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TL:DR - While Duel isn’t perfect, it’s still a hidden gem of a drama, and well-worth experiencing for yourself. I myself marathoned it in under a week, faster than I’ve ever watched any drama before, which is a testament to how gripping it is, flaws and all. Despite some nitpicks, I would wholeheartedly recommend it, especially if you’re at all into thrillers, mysteries, or sci-fi.
STORY: 8
When policeman and single father Jang Deukchun’s terminally ill daughter is kidnapped by a mysterious young man, he’s willing to tear the entire world apart to get her back. After another young man, identical in every way to the kidnapper down to his DNA and fingerprints, crosses paths with Chief Jang and is arrested in the criminal’s place, the desperate father sees the amnesiac doppelgänger as his only way to track down the true culprit of the crime, and the two unlikely protagonists join forces to find Chief Jang’s daughter and recover the young man’s missing memories. In the process, they find themselves embroiled in a web of drama and intrigue, involving organ trafficking, human clones, corrupt prosecutors, greedy CEOs, and the lengths a parent will go to for their child.
The drama markets itself as a chase thriller, though the “chase” part is only really applicable to about the first 9-10 episodes, which I think is definitely its best parts. The first episodes have this manic intensity and definite sense of danger to them that I personally found very thrilling, like the whole world is against our main characters a la The Fugitive. I found myself missing the air of mystery and peril as the show wound down as it neared its conclusion, even though there were still plot twists and turns aplenty, and the story was certainly never what I would call boring. I also realize and accept that a 16 hour series can’t be go go go 100% of the time, and that once most of the secrets have been revealed, there’s not a lot left to do but wrap things up ASAP.
However, this is, unfortunately, where the show drops the ball somewhat. The pacing in it’s latter half is by far the weakest link this show has, imho. I can’t imagine watching this show week to week; it definitely needs to be binged, because the pacing issues aren’t quite as glaring when the show is consumed as a whole instead of episodically. Even so, I do feel like the series could have been a couple episodes shorter, and nothing really would have been missed, or the time could have at least been better spent fleshing out the sci-fi aspects of the story and the relationships between the main characters. As it stands, there were a considerable handful of scenes where all the momentum of the plot just seemed to come to a screeching halt (including one baffling scene where two characters go to pick up lunch at a Subway, and the entire scene is just them getting their food, and sitting down and eating their sandwiches. Literally, that’s all that happens for like an entire minute, no plot-relevant dialogue or character moments or anything. Gotta get that sponsorship money somehow!). Thankfully, such scenes are relatively few and far between, and don’t get in the way of the plot enough for it to become unbearable.
The show is definitely at its strongest when dealing with the clone storyline, though, and while the other storylines definitely aren’t bad and kept my interest well enough, I do wish the series had spent more time delving into the clones’ past and the circumstances behind their creation than it ended up doing. As it stands, a lot of the science in this show is pseudoscience at best, which we’re just supposed to accept for the sake of Plot. While I don’t mind this on principle, I would have liked at least a little more technobabble to better handwave the things that were happening and make it more convincing rather than a simple “well, that was a thing that happened because of Reasons I guess.” I would have also liked more scenes and dialogue that actively showed the relationships between the characters growing and developing, as well, as that was the most interesting aspect of the show for me, especially the relationship between Chief Jang and the amnesiac Sungjoon. What we got was good, but I wanted more (especially more hugs, I'm a sucker for hugs). However, none of these things are deal breakers, just things that I wish the show had tackled differently. I will say that I GREATLY appreciated the fact that there was 0 romance focus in this drama, which is always a plus for me.
However, an ending is really the one thing can make or break any show for me, as it determines whether the whole journey to the conclusion was worth the time and effort to sit through hours of content. While the ending to Duel didn’t answer every single question I had, I’m pleased to report that it wrapped up most things sufficiently enough for me to consider it ultimately satisfying. I also bawled like a little baby for the last half hour, but that's neither here nor there. ;)
ACTING/CAST: 10
Getting the most obvious point out of the way first, even though I’m not sure what can I say about Yang Sejong’s stellar performance that hasn’t already been said. Just let it be known that the man deserves every single bit of praise for his stunning performance here as three entirely separate characters that he's gotten, and then some. His performances as the two clones in particular – by far the most compelling characters – are worth experiencing this drama all by themselves. When you can tell exactly which character you’re looking at just based on the actor’s expression and body language despite them having the exact same face, that’s talent right there. I feel no compunctions at all in calling his performance in this drama one of the most impressive feats of acting I’ve ever seen in any piece of media period (and I do not say this lightly). However, the rest of the cast all turn in good performances as well, and I can’t really think of anyone who turned in a truly bad one. I've seen a lot of people criticizing Kim Jungeun for her acting as Prosecutor Choi Johye, but I never had a problem with her, since her character was SUPPOSED to be cold and stoic and insufferably smug, especially near the beginning of the show. I will say that all the hysterical screaming and yelling Chief Jang did in the earlier episodes did get old pretty quick. However, it was a fully understandable reaction to his situation, so I’m not deducting points for it, but it still got kind of grating eventually. Later episodes toned it down, which I appreciated.
(Also, I do want to give a shoutout to the cinematography. There were more than a few times I marveled at the framing of a shot or the creative ways the crew shot the scenes between the two clones. As someone who almost never notices things like this, I really enjoyed these moments when they came.)
MUSIC: 5.5
The soundtrack was… fine. Nothing special, aside from one or two tracks that stood out, but it did its job well enough. I did find the constant reusing of some pieces jarring and somewhat annoying, however. Oh, a sad scene with the sick daughter, HERE COMES THE EXACT SAME GUITAR PIECE AGAIN FOR THE 10th TIME OH BOY. This is an issue I have with most Kdramas in general, though, not just this one, so it’s not a deal breaker or anything.
REWATCH VALUE: 7
The initial thrill of the mystery is probably the biggest thing this drama has going for it, which, by the end, has obviously been resolved, but I definitely would say that the great acting and action set pieces are worth revisiting again at some point.
OVERALL: 8.5
Pros:
- A gripping and compelling plot that keeps you wanting to binge “just one more episode!” until you wake up to find you’ve watched the entire thing in 4 days.
- Stellar acting all around, and an Oscar worthy performance from Yang Sejong.
- Fantastic editing and cinematography.
- Ultimately satisfying ending.
- No romance, just good old-fashioned friendship, bromance, and parent-child relationships.
Cons
- The series starts to lose its momentum in the latter half, though not to the extent that it kills the suspense entirely.
- Shameless product placement that’ll have you rolling your eyes.
- Many of the sci-fi elements aren’t explored as much as they could have been, which might stretch your suspension of disbelief if you’re a stickler for such things.
- Soundtrack is average at best.
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STORY: 6
The six-member idol group Astro is about to finally make their big debut. However, a freak accident sends all the members back in time to their trainee days before their big audition stage. However, some of the members gradually begin forgetting that they have come from the future, and old rivalries and quarrels start to rear their ugly heads once again. These six young men must put aside their pride and rebuild their team if they are ever going to have a second shot at debuting and achieving their dreams.
If I were to try to describe this story in one sentence, it would probably be “An RPF fanfic come to life.” This is not a pejorative against RPF fanfic as a whole, but if one were to think about a stereotypical fanfic plot, it would likely be along the lines of something like this. Basically, the plot is not the focus of this drama. It is merely an excuse to see predebut Astro dancing and singing and doing other predebut Astro things. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but do not go into it expecting anything deep, thought-provoking, or life-changing. It is a good time, nothing more, nothing less. (The tags are misleading, however; this is not really a romance drama, and you should not go into it expecting one. There is a little flirting and romantic tension between some of the boys and their female co-stars, but nothing I would really define as a definitive relationship upgrade.)
ACTING/CAST: 7
Nothing stellar, but definitely nothing terrible, either. Astro is essentially playing exaggerated versions of themselves, and are clearly having a blast doing so. All turn in pretty good performances, as do most of their co-stars. Special shout out goes to MJ, who is the secret main character of this drama. It’s amazing to me that he’s never had a main role in a drama aside from this, he clearly has the chops to pull it off.
Also, the outtakes at the end of each episode are hands down the funniest parts of the whole show, don’t skip them!
MUSIC: 7.5
While Astro’s music has definitely improved in the 6 years since this was released, what’s here definitely isn’t bad! It’s a perfectly serviceable OST with a few standout moments.
REWATCH VALUE: 7
Since the drama is only about the length of a 2 hour movie in total, it’s really not a big time investment, and I can see someone putting it on again for a laugh or to reminisce about how adorable baby Astro was (especially Sanha, who was only 15 at the time of filming).
OVERALL: 7
Pros:
- Very short; you can finish it in the time it would take to watch a normal movie.
- Great way to get introduced to Astro quickly if you are interested in getting into them (and as a die-hard, longtime fan of theirs, trust me, it’s well worth the time investment).
- Just a simple, fun, uncomplicated time suitable for all ages.
Cons:
- Has what we in the writing business call an “excuse plot”; they honestly should have spent a little more time in the writers room beefing up the scripts before going out and filming.
- There are a couple pretty glaring inconsistencies between the real Astro and the Astro that appears in this drama, which may cause a little confusion if you decide to watch some of their bts videos or do any more research into them after finishing. The biggest ones I can think of off the top of my head are that Jinjin is the real leader of Astro, not Eunwoo, and Eunwoo is a lot more personable, sweet, and downright goofy irl than he comes across as in this drama.
- People looking for some thought-provoking entertainment, this is not the drama for you.
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