kim Myeong-Gil is.
I think the thing that doesn’t make much sense to me is how Kim Myeong-Gil got away with killing the 3 men and a pregnant woman, because not unless he took their bodies to the special place where they grind their meat, which I highly doubt was allowed to happen, I can’t see why police wouldn’t open an investigation against him, especially with Mr. Choi’s death because he’s a prominent man. I guess the screenwriter didn’t want to deal with this because it opens a can of worms that will likely have needed more time to flesh out.
In terms of plot, I would say “Bloodhounds” had a good plot, it wasn’t too cliché and had a good emotional arc that managed to keep me glued to my screen, I just couldn’t stand Kim Myeong-Gil and loved our duo and how sweet they are to each other.
With such types of scripts, its very important to establish a good emotional connection for the characters with the audience members, otherwise, this would not work. The director more than was a good man for the job.
I think the drama would have been even better if Hyeon Ju was allowed to continue and more scenes with her were included, as a character, she’s very smart and I was looking forward to seeing how she handles Mr. Choi’s business. While it does seem that such a character would take it so hard that she’d disappear for good, I think the ending would have had a bigger impact with her inclusion.
I also think the ending had to be EXTREMELY revised due to this. I heard some complain about the ending but I thought it was enough, it was nowhere near the climax of episode 6 but considering what happened and how the series played out, I don’t think it was ‘bad’ or ‘disappointing.’
Some people say Kim Myeong-Gil deserved to die but for someone like him, I think it would be more tormenting for him to rot in jail, as he’ll suffer greatly for his actions and be exposed for being a horrible person to the world. Killing him isn’t worth it. Its better he suffers long-term before being likely sentenced to death considering the number of people he killed.
The characters
I’ve watched all of Do Hwan’s dramas and this is a first for him, playing a character who is shy and not ‘good’ with words which I disagree with. He’s a man of few words but super adorable and wise when he speaks.
His character is so easy to root for and he brings a sweet innocent charm to him. Despite being 31, he could easily pass for someone in his mid-20s. I liked the character a lot. Its very stereotypical, I admit, but its Do Hwan, so I am partially biased here.
Woo-Jin was a more interesting character so to speak. I loved the way he interacted with Gun-Woo and how they sweetly became friends. I liked how observant he is and how fast he knew Gun-Woo was a man he wanted to associate with. He inserts himself into situations so boldly and does a good job blending in. I loved his character too. I wished we knew a bit more about him. He’s so interesting.
Hyeon-Ju was definitely a promising character that was squashed. I think the original show’s angle was more a trio learning to appreciate each other, love life and live happily together learning from each other. I think that would have made for a better story if done well but what happened, happened.
I think many more emotional and fun scenes were cut out from the drama that had her in them, I can sense it. I can feel its missing some things but at the same time, I know what the situation was so I can’t bring myself to say much about it.
Kim Myeong-Gil is a horrible cunning and very smart character, he got my blood boiling I tell you. I haven’t hated many characters in 2023 thus far, but he takes the cake.
Mr. Choi is amazing and overall, I found the remaining characters typical but fun.
The performances
Do Hwan gives an amazing performance here, as per usual. he bulked up for this and you can see the amount of dedication it took him. I hope gets appreciated for this. Sang Yi was also amazing here. Their chemistry together truly made this show work for me and through some interviews I’ve read, they’ve kept in contact after filming and I see Do Hwan posting photos of hanging out with him often.
Sae Ron’s performance was promising, like I said, the potential was squashed. I think this could have been something that put her on the map and got her introduced to many new fans through interviews, press, and such.
The rest are phenomenal. Heo Jun-Ho is amazing as per usual, when he plays a nice man, you love him but when he plays a horrible man, you want bad things to happen to him. such an amazing veteran actor.
Park Sung-Woong got my blood boiling for real, when he smile, I shiver. He truly got that aura of a villain but when he plays nice characters, you literally can never picture him playing a villain. He was the core of this drama and did more than a great job at that.
I loved everyone’s performance including the rising actress Jung Da-Eun who had a short albeit memorable performance.
Conclusion
“Bloodhounds” was a fun ride. Its easy to binge and easy to enjoy, it has a great start and a good finish. If you’re looking to binge-watch something and have fun, this is likely something that’ll more than make you happy especially if you love the actors involved in this project.
Could it have been better?
Sure, possibly, but considering the hurdles it had to go through to be shown, I can’t be too harsh. The final product is enough for most to enjoy, in my opinion.
So these are my thoughts on “Bloodhounds”, so what about you guys? did you like the episodes? let me know what you thought in the comment section below.
