Drama Rating: 7/10 Neck Score: A+++
And then we have the villains. Choi Min Soo. I'm in love with him, basically. But I couldn't bring myself to watch his last drama, because yeah.... not going there. But he shined like gold in this. He's always a delight, and his conflicted gangster was just the best. His role wasn't the best written... or was it? I don't know, I can't tell, he played it so well no matter what. And his dynamic with Lee Hye Young was just awesome. Their power struggles, her detailed controlling, his crazy wildcard, it was just great. She was so classy that even though she was just despicable you had to love her all the same. And hate her, just loving to hate her and love her. She was a worthy villain.
All that aside, there were some definite plot problems. Twists that were ridiculous. But at the same time there was no way around them. They painted themselves into that corner so well that they had to blaze through to the end in what was probably one of the most ridiculous and soapy court scenes I've ever seen. It was so overly dramatic. Yeah, let's have a trial where the real person on trial is the judge, because that's not going to be awkward at all. It was dramatic to the entertaining point. I just laughed and rolled my eyes and laughed some more.
What made this show work was that it wasn't just the four main characters that were well cast. It was the whole ensemble. I was worried at first that the little thuggies that they absorbed into Lawless Lawyer were going to annoy the crap out of me, but they proved to be lovable too, goofy and ridiculous, but still lovable. There was a beautiful bromance that developed between the little thuggy leader and Gwang Soo, Joon Ki's right hand muffin- who, for a gangster, was the smiliest person ever. Like seriously, all he did was smile after they established Lawless Lawyer. He was adorable. I did miss Little Thuggy Leader's hair and beard after his mid-show clean up. That beard gave him some distinction. And Choi Min Soo's little gangster minion was surprisingly lovable too. Why is everyone so good at what they do?
The only people I hated were the prosecutor and her crazy mom (who I also had to begrudgingly like, because that actress is also amazing, and that's why I was able to hate her character so much). That prosecutor girl was just annoying. She always had this smug face that made me want to punch it. And she was Hong Bin's annoying first love in Wednesday at 3:30. Boo that.
But when that power couple went to work, that was just the best. I loved that they got together early too, so the drama wasn't about them getting together, but about them getting revenge together. That made it nice. For a revenge drama, it was pretty up there. It was pretty up there for a law drama too. In the tight story line it faltered a bit. It just gave too much credit to the villain, but at the same time it worked in how they wrote it. I guess it was just a gutsy move for them that only kind of worked. It mostly just erred on being overly dramatic, but they pulled it off. It was certainly enjoyable. It got a bit heavy at times too, which I like. Overall, I guess it really does deserve a 7. Joon Ki's neck and jawline deserve a 10, and I don't know if I've ever been so attracted to Choi Min Soo. There is this fight at the end where I don't know where to look cause both Joon Ki and Min Soo are just so flipping hot that I can't handle it. And when Choi Min Soo get's all roughed up and goes back to his gangster roots, flip, he is a sexy ahjussi. So basically, it's totally worth it, just know that it's going to be dramatic. It's a revenge law drama, of course it is. But since it's Joon Ki, it's also an action drama, and that is the best. Mmmmm, yeah.
