Dark Hole (2021)

A different kind of pandemic

Much like how we’re all wearing our face masks to curb covid-infections these days, the folks in Dark Hole are doing the same but for a different outbreak - the kind that turns human beings into mindless zombies/ monsters/ mutants, though with varying effects for each person. So what makes this drama different from other similar stories and should you really be watching it? Let’s find out...

What is it about?

On the surface, it’s another zombie/ monster apocalypse story that draws parallels with the likes of Kingdom, Sweet Home, Rampant, Train to Busan, and even Joseon Exorcist. I haven’t seen #Alive and Peninsula but based on the synopsis and trailers, they appear to share a very similar premise).

But where Dark Hole differs from the rest lie in 3 aspects:
- The original source of the infection is extra-terrestrial
- The method of transmission is via a rather ominous black smoke (as well as bites/ scratches, apparently)
- The intended purpose of all this, which I won’t spoil here (to be honest, I’m not completely sure myself)

It’s an inventive spin on a well-loved and long-established genre. South Koreans sure love their zombies.

The Plot

Far-fetched with seemingly endless sub-plots and countless characters. As far as apocalypse stories are concerned, this one infuses far more elements than I’ve noticed in other dramas. It’s set in modern-day South Korea in the small town of Muji. The scope of the story covers the entire town and in addition to the overarching mystery, we have mini character arcs, of which there are plenty. The notable action takes place at 5 main locations - the forest where the titular chasm lies, the local high school, the hypermarket, the municipal hospital, and one more which I won’t reveal to keep the suspense alive.

Speaking of story arcs, we have plotlines relating to a female police detective with a tragic past who is in pursuit of a serial killer who caused said tragedy; a “disgraced” former police constable with a sad family tragedy of his own which inadvertently resulted in his expulsion from the police force; a scorned female shaman who rediscovers her spiritual powers including the gift of precognition; a high school senior who is a victim of conspiratorial cover up pertaining to her father’s fatal accident, in addition to being bullied by her schoolmates led by a high school dropout who constantly harasses her. It doesn’t end there. Many more secondary characters with their respective mini arcs are featured throughout. The one thing most of them have in common, is their respective tragic backstories.

This drama is certainly not uneventful - the many characters and side stories make sure of that. The screenwriter is trying to interweave all these stories into the main plot but I think somewhere along the way, the overarching story very nearly got completely overshadowed. After a rather promising start with much potential, I found myself getting a little restless around the halfway mark. Having introduced the new characters into the story, their side stories eventually fizzle out without the slightest connotation of how they are connected to the situation at present.

For the most part, the script and characters are adequately written, with the main issue being that too many elements are included. Even for a 12-episode drama, it does feel a little dragged out with too many unnecessary sub-plots and characters. 8 to 10 episodes would have sufficed and probably 3 or 4 characters and their story arcs should have been left out. In the end they amounted to nothing anyway and I found myself hard-pressed to develop much, if any, emotional attachments to.

The Production

Dark Hole is an OCN production and billed as the fifth entry to its Dramatic Cinema Project, which is an initiative by the broadcast network to showcase the essence of well-made genres via productions that combine the format of movies and dramas. I think what this basically means is dramas that are the crème de la crème of OCN productions. I’m not exactly sure if this drama is deserving of that billing but for context, the first four entries to this project are Trap, Hell is Other People, Team Bulldog and Search.

The first ever drama directed by Kim Bong Joo, the screenplay is written by Jung Yi Do. Those familiar with his works would be aware that highly rated dramas Save Me and Strangers from Hell were written by him.

In general this is a decent production with regards to the technical aspects. The down-to-earth action sequences appear realistic while the use of visual effects in particular for “that thing” is appropriately utilized. The production design and use of multiple filming locations are seemingly well rendered. However, there isn’t much of a soundtrack or musical score of note to write home about. The stock music and sound effects used are serviceable for their intended purposes.

The Acting

One of the main reasons I watched Dark Hole, aside from the fact that I love this genre and to ease my bitter disappointment from seeing Joseon Exorcist being cancelled, is Kim Ok Bin. It’s my first time seeing her drama in its entirety. Having caught glimpses of her in The Villainess and other productions, I’m aware of her reputation and credentials as well as recognition of her previous efforts for which she has received a great many acting honours. For this drama, being the FL Detective Lee Hwa Sun of the Seoul Regional Investigation Unit, I have absolutely no complaints with her performance. Understated, nuanced, and charismatic, she is good value for her portrayal and I’m a new fan.

Lee Joon Hyuk is an interesting choice for the role of ML Yoo Tae Han, although at times his character feels more like a supporting role than the lead. I’m more used to seeing him in suits after Stranger 1 and 2, but he was convincing as a decorated soldier in Designated Survivor as well. He gives a satisfactory portrayal of his role here, where he does carry the persona of a likeable character who would be great in a leadership role during times of crisis.

The rest of the cast, including the child actors, give a decent account of themselves. Special mention goes to Oh Yu Jin who plays the schoolgirl Han Dong Rim. My first time seeing this 21 year-old actress, I thought she did a remarkable job in projecting the chilling aura of mystery and eeriness surrounding her troubled and complicated character, which is one of the few in the show that I truly relished.

Overall

In my humble opinion, Dark Hole is not the best in the genre. But if you’re a fan of zombie apocalypse stories or any of the cast or even an OCN follower, this drama might appeal to you despite its flaws. It doesn’t end in a cliffhanger and I doubt there would be a sequel or continuation to the story, therefore providing viewers with a closure where everything is neatly wrapped up.

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Good show, bad ending. TW: Violence & Gore

Dark Hole is a zombie apocalypse Kdrama with a slight touch of supernaturalism and fantasy with ths likes of Sweet Home but unlike Train to Busan which is a typically pure zombie drama.

T W: As the name suggests, the drama is dark, gore and scary. If your over-sensitive and fragile, watch it with precautions.

The drama is set up in a semi-urban South Korean city, Muji in the Jeolla province and involves a number of characters that includes major, supporting, minor to very minor ones just like a survival series should have. The drama focuses on a city mass-survival efforts of different groups of people. The main plotline mentioned above also includes few other major plots for the lead characters and numerous subplots to fit in the concept of compelling individual's interred angst for someone who has done injustice to them.

Dark Hole is about an extra-terrestrial being with unlimited power of rapid mutation. The method of changing people into mutants is the transmission of spore like black substances via a foggy smoke which turns people into monsters with immense power. The purpose is to gain control over human beings.

The most prominent character is a detective who comes to Muji to catch a serial killer, an ex-policeman who works as a towman, chief of a sub- police station, a failed shaman always seeking authority over people, a highschool girl, victim of tragic incidents and a 10yo girl who lost her mother in that incident; everyone commonly sharing a cataclysmic past. Unlike Sweet Home where everyone was stuck in the same building, Dark Hole has different group of people stuck at different places trying to run away from the mutants as well as the black smoke and escape from one place to another. And in that courses, they're separated and unified multiple times.

Most important part about this drama is that the plot development and twists at any instances will make you doubt about the genre of the drama. At a point you'll think it's zombie horror, but next you'll assume it to be sci-fi and after a while it will feel it's supernatural and so on. The fact that the writer kept us intrigued till the end proves how great he's as a screenwriter. FYI, the Jung Yi Do jakka-nim is the writer of dramas like "Save Me" and "Strangers from Hell". And for the matter of fact, Kim Bong Joo pdnim has done a very great job as the director even though it's his first, so a big round of applause for him.

The major cast has done their roles pretty well, specifically Lee Joon Hyuk, for whom a majority of people took interest in this drama has undoubtedly played his charismatic and daring character throughout the drama giving a satisfying result. Also, Kim Ok Bin noona's fierce character is such a treat; her acting, the stunt scenes and the moments she had to deal with the monster in the void, everything was accurate. Oh Yu Jin, the one playing the highschool girl had a difficult task to do but she has done a remarkable job too. Im Won Hae as a police officer is bit namby-pamby yet manages to handle things by risking his life for the honor of his job.

Screen editing, connecting plots, proper organisation of subplot are very good in the drama but some things are making me complain which I am pointing out. Even though the drama is a mixture of so many subplots to keep it intense and eventful, the cause of the drama seemed lost when the drama was heading towards the end; few of the plots perished into nothingness.

Around the midway of the 10th episode, the plot gradually started fastening that gave the feelings that they're trying to rush things but still manageable till the end of 11th episode. But what happenes in the 12th episode which is the finale was totally disappointing. They rushed the entire thing; given that so many things happened in just that episode, they could have extended it to one more episode giving it a smooth goodbye but Idk where did it go wrong. This very good drama just turned into an average thing just because of that episode. This indeed is an missed opportunity and could have been a lotttt better. They simply could have otherwise pur less content which would have not made it look rushed.

I am actually sad that it turned out be this after showing us it's potential during the entire thing but overally, it's not a bad show. I would rate 8.5 to it if I don't consider the last episode.

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More genres, less content and even less value

This is the epitome of how mix-matching everything almost never leads to good results. The narrative is roughly what you'd expect from someone with attention deficit issues. It starts off trying to be this, then it tries to be that, "-- oh that sounds cool, let's add that too," would be an accurate way to sum up the writer's thought process.

First it starts off as criminal investigation theme, then it goes into science-fiction, then onto supernatural, then back to criminal investigation, followed by pseudo-scientific, mind-numbing supernatural drama, carried out with the spice of pretentious detective noir.

I seldom feel this disengaged from a drama/movie, and this specific piece of work overachieved on that front. What helped achieve this accomplishment was largely a contribution by certain actors who took acting to a level where you could it transcendence. Take the newlywed police officer and his wife for example. Their facial expressions were so exaggerated that at times I felt more freaked out by their faces than what cheap thrills the zombie-mutant-demon-aliens made me feel.

Lest we talk about the special effects. They could've easily just made a dark fog and called that the source. People could just get infected by inhaling said smoke. It not only would've made sense and been easier to explain, but it would've also made it so much more realistic and not to mention the savings they could've made. Why, oh why did there have to sentient floating little dust clouds that are able to maneuver as they wish through air? How high was the author when he wrote this? Seriously, considering how the mutation works and such, the fog should've been the source. Could've easily attributed it to the likeness of spores. The demon-alien-evil-metal-dust-monsters keep appearing in such little concentrations, and how the characters behave when seeing them.... The sheer amount of frustration I felt watching this is indescribable.

I have absolutely no clue why this drama has an 8/10 rating. Plot holes, inconsistencies, narrative discrepancies, overacting, directionless, the list goes on. If you found genuine joy out of this drama, I commend you for being able shut off your brain to that level. Sadly, I could not do so.

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Don't Give Hate a Chance

I decided to watch Dark Hole first because of Lee Joon Hyuk and, boy, does he look fantastic. Secondly, I am a sucker for survival dramas, especially zombie and resident alien-like themes. The first thing I noticed was the camera work, which I really enjoy, but as I continued to watch, I realized that whatever the black hole was, it appeared to feed off and grab an even stronger hold off those whose souls were darkened by whatever was buried deep within them. So, the vibe quickly changed from resident evil to more like an Age of the Ultron kind of feel where resentment developed over time over humanity's brazen maliciousness and corruption in the face of the many injustices leads one person to participate in the eradication of all those they believed deserved to be punished, acting as a judge, jury, and executioner all in one.

So, in that sense, Dark Hole is not a typical zombie drama, making it an even more exciting watch. It was funny, disgusting, and at times scary -- based solely on people's emotions and perceptions. The different perspective it takes in combining zombies, mystery, shamanism, science fiction, and horror altogether that is amplified by emotions, ranging from injustice, rage, fear, anger, disgust, and even anxiety, all of which are regulated by an opposing range of emotions that clearly signify that disasters tend to either make leaders or cowards out of humans. I liked Dark Hole for what it was; it doesn't necessarily clearly articulate the how, which for me was one of the biggest questions I wanted to be answered, but it does deliver on its overarching theme, which quite befits our present-day global situation.

Dark Hole is not a drama that will win awards, but it is a drama that tries to impart quite a few meaningful messages. One of the most significant is not to give hate a chance because it may allow for the deepest desires to become the deadliest when one does it. And that humans, more often than not, are their own worst enemies, for, at times, the monsters that rise from the dead are nothing compared to the ones humans carry in their hearts. And the most powerful message of all is that whoever fights monsters should see that they do not become monsters in the process. As they say, if one gazes long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into them. I enjoyed Lee Hwa Sun and her great fighting skills but loved Lee Joon Hyuk in the role of Yoo Tae Han the most. A man of action rather than words. So different than his role in the Stranger series yet just as appealing.

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Missed opportunity

I am sad. This show had such an amazing opportunity to mix crime investigation with supernatural elements, and they decided to ruin it by adding tons of boring plotlines that had less than satisfying conclusions.

Imagine this, the show focuses on Lee Hwa Sun, as she tries to catch the serial killer that murdered her husband while the “end of the world” is happening. Instead of giving us paralel plotlines, make it more procedural - her meeting different types of survivors in different places while investigating. Keeping it rather simple is the way to go with a short format like that.

What we actually got were boring characters with typical stories, and literally no valid resolution for any plotline. Props for the writers to be willing to kill the characters, but even that was not satisfying at all, since I was not attached to any of them.

The whole mutants/zombie/alien deal: don’t waste screen time on plots trying to figure out what it is, if you won’t deliver any answers. How about redistributing that time to develop the characters more so I can actually give a shit about what is going on?

Conflicts resolution? Let’s just find a cheap way to either write it off, or deal with it in one clean way, no matter if it’s just lazy writing. ALL the conflicts (and I truly mean ALL) were resolved in the EXACTLY same way.

What was the purpose of Yoo Tae Han even existing in this show? No idea. He had no personality, no clear motivation, no goals, no nothing. He just showed up whenever convenient to help the “good guys”.

It’s hard to even comment on the acting, when the majority of the characters had little personality or were the typical stereotypical assholes. Song Sang Eun did the best and had the most diversity of the emotional performances from the whole cast.

Overall: Honestly speaking, it’s not a bad show, but it’s just amazingly frustrating because it could have been so much better. We do not get fresh and fun new concepts that often, so for it to be wasted like that does not sit well with me. I watched it being mildly entertained, but I kept thinking how every scene and plot line could have been easily improved.

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The ending was.....?

I'm so torn between rating this 6 or 7 stars. I'm being nice with 7.
I remember when OCN first announced this show, I could NOT wait to watch this, especially since OCN was doing it. OCN is my jam, okay? Love that station.

It started out so promising and addictive. I couldn't and wouldn't shut up talking about this show. But as the episodes kept rolling out I just felt like I had seen it before? It was like a mix of Resident Evil and Remina by Junji Ito. Don't come at me, I've read the book and yes, it's similar to me. Just instead of psycho people, there were psycho people mixed with resident evil people. lol

But, I hung on because the story was really interesting even if the pace was way to slow. even set at 2x speed, it felt like it crawled by.... It left me wondering what, when, and how this "Dark Hole" came to be and what was it?

Only for it to end and tell us NOTHING. Was it alien? Was it paranormal? I just don't understand. Okay so this random dark hole pops up and suddenly all hell breaks loose? But why? Am I overthinking this? I feel like I'm overthinking. I just hate not knowing... and for the big bad monster to be taken out like that was kinda laughable? Like.... okay why did THAT work? It just doesn't make sense in any way I look at it. It makes me feel like I've lost my mind. Lol

Also I'm glad I didn't click out of the show before the credits ended. So you mean to tell me another hole popped up? So all this is about to restart? WHY?!?! Why are there ZERO answers to this show?!!? It's driving me insane. Even some of the characters back stories has no answers. It hinted at things but never really told you anything. Jin Seok for example, he was a pos, yeah but he was a thug? What was his obsession with Dong-Rim when he has 2 other flunkies he could have used for whatever? I just... I don't know. I'm confused.

Props to all the actors though. I really do have a lot of respect towards them, they all played their parts so well that when plot twists came up with their characters I was taken by surprise. The story itself seem pretty played out but the actors definitely made this show as good as it was.

I wonder if there will be a season 2 because of that ending where they can explain everything better, or if they are just going to leave it with that huge open ending??

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There's a lot of unanswered questions and plot holes

I am pretty sure I liked this drama more then a lot of other people. I love sci-fi dramas and so this sucked me in the moment I started watching it. But it's more towards the ending and the last episode that turns people off, but I will get into that.

The premise of the drama is more or less an apocalypse type of plot. Trying to survive these mutant things and whatever the smoke is. Like I said, the plot is really good and for the most part it is well written, but then there were a lot of plot holes. The main questions (that I had) that weren't answered were how did the smoke/mutant thing appear, out of all the people it wasn't clear why Dong Rim was chosen, why was there a specific scene that the turned/mutated Jin Seok was still looking for Dong Rim, and how the mutants all died like that. These unanswered questions could be a turn off for a lot of people. The ending even more so. It was weird how everything went back to normal. It pretty much felt rushed. But I personally liked the ending, it could've been a lot worse and not even have a good ending.

I think what made me like the drama a lot more was the casting. As much as I loved the plot, the casting was even better. I always looked forward to seeing each of the actresses and actors even if their characters were not so good or even evil. And it was nice to see a lot of old and new faces.

If you don't like dramas that don't explain everything and are not into sci-fi than I don't really recommend this drama. But if you don't mind plot holes and love this type of genre you should try give it a chance. This is a personal opinion and I since I pretty much enjoyed it I give it a 8.5/10.

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Bienvenue dans un monde postapocalyptique =D !

Il faut savoir que j’ai commencé ce drama sur un coup de tête car j’ai du mal à trouver une histoire qui me plaise en ce moment ^^. J’ai donc regardé un trailer & me suis dit pourquoi pas.

Dès le début de l’histoire, j’ai vu des similitudes avec le drama & Webtoon « Sweet Home » de par son histoire mais également de par ses points clés.

Maintenant que ceci est dit, parlons un peu de « Dark Hole » :
• Nous nous retrouvons dans un univers « postapocalyptique » avec un « être mystérieux » qui contamine les êtres humains en leur montrant leur plus grande peur… Ou en leur proposant ce qu’ils désirent le plus. (Certains ont plus de chance que d’autres x’D)
• Un être humain d’exception : Nous avons comme pour son homologue une personne qui résiste à la contamination et qui fait tout pour protéger le plus de personnes… (Un peu cliché en soit, non ? Le syndrome du héros est sans doute un peu forcé ^^’)
• On nous montre la face la moins reluisante de l’être humain… Le conditionnement lié à la peur est sans doute le plus dangereux… Il occasionne une perte de logique & rends les personnes dépendantes d’autres… Cela nous fait donc rentrer dans un modèle similaire à celui de la dictature… L’être humain finit par obéir sans se poser de questions même si cela occasionne des actions plus horribles les unes que les autres…
• De la destructions & des morts à gogos…

L’histoire se finit en me laissant perplexe… Comment dire… Oui, le « Monstre ou être mystérieux » est anéanti mais nous ne savons rien de lui. Pourquoi est-il apparu ? D’où vient-il ? Quel est son but ? (Oui, car on voit bien qu’il veut le corps de l’héroïne mais pourquoi faire ?) On nous laisse trop de questions sans réponses, ce qui fait qu’on ne peut pas réellement savourer ce drama à sa juste valeur ^^.

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Dark Hole gives me hope. Maybe I can become a writer too.

Huge zombie fan here. I was happy to see Lee Joon Hyuk finally landing a big role but try as I may, this show just fails to deliver. I just can't seem to care enough about anyone at all. The dialogue, logic, and conflicts are packed with cliches and flaws. The narrative feels like a novice high school student's first attempt at writing a novel, where they simply incorporate whatever concepts they find intriguing, without knowing the fundamentals of writing and storytelling. Is this about zombies, aliens, a serial killer or supernatural forces? Make up your mind please. I love my bubble tea as much as I love my ramen soup, but I do not ever want to see them getting mixed into one big bowl.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama "Dark Hole" is indeed a dark drama with a thrilling story.

The main plot is about a mysterious dark hole that appears in the middle of a forest, from where a ghostly creature turns everyone into zombie like creatures, while communicating with some of them. The base of the disease is mainly fear, especially the fear of your own demons, while the pandemonium that the new crisis creates is what provides the drama with the horror element. The dynamics of the local communities are tested and the two main heroes shine due to their efforts to bring everyone together.

Unfortunately, and though the drama had plenty of touching and emotional moments, while providing solid backgrounds for every character that appeared in the story, the ending was too sci fi -ish and didn't feat the mood of the drama at all, although that final scene was the touch that was just perfect for a suspenseful thriller like Dark Hole. Still, that ending, along with the CGI, needed to be better.

Other than that, the performances were great by everyone in the cast and the action scenes were perfectly executed. The dark atmosphere was also nailed and suited the story completely.

So, overall, 8 out of 10.

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An Instant Favorite Zombie Virus Drama

Out of all the zombie dramas/movies that I have watched, I believe this one raises to the top. It was dark and had the classic "what would you do when the world ends" troupe and seeing the darkness of human nature; seeing what they'll do to survive. We see a lot of religion or believing in a higher power to save them in the life or to welcome them into the next - which had to be my favorite parts of this drama.

Just overall, this drama was visually gorgeous as well as gruesome, which ultimately attracted me to watching this. I saw a clip of Hwa Sun in the tunnel, seeing visions of her husband's murder dressed as how she dressed her victims, and a Tae Han coming to the rescue, saving a woman that he had just met. Which was another thing I loved about the drama as well - I loved the weaknesses and the strengths of both Hwa Sun and Tae Han. Even right in the beginning, both come off as closed off (Hwa Sun due to her husband's murder and devoting her life to track her down) and purposeless (Tae Han motivated by nothing as he lost his brother in a hit and run and losing his job with a false accusation, but even with their lone wolf personas, they just at the chance to help and save someone they have never met. Which ultimately brings them together to create the dream team! They both struggled with their own internal dilemma, but what ultimately pushes and saves both of them is the support from one another and the support of people they meat along the way.

I like to say that this drama was a journey both Hwa Sun and Tae Han needed to take in order to face their problems head on and ultimately learn to accept help and heal in order to move on and start their lives again.

Going off that though, I wanted to give this drama a 10/10, but after reading some of the other reviews, I would have to agree with some comments. I didn't binge this drama like I would have with others, so it took me a month or two to complete this one, but I was very content in my speed as I felt that I was satisfied if I needed to leave off in the middle of an episode or even at the end. But because of the non-binge, I forgot a few things. Overall, I really liked this drama and was pulled in from the beginning! But there were some plot holes that were present, that I choice to disregard because I was sucked in by everything else. For one - maybe it is just me and my passion for watching playthroughs for shooting games, where you need to find ammo to reload or supplies to craft items, but I was very aware of the "infinite bullets" plot hole. In the beginning at least, maybe they just didn't show Hwa Sun reloading her gun, but homegirl was firing round after round. There was also the whole plot where Hwa Sun was introduced as this detective trying to find her her husband's murder and we got a lot of background information about the murder and it being her only motivator even though there is this whole virus killing people. It was soon forgotten about as there were "bigger" issues happening around her, but it still remained a huge trigger between Hwa Sun staying human or being a zombie. Eventually in the middle of the drama, by pure coincidence, her husband's murderer happened to be one of the random survivors and was quickly resolved as it wasn't this HUGE trigger for the main character. Then for Tae Han, we don't get his back story until the middle to end, which seemed a but random, as he didn't really seem to have a trigger. But he did, and he got his "revenge" or "closure"... it didn't really make sense to me, but I was happy he didn't hold grudges against third parties. The only backstory that seemed to make sense throughout the drama was Dong Rim's, as it played a huge part in this "evilness" that the black fog was thriving off of.

But even with these small plot holes, it didn't affect me as it might have with other dramas. I very much enjoyed the calm and nurturing nature of both the mains, as well as with the survivors. There wasn't that many, so be prepared in ep 11 to maybe lose a few favorites like I did.

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