You're All Surrounded || Series Review

On another nostalgic K-drama influenced journey, I’ll be sharing one of the series that got me hooked to contemporary K-drama. I think I’ve said before that because my parents were big fans of traditional Korean drama, I watched a lot of them growing up, and aside the legendary Boys Over Flowers, this series I’m about to share was what got me hooked on contemporary Korean drama as an ideal watch.

You’re All Surrounded (2014)

Released from May 7th to July 17th, 2014, this 20-episode action/crime/romance series tells the story of the Gangnam Police Station who have recruited new officers in the Violent Crimes Unit called P4. As rookie cops, they fumble, but they also learn, make new connections and fall in love, but most of all, they find a way to becoming better officers that the people can trust.

But there’s a back story to our protagonist. Kim Ji Young (Lee Young Gi) witnessed his mother’s murder as a child and so his sole aim of becoming a detective was to investigate his mother’s murder and find out the perpetrator. He changes his name to Eun Dae Gu to escape the notice of whoever was behind her death. As he begins to unravel the mystery behind this 11-year incident, he learns more about his past and makes deep connections along the way, one of which is his reunion with Eo Soo Sun(Go Ara), who attended the same middle school he did. The beautiful possibilities here on are endless, but also laced with grave danger.

My Review and Rating

The very first drama I saw Lee Seung Gi star in was Gu Family Book, back then in 2014 and just watching how he performed, pouring every ounce of emotion and skill into his acting, I knew he was going to go places, not only as a romance drama actor, but as an action/crime drama actor. I fell in love with more than his smile that back then, I thought was the most amazing thing ever. The very next drama of his I saw was You’re All Surrounded in 2015, and that sealed the deal for me as far as Lee Seung Gi is concerned.

Watching his roles come to life was an exhilarating experience for me. Whether it was in the crime solving scenes and those with his romantic interest, all were worthwhile and stellar. I emphasize on this because there are a lot of actors that may be good at romance roles but not good at action roles, and nice versa. But with Lee Seung Gi, each scene was given the perfect amount of emotions needed. It also helped that he had beautiful chemistry with his love interest, Go Ara, who is also an exceptional actress.

Concerning the series itself, I’m always down for a good crime/detective/find out who’s behind some murder or the other type of series. So, this was exciting. I also watched this series at a time when the whole trauma/revenge plot thing was coming into limelight. That time it hadn’t been overused and not all protagonists has a traumatic past that drives him or something. It was refreshing back then as I know it’ll be now. Of course, I’ll be more aware of the clichés and predictability. But, I don’t mind if I’m being honest.

I loved the themes showcased in this series. The laughs, and the fact that in all 20 episodes, you are sure to pick on some core value or the other. Whether it’s on brotherhood, or the importance of solidarity, paying attention to your instincts, and everything in between. Some good stuff right there. I loved that room was also given for the leads' love to blossom. It's kind of tricky managing that with an action movie, but the director balanced it all so smoothly. Kudos to them.

Yeah, so that’s about it. Oh, I forgot to add the killer OSTs this has. There’s a particular one that kept playing in my head for the past ten years, and it’s only this year I got to download the song. And all the scenes associated with that track came back rushing. One of these days when I’m more liberated, I’ll pick You’re All Surrounded again, but for now, I’m content with just sharing this beautiful series with you guys. An easy 8.5/10 for me. Do check it out!

Jhymi🖤

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