Confession (2019)

The basic premise does not stray from the power politics Korean crime dramas habitually highlight, but what sets Confession apart is its execution.

From the get-go, Confession was promising. The first case was exciting, given the unpredictability of the suspect. And so that path led the characters to other, overlapping ones, and they led to the final destination. The writer gave liberty to the audience to explore various scenarios along with the characters. Next thing you know, you are invested in the plot. My favourite occurrences happened in the court - it was a pleasure to see Choi Do Hyun / the lead cleverly handle affairs. Sometimes, particularly in the first half, you would expect the plot to go another direction, and may even want that to happen (like myself), but the second half ensured me that the writer knew what they were doing. The pace was maintained - it may have slowed in the middle, but not unnecessarily. The characters had connections with each other due to a single event - it's nothing new in kdramaland. yet it was impactful. I had a few complaints with regards to how distant the characters felt, but my worries were eased by episode 11.

I was torn about how I should rate the acting. The actors were not given roles that were complex, but they were not simple either, so I was satisfied but not won over. I was about to settle with 8.5, but one performance stood out to me, and I believe I will not do the actor justice by being greedy. He had a small role, but it has left an impact on many, including me: the suspect in the first case, played by Ryu Gyeong Su. He stole the spotlight. He was the character I was most drawn to, and I anticipated his appearance each episode. Of course, the main cast did good with what they were given. Lee Jun Ho was persuasive in his composed portrayal, and others stayed true to their respective roles. What I appreciated was the female leads' harmonious teamwork, and their guts, especially Ha Yoo Ri.

I liked the instrumental they used. It could be loud in certain instances, but I liked how it added to the moment and nature of the drama. The OSTs were not played, so I have no comments on that.

I am not sure if one would rewatch it, knowing all the progressions in plot. If you are someone like me, you might want to watch Choi Do Hyun being a smartass in court.

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Clever as a devil?

Jun Ho's character, Do Hyun, is a figure of heroic magnitude and energy. He deliberates, resolves and exults. His "spirit" bears up unbroken, resting on its own energy and requiring no support from anything external, not even from hope itself

He undercuts his opponents by questioning what they had previously taken for granted. At times, he seems to be the only character who thinks, or in whom I best recognize what it feels like to think

The power to entangle and excite the audience is an observable feature of his figure. The greatness of his intellect lies in his intemperateness and ferocity

His heart is a tempestuous ocean, its "spirit" of justice/revenge the prow of a gallant ship, its sympathy the waves caressing the shoreline, and its determination the stormclouds that darken the horizon and bring the promise of cleansing rain. The "spirit" of justice/revenge is enhanced by the strain of something approaching tenderness. We see it again when Jun Ho (Do Hyun) is moved towards sympathy for those falsely accused of a crime. His will-power is not the expression of a nature irrevocably hardened or incapable of gentle emotion

What's missing? A season 2. Or a BL spin-off starring a man who will mend Jun Ho (Do Hyun)'s heart and wipe away his tears

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I do not know why no one is talking about this drama because it is amazing. Confession is a Korean law and mystery drama with great lead characters and villains. It's a dark drama that discusses corruption in the court, in the government and in the military, and its impact on families. The cast was amazing in this drama. Thank you Lee Junho and Yoo Jae Myung for being phenomenal leads. The soundtrack was great and it fit the drama very well. I would totally recommend this drama and would totally rewatch it again if I have the time to do so. If you're searching for romance then this drama isn't for you because there isn't any.

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OK. I didn’t think this drama was going to be as good as it was so... GO & WATCH IT. You won’t be disappointed. Every episode left me on the edge of my seat. I love the story line because it’s unpredictable, flows very well, and there is many very interesting twists & I didn’t really see any plot holes. I didn’t even fiend one episode so be boring.

I really liked the characters from the lawyer, the detective, and even the criminals. The characters were well written and acted. I didn’t have even one moment when I thought a character was naive/not making sense. There is nothing more frustrating than that! All characters were smart and good at their roles. This drama even had you sympathizing with the criminals who were affected by the main villains.

Anyway, if you love corruption and criminal dramas, you should definitely watch it. It reminds me kind of the drama “Stranger” that I really loved and also recommend.

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I wish I could give this show a rating of 100/10.

Loved the story, the cast, their acting, the ost, the chemistry of all four leads with each other, the relationships they formed, the development in their lives over the course of the show, EVERYTHING.

LOVED Lee Jun-Ho's chemistry with every single person in the show, LOVED THE FATHER SON BONDING MOMENTS BETWEEN HIM AND HIS ACTUAL FATHER, AND ALSO BETWEEN HIM AND DETECTIVE CHUN-HO, in most of those scenes I was sitting with a big smile on my face!!!
LOVED watching Madame Jin, her role was perfection, and the actress was tailored for it and I loved watching a woman in a role like that.

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Came for Lee Junho, stayed for everything else

Confession is not a slick KDrama pushed out by platforms like Netflix that tries to be flashy to grab attention, but rather, Confession is crime in its purest form, and I highly respect and appreciate that.

I was on a Lee Junho drama marathon, and therefore stumbled upon this one without too many expectations and my God was this binge-worthy. I've seen plenty of Korean Crime dramas, and this show quickly became one of my favourites which is why I'm surprised this does not seem to have much hype (perhaps it's too realistic?)

Knowing that Yoo Jaemyung (who played Ki Choonho) is also a talented actor that I've seen in plenty of other dramas, it certainly lived up to my expectations. The story writing stood out most to me - the way that the plot seemed to veer into many unrelated paths in the beginning, only to all come back tying nicely together for the finale. The pacing was on point, not too slow nor long. Each episode left viewers with many questions, just like the characters themselves, but also leaving us wanting more - as though we are trying to solve the puzzle alongside the characters which really gets the viewer invested.

Going back to my realistic point, this show is definitely no frills no fanciness typically found in other KDramas (like Vincenzo - don't get me wrong I love Vincenzo for the extravagance and humour). This show is just pure focus on fighting corruption and rooting for justice to prevail. We actually don't find out much about the character's personalities or personal lives other than what is relevant to the story. However, this didn't prevent the viewer from becoming invested in the show. To some, this might make the characters feel a bit unfinished (?), but I feel like this was an intentional decision to keep the focus on the already complicated story, rather than being distracted by the characters' personal lives. This really worked in favour for the show.

On a side note, I was also impressed with Junho's acting. Confession, to me was the drama that really solidified his career and transition from an idol to an actor. By far his acting in Confession is miles better than his previous roles. It got to the point where I actually forgot he was Lee Junho from 2PM, but Choi Dohyun the Lawyer (whereas in other dramas, I'm still painstakingly aware that he is Lee Junho). Well done Junho.

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Rien de nouveau mais qui se laisse regarder

C'est un peu injuste, une critique de 2022 sur un drama de 2019 aura sûrement plus de point négatif à souligner. Ceci dit, en toute honnêteté, je ne pense pas qu'en le regardant en 2019, mon avis aurait pu avoir une différence notable.

C'est un scénario qui tire sur les ficelles classiques, d'enquête en enquête les pièces d'un puzzle révèlent peu à peu un monde où l'argent et le pouvoir se côtoient joyeusement. La première affaire est plutôt réussie et la mise en bouche intéressante. Bien que le mécanisme soit déjà connu, on prend un certain plaisir à voir s'imbriquer les pièces manquantes et l'affaire se dévoiler au fur et à mesure. La première partie du drama est donc plutôt intéressante. Qui plus est, j'ai apprécié les parties où Do Hyun doit défendre son client, révélant l'acuité de ses observations et sa pugnacité, ainsi que la maitrise de ses émotions. Je regrette que cela ne concerne que quelques épisodes.

Là où le bât blesse est donc la seconde moitié du drama avec le rideau qui tombe. Sans être à la recherche de sensation forte, j'avoue que l'écriture des personnages n'est pas le point fort de ce drama. La promesse d'antagonistes, tout comme de protagonistes, puissants, charismatiques n'est pas tenue. La révélation de ce qui cache derrière ledit complot n'est pas transcendants non plus. A la lecture "du véritable pouvoir", excitation et réflexion ne sont qu'éphémère, dès que l'on découvre ce "véritable pouvoir", nous en sommes déçus. Les personnages campant ce véritable pouvoir n'ont aucune séduction malveillante, ni de justesse dans leur jeu.
Juste des "méchants" animés de bas instincts, typiques, rien d'épique....
Ne leur cherchez pas de profondeur, on ne s'y noie pas. Les antagonistes sont juste avides de pouvoir et d'argent. Ils semblent être privés de passé, de vie privé, de morale, de toute essence, en dehors de ce drama, ils n'auraient aucune existence, aucune légitimé. Et par dessus tout, ils sont prévisibles. Que cela soit dans leur réplique ou dans leur action.

Les protagonistes? Non sans être totalement dénués d'intérêt, ils sont loin d'être la panacée de dramaland.
Je leur reproche ici leur manque d'émotion. On a du mal à y croire, à ressentir ces émotions qui devraient être intenses. Au lieu de cela, on assiste à toutes leurs scènes avec indifférence. C'est embêtant lorsque certains des personnages souffrent de la perte d'un être cher, les menant sur ce chemin de croix.
Il y a un manque d'alchimie certain entre eux, ne serait-ce que dans leur gesture. Il n'y a pas de regards ou de mimique parlant, de répliques démontrant de la force d'un lien.
Ici, seule la volonté de découvrir la vérité les amène à être ensemble. En dehors de cela, ici aussi, ils n'auraient aucune raison d'être ensemble. La relation entre Do Hyun et Yoo Ri est fade et nous n'arrivons pas à imaginer l'amitié que les lie. Le duo Do Hyun/Choon Ho fiable et basé sur un respect mutuel a pourtant du mal à nous apporter cette dimension, cette flamme que l'on peut retrouver chez d'autres duo comme les pétillants Shen Yi/Du Cheng (Under the Skin) ou l'hilarant Kim Hae Il/Goo Dae Young (The fiery priest)....
Les deux protagonistes féminins sont ici pour apporter cette douceur, cette sagesse d'une attitude modérée et cette persistance que leur donne le droit d'avoir vécue l'insoutenable. Plutôt loyales et compétentes, je leur reproche surtout d'être souvent au deuxième plan, et de ne pas avoir assez de présence que cela soit soit aussi bien au sens propre que figurée.
Pour exemple, Wang'er (Joy of Life) n'est pas à proprement parler un protagoniste qui remplit l'écran par le temps qui lui est accordé. Nous pourrions nous amuser à chronométrer les peu de fois où elle apparait. Et pourtant, peu importe son peu de temps de présence, peu importe qu'elle soit à l'arrière plan, elle est irremplaçable, représentant un univers que l'actrice a su rendre indispensable, nous éblouissant à chacune de ses interactions avec Fan Xian....

C'est donc un drama qui ne restera pas ancré dans notre mémoire. Il n'est ni mauvais, ni bon et se laissera toutefois regarder, entre midi et deux à la pause déjeuner par exemple.

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Right off the bat, this drama is very similar to Stranger in its approach to storytelling as it is in terms of the overall quality. In fact, if you really love Stranger, it is a given that you have to watch this drama as well because you will not be disappointed.

The style of storytelling follows such that there is a main arch in the story which becomes the focal point of investigation interest by the lead characters (which I find the most skilful way of writing a crime/investigation stories because you are less likely to end up with problematic plot holes). There are no filler cases that are thrown in between because everything serves a purpose/puzzle case to the main story arch (so in that way, it's praise-worthy very neatly done). The other law drama that has multiple filler cases thrown in and therefore dragged or loses steam midway in its storytelling of the main antagonist is Suspicious Partner. You can be assured that didn't happen here. Side note: you must watch Hello Monster if you liked Suspicious Partner (same writer but miles better).

The biggest strength of this drama is its plotline, it's so incredibly sophisticated. Stranger skilfully develops its story and events around multiple main characters who are shaded to be the main culprit, whilst in Confession, the writer identifies the antagonists head-on but shades their level of involvement in the main story arch. In both stories there are similar themes: 1) crime cases that lead to a bigger corruption case and 2) support cast antagonists who are involved in a murder case and have an association with the main culprit.

That being said, although I am a huge fan of the writer's skilful writing, I find the writing of the characters incredibly dry. This is the first of anything I have seen Lee Jun Ho in, and I must admit that he's a very strong actor, but his character is very bland and often times stoic. There were only a few moments where we get to see him loosen up with Detective Ki, but they were very limited! There's also very limited chill interaction between Choi Do Hyun and his other teammates at the law office which I find regretful because there was definitely a potential to make their interactions much more interesting. What made me pulled through most times is really the gorgeousness of Lee Jun Ho (in physicality besides his great acting).

In that sense, the quartet is only brought into the story to add usefulness to the main investigation, and they were not given enough colours/layers to add balance or loosen the overall tension/mood/temperament of the story. This is why by the time I arrived at the last three/four episodes, I was already very exhausted from watching it and moved around shows a lot until I finally landed on Doctor Prisoner (which I happen to finish first without intending). True enough, the eventual downfall of the main villains in this story felt slightly lacklustre in the last two episodes given their evil forms are not given enough impact - again, it's the problem with the way of their characterization rather than the story itself.

What I am saying here is, if you want to see how the main/support characters can be incredibly interesting or tastefully written in a revenge thriller drama, then Doctor Prisoner is THE place to go to.

The BGM at the end of every episode is really great and fit nicely to the overall temperament of the story, and the rewatch value for this one is probably average due to the nature of the genre itself.

The last scene, ouhh the last scene by Choi Do Hyun wearing that uniform in the court was such a blessing to the eye. Not giving any spoiler here, but that man is just so gorgeous! The ending is so nicely done, and now this drama is complete to me, LOL.

Overall, I'd say in a heartbeat that this show definitely sits in the top tier of law K-Dramas of all time. I had no choice but to deduct marks because the characters can be too bland/stiff to my liking, but the story itself is definitely worth 9 stars and above (especially if what bothered me does not bother you).

Enjoy your watch!

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