Bad and Crazy was a drama where I expected something totally different from what the trailers have shown. I didn't have specific thoughts on what I would see, but the drama definitely had me shook with the direction it took most of the time. The first few episodes are only a taste of what you're about to get with this. As soon as I finished the show, I had to rush to write a review.

I want to start off by saying that this drama is definitely not for everyone, and I could see why some people would dislike it. The story of the show is nothing new and mindblowing. However, the structure of it is definitely interesting. At first, the drama starts off really silly and comedic, which I didn't mind. It also has a pretty simple and a predictable story in the first few episodes, which I didn't mind either. But the story gets progressively more in depth and complex. In the later episodes, the tone of the drama completely changes to something dark and twisted. There were quite a few people in the comments who hated this sudden change, but I welcomed it, because I didn't expect it. Though I remember watching a drama once, which I thought would have a dark theme, but ended up being extremely comedic - I also remember hating the change in that drama. That probably means that I prefer a show to have a more serious and messed up atmosphere, so if you do too, you will definitely enjoy later episodes of Bad and Crazy. Another thing that surprised me was that we had multiple villains. Again, to some, it might feel like the show is all messy, but I appreciated this unique structure. It felt like those 12 episodes of the drama were split into three season - In episode 4 when the first villain got caught was the end of season 1, episode 8 where the second one got caught was the end of season 2, and by the end of episode 12 where the mastermind got caught and all the loose ends were wrapped up it felt like the end of season 3. When the split personality plot was revealed, I felt disappointed, because I thought it would ruin the bromance, and for some it did. Personally, I felt like the more we progressed, the more it enhanced the charm of the drama and now I can't imagine it otherwise. The whole DID thing added to the uniqueness of the drama in a way. Still, once I got the pattern of the drama figured out, it became really easy to predict a lot of plot points and plot twists so much that I didn't find myself shocked at all. The only thing that surprised me was the fact that Ryu Su Yeol knew who the villain was during the point of the reveal. I'm sure that everyone who watched the drama could also easily guess who the mastermind would be - myself included. So if you want to watch something convoluted, where things aren't easily predicted, this drama is not it. But I did like the overall message and talking about trauma, and normalising mental health issues. But what I liked the most was the lack of romance, which was totally unexpected.

Now, for the thing that made the drama so special for me. It wasn't so much the story as it was the colourful characters and the cast. First of all, can I just say how hot everyone is in this? I mean, Lee Dong Wook, Wi Ha Joon, N, Han Ji Eun, Won Hyun Joon, Kim Hi Eo Ra, and even Jung Sung Il. Like, I was so distracted most of the time!
But onto the thing that really matters: The Characters/Acting/Cast:

Ryu Su Yeol - The main character of the drama. He's selfish, corrupt, and cowardly. Or so it seems. A lot of the times, when the male lead is made out to be a jerk, I automatically hate him. This is because the dramas try to justify it with saying this person had a hard life, and they don't even end up changing. But what made RSY so lovable despite his horrible traits? First, I believe it was because anytime he would do something bad, it would come back to bite him quickly twice as hard. So because he would get a retribution right away, this made it hard to be mad at him in the first place. For example, anytime he would do something morally wrong, K would be right there to beat his ass. His past wrong-doings would also come back later to bite him in the ass. Not to mention, RSY actually feels regret for being the way he is (at least later on). His weak and selfish nature also leaves a lot of space for improvement, which the drama takes advantage of. It feels nice and rewarding to watch RSY grow with his experiences. We get to see him change in a slow and natural way as the story progresses, and even when he decides to save his own behind, it's hard to be mad at that, when he's only protecting himself since there's no one else to help. While some people dislike the weak and vulnerable aspects of him which are so prominent, I came to respect him for that. I mean, this man has been through enough trauma to last him a lifetime - from his childhood all the way to his adulthood. He got beaten, manipulated and humiliated, drugged and stabbed TWICE, shot, drowned, almost choked to death TWICE, and saw more dead bodies than Michael Myers. And yet he's still going strong by the end of it. RSY would always save other people, but whenever he needed help from someone, he could only rely on himself or K (who was him). You just have to respect that. Lee Dong Wook obviously portrayed his character amazingly, and I could deeply resonate with all the emotions he was portraying.

K - Now, arguably the best character of the whole drama (and I believe everyone would agree with me on this). K is the complete opposite of RSY. He's always strong, heroic, compassinate, and selfless. He never loses. Whenever RSY can't beat someone, as soon as K comes out, you know it's game over. There's not as many moments with him as I would hope for, but anytime he shows up, he completely steals the scene. You just know you will end up laughing the moment he shows up. There really isn't not one unlikeable quality. His humour, his serious side, his sentimental and soft side, even his mean side. It's all endering, even those little moments where he works out in the gym or winks (I literally feel my soul leaving my body anytime he does that). I can't imagine anyone else in this role other than Wi Ha Joon - and it's not just because of his pretty smile, face, and muscles. He just has that charm, and it felt so weird to watch him in this role after only seeing him in Squid Game. In Squid Game, he was shown being serious and poker-faced all the time, so I had no idea about the range of emotions he could portray so well - the happiness, the crazy side, the anger, and sadness. His chemistry with Lee Dong Wook is impeccable, and the relationship between K and RSY is magical. It develops slowly, but surely. I loved all their silly moments, which made the sentimental moments even more emotional. And when I say I cried, I mean I UGLY cried. Whenever K would tell RSY to trust himself, or that he's his personal hero, when they would hug, and when RSY would finally say 'Thank You'. I can say with conviction that K made the show for me. Without him, I don't see myself enjoying it as much as I did. He's a memorable character that will stay in a special place in my heart, along with Ko Moon Young and Yi Seo.

Oh Kyung Tae - Now, this is an interesting character. I started off hating him. He was weak, nosy, and boring with no unique personality traits other than he's 'good'. For the first few episodes, he was just a punching bag. Now, I like main leads with struggles but side characters who do nothing but get beaten up really irk me. I spent a lot of time shitting on him, but that weirdly enough changed. After he woke up from the coma it's like he became a totally different person. I didn't want to like him at first, because I was sceptical, but the more smart moves he would make, the more I would find myself warming up to him. First, he pretended to leave through the window, then put a knife to a guy's neck, helped out a colleague who was framed, caught a few bad guys, found useful information, and actually beat up a few guys. After the first villain was dealth with, he would never get beaten up again and he actually grew a personality. His friendship with Jae Soon was cute and interesting to watch, there was his obsession with food, being actually smart, and being the team's lucky charm. And I knew he was one of my favourite characters the moment he told RSY he trusted him, when he was at his lowest point. It was a love-to-hate relationship, but he quickly found his way to my heart.

Lee Hee Kyum - For me, she's the total opposite of OKT. I really wanted to like her, because she was portrayed as this badass female protagonist. And I did like her more at first. However, as we got deeper into the story, she just became what OKT was for me at the beginning - annoying. They would try to make it look like she's a strong female lead, but they wouldn't show it. She was never actually useful in any way. She never caught any bad guys by herself, she would never collect any useful information, and whenever she wanted to accomplish something, it failed miserably (trying to transport the Assemblyman, capture Boss Yong, or the Captain). The only time where she would fight and win was when she was with other people, but she never moved the story forward or helped anyone out. But she complained perfectly. There were multiple times where she would just be the usual damsel in distress. She didn't have too much screen-time though, so she didn't ruin the show. Acting-wise, I'm really not sure. The actress is beautiful and I couldn't stop staring, but she didn't show much range, but she also didn't get much screen-time, so I can't blame her.

Yang Jae Seon - He was just a good friend, but didn't stand out to me all that much. I didn't feel too strongly about him, so out of all the three side cops, he was like the middle ground. I didn't love him or hate him. He would shine his best whenever he was on the screen with OKT, since those two brought out the best in each other. He wasn't all that useful either.

The villains - The first two main villains were nothing special. They were just basic bad guys, who wanted money and power. I didn't feel strongly about either of them, and they weren't exactly memorable either. What I did like, was RSY dealing with them and growing as a person thanks to the situations those guys put him in. Now, the main villain or mastermind if you will, was more memorable, though I still have mixed emotions about him. The mastermind - Jung Yoon Ho - doesn't have the typical 'villain' face which you would expect, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I think it's also quite obvious for everyone who Yoon Ho will be. The reveal ends up happening quite late, but I don't think it will be a plot twist for anyone, since you can see it coming from a mile away. I was quite disappointed that the mastermind was the obvious choice and not who I hoped for, but I still liked the reveal. Although you will probably know who it is at that point, the execution of the reveal is still amazing. Jung Yoon Ho was also a nice contrast to the first two villains (which I think the writers were going for). Instead of being a basic guy who wants money and power, Yoon Ho's motives were much more sinister. He was a messed up psychopath, who wanted to control everyone and everything, who would manipulate/gaslight and kill people to get what he wants. He was defninitely creepy. I didn't have too much of a problem with him as a villain - the only problem I had was that he was introduced so late in the story, out of the blue.

Andrei Kang and Boss Yong - Another highlight of the show. The two foreigners quickly became one of the most interesting things to watch. I loved both Andrei and Boss Yong, and Oh My God, I just couldn't stop fawning over Boss Yong whenever she showed up on the screen. The actress that plays her is so damn beautiful that I coulnd't take my eyes off her. Both of them were cast perfectly, and I eagerly awaited for them to appear again, and again. They were definitely on the more interesting villain side. They didn't seem to have similar motivations to everyone else, they were smarter, and always ahead. I was excited to see their storyline develop, to see where it goes. But I have to say, this is where the writers let me down. I really hoped for their part in the overall story to be so much more. I hoped that they would be at the center of everything, that they would be a part of RSY's past somehow. If not, even finding out about their own past and motivations would be interesting enough, which didn't happen. Although there were some good moments, the best way to describe these two is definitely 'wasted potential'. The fact that Andrei died just like that was so underwhelming. The best thing they did was giving Boss Yong her chance to shine at the end, when she comes with the vengeance.

The remaining support cast - This is where the other charm of the drama went. The support cast was really IT. From RSY's funny and morally ambiguous boss, to the ridiculous and fishy therapist at Heart Mender, every support character had their own unique charm to them. No one felt out of place or annoying. They all had interesting personalities, and were amazingly acted out, so I was invested in everyone. RSY's family, the funny attorney and his crazy mom, the comissioner, and even the kids. There was no support character where I would think they're not important or that their acting was bad. Everyone gave it their all, despite how small their roles might of been. These definitely added a lot to the comedy aspect of things and the serious aspect as well.

The drama might have had its ups and down, but the ending was everything I wished for. We have Boss Yong getting her moment, a tearful goodbye with a certain character, a memory-lane montage, the romance doesn't appear out of the blue in the end, everyone lives happily, and most importantly, RSY finally mans up and admits that K was real, and finally changes for the better. We get to see that K is still a part of RSY, when he refuses those bribes and locks them up instead. I love the ending shot, where we have a call-back to an early episode. It shows that although he can't see or talk to him anymore, K is still a part of Ryu Su Yeol, because he IS him. He's just not blocked off by a wall anymore.

All in all, this drama was a wild ride and I was here for it. I took everything they threw at me, and then asked for more. I can totally see myself rewatching this, even if it's just for K's scenes. Bad and Crazy has everything I want in a K-Drama: a vulnerable male lead, bromance, lack of romance, character and relationship development, complex characters, overcoming past trauma, good amount of comedy and darkness, and a happy ending. The music was amazing and it enhanced each scene the way it was supposed to. Although there are complaints that the drama portrayed DID wrong (RSY talking to K, not having amnesia, calling K alter ego instead of alter), I didn't find it bothersome as it portrayed the core aspects right (DID stemming from childhood trauma, an alter looking different that the host, and being created to protect the person). Of course, there are things that could have been done better with the story, fleshing out the villains, and the plot twists. I would have done some things differently. For example, I really wanted to dive deeper into RSY's past and see more flashbacks. But personally, I'm no professional critic. All I care about in the end was how much I was enjoying myself throughout, and if I was more bored and annoyed then excited. Well, this drama kept me eagerly awaiting the next episode, and I definitely wasn't bored. The characters were colourful and interesting, and I already feel empty, knowing that I won't get to go on another journey with K and Ryu Su Yeol.

This drama will definitely hold a special place in my heart. But I certainly wouldn't be as obsessed with the drama, if K wasn't a character in it. In fact, I wouldn't even enjoy it as much. Therefore, I think it's safe to say that the conclusion is: K stole the show. The End.