[Drama Review] 'Missing 9' - Episode 14

AKP STAFF

Chanyeol, Yang Dong Geun, Jung Kyung Ho, Baek Jin Hee, Choi Tae Joon, Lee Sun Bin

Two more episodes to go until 'Missing 9' comes to a wrap, and the drama continues to do a solid job of arranging it's characters from protagonists to antagonists, minor characters, as well as in this recent episode, the ongoing divide between the two main antagonists - Choi Tae Ho (played by Choi Tae Joon) and Jang Do Pal.

Why can't everyone (like Chanyeol, for example) just come back to life and we can all live happily ever after?!

Throughout the drama, I have not once seen Choi Tae Joon's acting slip up. Jung Kyung Ho, playing the role of Seo Jun Oh, may be the star on the Christmas tree with his performances fully supporting this drama, but that's not to say that Choi Tae Joon's acting isn't worth noting. His performance has gone from a cold and seemingly apathetic star, to a creepy serial killer on the island, to a seriously mistreated and suffering villain, and in every moment, Choi Tae Joon pulled off solid acting that didn't deter viewers from pulling back from the story. Because Tae Ho's character in the drama itself is a rough and rocky character, we can't go so far as to say that Choi Tae Joon's semi-psychopathic killer act was his best yet or anything dramatic like that, but we can at least take some time to appreciate his good work, taking on the role of a very 3-dimensional antagonist, not one who's just flat and evil.�

Absolutely no point to this scene other than to make me want to go play toy crane games... which are getting harder and harder to come by these days.

The same, however, cannot be said about some of the drama's more minor characters. The main characters whom I have slight issues in making out their motives are Yoon So Hee and former investigator Jo Hee Kyung. In So Hee's case, as I've mentioned before, I'm still finding it a little jarring and hard to process, the fact that she recorded what she heard on the phone the night her boyfriend Shin Jae Hyun died, kept the file for herself to use to threaten Jang Do Pal with, and also threatened Choi Tae Ho on the island, ultimately angering him enough to lead to her death. No, I unfortunately just was not satisfied with when the protagonists all sat together, and prosecutor Yoon Tae Young's (played by Yang Dong Geun) assistant went off on his brief spiel about how the incident made So Hee's mentality unstable, she'd tried to come forward multiple times, and she felt extremely guilty for committing a crime, all the while blaming Jun Oh for Shin Jae Hyun's death. But, I suppose I'm being a little too harsh toward a character who's already been long since dead.�

Investigator Jo Hee Kyung, and particularly her confusing, forever-scowling facial expressions, is really making it difficult for me to distinguish whether or not she will prove to be a character who ignores the truth and ignores justice for her own selfish gain, or if she'll turn around and lend the good guys a helping hand, in the end. Some of her actions as she began running for government office, admittedly, have been very indicative that she is a manipulative and untrustworthy person. However, it's always her facial expressions, such as when she's listening to Jun Oh reveal the truth or she's listening to the audio file from So Hee's phone, that make me feel like she's feeling conflict in her heart, and that she'll help the protagonists. What are your thoughts on Jo Hee Kyung? Is she making you confused? Or is she just an unimportant character?

Grhhhhh I'm so handsome when I'm pissed!

On a side note, has anyone else noticed that Byung Joo manager is actually the real hero in this plot? He's been sneaking back and forth between Legend Entertainment and Jun Oh's party, doing some real important, commendable work! For a guy who's always sleeping during strategy time, that's impressive.�

More or less, Jun Oh and manager Jung Ki Joon's plotting toward the end of this episode solidified that the plot will see through with a resolution in favor of the protagonists, in the upcoming 2 episodes left. Even if all the plotting in this episode felt a little too '38 Police Squad'-ish for my approval, it's still relieving as an audience member to see the protagonists work hard to claim justice. Setting aside this drama's unexpectedly bad twists and turns, distracting visual elements, poor production, and inability to draw the audience in, all we remaining viewers want in the end is just for the protagonists to live happily ever after, right? So from here on out, as long as the medium pace and the fair character dynamics in the last two episodes don't stray too much from course, I will do my best to maintain the mediocre score that this drama has been receiving. Next week, 'Missing 9' comes to an end!

I'm so pissed I'm gonna steal Ki Joon's car which is actually my car which is actually my goons' car which is actually Jang Do Pal's... whose effing car is this?!