Drama Review: 'Beyond Evil' (2021)
This show is included in the list of nominees for the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards
Korean Title: 괴물
English Title: Beyond Evil (or Monster)
Network: jTBC
Episodes: 16
Broadcast Period: February 19 - April 10, 2021
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Suspense
Language(s): Korean
Cast: Shin Ha Kyun (Soul Mechanic), Yeo Jin Goo (Hotel Del Luna)
Directed by: Shim Na Yeon (At Eighteen)
Written by: Kim Soo Jin (Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo)
Beyond Evil is a crime drama about two detectives, Lee Dong Sik (Shin Ha Kyun) and Han Ju Won (Yeo Jin Goo) who use unconventional ways to uncover the truth behind the serial killings occuring between the years 2000 and 2021 in the small provincial town of Munju.
This show received seven (7) nominations at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards taking place on May 13, 2021 including:
Best Drama
Best Director for TV - Shim Na Yeon
Best Screenplay for TV - Kim Soo Jin
Best Actor in a TV Series - Shin Ha Kyun as Lee Dong Sik
Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series - Choi Dae Hoon as Park Jeong Je
Best New Actress in a TV Series - Choi Sung Eun as Yoo Jae Yi
Technical Award for Cinematography - Jang Jong Kyung
Story
Lee Yoo Yeon (Moon Joo Yeon) is the fraternal twin sister of a then-young Lee Dong Sik (Lee Do Hyun) and was one of victims involved in the disappearances and serial killings that began twenty years ago in the small town of Munju. During the initial case investigations, a guitar pick that belonged to Dong Sik was found as evidence and causes him to become one of the prime suspects in the crime prior to being dismissed due to insufficient evidence. Although Yoo Yeon’s body was not recovered at the time, the case was immediately dismissed and no other suspects were identified during the investigation.
In 2020, Yoo Yeon continues to be classified as a missing person and not having recovered her body, her family members continue to put up signs asking the citizens for help finding her. The rest of the village continue to wonder where she might’ve gone all these years.
All grown-up, Dong Sik (Shin Ha Kyun) has become a not-so-respected police officer and is often referred to as ‘crazy’ by the townspeople given his involvement with the serial crimes twenty years ago. Although wildly unpredictable to most people, Dong Sik is incredibly caring and warm towards the town’s elderly people and people with mental illnesses. He is quick to come to their rescue whenever family members report them missing or unreachable by phone. He also knows the Korean law book inside and out (almost at the level of a prosecutor), particularly the clauses pertaining to runaway adults and missing peoples - which comes as no surprise.
Inspector, you should be careful. Around here, there are no secrets. Someone, somewhere is always watching…
Lee Dong Sik
At around the same time, Han Ju Won (Yeo Jin Goo) an young, arrogant and anti-social inspector from Seoul gets transferred to the same police station Dong Sik works at. Ju Won is widely popular at the new station. With the exception of Dong Sik, all the officers try to get on his good side because his father, Han Ki Hwan (Choi Jin Ho) is likely going to become the next national police general commissioner. However, to both of their dismays, Dong Sik ends up being assigned as Ju Won’s senior partner as he gets to know the new territory.
Several years leading up to his transfer, Ju Won has been tracing the individuals and activities in Munju to get to the bottom of the serial cases back in 2000. As it turns out, he requested to be transferred to the provincial station in order to get closer to the people involved in the cases. While suspecting everyone and trusting nobody - including themselves and each other - Dong Sik and Ju Won use some unconventional and illegal means to find the real criminal behind the disappearances and murders since 2000 as well as some new ones that come along the way.
The Verdict
Overall Rating: 8/10
Let me tell you: I’m a sucker for a good anti-hero, so you can only imagine how much I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Dong Sik’s character progression. He presented as such a cold and rigid person in the beginning, but the more layers you peel off, the more you realize that his main motivation was to simply protect the townspeople. With all his duality, Dong Sik was actually the heart and soul of Munju.
The chemistry in this show between Shin Ha Kyun and Yeo Jin Goo was nothing short of spectacular. I particularly enjoyed the way Lee Dong Sik was portrayed as being rough-around-the-edges but actually level-headed against Han Ju Won’s impulsiveness and hot-headedness as a young detective.
I’m pretty sure that every. single. character (lead and supporting) was suspected of being the criminal throughout the show at least once. Coupled with the incredible writing, directing, cinematography and acting performances, I would say that Beyond Evil was rather good at tastefully taking the viewers on a spiral by twisting and turning every time you thought you were sure that any particular character was the culprit. Hands down: if The Penthouse series were not a makjang, it would’ve been pretty darn similar to this show - but better.
