Overall

This show is one of the few mystery shows that managed to take me by surprise with the culprit and made it believable still. I continually guessed at it throughout the show, but in the mass of morally gray characters, it was difficult to know who was the true and ultimate evil at the end. I loved that. The characters didn't have unique ideas to them, but the actors played them with such personality that they really seemed unique and each developed in their own way. The Plot was born out of the characters actions, so that I never knew where it was going to go next, or who was going to be evil or get exposed or get arrested. This is really everything a mystery should be: I never knew, until they revealed it, who was guilty and who was good.



Spoilers below in the rest of my review!! (BIG spoilers in the characters.)




Characters



A strength of this show is that it had so many characters (which allowed us to be surprised by the mystery and the culprit) but it introduced them in a steady way that wasn't confusing.

I loved that I could never tell who was really evil, just a bit morally gray, and who would betray who. This show kept me on my toes guessing at all the characters, which might have been a problem if we didn't have Si Mok as our center of moral gravity. It was just so well written and acted.

Hwang Si Mok: I really liked him. I liked the slow development of his emotions and how his "sad past" of his surgery wasn't made a big deal of, and wasn't even really exposed until the later half of the series. It was refreshing from other Kdramas.

Lieutenant Han: I loved her. She was so believable, and her struggle with morality in her own team and work place was so well done.

Yoo Eun Soo: I miss her. The beginning had me doubting her and I really liked how her truth was simpler than what Si Mok and the audience was expecting.

Seo Dong Jae: Same as with a lot of the other in between characters, to me he was realistic in that he never committed to one side. He wanted survival, and to get that, he backstabbed whoever he needed to in order to stay on top;. I hated him in the beginning, and by the end if I didn't like him I at least understood him.

Lee Chang Jun: Evil. Eviiil. Even though he did something right in the end by working to expose the corruption, he still participated in it, orchestrated murders, and was overall really, really terrible. What a good villain though. I doubted that he was the ultimate bad guy sometimes; sometimes I thought he might really be good, and other times I was convinced he was satan. His story was so well done (I know I'm repeating it, but I'm really in awe of this show).



Plot


The plot was created by the characters, which is a basic element of storytelling that is so often ignored by TV shows in general. It was so well crafted in Stranger: the plot revolved around the audience being kept guessing at who is behind everything, who is going to backstab who else, who is going to die. At no point did I feel like it slowed down, or got boring, and unlike a lot of other Kdramas, I really liked the pacing towards the end.

My one problem with this show might be that there were too many flashbacks. Kdramas love to show flashbacks, and sometimes it is helpful, but mostly it just takes away trust that the audience will connect the dots themselves, and drags dramatic moments out.


Soundtrack was amazing. This is the first time I've had an instrumental stuck in my head and I didn't mind at all. I want to watch season 2, but I'm also scared that it won't hold up to season 1.