A drama can be frustrating to watch in good ways, challenging our perceptions and crowding our comfort zones. Episode 3 of You’re All Surrounded was exactly the opposite, frustrating in ways that pushed the boundaries of sense for the sake of hammering home a point. The P4 are inexperienced and incompetent, yes, but to have a snowball of bad judgment, poor police work, shoddy police ethics, and muddy professional integrity all converge together is the type of drama writing that throws characters under a bus to create tension. It’s clear this drama is about four rookies training to become capable cops but the writing hasn’t even sustained the baseline requirement that the four rookies have to posses the basic fundamentals of being cops to begin with. They can make mistakes due to inexperience, what doesn’t work is showing them making terrible decisions based on incompetence of the degree that goes beyond lacking experience. So the last episode turned into two of the rookies showing us they aren’t even qualified to graduate police academy much less be on the street yet there they are wielding badges and cooking up undercover sting operations to nab a stalker. That’s why it’s so frustrating to watch.
Thankfully episode 4 did not drive the entire bus over the cliff and barely pulled back enough so that I can stick with this drama without wanting to stabbity someone onscreen for their abject stupidity. YAAS at least offers uniformly good acting without any weak link to stink up the joint. Sadly there isn’t any good chemistry anywhere to write about – the guy tension between Pan Seok and Dae Gu is explosive but not very engaging since all they do is act combative around each other, Dae Gu and Soo Sun have zero chemistry even as partners much less as potential OTP material and I would be happy if this drama cut any romance from its story line between these two, and overall the P4 aren’t gelling to the degree that would make their scenes together crackling with energy. I always ask myself if I’m having any fun watching a cotton candy drama that doesn’t offer much in the way of deep emotional or mental nourishment, if I am then it’s easy to let the flaws go and just enjoy the parts that work. So far the only thing that works in YAAS is my love for Lee Seung Gi, which turns out to be strong and deep enough to keep with this drama even when I don’t even like his character at this point! Crazy, I know.
Episode 4 recap:
Soo Sun and Dae Gu stand around in a stunned daze as the stabbed stalking victim is taken away on a stretcher while Captain Kim’s missing persons unit has apprehended the stalker and he’s taken into custody. The stalker nods his head towards Dae Gu as he enters the police vehicle, recognizing him as the victim’s supposed boyfriend and maybe posturing a bit like he got the upper hand.
Sunbae Eung Do walks up to Dae Gu and Soo Sun wondering how they happen to be here? Good question. Turns out the missing persons unit out on patrol happened to see the stalker stabbing the victim and intervened before more harm could be done. So a coincidence is going to get Dae Gu and Soo Sun off the hook by turning what ought to have been murder into just attempted murder. Lucky incompetent rookies.
Captain Kim walks up and hands over a video camera and recorder found in the victim’s purse and asks if this belongs to Team 3? Eung Do and Captain Kim ask how the items came to be in the victim’s possession? Dae Gu and Soo Sun are speechless to answer their questions.
A furious Captain Seo storms back to the precinct and hears from Tae Il and Pan Seok that the victim has been moved from surgery to the ICU and is expected to survive and the stalker is in custody. He hears Dae Gu and Soo Son are currently in interrogation with Captain Kim and Eung Do which is when Captain Kim stalks out to chew Captain Seo over for his supervision. How dare he hand a stalking case off to two rookies and then leave without checking in with them? She clearly blames him as well for how things got so out of hand!
Soo Sun tries to get reassurance from Dae Gu that the victim will be fine. Damn it, shut up Soo Sun! Whether the victim survives or not doesn’t lessen your incompetence or the suffering she endured because of you. She keeps talking and pushes Dae Gu to say something. He finally yells at her to shut up! He wishes he could sew her mouth shut! You and me, brother, you and me.
Dae Gu brings up how he told her they should just leave and not get further involved and create more problems. Soo Sun blames him for his part in the mess, how he was so sure the stalker wouldn’t show up past midnight and then left by himself. That’s why she picked up the phone and missed the victim’s call and led to the victim believing the cops would follow and protect her. Dae Gu slams his hand down on the table and turns away from Soo Sun.
Captain Seo barges into the room and immediately delivers a kick to Dae Gu that sends him flying back. Captain Seo lists the mistakes made from escalating a stalking case without reporting, leaving a protective detail, and then not answering his superior’s call after things got out of hand. He reminded them that cops can’t resurrect dead people but a mistake can lead to someone dying. One mistaken judgment call can end a life which is why he said not to make decisions alone without being sure.
Dae Gu refuses to take the umbrage laying down and gets up to yell back at Captain Seo for declaring they can’t ever become cops but then handing them real cases without supervision. The others try to calm Dae Gu down but he’s on a rampage and screams that even three year olds can do better than Seo Pan Seok, calling him rudely by his full name. Plus he can’t just kick a subordinate in this day and age, this room is under surveillance and he’s going to report this human right’s violation all the way to the legislature! Eung Do tries to shut Dae Gu up but he’s totally off-the-cuff and chews out Captain Seo for only being good for yelling at and beating them. He better watch out because Dae Gu will get rid of him!
Captain Seo gets right up in Dae Gu’s face and it’s on between the two of them as they start fighting in the interrogation room with the rest of the team trying to separate them. Dae Gu gets on top of Captain Seo and he’s so angry he tries to choke him and Captain Seo’s eyes open to realize Dae Gu is serious. After they’re pulled apart, Dae Gu screams that Captain Seo has no right to hit him and he better watch out because Dae Gu will end him!
Tae Il and Ji Gook manage to drag Dae Gu out and he shakes his buddies off and storms out of the precinct. Eung Do keeps watch on Captain Seo until he calms down enough not to chase after Dae Gu but Captain Seo upends the table and stalks off.
Ji Gook can’t believe how Dae Gu flew off the handle rather than beg for forgiveness back there. Soo Sun is worried about the stabbing victim and goes to check on her. Tae Il doesn’t find it fun here anymore, he came to avoid table death but now it’s even more stressful. Ji Gook wonders what table death means and Tae Il leans in and tells him to guess.
Soo Sun stands outside the stalking victim’s hospital room and peers in the window to see her mother sitting beside her and holding her hand. Dae Gu is at the train station and buys a ticket to head back to Masan. He thinks about the stabbing victim and his own mom dying before his eyes.
Soo Sun stops Captain Seo the next morning to apologize profusely. He sighs that people can’t change and he knew he couldn’t raise a long-haired army to be of any use. He walks into the precinct office and Soo Sun moves to follow him but he turns to ask how she has any right to enter? Captain Seo finds the rest of the team reading a news article questioning the use of rookies at the Gangnam precinct. Chief Cha walks up to rail on Captain Seo for being unable to manage his own team despite his reputation as some sort of legendary police officer.
The stalking victim’s mom arrives and slaps Soo Sun hard in the face after hearing she was a big reason why her daughter is in the hospital. She yells at Soo Sun for daring to come to the hospital to see her daughter. The rest of the team can only watch this confrontation and do nothing because Soo Sun kinda deserved that.
Dae Gu walks through Masan and some passing high school students bring back memories of his own high school experience such as the group fight by the jetty to protect the honor of the girl he liked. He heads back to his old house which is now occupied by another family and the familiar surroundings overwhelm him with memories of the night his mom died.
Dae Gu runs to the beach to scream out his anger and frustration. Suddenly he sees his mom sitting next to him asking why he’s not answering his phone? Did he create a problem and then run away? She can tell from the look on his face that he’s in trouble. Dae Gu admits he’s in a big mess and his mistake almost caused a person to die. He’s so angry at himself and wants to kill himself. How could he be that certain the stalker is not showing up past midnight? He was so wrong!
Even if he never wanted to be a cop and is only doing this to follow Captain Seo, how can he almost cause another person to die after experiencing his own mother’s death? Mom tells him to go back and be a good cop from now on but Dae Gu doesn’t think he can. Mom thinks he can do it since he has such a good memory and assures him that her death wasn’t his fault. But he needs to go back now instead of running away like a coward. That’s not his personality, only a person who can forget and let go can be a coward and run away. He has such a good memory and can never forget anything so he can never run away. Dae Gu asks if she’s sure and Mom is absolutely sure like the Earth circles the Sun.
Dae Gu starts to cry and asks if his mom must resent him but his mom just smiles back at him. A few kids kicking a ball on the beach send their ball rolling towards Dae Gu and asks him to toss it back. He tosses it back and then looks over to find his mom fantasy gone. He chokes back his hears.
Director Jang is reading the same news articles chastising the Gangnam precinct for how their rookies handled the stalking case and escalated it to attempted murder when they promised to protect the victim and failed to follow up. Chief Cha comes in to ask Director Jang to have lunch and they shoot the breeze before she wonders how the case details got leaked to the press? It has to be someone who doesn’t support the rookie project. Chief Cha claims the walls have ears around here.
Soo Sun is moping at her desk when Captain Seo mobilizes the team to head out on a mission. He takes only Ji Gook and purposely leaves Soo Sun out of it.
Soo Sun heads to the hospital to check on the victim and runs into Captain Kim who tells Soo Sun that she’s in luck because the victim is awake and moved to a non-intensive hospital room.
Soo Sun sits at her desk and writes her resignation letter while staring at a picture of her deceased father. She thinks to herself that when he died she decided to give up her own dream and become a cop because that was his dream. She puts the resignation letter in the folder on Captain Seo’s desk.
Dae Gu continues walking through Masan and remembers young Soo Sun and sighs that she hasn’t changed a bit from childhood until now. That is such a sad observation about Soo Sun. He walks off and a guy on a bike notices Dae Gu and wonders why he looks familiar?
Tae Il runs into Captain Kim and walks up to her and asks “Do you remember me?” Captain Kim says no and walks off. Ji Gook tells Tae Il the gossip that Captain Kim and Captain Seo were once married and considered the Jang Dong Gun and Go So Young of the police world before they divorced.
The rookies sit outside and Ji Gook hears Soo Sun wants to resign and tries to talk her out of it since the victim is fine now. Soo Sun didn’t want to become a cop in the first place and she’s worried something like this will happen again. Ji Gook spouts nonsense that Soo Sun was just unlucky in this case, how could she have expected a stalking case could escalate into attempted murder. Ji Gook freaks out when he hears Soo Sun already submitted her resignation letter which is when Dae Gu walks up.
Soo Sun calls him a bastard for coming back now and demands he apologize for running away and leaving her to deal with the fall out alone. Dae Gu thinks she ought to resign if she doesn’t think she can hack it but wants her to take the resignation letter back otherwise he might be forced to resign as well. Soo Sun calls him equally useless and all he can do is throw a fit and slam tables in front of the captain. She suddenly remembers Dae Gu rummaging through Captain Seo’s desk and wants to tell him before resigning.
Dae Gu grabs her cellphone and won’t give it back so she grabs his hair and then Ji Gook gets in the middle to break them apart. Finally Tae Il handcuffs them together and grabs the cellphone away from them. He’s so annoyed by their fighting each time they see each other. They promise not to fight if Tae Il uncuffs them but Tae Il and Ji Gook walk off to grab lunch and tells them to follow.
The P4 arrive at a small restaurant and sit down to eat. A young man at another table’s phone rings and he doesn’t answer so the high school students at another table snark at him to pick up because it’s loud. The restaurant ahjumma delivers his meal and doesn’t care that he had asked for the dish to be made differently, plopping it on the table and walking away. the ahujumma then kicks his boxes of hairspray as she walks past. When he leans down to pick it up he gets sauce on his shirt.
Soo Sun is annoyed at being cuffed with Dae Gu and wants Tae Il to uncuff them now. Ji Gook watches a girl group dancing on the TV and asks Tae Il which one is the cutest and Tae Il ruffles his hair and says Ji Gook is the cutest. Ookay. Soo Sun and Dae Gu’s arguing get the high school students to tell them to pipe down. The young man finds a hair in his dish and tells the ahjumma who just picks it out of the dish and then kicks his box of cans one more time for good measure. She heads out to make a delivery.
A high school student who walks past the young man to get water trips over the fallen cans and bumps into him, sending his face flying into the dish ans smearing it with sauce. He finally has enough and gets up to lock the front door and grabs a knife from the kitchen before grabbing a high school student as hostage. The ahjumma returns to the restaurant and sees the hostage situation inside and calls the cops.
Team 3 is mobilizing but Captain Seo and Eung Do can’t find any of their rookies. Back at the restaurant, all the rookies cellphones start ringing at the same time which makes the young man notice them. He orders all of them to raise their hands above their head but Soo Sun and Dae Gu can’t without showing they are handcuffed together. They pretend to be in love and ask if they can hold hands.
One of the high school students is really haughty and stands up to offer the man money if that is what he wants. She rattles off increasing amount of money and the man laughs that he makes so little when he could make a lot in thirty minutes just by doing this. The girl he’s holding hostage also offers to pay him which enrages him and he cuts the gas line to release carbon monoxide and then holds a lighter threatening to blow up the entire joint.
The police and bystanders are all gathered outside as the restaurant is cordoned off as a crime scene. The perp is identified as a cosmetic’s company sales trainee and regular at the restaurant. Captain Seo orders the gas turned off and wants to know how much could be remaining in the restaurant. He’s told there are three student hostages and four citizen hostages.
Captain Seo peers inside with binoculars and sighs when he sees his own rookie P4 held hostage inside. Eung Do asks what he saw and is handed the binoculars to check for himself. Chief Cha storms over and also sees the rookies inside and yells at why they are involved yet again!
Everyone inside the restaurant is struggling with the carbon monoxide leaking into the air and the P4 whisper about doing something since they can’t just sit around. Dae Gu thinks about what he was taught, to remain calm and think about all the details of the situation and assess it. Dae Gu remembers walking into the restaurant and glancing down at the man flipping through his plan book.
Captain Seo’s voice beams over the loudspeaker calling out to the perp Choi Woo Shik. Captain Kim is there and gives him suggestions on how to talk with a hostage taker. Captain Seo knows he is very angry because he was supposed to be made a permanent employee today but instead got fired. He keeps trying to talk but Chief Cha waves placards in his face telling him what to do but Captain Seo shoves him aside.
Captain Seo calls out over the loudspeaker for the man to answer the phone. The phone rings inside the restaurant which sets him off and he stands up and starts to menace the hostage again. Dae Gu knows the man has grievance and says he can answer the phone and tell the world about his injustice. He knows the man’s mom’s death anniversary is coming up and he wanted to show up with a full time job for her anniversary. Dae Gu reveals that his mom also died when he was fifteen and encourages him to tell the world about his woes because this is his chance.
Director Kang arrives as everyone is waiting around for the hostage taker to answer the phone. Chief Cha is yelling loudly that there are four cops inside and can’t even take down a hostage taker! Suddenly they get a call from the guy who wants his old boss to arrive in three hours and apologize to him. The situation gets messier when the students parents arrive screaming and crying for their kids.
One of the girls in the restaurant starts to have an asthma attack and Tae Il quickly grabs her inhaler but it’s not enough for the severity of her attack. Tae Il asks the guy to let this girl go to the hospital. Soo Sun offers to be his hostage and reveals that they are cops so are better hostages. He should let he kids go because they are just kids. The man thinks they are trying to trick him to let the kids go and then capture him. Dae Gu takes out his handcuff and cuffs his other hand to the pole to show him that he’s not trying to trick him.
Ji Gook takes out his handcuffs and cuffs himself before walking over to offer himself as the hostage to guy. Tae Il cuffs himself to Soo Sun’s other hand and then asks the guy if he can release the students now? The guy sees all the cops are cuffed together and agrees to let the girls go as everyone outside sighs in relief.
The restaurant door opens and the girls stumble out to their parents while the cops stand around trying to plan their next move to save their own. Director Kang is proud that their rookies finally did something right.
The hostage situation goes on as the guy waits for his former boss to be brought to apologize to him. Captain Seo crawls through then air vent and peers down over the grate. Dae Gu happens to look up and sees him. When Captain Seo gets back outside, he hears the bad news that the former boss is overseas in Japan.
The cops discuss an assault and rescue of the P4 otherwise they don’t have enough time. Captain Seo asks for more time for the rookies to try and resolve the situation. He trusts them because they got the high school students out. The rookies are suffering inside with the carbon monoxide poisoning and the guy thinks his former boss isn’t going to come.
The guy puts down the lighter to take a drink of water and then complains about the boss making them work hard to sell cans of hairspray with the promise to make them full time employees but then firing them a month before their term was up. Dae Gu notices the lighter but the guy gets enraged when he thinks about the cops having guaranteed jobs while he’s jobless and grabs the lighter so they will all day together.
Soo Sun urges him not to do it and says her dad was a judo instructor and judo requires falling down first before taking another out. It requires failure to succeed. She notices the other rookies staring at her and Dae Gu yells at her for knowing that failure is required before learning yet she tried to resign. Soo Sun cries that Dae Gu just left her alone to handle the fall out and she didn’t know how to apologize to the captain or to the victim’s mom. She could only feel guilty about her actions but she did really want to help the victim. She cries and yells at Dae Gu to apologize to her for leaving her when he is her partner!
The hostage taker listens to this outburst and offers his opinion that Dae Gu should apologize to Soo Sun. Dae Gu stares at him and he orders Dae Gu to apologize because it’s horrible to be looked down upon. Soo Sun yells at Dae Gu to apologize which is when she trips over a can of hairspray which causes everything to topple.
Everyone leans forward to pick up the lighter and the hostage taker grabs the lighter while Tae Il grabs a can of open hairspray. Tae Il sprays the guy in the face with the hairspray which takes him out and all four cops rush him to take him down.
The cops outside look in to find the situation has been defused and all the cops are on the ground holding the hostage taker down. They walk inside with an assault team and help the rookies out while taking the hostage taker into custody.
Eung Do compliments the P4 by the ambulance as they are breathing in oxygen to clean their lungs. Dae Gu greets Eung Do who asks if he’s back? He wonders how they ended up at the restaurant which leads them to remember Soo Sun submitting her resignation letter. They run off back to the office to grab it before it’s read and accepted. Soo Sun grabs her letter and happily tears it up.
The P4 walk down the park lane together and Soo Sun thinks to herself that being a cop isn’t her dream but she doesn’t want to give it up. She’s used to falling down in her life but that’s okay because she has these guys to support her now.
Dae Gu slows down from the pack and takes out the duplicate cellphone from his pocket as Pan Seok’s phone rings. A man in black exits the arrival terminal at the airport and says “Long time no see, Captain Seo. You haven’t forgotten my voice, have you?” Both Pan Seok and Dae Gu’s eyes widen and we see the guy has the scar behind his ear.
Thoughts of Mine:
I said in the last episode recap that the two royal screw-ups Dae Gu and Soo Sun needed to deal with real consequences for their litany of mistakes and poor judgment calls in the stalking case. It wasn’t one mistake, it wasn’t even two, it was so many and done with so little thought the degree of their incompetence is what makes this plot line not work for me as a learning lesson. That’s the poor writing, Pan Seok’s one mistake in not assigning a protective detail to Dae Gu’s mother as a material witness cannot compare to Soo Sun creating the circumstances that led to a woman getting stabbed. I blame her way more than Dae Gu because she blackmailed him into going along with her scheme when he repeatedly did not agree with that tactic. Dae Gu also had in hand in her stabbing when he decreed the stalker wouldn’t show up after midnight, but the cause and effect was clearly Soo Sun triggering the stalker to escalate the situation by sending the victim in to goad the stalker. Sadly the two of them don’t seem to have been punished for their professional failing, or maybe that will happen in the next episode.
I’ve calmed down enough to accept this drama just isn’t going to be a well-written as I had hoped it would be, or as entertaining as the first two episodes promised. And really it’s not terrible enough to drop or rail on its inadequacies all the time, unless Soo Sun continues her idiotic ways and then I’m going to be hard pressed not to wail on her in each recap. If Soo Sun died in the next episode and the rest of the drama involves investigating her murder then half my current gripes with the narrative will be gone in a flash, that is how much I detest her self-pitying whining and overeager beaver ways. It’s sad that the character with the most development so far is also the most annoying one, i.e. Soo Sun. I would rather learn more that Tae Il and Ji Gook than her. Soo Sun is a hard leading lady to play in order to make likable and sympathetic to her attempts to be a good cop but failing so often at it, Go Ara tries but she’s not able to elevate her above being an irritating hindrance to the team. I’m getting plenty of Seung Gi Dae Gu but other than staring at his stony gorgeous face he’s not all that interesting beyond having a mommy-loss trauma.
Dae Gu’s purposely kept a bit mysterious, I get that, but his attitude veers from cold prick to hot blooded angry dude with nothing in between. He’s coming across like a guy with no life outside of tracking down his mother’s killer and punishing those involved in her death. I can’t see past his backstory to wonder if he has a hobby, what kind of food he likes, how he spends his free time. Those things should at least loom in the periphery of a drama character so that there is the presence of a fuller personality even if we only see the parts that involve the story proper. Same with Pan Seok, the legendary Captain Seo is terribly underused even if he’s getting his share of screen time. He’s either beleaguered and yelling at the P4 or being mopey about his past whether due to his rookie errors or his failed marriage. To have two great leading men in Lee Seung Gi and Cha Seung Won and not use them to their full potential is such a criminal waste. It would be okay if the police stories were interesting but thus far nothing other than Dae Gu’s mom’s murder holds any intrigue. I’m still waiting for this story to really start buzzing with a bigger picture rather than tripping over the small stuff.
for me i enjoy every moment between dae gu and soo sun.yes they have lack chemistry but they do have it. they are so cute together.
and this is my 1st time watching go ara,and in my opinion she did quite well ,she is funny and it doesnt look fake. and unlike u,i m looking forward to more romance between the two.:)
Thank you for the recap Ms. Koala. And the first picture reminds me how I cried with him when I watched it live last night.*sobs
I am enjoying the show very much
but why can’t you just leave this drama recaps , if you didn’t liked it.
guess from now on ill just wait for dramabeans recap even though its late. ur post is so negative ruins my mood before i can watch it. seriously i admit yesterday’s epi was not good but todays episode from what few clips i have seen is really good.
Anyone can right anything about everything. But Ms. Koala, you should be careful when using wordings here. Some people are too sensitive to accept criticism about their idol. For me, I don’t mind how you wrote your recaps because its your writing style. But choosing the right wordings will help you to grow as a blogger.
Honestly, when it comes to reviews/recaps dramabeans is the best for me. ^_^
please tone down ur negativity because many international fans like me first reads the recap while we wait for english subs
A substantiated critique does not equal negativity.
the problem is you are writing for public to read, and many of your readers view your substantiated critique more to escalated nagativity comment. Personally, I think as a writer/blogger , you aren’t really good at subtlety. This I (as a reader) notice from thw way you praise a drama /actors you like to the moon high and critique to the point of insult to the ones you dislike.
^ Well, Koala can talk about dramas if she wants to. This is her site. If you don’t like her YAAS recaps, don’t read them next time.
As i mentioned in my first post i wont 😀 no hard feeling though
I love this drama so far. At first it feels strange watching unsmiling Seung Gi. after 4 episodes, I am loving all the characters. The bond is growing. at first, I also felt lack of chem between SS and DG. But after ep 4, I am sold. It is funny, sad, and hopefully will get more intense. King 2 Hearts doesnt get intense until ep 8. Be patient miss Koala and dont drive the potential viewers away 🙂
Gosh I sure hope not! I loved the first two episodes myself. I always hope viewers watch whatever floats their boat and makes them happy. My views ought to matter simply to myself in choosing what to watch. I’m willing to give this a few more episodes with the optimism it might click soon. But I totally beg to differ on TK2H, that drama was a rocket right out of the gate and never let the foot off the petal. How could you forget the insane treadmill bomb in episode 3? The JK test in episode 4 that led JH to shoot HA? Their Jeju date in episode 5? The fridge kiss in episode 6? JK’s death in episode 7? That drama was intense from the very beginning!
leave Koala alone. she just giving her honest review on each ep.if u dont like her review then just dont click on it.
Well, I usually like to read her recaps on dramas that I also watch. I’m not even a fan of LSG and watch this drama just for fun. But this is a time when I feel uncomfortable reading her recaps due to the escalated negativity. So I guess I will not read her recaps for this drama anytime soon. 🙂
I was already having trouble getting pass ep 2. No chemistry at all among the characters (which is an important factor to me). Thanks for your recaps Koala. I think I am going to drop this and maybe pick it up once I see a better review from you.
my absolute favourite drama of all time has to be king 2 hearts and i fell in love with seung gi all thanks to this blog.
i watched every episode of k2h with the recap and knw the love koala have for seung gi so her harsh negativity as it seems in the posts don’t affect me too much because she’s so right.
seung gi is acting his heart out and so is cha seung won and the rest of the cast, this drama have so much potential and cant forget that this is seung gi’s last drama for another 2 yrs.
but the drama is not too bad i loved all the episodes hope sbs and the whole productions will pull their shit together for the last 16 episodes and deliver the goods and hope the rating and reviews will shot upwards
I can overlook everything but the female is ANNOYING beyond words. She has not shown me one thing to like about her. She is written as the worst type of female lead there is, and K drama does this way to often. I dont care much for the actress and this role assures me i wont watch anything she is in again, I did love the intensity at the start of this episode LSG is doing an awesome job, If SOO SUN or what ever her name is was a mute I would REALLY enjoy this drama. I agree about wishing for no love line I just can not for the life of me see it. I do think that the drama as a whole is good and as the slap stick and stupidity eases out of the story line, the drama will continue to get better and better. If the girl ever grows a brain and learns to keep her mouth shut, or least talk not scream I may even quit griping about her.
They can’t just make them likable off the bat. Annoying male leads shouldn’t be the only ones who get their character development. Soo sun was irresponsible (very) I agree but she was trying to gather evidence to get the stalker caught thanks to the law being useless. I felt like Sae Gu is more annoying because of his overconfidence. She is to be blamed for listening to him but he is worse as a cop in my opinion. I think it was nice to see some character development from both in this episode but they both screwed up. I don’t get why the usual annoying male characters never get as much as hate soo sun. Double standards I see.
I did not see any character development from her. sure she felt bad but she found every way she could to put blame on DG. I never heard her take responsibility, She watched him get the shit kicked out of him she did not stand up for him instead yelled at him for leaving. You like her, you enjoy watching a whiner, loud mouth, whose bossy and does not use her brain just her mouth, thats good then because this is what you got with her. I myself do not like this type of character. When she comes off as so annoying how are we expected to warm up to her. I have my opinion on what I do and do not like we do not have to agree. But between her personality and her wardrobe and sloppy look for me she is a thumbs down.
Hi Koala,
I share many of your views regarding this drama. I almost dropped it after ep 3 due to my growing exasperation with Soo Sun’s actions in the stalker case and what I saw was her inability to fully own up and take responsibility for her actions, especially when her partner was being berated by the squad leader for decisions he wasn’t really responsible for.
To be honest I expected her to speak up then, and tell everyone that it was really her idea, but she said nothing and still blamed her partner for leaving her. I almost threw a book at my screen in frustration. She’s a long way from maturity if she can’t recognize that she was predominantly the cause of the problem. Fortunately episode 4 redeemed itself a little bit, though I think she should apologize to her partner and thank him for covering for her.
Imo You’re All Surrounded hasn’t really impressed me with it’s plot. I’m sticking to it because of my love for LSG. He’s a damn fine actor, but maybe I’m expecting too much by comparing it to K2H, or GFB or Shining Inheritance, or any of his previous characters. So far I don’t really care for his character in this drama, he’s too morose and unidimensional. I feel he could do so much more.
Well I don’t agree with koala with everything but go ara is somewhat annoying here, hope she tones down on the yelling. Somehow, I feel a click btw the leads and look forward to their loveline. Koala needs to breathe and relax, we just got four episodes. I do feel indifferent when reading the recaps cause I sorta like the variety this show offers, the cute characters etc. but koala is saying everything opposite of I think. I will still read the recaps cause I don’t know korean.
i luv seung gi dearie the most, seeing his sad face somehow kill me. All four episode is awesome, only some part of it that did not utilise DG ability n make him look bad or maybe its a learning stage make me furious. As seung gi fan and all his fan fan esp Kaola, reading bad and negative comment make me so sad. he is sooo good in episode 4, he is really matured in his acting, i cried when he cry especially the episode with his mom but i laugh a lot at the comedic scene, and to be honest if i can re watched all the episode over and over especially DG sad part, its consider excellent for me since i luv korean drama. Its somehow different even though Korean cant get away with the similar plot ie childhood story, revenge etc but im really looking forward for the next episode. Btw, my thinking the low ratings maybe because people, ie onni, ajuhma, ajmuni/ grandma (pls mind my spelling..hihiii) do not want to see the negative side of our Seung gi right? just like the TK2H, what i mean is what ever make SG look bad or sad, this is just me..After i have seen all the behind story and see his smiling face, im relief, like…. thank GOD he is okay.
As Go Ara, after watching her in Reply 1994 and some of her drama, i feel that she got carried away in her role in Reply 1994 but the drama is good tho, its different and so funny too. I also wish her SS role did not “over do” DG coz I admit sometimes its irritating..
Really looking forward for the next episode and lets cheer up for YAAS and Kaola dear cheer up too…
I am still curious about why you savage this show for the incompetence and shoddy work of its characters, criticising it as straining credibility, but give a free pass to the considerably more absurd Doctor Stranger.
I think that suspension of disbelief is adjusted by type of work. A show which is clearly bonkers does not really make one expect realism. I think the issue here is, Miss K expected this to be more of a realistic cop show or perhaps pure comedy with likable, rather than deeply flawed characters.
That said, I cannot see where those expectations came from, considering the very teasers and promotional material for it clearly showed cops who can barely use handcuffs, let alone think about cases and act carefully. And the first episode murder business pretty much set the tone as a revenge story with comedy in it, so it does not somehow set itself up as a realistic or solely cop show.
Much like ‘Salaryman’, ‘Evasive Inquiry Agency’ and such, it’s going for its own type of genre mix, where both comedy and very dark elements are included and the characters and their evolution from hazard/liability to society to honorable and capable heroes seems to be the point, realism be damned.
So I disagree with her views, especially calling her own dislike bad writing, but also see where those views might come from and of course, she has a right to have them in her blog and people should take it easy on the demands (not you, but I see plenty above). If they don’t like her views, they can read other blogs. She has a right to say whatever she wants in her own space.
The reason I think it was bad writing on the part of the scriptwriter is that I seen no reason from either a narrative or character development perspective to make the lead characters act in a way that should have resulted in their immediate termination from their jobs and possibly even criminal charges (consequences which of course would never be brought against the leads). While I agree with you that the writer is attempting to set them up as hazards/liabilities now in order to take them to be eventual heroes, I do not think the writer is doing so in a deft way. I am fine with throwing realism out the window if I feel it adds to the story telling, I just don’t see any valued added here in terms of story or character development in making the characters so incompetent. A different writer I think could have had the leads go on the same journey from bad to good in both life and job without making half of the audience want to just throw the leads in jail and be done with it.
SA, I agree it is too much for some, but it is still a creative decision, rather than a mistake. I think “bad writing” means very specific things and writing that is in accordance to the creative choices made is not that. This is kdrama and dramatic tension through less than agreeable events is common. It’s all about big concepts.
The characters are not supposed to be detectives. They did not go through the ranks and experience to do so, which is why their hiring is an experiment. If they were presented as ready for the job, it would undermine the effort and training one needs to do said job well. It would also make their uselessness stand out more, since no detective who has previous experience in any police work would be this bad. So that *was* taken into account when they were made such a hazard.
Another writer would have made them less flawed and that would have been their decision, but them being useless is a choice, not something that came from the writer’s incompetence.
A choice that many may not like and find too unrealistic or extreme for their taste, of course, but not a case of the writing failing. If they tried presenting it as not a big deal or excuse the mistake off, I would call it a mistake. And if this were not an experiment done by superiors who refuse to kill it despite this problem, I would say yes, they would have been fired.
But dramas are not real life and this team does not operate by normal rules nor is it reprimanded by them. My point is, to me, it’s clear we are supposed to want to throw them in jail now, because that will bring a bigger contrast in the future, when they slowly learn how to be better detectives and human beings. It’s a growth story and it’s done all the time, in even more extreme ways and with loss of life involved too. So maybe it’s new and unfamiliar for drama viewers, but it is not bad writing or unusual writing as far as storytelling tropes go.
But it’s a matter of personal preference and what one considers good and bad writing. From my point of view, I see nothing undramalike or that bad about it. In fact, I believe it is an interesting and bold, even if clearly risky, choice.
Yes I think it is just a difference of opinion and perspective. what you see as a bold writing decision, I actually see as a simplistic writing decision. It’s far easier to take a character from super duper screw up to hero than it is to take a character from being human and flawed to a better human and perhaps less flawed. As for whether it’s “bad writing” or not, I think that’s really just a matter of semantics as to how one uses the term but I don’t necessarily agree that the issues I do have with the writing are all just a matter of me not agreeing with intentional choices or creative choices of the writer. I am fine with any writer making a world and making it as near or far from reality as they want to make it but that world has to have its own internal consistencies that I am just not quite seeing here. Really though, at the end of the day I think that people have visceral reactions to shows and if you respond well to the world a writer has created you are more likely to be okay with that world being outside the scope of reality whereas if you have trouble connecting with, understanding or buying into the world you are less likely to be accepting of the leaps in logic a writer asks you to take.
SA, absolutely yes. If a viewer does not feel cheated and sees things they consider well played and conveyed, a lot can be forgiven, even if seen, whereas very few can when what is happening goes against opinions, emotions and taste.
A viewer does not mind things which they consider to be in keeping with the world they are presented. If that world does not seem convincing to a person, then they are more likely to mind those things.
As you say, it’s semantics. Because I don’t see inconsistency, I feel the writing is not stepping outside of what it is supposed to be doing. Others who might feel or believe is should or would be doing something else of course see writing which is not consistent.
At the end of the day, I want the creators to present to me the story they want to. Whether it will be good or bad, to my liking or not, I sign up to see what they have to offer. So I do hope the ratings for this will be good, so that no one interferes with the creators and what they want to achieve, which is something I personally find promising.
That’s why I phrased my comment the way I did. I carefully and deliberately stated that I was curious about her reasons for judging the two differently, not criticising her for doing so or questioning her right to say whatever she likes on her own blog. I meant simply what I said, the difference intrigues me and I’m curious about the reason(s).
I noticed, which is why I added the ‘not you’ part, but rather than making many posts, I decided to comment on that issue in the same one. I highjacked your topic. Arrrr.
Thanks, I figured that was it, but given some of the vitriol directed at Ms koala for daring to express her own views on her site, making my position explicitly clear for some of her less discerning readers seemed like a good idea.
I like lsg a lot esp.after watching him in king two hearts but i notice that his fans really whine a lot whenever he or his projects are not #1. I understand that in the past he was that way but now things are different. Lsg himself said that he cant always be on top. With YAS its certainly flawed and criticizing it isnt wrong a s long as its done in a constructve way.better stop going here if you cant stand other peoples opinions.
Dare I say that those who whine a a lot are not really his true fans? For me, I am just contented to see him twice a week, really miss seeing him on tv on a regular basis. I try to ignore the ratings and just enjoy the drama. So far so good, looking forward to next week. LSG and drama fighting !! Also, thanks Ms Koala for all your recaps, enjoyed reading them as well.
some of his fans are rabid. When cha seung won’s name was mentioned first on an article’s title, fans went effng bananas. “Oh but seunggi is the lead! Order is important in Korea!”
Or when one ONE one member of a message board thought cha seung won was the lead, fans went “ONG people are already assuming csw is the lead! We HAVE to post on every other forum that lsg is the lead!” as if that would fucking change anything at all except for the satisfaction of the rabid fans.
It seriously is pathetic, immature, and childish. Even worse are those fans who don’t like yoona for some reason. Freaking delusional “fans”.
you can complain about his drama, but Not him. LOL
Not complaining about him but more of his fan’s behavior, which i think is relevant in this instance…
Hello Koala. I agree with your comment regarding the importance of a fuller personality beyond the plot of a drama. Daegu is so closed off from everything that I wonder how he was in school (beyond his high school years)and outside of it. I’m just left wondering how he has been living.
in korea he was top once on everything , period!! it’s true that things can’t be like that forever , but he still
is one of the most poppular and well loved celebrty and cf stars in korea . so the above comments had me thinking that the low rating drama’s are where he was shown in a different light or in a negative role which is so unlike the real seuing gi they know and just maybe the general public adore seung gi the person more and wants to see himself like on varietycelebty in korea . where evry show he has been on were massive hits . it doesn’t make sens . but maybe things are different for the nations little brother .
what’s your take on this mis koala?
and yeah ppl need to chill with critisism , the drama is enjoiable and not at all ridicouls or cringeworthy like some recent hits. just the writter realy needs a rude wakeup call before the drama sink altogether and have to make the charactors more likable
I think we all just need to accept the fact that he just doesnt have that “pull” anymore like he used to, though he is still popular. The expectations were too high, but who knows, its still too early to judge. Maybe… Its also the character he plays? I admit i havent been all too eager for this since lsg character seems too broody at first. I hope he lightens up in the next few eps.
I am sorry I really have to Laugh at your comment right before I roll my eyes and shake my head. I could write a long comment but I won’t bother.
Well scbound is certainly one of those fans who cant stand other people’s opinions..go ahead and laugh.. make snide and shady comments…its not going to make the ratings go higher will it? Fangirls like you turn away prospective audiences for this drama AND future fans for lsg more than koala’s critical recaps. Will stop now to avoid further arguing.
@wery – the response to you was seriously silly; I had a good laugh at the comment itself. But your comment was also not an ‘opinion’ but a generalization that was completely wrong based on facts.
Seung-gi doesn’t have the ‘pull’ anymore is a very weird assessment simply because this drama has only aired 4 episodes and is the highest amongst all other dramas airing in the weekdays at the moment (mon/tue and wed/thu and even weekends with the exclusion of WD). In fact, it is the highest all year excluding YFAS. There’s also the huge fact that only last year, Seung-gi’s GFB was the most popular drama in Korea based on the Daum search, and 2nd based on Naver. Seung-gi managed to even beat Park Shi-hoo (who had a huge rape scandal) as the most searched celebrity of the year. He’s still never out of the top 10 in CF favourability after 5 years and just earlier this year his variety NoF beat all cable records and surpassed 10% in ratings in its premiere episode.
You’re right that’s he’s no longer the ‘it’ boy, if that’s what u meant. It boys are only newly known actors. He was that in 2009 as was LMH, KHJ and JGS. Now it’s the younger guys like LJS and KWB but that doesn’t make the other 87ers less popular. It just makes them more established with a stable fan base.
I think the problem is because Koala was a little bit too harsh on some actors/dramas/idol actors, while praising others really more than they should have gotten. But on her defense, this is more of a personal blog rather than more networked basis like Dramabeans, so subjective opinions are possible. So don’t like it, then try to look at less biased ones.
Yes, that’s what I love most about this blog, her expressing anything in anyway she desires. Dramabeans is great, but lately I’ve felt they have gone safe and too diplomatic in their reviews.
It’s not a problem, it’s called honesty and like you said, she never marketed her blog as a subjective, recap site staffed by multiple writers. It’s just so popular that people compare it to drama beans and expect her to write the same way.
The reactions in this post are so ridiculous it’s not funny. She’s spoken out like this about other dramas but I guess it’s different when it’s some beloved kdrama actor/actress or idol involved. Nothing new here.
I don’t know why but I have a feeling the person Daegu was talking on the phone with in episode 2, the one who helped him change his identity and is helping him out could be the bespectacled ahjussi who came to visit and threaten his Mom back in episode 1. The flashback scene of Daegu passing by the ahjussi and entering his home came out of nowhere and triggered something – Daegu don’t know the ahjussi is evil and we all know the ahjussi is rich. He could totally be Daegu’s mystery benefactor and wants to deflect the murder of Daegu’s Mom on the oh so convenient Seo Panseok. And to possibly keep tab on Daegu so that he won’t solve his Mom’s murder case before the end of the statute limitation. Just a thought. What do you guys think?
I think most of us had pretty high expectations for this drama. A combi of LSG and CSW should be pretty explosive right? The first three eps fell short, but I was glued to the screen by the charisma of scruffy CSW. I rather enjoyed this ep and I hope the following eps will follow this trajectory. *cross fingers*
I tend to read recaps while waiting for subs to come out, and am grateful for writers who spend time doing up one so fast so I don’t need to wait the excruciating, interminably long hrs before I know what happens next.
I’ve been watching Tae II – I think he might be gay?! I dunno. His behavior is suspiciously soft.
SS is an extremely emo character – if tt was the intention of the writer, then I think the GA played it well. She certainly irritated me. Her naivety didn’t help. It was also odd to see LSG brooding all the time – his DG is so wound up and never develops beyond pain and hatred..no impish smile until this ep. At, and CSW is just gold. 🙂
At least she choose to do the recapping for yas .be it good or bad review.she write what she feels about the drama.,what about the other 2 dramas at the same time slot?
Nothing.
@hana sorry, but what do you mean by this? It’s kinda rubbing me off the wrong way the way you put in words, but maybe you are not meaning what I thought.
Hey Koala , you know what ?
Eu so sun is not Go Ara .
Go Ara is an actress whose job is to portray a certain character that is for the time beeing : Eo so sun.
So if you don’t like a certain character hate on her only not the actress who is portraying her .
Go Ara was amazing in Reply 1994 and is now carrying on her awasomeness and great talent as Eo so sun.
Therefore , next time think again and inform yourself before bashing on someone .
Go Ara fighting 😉
OMG, people, calm down. It is her personal blog after all. @YASFan, I am totally with you that Tae Il might be gay but who knows? K-dramas rarely go there and with the nation’s little brother on the show, plus this being quite mainstream, I highly doubt they will. He is definitely flirty though and I can see him enjoying teasing Gook who is rather deliciously high strung. I started watching this drama for three reasons: CSW, AJH (Tae-Il) and LSG. I am enjoying AJH and am somewhat disappointed because all CSW does is scream and i am getting scared for the character’s blood pressure. Dae Gu on the other hand is quite a change from LSG’s usual characters and I am hoping to see him lighten up. I want to see CSW and LSG team up to solve the mother’s murder. I am so curious about the killer now. Why does he have Seo Pan Suk’s number?? Who is Dae Gu’s benefactor? SO CURIOUS!
So far, I’m loving the drama. It might be because Korea Dramas usually full with romance and sizzling chemistry between the leads that detective dramas with lack of romance didn’t look good to some people. And on the P4 defense, they’re rookies. Like the Chief said, everyone are rookies at least once in their life. Rookies make bad mistakes, and maybe even mistakes that can cause death. But that’s how they grew up. That’s why I’m following this drama to see how they would grow as person and as detectives.
I agree that you can express whatever you want on your blog, but when you make your comment/review/recaps as public, it’s better to tone down all the criticism (because I do think it is over the limit, because I’m frowning while reading the recap).