Miss Ma, Nemesis Viki SK Episodes: 32 Duration: 30 min. 15+
Screenwriter: Park Jin Woo Director: Min Yeon Hong, Lee Jung Hoon
Ms. Ma was falsely accused of killing her daughter. After she escapes from prison, she tries to clear her name and reveal the truth about her daughter’s death. She is later unexpectedly joined by a "niece" who's reasons for appearing are revealed only slowly. A small team of unlikely allies gradually materialises, and they become a family sharing an apparently impossible goal. This is a dark story, very complex plotting, not always bearable to be honest, but there is a form of humour offered by the warmth of many of the supporting characters. Thank goodness.
Mostly set in a small community, Rainbow Town, affluent, very pretty, some backbiting gossipy women, but little real malice. Appears to be inhabited almost exclusively by women and police officers, which is quite funny.
In episodes only 27 minutes long a significant amount of time is given to repetitive flashbacks – they add nothing much though in later episodes there is more point to them. Slightly frustrating that the eps are so short but that means 32 eps = 16 which is bearable
The main story follows the apparently hopeless efforts of the heroine to clear her name and get revenge, That plot is dark, twisted, violent and very involved. It is interspersed with life in the town, which becomes a hub for a series of apparently unrelated murders which are based on Agatha Christie. Like Christie, they are fun and intriguing, but not as well written and the 'solutions' offered get minimal explanation as to how she reached them. She is however clearly extremely observant. In most of the cases, the alterations of Christie's plots is intriguing – others are more straightforward. That said, I recognised most very quickly, though the solutions were not always identical to the original, which is good.
Lots of interesting supporting cast, and characters – though they can be slightly charicaturey... Nice to see some of them cast against type, if only slightly ... Jung Wong Un as the policeman who originally put Ms Ma away, has doubts after her escape, and steps back from pursuing her, even after he believes he has found her.
I warn you though, the Christie connection is a bit of a red herring – though if you like the dame, you'll enjoy them. The main story is much much darker and more violent, though the worst of it is pixelated ... it's more involved, sinister and hard to see how it can be resolved, as characters are targeted and eliminated. It does happen: though I spotted the culprits early on, it was hard to see how it would sort out. At the end, the sleepy warmth of Rainbow Town and the unexpected friendships there are waiting for our heroes to come home. As you knew they would be, so telling you this is not really a spoiler at all.
Viki's reviews give this a great score, but I never altogether trust them. Reviews on MDL are only two - one is for 10.0 the other for 1.0, so - very mixed! The lowball one is fixated on the lack of logic for a woman on the run getting involved to solve multiple murders instead of keeping out of the eye of the police – though in fact the story gives a perfectly clear explanation for this. On this occasion the Viki reviews are much fairer than MDL. I give this a healthy 8.5/10.