Semnal (2016)

Lee Jae Han forever

This Drama is on a whole other level. I have never seen anything like it.

Starting with the hyper-high-octane nature of the Drama that makes 24 look slow, Signal is at the same time like a Russian novel, more complex than even Stranger 2 (which feels like a discourse in political philosophy they had the guts to make into a Drama).

I can overlook obvious flaws, like the decision to play up overly emotional moments which feels manipulative at times. During the course of the Drama I realized that emotional trauma makes up the crucial moments of everyone's life. Also, certain scenes are repeated over and over, because those crucial moments in life stay with you and are the ones you ruminate over.

These emotionally loaded scenes contrast with and bring depth to the gripping hunt for criminals and make for much needed breathing space. The Drama also infuses a very dark story with a lot of hilarious comic release moments that feel almost brutal in how they break the tension.

I think the storytelling and pacing is absolutely masterful here. It builds a perfect circle.

Signal seems to say that suffering is something you might never overcome but you can use as powerful motivator to change yourself and your environment. Without that you might live a more comfortable life but there is a price to pay for it, which may be the suffering around you.

Signal is about what makes you who you are. It closely examins in equal measure trauma, transformation and transcendence. It is healing and, in every sense, life altering.

I feel like I have lived an entire lifetime with these characters and consequently the connection I have to these people is much stronger than with other characters.

Watching Signal is an all-consuming, exhilarating experience.
This is largely due to one character and the acting involved in creating him.

Lee Jae Han: shy, socially inept, an almost naive idealist, tremendously sensitive, stubborn, defiant, gentle, strict, with a strong sense of justice, cheeky and bold, innocent, who shoulders too much responsibility, emotional, caring, grumpy, charming, unflinching, perpetually annoyed and frustrated with anyone and anything standing in his way, no-frills-no-bullshit-no-time-to-waste, quite a temper, empathic, a little silly, no sense for playing politics whatsoever, who over time embraces his outsider status, stepping over every line and on every toe in order to do what he believes is right.

Cho Jin Woong marry me.

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One of the Best time travel and crime drama ever!

I watched this drama very recently and oh
god I loved it. I was a little scared that I
would not like this drama but I freaking
loved it so much. I thought at first that it
would be another drama where we have
to find a serial killer and all and well it
was kinda same but we had to find two
serial killers and a lot more than that.

The thing I loved the most about it that
unlike some detective dramas it showed
the corruption of the police department
and how rich people get away even though
they commit a big crime. It was like an
eye-opener. The time-travel element was
very well written and executed it had its
own rules and they never were broken.

The actors did their jobing like so perfectly.
I specially liked the old detective like
whenever he cried it felt totally real. The
most thing I liked was how the characters
and the story both was so well balanced.
It was just amazing of a drama. Another
thing I liked that the criminals weren’t
labeled as “human trash” just because they
did a crime.

It showed how victim’s family and
criminal’s family was effected to. And just
it was a fabulous drama and I am eagerly
waiting or the season 2. The ending left
me speechless and it needs to have a
season 2! It needs to!

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After a year on my plan to watch list I finally got the time/vibe to watch this drama, and didn't sleeping well for two days was really worthing! Signal is not the kind of drama that everyone will like it, but at the same time is the kind one that grabs and take over your heart and mind. The way that they develop the story and how the things start to make sense is totally amazing! The most crazy thing about this plot is how you start to find out the link between the characters and the cases that they investigate.. The writers did an amazing job here, after one/two episodes you're already hooked to this crazy/amazing drama!
One of the strongest point of this drama is the cast: Lee Je Hoon as Park Hae Yeong is perfect, his expressions, his big lips, the crazy look he has when he's profiling someone, his tears.. are really on point! I dunno another works from him, but after this drama I'll definitively stalker him around. Jo Jin Woong as Lee Jae Han is really good too, I really like the development and how the actor portrait this specific character.. Cha Soo Heyon is not my favorite kind of female character, just for the fact that I feel like almost all her judgements are kind of based on her feelings for Lee Jae Han. But, on the other side, is really cool to watch this strong and amazing woman that doesn't seem afraid of fighting for the right thing. Kim Hye Soo was really cool on the acting scenes and I really think that she has a crazy chemistry with Lee Je Hoon; I shipped Detective Cha with Park Hae Yeong all time long!
Overall I really enjoyed watching this drama and I couldn't stop until I had finished it.. Everything was done pretty well and it's impossible to not like it.

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SUPER ADDICTIVE !

~One of the best detective dramas with fantasy mix
~Keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time
~Two cops from two different timelines attempt to solve crimes with noticeable repercussions
~Time-travel aspect is executed so well
~Solid acting by leads and their chemistry is very endearing
~Some of the cases are based on real events and can be disturbing at times but handled very sensitively
~Can be tear-jerking if you get too attached to the characters/stories
~The open ending left too many questions and I am still waiting for SEASON 2 GODDAMITT!

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One of my best K-Drama

One of the best mystery Korean dramas in my opinion. At first I was skeptical about watching it, but when I tried 1 episode, I finished it right away.

It's still the best mystery, thriller and crime drama in my opinion, and I'm eagerly waiting for season 2, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

In terms of story, cases, the uniqueness of the dynamics of the story really makes the audience drift into it especially in the last episode.

As for the music, I don't remember the OST at all, but I think the tension in the drama itself made me forget about it hahahaha

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Just finished it , damn where should i began !!!

Okay let's say that the story was really good maybe little boring in some points made me skip a little !! but overall everything was great .. i'm so in anything with Mystery, Supernatural, Detective, Investigation Dramas and i just found it all mixed in on series so i was over joyful watching it .. and it came with really good actors so YAAAAAAAAYYY for me :D

the actors were really good speacially Jo Jin Woong how he acted his frustrated , disappointed feelings about the law and how he is a policeman that can't put an end to corruption of the system and the men around him ,, and how he couldn't bring the justices to that little boy or even himself !!!! he killed me everytime i saw him so helpless , made me cry my eyes ouut ... i don't know how i should watch any series after this !!! i think i will need long break till something really took me like that again i finish the series in 3 days !!! damn i hope for another season

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This drama was absolutely thrilling, every minute of it! The cast, the plot, each cold case. So worth it to watch, however

SPOILER
for the last 2 episodes or so, the flashbacks were a bit long and annoying because they were already shown several times in earlier episodes. And the Jae Han was too heroic, he became an idiot... For some parts it was unclear why did he do things the way he did, but no drama is perfect so it is acceptable I guess. The ending though, I liked and disliked it at the same time, I mean why did he have to hide in a hospital for 15 years, he didnt seem to be disabled or anything like that. Would have bee perfect if they explained everything at the end.

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Im so sad that it got discontinued, Im truly disappointed to learn that it wont be getting another season. Its like finding a really good fanfiction only to realise that the author hasnt updated the story since 2015..
If you're a big fan of time travel plots like I am then you might really like this! Though this technically isnt really time travel kdrama but if you're curious about it then I really do recommend you watching this. Romance isnt a main factor in there but you know how kdramas always find a way to get some cheesy romance in there...even if it is just very subtle lol.

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