Of course, that’s just my opinion, but I think that this will be a tough one to beat.

Without giving away any plot details (which are rich and complicated and couldn’t be adequately summarized here anyway), this is a must-see drama for anyone who loves quality acting ensembles, movie-quality direction, and a plot that keeps you guessing every step of the way.

I fell hard for Jo Seung-Woo’s character – Prosecutor Hwang Shi-mok – within the first few seconds of him being onscreen. His expressionless, dogged pursuit of the right thing without any awareness of the social niceties is brilliantly portrayed by Jo Seung-woo. When you think about it, it’s incredibly difficult to communicate without the smiles and frowns of normal interactions; imagine having to portray a character like that and keep him so compelling to watch! And he manages to humanize him, even when Hwang Shi-mok seems somewhat inhuman. Amazing performance!

Bae Doona is the perfect counterpoint playing the honest and intrepid police detective Han Yeo-jin, because she manages to have kept her integrity and compassion in a tough environment. She brings the warmth to the equation, and it works.

The plot involves murder, corruption, prostitution as part of deal-making, and more and it’s all carefully woven together. Watching Hwang Shi-mok dig thru the ‘murk’ with the help of Han Yeo-jin, even when it seems for every 2 steps forward there’s 1 step backwards.

I mentioned the ensemble cast? It’s equally up to the task of the storytelling. Remember the guy who was the noble prosecutor in City Hunter and how much we liked him? It’s fun to watch him here as the shifty and conniving prosecutor Seo Dong-jae!

I hope you watch it too, now that it’s finished, so that we can discuss it!

#bae-doona, #cho-seung-woo, #forest-of-secrets, #jo-seung-woo, #secret-forest, #stranger-secret-forest