The Virus
So I finished watching yet another Kdrama series. This is like my longest streak yet... finishing so many kdrama series, new or old.Even surpasses my longest streak for jdramas. Haha~
The Virus
I ended up watching this series due to me being able to watch KIX channel atm as that channel happened to be airing Kdrama series from OCN. Kinda lucky...
So the plot was about a deadly new flu virus hitting South Korea and the CDC team having to try racing against time to find a cure/vaccine to prevent more death from occurring to those infected. There are intricate conspiracies involved as later on the team; lead by Squad Leader Lee Myeong Hyeon (Uhm Ki Joon), found out that the mutated virus were intentionally used/released in order for certain parties to gain profits from. Profits? Well... from the vaccine needed to counter the pandemic, of course. In a way, the drama shows how some would go too far in order to profit themselves at the expense of innocent lives. It does makes one question the moral codes/ethical values involved.
Having said that, it's kinda sad that the series was only 10 episodes long. Because I would have wanted more, even if it's just the lesser scenes of the smaller fishes being punished. Still, the drama wrapped well... and the open ending kinda promised the possibility of a sequel. Hopefully. Because as long as the big boss was free out there... means that there's still more things for our heroes to fight for.
Personally, I find the ending (and overall plot) well written. And that last few scenes kinda give you an impression that it might be possible for the various flu pandemic to be staged intentionally by people who have the ability to create more dangerous virus. As the times progress, there was that possibility after all. That in order to gain profit in the field of medicine, one creates a situation that may appear dire. After al, what use is a vaccine if there wasn't any virus? And considering they were aiming for a super-vaccine... a super virus must exist first before the use of it could be worth. So yea, a good series.
Frankly, it was an interesting thing... to see Uhm Ki Joon play a good guy. And I can see that this role was quite challenging to him as it required a lot of physical work. Very well done indeed~
So I don't quite get it when I read how people weren't satisfied with the ending. To me, that one was good... and realistic. Since the enemy wasn't just the pharmaceutical company... and involved too many powerful figures that defeating them would involve real complicated procedures, considering it involved politics. In life, the good guys don't always get to win... and sometimes winning could require them even more arduous obstacles to encounter. In which, there was the basis for more sequels. So hopefully if the writers wanted to continue this, they could maintain the feel and style. This drama turned out to be another of the series that stands out from the normal clichés of genres most prevalent in Kdramas.
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That aside, the good government ministers at the blue house to me were kinda idiots as well. I mean... that Global Life guy was suspicious from the get go with all the talks about profits and 'benefits' and 'lucky accident' and the fact he referred to the people that died due to the AI as 'part of the history' as well as calling the virus as the 'virus of the ages'. That was some very suspicious talk there.... how can they NOT suspect a thing? And the director expects Myeong Hyeon to trust them? Like seriously...
They were so afraid of being called incompetent in managing the issue regarding the infections, that they easily got sucked silly by the corporation by making that stupid deal. Desperation don't even cut it, I'd say. Had the director NOT stopped the backup from helping the team to capture In Cheol in Gangnam station, Kim In Cheol would have been recovered (and his antibody) much earlier and there won't be a need for Global Life. That deal was a double-edged sword... and you can clearly see there that pride/personal profits overcome common sense. And also, just because you got that deal already, doesn't mean you could just ignore other matters and just cover it up. The main priority should have been to save the lives of the infected, not protecting themselves or taking the easier way out without considering all other alternatives.
In that line as well... I'm glad that the chief of the blue house got his punishment. Not that resignation thing.... but the death of his son. That was minor... considering his part in the plan but to me, it still count. Same as Hwang Seon Suk, cos in the end... he was also expendable. His plan B might have spared him punishment from the law, but that didn't spared his life afterwards.
I felt bad about Kim Se Jin, though now that I thought back... he might also be aware that Global Life still have some extra future plans to make an even deadlier virus in the future. Thus him experimenting on himself. Partially as punishment as well as an attempt to redeem himself. But I agreed with Myeong Hyeon, the method and his justification was wrong. There's a difference between a contagion mutating to become resistant to current anti-virals naturally and a man-induced mutated virus that killed people.That's biological terrorism disguised as a pandemic.
So really hoped there be a season two, since there's still a lot of issues that can be touched. That aside, I want an intense confrontation between Myeong Hyeon with Ju Yeong. Cos that 'sorry' don't cut it. It's not just about Su In's life; because of her... Reporter Jeong, Kim In Cheol, countless many other lives have been killed. No amount of sorry can ever absolve her crimes.
This entry was originally posted on Kaleidoscope World.
The Virus
I ended up watching this series due to me being able to watch KIX channel atm as that channel happened to be airing Kdrama series from OCN. Kinda lucky...
So the plot was about a deadly new flu virus hitting South Korea and the CDC team having to try racing against time to find a cure/vaccine to prevent more death from occurring to those infected. There are intricate conspiracies involved as later on the team; lead by Squad Leader Lee Myeong Hyeon (Uhm Ki Joon), found out that the mutated virus were intentionally used/released in order for certain parties to gain profits from. Profits? Well... from the vaccine needed to counter the pandemic, of course. In a way, the drama shows how some would go too far in order to profit themselves at the expense of innocent lives. It does makes one question the moral codes/ethical values involved.
Having said that, it's kinda sad that the series was only 10 episodes long. Because I would have wanted more, even if it's just the lesser scenes of the smaller fishes being punished. Still, the drama wrapped well... and the open ending kinda promised the possibility of a sequel. Hopefully. Because as long as the big boss was free out there... means that there's still more things for our heroes to fight for.
Personally, I find the ending (and overall plot) well written. And that last few scenes kinda give you an impression that it might be possible for the various flu pandemic to be staged intentionally by people who have the ability to create more dangerous virus. As the times progress, there was that possibility after all. That in order to gain profit in the field of medicine, one creates a situation that may appear dire. After al, what use is a vaccine if there wasn't any virus? And considering they were aiming for a super-vaccine... a super virus must exist first before the use of it could be worth. So yea, a good series.
Frankly, it was an interesting thing... to see Uhm Ki Joon play a good guy. And I can see that this role was quite challenging to him as it required a lot of physical work. Very well done indeed~
So I don't quite get it when I read how people weren't satisfied with the ending. To me, that one was good... and realistic. Since the enemy wasn't just the pharmaceutical company... and involved too many powerful figures that defeating them would involve real complicated procedures, considering it involved politics. In life, the good guys don't always get to win... and sometimes winning could require them even more arduous obstacles to encounter. In which, there was the basis for more sequels. So hopefully if the writers wanted to continue this, they could maintain the feel and style. This drama turned out to be another of the series that stands out from the normal clichés of genres most prevalent in Kdramas.
-----
That aside, the good government ministers at the blue house to me were kinda idiots as well. I mean... that Global Life guy was suspicious from the get go with all the talks about profits and 'benefits' and 'lucky accident' and the fact he referred to the people that died due to the AI as 'part of the history' as well as calling the virus as the 'virus of the ages'. That was some very suspicious talk there.... how can they NOT suspect a thing? And the director expects Myeong Hyeon to trust them? Like seriously...
They were so afraid of being called incompetent in managing the issue regarding the infections, that they easily got sucked silly by the corporation by making that stupid deal. Desperation don't even cut it, I'd say. Had the director NOT stopped the backup from helping the team to capture In Cheol in Gangnam station, Kim In Cheol would have been recovered (and his antibody) much earlier and there won't be a need for Global Life. That deal was a double-edged sword... and you can clearly see there that pride/personal profits overcome common sense. And also, just because you got that deal already, doesn't mean you could just ignore other matters and just cover it up. The main priority should have been to save the lives of the infected, not protecting themselves or taking the easier way out without considering all other alternatives.
In that line as well... I'm glad that the chief of the blue house got his punishment. Not that resignation thing.... but the death of his son. That was minor... considering his part in the plan but to me, it still count. Same as Hwang Seon Suk, cos in the end... he was also expendable. His plan B might have spared him punishment from the law, but that didn't spared his life afterwards.
I felt bad about Kim Se Jin, though now that I thought back... he might also be aware that Global Life still have some extra future plans to make an even deadlier virus in the future. Thus him experimenting on himself. Partially as punishment as well as an attempt to redeem himself. But I agreed with Myeong Hyeon, the method and his justification was wrong. There's a difference between a contagion mutating to become resistant to current anti-virals naturally and a man-induced mutated virus that killed people.That's biological terrorism disguised as a pandemic.
So really hoped there be a season two, since there's still a lot of issues that can be touched. That aside, I want an intense confrontation between Myeong Hyeon with Ju Yeong. Cos that 'sorry' don't cut it. It's not just about Su In's life; because of her... Reporter Jeong, Kim In Cheol, countless many other lives have been killed. No amount of sorry can ever absolve her crimes.
This entry was originally posted on Kaleidoscope World.