Tunnel is another production that was inspired by the very famous Hwaseong serial murders where ten woman were killed between 1986 to 1991(The year I was born.) The case was once again revisited in 2004 after a female college student was killed and the murder was never found. Lee Eun Mi wrote the script while Shin Yong Hwl directed Tunnel. Choi Jin Hyuk, Yoon Hyun Min, and, Lee Yoon Young, also star in the crime thriller. This drama wasn't as popular as the other Hwaseong murders inspired drama, Signal but it was nominated for drama of the year and became a hit in China.
Originally from 1968, A cop working on a case that involves several murders of women finds himself in the future after running through a tunnel trying to catch the killer. He ends up in the year 2017 where similar murders have started again.
I can now say with the upper most confidence that all the productions based on the Hwaseong murders are good. I've seen all of them expect for the Japanese remake of Signal, which I'll most likely check out soon. Tunnel's opening episode worried me a little bit with it's slow build up to the action and main conflict. It was necessary to introduce the characters in the past era. This is important because the characters in the past play an important role in the future. I'm not going to give anything away so don't worry…. Then the women's corpses start being left all over the place by the killer. These scenes are the adrenaline to give this show the kick off it needs to jump into full gear. The murders themselves actually began to get on your nerves when it KEEPS happening. Emotions of hate grow for the faceless killer in the same manner that it does for the police trying to catch the person. Oh, if serial killing isn't your thing then I suggest you skip this drama. There isn't anything overly graphic but there's instances of violence. Cute relationships and gumdrops falling from rainbows won't be found anywhere in Tunnel. Moments of romance make brief inserts in the story since both male characters have love interests. Romance just takes a huge backseat to the dark conflict on the main stage of the story. Viewers will like how the script juggles romance, mystery, and thriller around constantly as they each take turns mixing into the flow of events in each episode. What truly made Tunnel a good drama was that the storytelling was solid from the beginning to the conclusion. DAMN! THOSE CLIFFHANGERS LEAVE YOU WANTING MORE! Plot twists always seem to effectively hit the mark while watching Tunnel. Trying to find the killer with the characters puts viewers in a head space of yourself being in that situation and what you do to help. I also loved how Tunnel showcased various characters from different cases that could have been the killer. Each character exhibited traits that remind someone of a murder. Gapdong had similar storytelling to Tunnel in more aspects than one in this regard. People who have seen Gapdong, Signal, or, the classic film, Memories of Murder will have no problem enjoying Tunnel.
I enjoyed every single actor and actress in this drama. There wasn't really any problems with the performances. Even N from VIXX was alright. His acting blended together with everyone else's. I can't stand when an idol is in a drama and their acting messes up the vibe of everyone else's acting in the cast. It frustrates me to no end…. I've also decided to continue to give huge props to all the actors who played creepy crazed characters. Actors need a lot of talent to get in the right frame of mind to act out that kind of role. Without the proper preparation, these roles come across super cheesy and unbelievable. This was also why I praised Lee Joon when he stared in Gapdong(He is one of the best actors who is(was?) an Kpop idol.). Tunnel's costars knew what they were doing though.
Tunnel goes on the list of one of the best new age Korean drama's out there right now. I would recommend you give it a watch if you want something a bit different from the norm in Kdrama. Let's face it, good Korean drama is becoming harder and harder to come by nowadays.
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