The Bequeathed

Every family has its own secrets and tragedies. It is just a matter of time when these secrets and tragedies will be revealed. Seon-san (The Bequeathed) is a serie that focus on a family which has secrets and tragedies in their past. This serie also focus on "greed" and it shows us clearly how greed can transform you into a monster. On the other hand, the serie focuses on the concepts of "forgiveness and mercy" and they are very well studied. The acting is great. The scenario is a great. The atmosphere is great. For that reason, I recommend everyone to give a try to watch this serie. I really enjoyed it even though I am not familiar with Korean TV series. I give 9 out of 10 for this serie.

It absolutely baffles me when shows like this get rated below a 7, whereas other completely mindless, horribly written ones with atrocious dialogue and acting get much higher ratings.

Albeit no "Train to Busan," most of Yeon Sang-ho's works post that blockbuster were all compelling in their own rights. Hellbound tackles the issue of religion and the dangers of cultish behavior, Jung-E is a family story packaged in an action drama, and this one, once again tackles familial relationships but in a much different arena. And there's always something humane at the core of these shows that grounds them, despite some of the outlandish scenarios. What happens when absolute devotion to your family pushes you to do irrational things; what happens when lack of devotion creates similar outcomes? This is a wonderful exploration of the complexity of what family means, should be, could be, shouldn't be, is expected to be, etc.

The acting is superb, and the characters are complex and dynamic. Highly recommended.

As an avid fan of mystery films, I was very disappointed by this drama.

The dialogue is incredibly watered-down, lacks subtlety, and usually overexplains and oversimplifies. The deductions in the film and the motivation behind the criminals are often nonsensical. The murderer can only be found through sheer guesswork. The themes explored in the drama are either meaningless and used solely for shock-value or banal. And, much of the conflicts early on in the drama is completely forgotten or scrapped by the end. I.e., even this seemingly short 6 episode drama is flooded with useless fillers.

It's quite unfortunate because everything else beside this amateurish screenplay was surprisingly good: The actors were great, the music score was on point, and the cinematography was good. Had this been any other genre and it would have most likely been palatable, but as a mystery drama, which requires an intelligent screenplay, it was subpar.

Write a brief summary of your impressions up to episode 3.

First of all, from episode 1, the suspense increased with a compelling plot and the appearance of various characters.

The dark and heavy atmosphere dominated the entire drama, and I felt a shiver run down my spine as more and more mysteries were revealed.

The acting skills of Kim Hyun Joo and the other actors were amazing, which made the drama very immersive.

The storyline was also gripping and kept me watching episode after episode.

I honestly didn't expect Korean dramas to be this good.

Highly recommended if you like the thriller genre.

So, I shall not put this as a 'must watch' programme, because the phrase is often overused.

I will definitely say that it is a 'should see'.

Without spoilers, I will say that there are some plot holes, but then there is the build up to the final episode.

I did like the fact that the character development is retrospective, and that continues right to the last seconds of the final episode.

There are layers upon layers, and at one point, I had convinced myself that I knew what the final twist would be.... Then the final twist caught me by surprise, and I really enjoyed that. It is a strange blend of secrets, coupled with some parallel storylines.

If I had any complaints, it should have had another episode or maybe two, just to flesh out the additional storylines, and fill the plot holes.

But, it is very well done, it is definitely worth seeing, and there is a commentary on the troubles of being human.