"Through The Darkness (악의 마음을 읽는 자들); literally, "Those Who Read Hearts of Evil" is a live-action adaptation of the nonfiction novel of the same title, written by Kwon Il-Yong, Republic of Korea's first profiler and co-authored by writer Go Na-Moo, published in the year 2018.

Created by Studio S and Wavve, "Through The Darkness" is directed by Park Bo Ram while Seol Yi Na took the charge of screenwriting, which is a debut for both of them. Master composer Gaemi leads the music production while the show was broadcasted on SBS. It had a mid-season break of 3 weeks due to Winter Olympics but I guess it proved rewarding.

To be clear, this is not the depiction of the real life events of the profiler but the sequence of events are reflected from reality to a certain extent; that's why the novel is nonfiction. The drama is setup in late 1990s and shows the process and struggles of establishing the "Behavioural Analysis Unit" in South Korean Police Force as well as making "Criminal Profiling" an important factor of investigation, through succeeding years. I think this is enough for a gist given the theme and premise of the show.

Inspector Song Ha Young (Kim Na Gil) is reserved and somewhat introverted with abilities of reading through emotions and is highly piercing. Having a traumatic experience in early childhood, he has grown up into a person who seeks a simple life and want to persue his job with honesty and discipline. Detective Kook Young Soo (Jin Seon Kyu) is the chief of Forensic Analysis unit yet has aspirations to create a Behavioural Analysis team after being inspired from "criminal profiling" done by American FBI. Detective Yoon Tae Goo (Kim So Jin) is the leader of Special Crime Squad 2 at Seoul RIU who always strives to bring justice. Jung Woo Ju (Ryeoun) is a Statistical Analyst in the Behavioural Analysis Team, who is young yet determined and hardworking.

Other actors in major roles are: Baek Joon Sik (Lee Dae Yeon) as RIU Superintendent, Heo Gil Pyo (Kim Won Hae) as Special Crime Squad Chief, Detective Nam Il Young (Jung Soon Won) as Yoo Tae Goo's partner and Oh In Tak (Hong Woo Jin) as the current chief of Forensics. The performance by each and every major characters as well as supporting plus temporary roles was simple amazing, I must mention. Special credits to Kim Nam Gil and Jin Seon Kyu, who obviously were expected to carry the show on their back. Also, the performance from the actors playing serial killers is hugely commendable.

Plot development was stupendous. Let me inform you that it's neither a steady nor a plot, neither a staircase development and doesn't have any connecting plot elements either. Rather it's more of a biographical documentary of a profiler and him solving cases one after another, obviously along with people around him through a passage of time of about half a decade. The pilot episodes were impressive and able to make the audience look forward to further; might feel a little slow but it's a matter of time, you realize that the entire show was intended to be like that. The show greatly emphasizes on the methods of intensive profiling through which the male leads not only try to spread out the importance of criminal behavioral analysis, but also put efforts into learning themselves.

There is the least amount of suspense, I must mention. It's bcs the writer has opted to reveal the culprits at the beginning of the cases itself. On that note, it's not a psychopath crime thriller or any sort lf murder mystery, rather the weightage is on profiling, i. e. how the cops exercise their brains to get to the criminal. There are about 5 major culprits throughout and each case starts while the previous is about to end. Song Ha Young's growth as a rookie profiler to an expert is worth investing your time into.

I feel the most amount of credit should go to the screenwriter. Although the drama is a novel adaptation but turning books into live-action isn't as easy since the latter is more of a play script. Haven't read the original work but from what I saw on sns, they have retained originality for most of the parts, which should be commended. The premises wete aptly setup and the sequence of events were perfectly arranged plus organized. The momentary monologues and self-notes picked my attention as well. Even though the focus is hugely concentrated on the 2 MLs, others received a good amount of exposure as well, and on that note, the character arcs were drawn with great efforts and the growth in them was clearly conspicuous, again, especially for the 2 MLs.

I'm sure the directorial debut for Park Bo Ram PDnim has been a fruitful experience; directing the screenplay for such a fantastic script indeed would have brought joy. To me, the show didn't feel like being directed by a rookie at all, in fact, after watching 3 episodes, when I rushed to check out which amazing person has taken the charge, it turned out to be someone I never knew of. The pacing was perfect; the seeming slow paced development made the entire thing more meaningful, I felt. The cinematography with unlit & dim pallettes and dark hue was able to provide pertinent moods and gives, given the catastrophic theme of the story. The screen-editing was good for me, with less sound effects and being greatly focused on intense scenarios; the criminal chasing and fighting scenes were in fact enjoyable.

There are 4 soundtracks in total, composed by Gaemi nim and to the best of the show's vibes. I think it would have been still okay with no OSTs and this number was okay given the least utilization. "Lullaby" by Nerd Connection is a harmonious depiction of dark conflicts between emotions within your heart. "Can't Run Away" by Isaac Hong is a caliginous urge to give up on everything. Leopard of Mt. Kilimanjaro by 4Men was the last track.

What I liked...

ML doesn't shadows others...
# Seemingly nonexistent bromance... I couldn't concluded whether it was bromance bcs there was no eye-catching portrayal but the things between Ha Young & Young Soo was full of care, affection and mutual respect is all I can say. I loved their chemistry as partners who gave their best with the preeminent determination to get to the roots of all the cases, as well as to save and develope their team. "Bloom and Fall Alone" is a gloomy call from heart's core about the hostilities one goes through, with intriguing vocals of Kim So Yeon.

# Extensive emphasis on profiling...
Oh! I guess I'd have mentioned this point first. This is the thing that makes the drama one of the best. For 5 years, I have been waiting for something to come and level up itself with "Signal (2017)" and may be it wasn't able to reach that, but well, it is the one that went the closest, which makes me happy.

# No dramatic peak elevation... It's expected of a story of any form to have peaks; it's one of the essential factors that we all love about. But, the storytelling method for this drama didn't intend to have clear-cut elements of such. I've explained the reason above, and, in fact, this fact makes the show more of a realistic piece.

# Simple yet powerful and impressive... Again, it isn't a brainy drama with intriguing plot or astonishing revelations. Everything has been made crystal clear for you from the beginning so what's left for you to see? It's the way the detectives analyse and profile an event and personalities of criminals to get through the cause and the culprit. Indeed, the way everything has been executed, makes it highly impressive, entertaining and worthy of investing your time into.

# Apt exposure to side characters... I loved how the side characters and their parts were not exaggerated as fillers and were properly used, especially for Kim So Jin, Ryeoun, Jung Soon Won and Gong Sung Ha.

What I didn't like... There's only one thing I didn't like about this drama, i. e. in the screenplay, things that could have been explained by the speaker by simply telling the scenarios, was shown via quick flashbacks of the event. I guess it was a screenplay strategy by the writer and director but it could have been excluded in my opinion. Nevertheless, it didn't ruin the quality of the overall content, for me.

Final Remarks... I didn't have much expectations before starting this, ngl, and all I relied on was the cast which I admire and also the fact that the drama was on profiling. But, to my surprise, the drama left with no option but to applaud and eulogize everywhere. The overall execution of this drama including direction, writing, performance is definitely to the level of excellency and I would obviously recommend y'all to watch this. MUST WATCH!