Vampire Detective Korean Drama - Lee Joon

This episode of Vampire Detective has some small snippets of development with our main story of San, his turning into a vampire, and his backstory with Yoo Jin.  But most of the episode is focused on a new crime for our team to investigate.

Episode 2 shows our hero San having survived being shot and is beginning to notice that something is different about him.  His long ago injury is no longer causing him problems, he isn’t hungry for food, and the sight of blood stirs up something in him and causes his eyes to turn gold.

After the death of her brother, Gyeo Wool shows up at the agency and declares she is moving in with them.  Her and Goo Young continue to be at odds, especially over the new arrangement.

We have a new case to solve this week after a news reporter shows up at the agency looking for help after she discovers a dead body in a locker at work, but when she goes to get a guard, the body disappears.

Our team investigates the crime and San discovers another ability in that he seems to be able to sense/see events that previously occurred when he sees blood.  He is also able to survive being stabbed multiple times with little injury.  So his vampire powers are working well for him.

We get one flashback to a memory of San and Yoo Jin.  It is a playful and sweet exchange between the two lovebirds.  The episode ends with San seeing what appears to be Yoo Jin alive on a video screen.

Things I liked:

  • The memory of San and Yoo Jin showing a time when they were happy and in love with a touch of foreshadowing of events to come
  • The brotherly relationship between San and Goo Young

Things I disliked:

  • It still feels like more of a case by case detective drama
  • I felt like the narrative of the case was presented in a somewhat confusing way, and it made it a bit more challenging to follow
  • I wasn’t engaged with the case or those affected by it
  • We jumped right into San having these new abilities, but we don’t spend anytime with how he feels and is coping with the changes.  For the most part, he just goes on like nothing happened with a only a couple passing mentions of it.
  • I’m still not connecting with the main characters.  The narrative hasn’t spent hardly any time getting to know them on a deeper level.

So overall, I found this episode pretty slow and unengaging.  The preview for episode 3 seems to be focusing on another case.  It’s disappointing because while the case did give San the opportunity to use some of his new abilities, it still felt very separate from the main narrative and lacked any emotional punch.

I’m also disappointed we only got a snippet of back story concerning San and Yoo Jin.  I really hope next week allows us to delve deeper into our main characters with the case just fueling that rather than overshadowing it.

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2 responses to “Korean Drama Impressions: Vampire Detective Episode 2 Review”

  1. joybran2015 Avatar

    I really want to love this show. So much that I’m watching it as it airs. Unfortunately, the disappointments are starting to outweigh the pleasures. I was actually feeling bored in the middle of the episode until the action picked up toward the end. I really, really hope the next episode gives me something to love.

    1. Kay Avatar

      Same here, as you can see, my dislikes were more than double my likes. This episode had a few moments, but I was pretty bored overall. It’s probably going to stick with the more procedural route, but I’m crossing my fingers that next episode at least visits the overaching back story a bit more.

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