The Whirlwind

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.

Most problems with TV dramas is that they are too slow. "Whirlwind" is the opposite. It moves way too fast, turning and twisting from one impossible complication to another. Characters are also switching allegiance back and forth between various allies/enemies. All these points make for a very fast-paced storyline that keeps me guessing, but the problem is that the fast pace also makes it difficult for me to develop any attachment to the characters.

I love stories that feature characters who are neither entirely good or entirely bad, and "Whirlwind" has several of them, and the mature and understated acting made their portrayal of the characters very exciting to watch. Unfortunately, everything these characters do seem to be driven by the chaotic plot line. Despite these characters having very noble aspirations and idealistic goals, I just could not sympathize with them.

Most of the acting was quite good, except for the two young political aids. Lim Se Mi is particularly dull as her character seems quite one-dimensional. If her love interest was better-looking, that would have helped a lot.

Best ever show on politics.

There are not many characters in this series. Unlike other political dramas which often have multiple characters like sons, father, nephews, Uncles and cousins etc this series has only two main rivals.

One male and one female in lead role. Both want to become president of Republic of Korea by hook or crook mean. They use power, sources, references and obviously their mind to take the lead. And all the story goes in logical way.

All the actors do their job very well. Especially female in lead role shows better expression than the male.

And last thing I want to mention that the lesson I got from this show NEVER LOSE HOPE. IF U R DETERMINE TO FIND A SOLUTION, THERE IT IS.

A fantastic Korean political thriller I've ever seen! Just as the 'Whirlwind' refers to intense wind that keeps spinning, in the same way this is one of an intense series that keeps spinning with twists after twists. A strong fight between President n Prime minister to grab the power that keeps one completely hooked up. One believes politics is above all morals n the other believes politics is about corrupt free democracy. Though ending is satisfactory, yet it feels like neither of them wins in a big way. However, a little lengthier. A miniseries of 12 episodes dubbed in Hindi as well. Available in Netflix My ratings 8/10!

THE WHIRLWIND, a Netflix produced K-drama, shows cutthroat politics at their highest levels in South Korea. The series begins with the murder attempt of sitting President Jang by his second in command, Prime Minister Park Dong-ho. The deputy Prime Minister, Jung Soo-jin, then sees her own calculated path to power. These two would be successors to the presidency try to keep each other out of power and ruin each other's political careers through lies, bribery, threats, blackmail, and lawfare, trying to form alliances with both public and private influencers, and the citizenry at large. It is definitely an unvarnished look at what is possible with people with great ambition who will stop at nothing to gain power. It also shows how efforts made to root out corruption can lead to more corruption. Many comparisons can be made to real life governments in many countries, including the United States, from what was depicted in this series.

Two glaring problems limited the message's effectiveness: First, the plot holes. Early on, when Park becomes acting President and learns of the threat Jung will become, he fires her as Prime Minister. Yet she retains access to her office, information and files, and continues to give orders to (former) subordinates. This enables her to continue her quest to remove Park from power. If a person were fired and removed from their position, they would no longer have this kind of access or power. Nor would she or any other single person be left alone (or with their assistant only) in a hospital room while the President was recovering from a near death experience. Any nation would provide tight security for their leader while he or she was recuperating.

Second, the monotone emotions displayed by every character became repetitive and boring. Their limited range only consisted of serious scowls by everyone, and then Jung's watering eyes at the hint of each impending crisis. Very few smiles, and only during flashbacks.

Those items aside, THE WHIRLWIND was a binge worthy, one season series.