It took me a long time to finish Argon. The reason for the dawdling had nothing to do with the caliber of the acting or the writing or the production, or being too busy to find the time. I just found it so difficult to see Kim Joo-hyuk onscreen, so vital, so intelligent, human, and real and know that this was the last time I’d get to see him at work in something new and challenging. At times it was distracting me from the story, so I needed to take it slowly.

This is a shorter piece, only 8 episodes long, but that works in its favor. A longer show full of back-stabbing and corrupt politicos and business-types, and the news organizations who bend over and take it from them would be almost as depressing as thinking about a favorite actor’s final work. But there could have been a little more work put into the individual storylines; it’s almost as if this was a Season 1 for the show, with a Season 2 (or more) planned where we’d learn more about how Cheon Woo-hi’s scab-turned-legit-hire reporter grows into a force to be reckoned with under the mentorship of sage Kim Joo-hyuk. I’d watch that show, and wish that I could.

This might not make my favorite’s of the year top honors, but it’s worth watching a team of veteran, talented actors put their heart and soul into telling us that doing the right thing is difficult, but not impossible (some of the time).

#argon, #cheon-woo-hui, #kim-joo-hyuk, #park-won-sang