This show had me invested from the start. Maybe it was Yoon Shi-yoon crying. Maybe it was the endless potential this concept and story had. It was satisfying, but it could’ve actually been amazing if things happened a little differently.

The Premise:

I wouldn’t describe Train as a parallel worlds show. If you’re looking for fantasy, I’d urge you to look elsewhere. Sure there are several worlds and they certainly are parallel, but for the most part, Train is a police/serial-killer show and the existence of a separate world just complicates things a heck ton.

The short 12 episode format does a lot to keep you invested. Of all the shows I was watching on air, this was always the one I wanted to watch first on Saturday. The pacing was really great. Reveals happen in quick succession, and you never feel like you’re waiting for something to happen. I think this would be a really good show to binge watch.

A note: If I could go back and watch this show for the first time, I never would have read any episode discussions, because I feel like a lot of the less obvious reveals would’ve hit wayy harder. Some fans are just so good at theorizing. There’s some conspiracy theory level stuff in here that I wish I could’ve just experienced while watching.

Cast/Characters:

Train was Yoon Shi-yoon’s show. He carried the emotions, he instigated most of the events, he’s the reason to watch. I became a fast fan, and I want to watch him in comedy now, because I need to see the man smile. The side characters are all good, but it’s hard to fall in love with them in the 12 episodes we had. The villain was super great though; the story was way more thought out and interesting than I initially expected on that front (but I wanted moooore).

Yoon Shi-yoon as Do-won A had all the backstory, and he was the one person in both worlds that you get attached to. I think Train does the other members of the main cast dirty. Do-won B, Seo-kyung (Kyung Soo-jin), and Jung-min (Shin So-yool) all deserve better. Do-won B and Jung-min are characters that might have been so fun to explore, but ultimately the show falls flat on that front.

The female lead, Seo-kyung, is developed but she’s so boring. The character was fine, but Kyung Soo-jin and her one facial expression were kind of hard to watch. She’s probably a good actress, but I didn’t really like her here. I might just be biased, because as soon as Shin So-yool showed up, I wanted her to be the main lead; I was actually devastated when I looked at the cast list and found out she wasn’t.

Final Thoughts:

All in all, I wanted more from Train. It actually ended pretty well. I’m sure this show has plot holes, but I thought it did a good job answering some questions that I had given up on earlier (while also opening a new can of worms, but whatever). I appreciate that. It just could’ve been so much better, and I’ll always resent it for that.

Also I highkey want a spin-off following a certain very bad but important person that I won’t name here. Please @OCN, I’ll love you forever.