Friday, May 31, 2019

339. My Fellow Citizens 국민 여러분 (2019) Korean

Choi Siwon, Lee Yoo Young, Kim Min Jung, Tae In Ho, Kim Eui Sung

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

While I loved this one a lot, I also think it could have been better. I loved those moments where the couple became a power couple, working together to track down and catch the bad guys. He had the conman brains and she was the muscle that made the thugs run. It was awesome. But, that didn't happen as much as I wanted, and a lot of the show was full of instead their marital problems caused by the fact that he was lying to her about being a conman and felt super guilty about it. The driving force of the show was that he would do anything to keep her from finding out, because then, being a cop, she would probably leave him.

So, with that being said, it was still super fun. It was a political comedy, the romance was very secondary because they get married at the beginning, so obviously there isn't going to be that "will they won't they" aspect. There is just the "will she actually figure it out this episode" aspect of it. That was also a strong point, because then it could focus completely on the comedy, and really everyone was funny.



It was a show full of good characters. I absolutely loved the villain, Hoo Ja, the loan shark with a political plan. She wants revenge for her father, who was conned out of 6 million by our hero, and also to get the interest rate regulations repealed. I think that Kim Min Jung did a fabulous job being a fabulous villain (looking her up to watch everything she's been in). Her English phrases, charisma, and confusion at some basic human emotions were just so fun. She really just stole every scene she was in. She was so confident and manipulative, but in a fun way. She also was super clever, which could get annoying, since we did want her to not win, but at the same time you had to love her. She was so classy, even in defeat. I guess she was more of an antagonist than a straight up villain. She wasn't a serial killer or anything, but she was classy and confident. Loved it.

I also loved the different crews. The scammers crew, especially Yang Jung Gook's sister the master of everything. I loved the loan sharks and their strange law abiding quirks while still being complete thugs (you can kill people, but you can't do an illegal U-turn?). I also loved the police team who were probably some of the more competent policemen you'll find in a drama, even if they still were susceptible to Hoo Ja's bribery. She is pretty irresistible when she bribes/threatens you. I even had a good love/hate relationship with the politicians, who were easily the most corrupt people in the show. This was 100% a statement, btw. The politicians were the real conmen. But even as they were despicable, they were also hilarious.

Also, while the romance wasn't a focus, I would say that the bromance was. We had Jung Gook and his brother-in-law/campaigning rival Sang Jin (who had a great story arch, btw), and Jung Gook and his campaign manager/former assemblyman Kim Joo Myung. We even have some womances too, like the mom and daughter cop team, who aren't really related. Or the two con girls who are always fighting but also beating up other people too, they made a good team.

So, beside the fact that I wanted more with the married couple, there is still a lot of it, and they are good. They do the real married couple well, from the ups to the downs. They have good chemistry. Which is why I wanted power couple mode more. I also wanted a little more satisfying of an ending. They kept it a bit open, but I think that was also partially to keep it somewhat realistic. But maybe it was just good enough that I wanted more. It was fun. It managed to make a statement while still also being really funny. It had some comedic gold moments. I recommend, but know that romance isn't the focus and that it is a 100% comedy about how messed up and corrupt politics is.