If you are a thriller K-drama fan, it is hard to miss Signal. This 2016 drama does not just end at the thrill and that is what makes it a more than memorable watch. Its emotional quotient is great, and the nostalgia, as is expected from a timeline juxtaposition, seeps into every frame. Starring Korean acting greats Lee Je-hoon, Kim Hye-soo and Cho Jin-woong, Signal stays with you long after the end credits have rolled.
Plot Pot
Park Hae-young (Lee Je-hoon) is a criminal profiler. At the beginning of the drama, he picks up an old and discarded walkie talkie, about to be trashed, and hears a disembodied voice coming from it. While he is highly confused, he follows the voice, which ultimately leads him to solve the current kidnapping case he is on and whose culprit had mysteriously disappeared. The solving of this case gets widespread public attention and he is put on a newly formed Cold Case squad with detective Cha Soo-hyun (Kim Hye-soo).
Meanwhile, the voice on the other side of the walkie-talkie is revealed to be Soo-hyun’s mentor, Detective Lee Jae-han (Cho Jin-woong), who had gone missing while on a case, almost 15 years ago.
Jae-han is as confused to contact Hae-young as the profiler is, because not only do they not know each other at all (or so they think), they also exist at different times. However, both soon realise that they can help solve cold cases with their communication. But, tampering with past incidents and timelines has its own repercussions and although their intentions may have been good, it is not exactly smooth sailing.
As the drama progresses, we see multiple cold cases crop up and they are not all independent from each other. Some of them are also based on real-life cases, making them more chilling and police corruption is rife. Most pertinently, Hae-young, Soo-hyun and Jae-han are themselves interconnected in more ways than one. Moreover, there is an unsaid truth that lurks around — Jae-han does not exist in the current timeline, meaning he is probably dead. When a wide-eyed, young Soo-hyun had first joined the department as the only female officer, Jae-han had been a dismissive and cold but constant presence and admiration had blossomed. But over the years, Soo-hyun had buried that desire even as she searched for her sunbaenim (senior, especially at work).
The tight plot of Signal keeps the audience hooked even as it weaves in and out of several plotlines. The transitions are many, but they are smooth and sensical, engaging the viewer. It focuses less on flashy cinematography and way more on the emotional depth of its characters. Like with all good police procedural series, it also manages to involve the audience into the mystery at hand, so that they too have a stake in the answer that ultimately emerges. At the same time, its supernatural aspect, and the limitations of it (given that the walkie-talkie only sparks up at a particular time every day) makes it a distinct watch. Although Signal comes to an open ending, it is also a hopeful one.
Genre: Thriller, tearjerker
Where to Watch: Netflix
You Will Love It If You Love:
- Parallel timelines
- Ultimate victory of goodness
- Crime-solving partners
- Police procedural dramas
The Telegraph rating: 4.5/5
Characters We Treasure
Lee Je-hoon as Park Hae-young: A sharp criminal profiler, Park Hae-young is angry at the system he works for. As he strikes up the unlikely alliance with Lee Jae-han, he also works to find out the truth behind his brother’s untimely death.
We also loved him in: Taxi Driver, Move to Heaven
Kim Hye-soo as Cha Soo-hyun: Cha Soo-hyun is stoic but caring, dedicatedly working on cases even when others might have given up on it. Although she doesn’t let on much, she is ardently searching for her senior even after all the years.
We also loved her in: Hyena, Juvenile Justice
Cho Jin-woong as Lee Jae-han: An upright and diligent police detective, Jae-han is clumsy, idealistic, almost naive and seriously needs to work on his social skills, but his dedication to his work is unwavering. He is brave and unwavering but his law-abiding nature earns him many enemies as well.
We also loved him in: The Handmaiden, Deep Rooted Tree
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