Police University

It's just a meal ticket. Salary dump. The story is slow, long, not funny, in all kinds of genre. So mixed up, sprawling, dumbed down, it is like a teenager trying to find oneself.

Only the basic setup is clear. A veteran police office relegated to police university teacher. And a young computer whiz who has no direction in life.

They go through the training, have side kicks, friends, love interest, other teachers. In trying to catch a gambling ring. Just way too many characters that do nothing really. For one long plot that crawls along from one red herring to another.

There is no grit, no realistic investigation, but instead, guesses, having fun and slow motion walkabouts. That should tell you something.

Korean Drama " Police University " is a predictable, boring, drama.

The story has a nice start and some interesting characters, although the main one is so cookie cutter 'good guy struggling' that it gets the plot cheesy and full of cliches. The progress of the story has few surprises to offer as well and the action part, unfortunately, doesn't aid to the entertainment. The romance, in addition, is boring and tiring. Probably, the only enjoyable relationship is between the mentor and the young trainees.

On the other hand, the performances were decent and the actors and actresses did a good job presenting their characters.

So, overall, two out of ten.

It had a good concept and it started off actually decent but it derailed unbelievably hard and quick after episode 2. As If there was a switch flipped. It almost seemed as if the writer lost interest and handed over the wheel to an intern. The drama got seriously dumbed down to the nth degree and the cheese meter got turned to 11. The performance of the younger cast was weak, and the older cast seemed to take the easy way out, delivering lackluster performances for their relatively insignificant and undemanding roles. Cha Tae Hyun is usually good but somehow he's unable to show an expression other than him pouting all the time. The plot surrounding the villain was poorly developed and ended up being lame, as expected. The whole romance in the drama was nothing but childish. The portrayal of the police life was dull and uninteresting. The drama is a strong contender for the worst love triangle out there as well. The last episode was solely dedicated to pair everyone with someone forcefully because reasons?!

By episode 12, it did bug me enough to write a review.

How should someone like that train prospective police officers. He reacts too impulsively instead of using his advantages wisely, for example when he takes the bug and runs off with it, any really good investigator would have left it there and misled the listener, or when he has the crook's cell phone and calls the number, he only runs around to check when he has already hung up.

Why are they talking so loudly in the big hall, everyone could listen and he doesn't have a PokerFace either.

I know it's a series but these things are annoying because it's not believable.

This Korean comedy drama is centred on a group of students at the titular Police University and their instructors; particularly trainees Kang Seon-ho; his potential love interest Oh Kang-hee and lecturer Yoo Dong-man. The story opens with Detective Yoo Dong-man working to bring down an illegal online gambling ring with the help of a hacker known as 'Yoon'... who just happens to be Kang Seon-ho. When the latter's adoptive father needs medical treatment he uses his skills to steal the money from the gambling ring. This leads to them moving their operation just before their planned arrest. Dong-man arrests Seon-ho but ultimately releases him without charge. After this Seon-ho applies to join the police and attends their university; here he is shocked to find the new professor is recently transferred Dong-man, who is initially determined to get him thrown out! Not surprisingly Dong-man refuses to drop his pursuit of the gambling ring and ends up teaming up with Seon-ho again. Eventually a small group of students are unofficially helping him as they start to fear the ringleader may be close to the University.

I thought this series was a lot of fun. The drama is solid, with plenty of tense moments and a decent mystery concerning the person behind the illegal gambling ring. There are also plenty of laughs to be had, usually provided by secondary characters, and touches of romance. I admit that the title and opening had me expecting a Korean version of 'Police Academy' it doesn't take that route so anybody expecting non-stop gags are likely to be disappointed; similarly those hoping for gritty realism won't be too happy... however if you want a fun show which provides a good mystery, laughs and romance you could do worse. The characters are fun to watch and the acting is solid. Overall I'd certainly recommend this; just don't expect it to be too serious.

These comments are based on watching the series in Korean with English subtitles.