[Confession] Missing 9
Before anything else, I would like to define my drama reviewing:
First, I won't be posting episode recaps for dramas because i don't trust my character - I tend to get lazy when I have routines to accomplish and
Second, sometimes when I decide to watch a drama, I depend my continuance on the first episode. So if ever I am interested in a drama, I will watch the first episode and I will review it just to see how it goes. If I liked it, I'll have a continuation review after I finished the whole thing.
Kke, let's go! :D
Missing 9 came strong from my last Episode 1 review and it continues to peak my interest as they continued inhabiting the unfamiliar island. The suspense kept rolling as the episodes introduces more questions than answers when the survivors appears and starts living normal lives like nothing happened. Wait, wha-- sigh, I miss the island.
Here is the synopsis of the drama:
Nine (9) people from Legend Entertainment fly on a private plane to a concert. The 9 people consists of entertainers Seo Joon-O (Jung Kyoung-Ho), Choi Tae-Ho (Choi Tae-Joon), Ha Ji-A (Lee Sun-Bin), Lee Yeol (Chanyeol), Yoon So-Hee (Ryu Won) and staff members Ra Bong-Hee (Baek Jin-Hee), Jung Ki-Joon (Oh Jung-Se), Hwang Jae-Kook (Kim Sang-Ho), Tae Ho-Hang (Tae Hang-Ho). The plane then becomes involved in a mysterious crash. The 9 people survive, but are stranded on a deserted island.
4 months later, Ra Bong-Hee returns to South Korea as the only survivor & witness from the plane crash, but lost her memories.
Like I've said earlier, I've liked Missing 9 ever since seeing its concept of castaways. It was something untouched and I'd like to see how Korean treats this kind of genre. I love everything that happened on the island. It was so nice seeing people (artists) doing something unnatural without being judged. But soon after 4 months had gone and they were back home, there’s this suspension of disbelief and then there’s just throwing any notions of believability out the door. It suddenly didn't made sense anymore or it seems too manufactured just to create suspense. Matters worst, I’m still scratching my head over the way many of the characters’ stories were left sort of unfinished.
The most egregious offense is Tae Ho’s stupidly easy return to the Light Side, prompted only by Joon Oh asking him to stop and earning him total forgiveness and friendship. WELL DUH this is the guy who killed three of the survivors’ closest friends and attempted to kill most of the rest of them, but I guess he was sorry, so all is forgiven? And apparently, he doesn’t even serve any jail time? I’m sorry, but no, that’s not how it works. That is not someone you just let back into your life for the sake of adorable painting shenanigans (which was totally time wasting btw). And while I’m complaining about things that made no sense, how hard would it have been to give us some closure on Yeol? Okay okay, I admit that he’s not coming back, but it makes me sad that once they got back from the island he was just never mentioned again. I know Soo Hee's death was important but does that mean Yeol should just be buried unheard in their minds? This drama should be named MISSING YEOL instead to commemorate him.
Despite all, I did enjoy Missing 9 during its run. As many things as it did wrong, and they are numerous, it also did a lot of things right, mostly in terms of casting, which was pretty much perfect. I love their ensemble (as you can see in the pictures). Their characterizations were fantastic, the music was exceptional, and none of the castaways suffered from the same inconsistent personality issues as the bad guys back home. They all stayed true to themselves, and even after mostly changing for the better during their four-month island ordeal, they all acted predictably within their personalities. I really fell in love with all of them, and when I think back on Missing 9, it’s the people that will mostly stick with me. Most of them are underrated actors/actresses and they deserved more recognition for doing an incredible job.
I liked watching Joon Oh and Boo Hee. They're too cute to resist. Even though their supposed romance was light, it was something I was always looking forward to. I also love the funny antics of Joon Oh and Ki Joon. Everytime they bicker, everything suddenly becomes funny - that we’re not dealing with a serial killer and a corrupt establishment doing everything to keep that serial killer from facing justice. Yeah. it felt light.
Overall, the person who carried the show was Joon Oh and his journey to himself made which Missing 9 worth watching. Yes, the premise promised us quite a ride and failed but it's not as terrible as you think it is. But I warn you, if you're a fan of Chanyeol, better turn your back and walk away. Go. Now.
My Rating:
Plot: 7.5/10
Acting: 8.3/10
Cinematography: 9.0/10
Characters: 6.0/10
Uniqueness: 8.0/10
OVERALL RATING: 7.7