The door closes on one project and opens on another. Park Hae Jin showed up at the drama wrap party for Dr. Stranger as news broke that he was headlining the upcoming cable network OCN drama Bad Boys. Woo hoo for him! He’s not just getting a prime headlining role, he’s playing a genius IQ level serial killer. The youngest and smartest serial killer in South Korean history, according to that drama, and the story revolves around the police force assembling a team of incarcerated murderous psychopaths to use their skills and smarts to catch future criminals. Oh boy, it’s like he’s channeling his hyung Lee Jae Kyung from You From Another Star, a role that Park Hae Jin was actually playing (and even started filming scenes for) before the original actor for Hwi Kyung got hurt and bowed out. I’m thrilled Park Hae Jin finally gets his wish to play a dark and evil character, something that his character flirted with in East of Eden.

Park Hae Jin was so attracted to the role that he decided to forgo his break after DS and roll right into filming for Bad Boys which starts the middle of July with an eye towards an early Fall premiere. He was wasted in Dr. Stranger with a role that was flat as a pancake but made all the more palatable because Jae Joon was played by him. Dr. Stranger remains a relative success, doing gangbusters business in the China streaming audience with how popular Park Hae Jin and Lee Jong Seok is, as well as the cameo by male god Zhang Liang not to mention random Chinese PPL call outs the most egregious of which was the Taobao app. I’m relieved DS is done and honestly don’t wish it to perdition, there are plenty more dramas worse than DS out there and this one merely bit off more than it can chew. The drama wrap party looked like a blast as the leads Park Jae Jin, Lee Jong Seok, and Jin Se Yeon all showed up, while Kang Sora missed the party to go shoot an MV.