'Stranger' ends leaving viewers wanting more

Actor Cho Seung-woo, right, seen from tvN legal thriller "Stranger." / Courtesy of CJ E&M

By Park Jin-hai

Cable network tvN's legal thriller "Stranger," previously known as "Forest of Secrets," concluded its 16-part series last week, after creating a strong fandom. Viewers, still having hard time letting go off it, ask for their wishes to see a second series.

Penned by rookie writer Lee Soo-yeon, the finely intertwined story, starting with the single death of a business man who bribed prosecutors, made viewers breathlessly watch each episode. Viewers closely followed an unprecedented prosecutor character Hwang Si-mok, played by Cho Seung-woo, who lost his emotions after brain surgery. As he reenacts crime scenes and reasons in narrations, audiences also become involved and strive to find pieces of the big puzzle.

In the last episode, it is revealed that Chief Prosecutor Lee Chang-jun, played by Yoo Jae-myung, a tycoon's son-in-law, designed the "forest of secrets" voluntarily to disgrace himself in order to prove the corrupt deeds that he had witnessed and heard about. In his will, he said, "Had our society been moderately corrupt I would've ignored it. I would've enjoyed what I have if that had been the degree of its rottenness… The corruption in our society is no longer just a malaise. It's killing people."

Leaving a bag of documents he collected to Hwang, Lee jumps to his death.

Although the drama was not a smash-hit in terms of viewership ratings, due to the storyline that wasn't easy to follow for new viewers, critics and drama fans alike say that "Stranger" is in a league of its own and that it is the consummate of genre drama, which has recently gained popularity.

As the writer said she got the idea for Hwang from the words "We cannot rule those who want nothing," Hwang is a very unique character. Ha Jae-geun, a culture critic, said Hwang is a "fantasy that was borne out of a time of distrust."

"For those who desire money, those higher-ups buy the elite with money. For those who want power, they lure the elite with power. But there is no way to lure the person with no desires. And if the person has no emotions, he knows no fears and thus is free from any threats. The result is the most ideal prosecutor, Hwang."

The drama through paradoxes tells that in order to stand firm the country's law system, those law enforcers and those in public positions, should faithfully do their duties.

Unlike other K-dramas, which mostly depict romantic relationships, "Stranger" had no romance at all. Also, unlike previous crime thrillers, which embedded small dramatic incidents to grab viewers' attention, the drama had just a single major incident.

With cold reason, instead of loud screams, "Stranger" made viewers focus on the message it wanted to deliver. Viewers gave a strong response to this "drama for thinking people."

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