Jinyoungie
I didn't expect to like Life on Mars as much as I did!
Going into Life on Mars, I'll admit it, I had high expectations. I mean the reviews and ratings were stellar, and I love both Jung Kyung Ho and Park Sung Woong; but after the first few episodes I felt let down. The beginning didn't seem well orchestrated and I felt as though the first couple episodes did a poor job of laying the framework for the general plot. But now here I am, giving it a 9.0 rating.
I have to start with Jung Kyung Ho because he is one of the main reasons I picked up this drama and the reason I stuck it out at the beginning. Jung Kyung Ho does a phenomenal job (I'm not surprised). Even with his character's cool stoic disposition he manages to capture even the subtle emotions and minute expressions that easily could've been overacted or not emphasized enough. He also mastered some of Tae Joo's pretty intense maniac outbursts. To describe our lead man, Han Tae Joo is a rough around the edges. His personality is prickly and he is very reserved and strict. He's a man who cares about following procedures and trusts science and logic more than anything or anyone else. To be honest there were a lot of times that I just wanted Tae Joo to let go a little. I was pining for him to, I don't know, crack a smile for god's sake, maybe even let out a little laugh?? But as the story progressed I came to understand Tae Joo's character and I realized that the beauty of Tae Joo as a character and Life on Mars as a whole, is Han Tae Joo's quest to discover what the truth really is, what his reality is. Recognizing what it is and who it is, that makes him truly happy. Plus I have to say that his hard, stubborn personality was the perfect addition to the whole police squad, but specifically Tae Joo was the yin to our beloved police captain, Kang Dong Cheol played by Park Sung Woong. With Han Tae Joo's level-headedness and Kang Dong Cheol's spontaneous ferocity, they made the perfect police duo but also the sweetest of comrades, and of friends.
The relationships between the characters and the small ways they each individually developed opinions, judgments, and feelings for Tae Joo from the early beginnings to the very end was so touching and realistically executed. I loved the little nuances that we get with each character, the different little ways that they initially show respect or a lack of respect (*ahem* Lee Yong Gi) for our police chief Han Tae Joo and how these little nuances grew into sustainable real relationships. Jo Nam Sik our youngest member of the crew, who demonstrates a quiet but albeit present glow of respect and awe of Tae Joo, the ways Nam Sik acknowledges Tae Joo's presence when he enters a room, the way he earnestly reports information, you can see he recognizes Tae Joo as his authority, but also as the hard-working, clever, deserving police chief that he is. Ms Yoon or Yoon Na Young, whose bright mind and diligence is first recognized by Tae Joo, as she extends her warm smile and helpful hand without hesitation and shows her admiration without restraint. Then we have Lee Yong Gi who shows immediate distaste and doubt in Tae Joo, expressed in his snide comments and quiet grumblings. And last, but not least, no not least, we have Captain Kang Dong Cheol who shows more maturity than Yong Gi but is also skeptical of our lead Han Tae Joo who enters their police team with an air of quiet pride and dignity, who looks and approaches cases from a much different perspective than their norm. But Dong Cheol quickly alters his initial judgment when he sees that Tae Joo puts just as much care and dedication into his job as he does, if not more.
And of course on the flip side, I like the slow evolution that we see from Tae Joo's end. He is, under the circumstances, understandably distant and closed off from his coworkers. He doesn't care what their opinions are of him, he acts as he always does and doesn't let their current culture or ways of doing things influence his own methods and personality. When other coworkers make judgments of him he doesn't show the need to defend himself, he only desires to follow procedures and work towards solving cases. However, one of the things that impressed me and made me like Tae Joo as a character early on, is the respect and encouragement he gives Ms Yoon. Ms Yoon is not recognized as an equal member of the police squad. She is essentially the errand girl, the little secretary answering phones and the one to "fetch us some coffee". A lot of this is probably because of the time period, so I can't fault our other characters/members of the police squad too much. But Tae Joo on the other hand, treats Ms. Yoon as he would anyone else, as an equal which in turn, begins to influence others to treat her the same. He gives Ms. Yoon a fair shot yes, but he also recognizes her potential. He sees how invested she is in cases, the diligence and attention she puts into even the small things, and he notices that she has valuable, evidence based judgments and a quick-wit. Then we have Nam Sik, who Tae Joo treats as an adult despite his young age and short time on the force. Tae Joo knows Nam Sik looks up to him but doesn't let that go to his head and continues to be a consistent role model for Nam Sik. And even when Yong Gi is being a complete tool, 9 times out of 10, Tae Joo maintains his maturity and doesn't let it bother him, the only time he says something is when it directly involves a case. And with Kang Dong Cheol, the leader and most outspoken one of the squad, Tae Joo collaborates. He doesn't belittle him when he knows nothing about Forensics and science, but he taps into Dong Cheol's own unique strengths as a charismatic leader, a people person with a lot of on-the-job experience. As slow as the progression may be, we see that Tae Joo genuinely cares for each member on his police squad. And Han Tae Joo does what he so vehemently fought against, when everything comes crashing down, he trusts them. **Spoiler** That is the moment where it becomes evident that these are not just coworkers, no these are not hallucinations, these people, Nam Sik, Yong Gi, Yoon Na Young, Dong Cheol, are his friends.
In conclusion, would I recommend you watch it? Well, the episodes are definitely true to the genres of investigation and detective work as each one generally revolves around/includes solving a case so keep that in mind. But even within that there are things that make this drama unique, it takes place in a different time period and it's got the psychological twist to it. And of course the relationships, the slow progression that forms solid relationships between the different characters is very organic and realistic which I think makes it all the more heartwarming at the end. If these are factors that interest you, then yes Life on Mars is definitely worth the watch.
Going into Life on Mars, I'll admit it, I had high expectations. I mean the reviews and ratings were stellar, and I love both Jung Kyung Ho and Park Sung Woong; but after the first few episodes I felt let down. The beginning didn't seem well orchestrated and I felt as though the first couple episodes did a poor job of laying the framework for the general plot. But now here I am, giving it a 9.0 rating.
I have to start with Jung Kyung Ho because he is one of the main reasons I picked up this drama and the reason I stuck it out at the beginning. Jung Kyung Ho does a phenomenal job (I'm not surprised). Even with his character's cool stoic disposition he manages to capture even the subtle emotions and minute expressions that easily could've been overacted or not emphasized enough. He also mastered some of Tae Joo's pretty intense maniac outbursts. To describe our lead man, Han Tae Joo is a rough around the edges. His personality is prickly and he is very reserved and strict. He's a man who cares about following procedures and trusts science and logic more than anything or anyone else. To be honest there were a lot of times that I just wanted Tae Joo to let go a little. I was pining for him to, I don't know, crack a smile for god's sake, maybe even let out a little laugh?? But as the story progressed I came to understand Tae Joo's character and I realized that the beauty of Tae Joo as a character and Life on Mars as a whole, is Han Tae Joo's quest to discover what the truth really is, what his reality is. Recognizing what it is and who it is, that makes him truly happy. Plus I have to say that his hard, stubborn personality was the perfect addition to the whole police squad, but specifically Tae Joo was the yin to our beloved police captain, Kang Dong Cheol played by Park Sung Woong. With Han Tae Joo's level-headedness and Kang Dong Cheol's spontaneous ferocity, they made the perfect police duo but also the sweetest of comrades, and of friends.
The relationships between the characters and the small ways they each individually developed opinions, judgments, and feelings for Tae Joo from the early beginnings to the very end was so touching and realistically executed. I loved the little nuances that we get with each character, the different little ways that they initially show respect or a lack of respect (*ahem* Lee Yong Gi) for our police chief Han Tae Joo and how these little nuances grew into sustainable real relationships. Jo Nam Sik our youngest member of the crew, who demonstrates a quiet but albeit present glow of respect and awe of Tae Joo, the ways Nam Sik acknowledges Tae Joo's presence when he enters a room, the way he earnestly reports information, you can see he recognizes Tae Joo as his authority, but also as the hard-working, clever, deserving police chief that he is. Ms Yoon or Yoon Na Young, whose bright mind and diligence is first recognized by Tae Joo, as she extends her warm smile and helpful hand without hesitation and shows her admiration without restraint. Then we have Lee Yong Gi who shows immediate distaste and doubt in Tae Joo, expressed in his snide comments and quiet grumblings. And last, but not least, no not least, we have Captain Kang Dong Cheol who shows more maturity than Yong Gi but is also skeptical of our lead Han Tae Joo who enters their police team with an air of quiet pride and dignity, who looks and approaches cases from a much different perspective than their norm. But Dong Cheol quickly alters his initial judgment when he sees that Tae Joo puts just as much care and dedication into his job as he does, if not more.
And of course on the flip side, I like the slow evolution that we see from Tae Joo's end. He is, under the circumstances, understandably distant and closed off from his coworkers. He doesn't care what their opinions are of him, he acts as he always does and doesn't let their current culture or ways of doing things influence his own methods and personality. When other coworkers make judgments of him he doesn't show the need to defend himself, he only desires to follow procedures and work towards solving cases. However, one of the things that impressed me and made me like Tae Joo as a character early on, is the respect and encouragement he gives Ms Yoon. Ms Yoon is not recognized as an equal member of the police squad. She is essentially the errand girl, the little secretary answering phones and the one to "fetch us some coffee". A lot of this is probably because of the time period, so I can't fault our other characters/members of the police squad too much. But Tae Joo on the other hand, treats Ms. Yoon as he would anyone else, as an equal which in turn, begins to influence others to treat her the same. He gives Ms. Yoon a fair shot yes, but he also recognizes her potential. He sees how invested she is in cases, the diligence and attention she puts into even the small things, and he notices that she has valuable, evidence based judgments and a quick-wit. Then we have Nam Sik, who Tae Joo treats as an adult despite his young age and short time on the force. Tae Joo knows Nam Sik looks up to him but doesn't let that go to his head and continues to be a consistent role model for Nam Sik. And even when Yong Gi is being a complete tool, 9 times out of 10, Tae Joo maintains his maturity and doesn't let it bother him, the only time he says something is when it directly involves a case. And with Kang Dong Cheol, the leader and most outspoken one of the squad, Tae Joo collaborates. He doesn't belittle him when he knows nothing about Forensics and science, but he taps into Dong Cheol's own unique strengths as a charismatic leader, a people person with a lot of on-the-job experience. As slow as the progression may be, we see that Tae Joo genuinely cares for each member on his police squad. And Han Tae Joo does what he so vehemently fought against, when everything comes crashing down, he trusts them. **Spoiler** That is the moment where it becomes evident that these are not just coworkers, no these are not hallucinations, these people, Nam Sik, Yong Gi, Yoon Na Young, Dong Cheol, are his friends.
In conclusion, would I recommend you watch it? Well, the episodes are definitely true to the genres of investigation and detective work as each one generally revolves around/includes solving a case so keep that in mind. But even within that there are things that make this drama unique, it takes place in a different time period and it's got the psychological twist to it. And of course the relationships, the slow progression that forms solid relationships between the different characters is very organic and realistic which I think makes it all the more heartwarming at the end. If these are factors that interest you, then yes Life on Mars is definitely worth the watch.
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