Why so serious? The whole thing lacks reality, plausibility, and logic, and the series leaves the audience outside, uninvited. Inside, in their own league, actors are being serious; the lines are turgid and pretentious; the plot is almost fantasy. The more they are trying to leave a grandiose impression, the more ludicrous 'The Whirlwind' gets. Writers really need to let loose. I get his intention, trying to make lines poetic, metaphorical, and philosophical, but the result turns out to be cringey and stilted. Additionally, actors' way of speaking weakens an already low level of reality. They speak as if they are from a hundred years ago while surroundings and backgrounds are modern as heck. On top of that, language, tone, and manner are very freaking preachy. It's not even interesting, and now I have to listen to your lectures?
The funny thing is that while the series is freaking didactic, producers, directors, and writers are such cowards themselves. 'The Whirlwind' criticizes almost everyone and every tradition in Korean politics, but it fails to even go near the real sensitive subject current in Korean politics. It's easy for them to attack the so-called 586 generations who participated in democratic movements in the past but conservatized later. However, they lower the attack on the Public Prosecutors' Office and the media, the real core power and problem of all systems.