Air Date: May 24 – July 6, 2024

Episodes: 14

Where to Watch: Viki

Genre: Crime Action Drama

Starring: Ji Sung and Jeon Mi Do

But if he is going to keep his job, he is going to need to cover up his addiction until he can solve the mystery of what really happened to his old friend and why.  Luckily, two other friends from his past will reconnect with him and come alongside him to help bring the truth to light. 

Jang Jae Gyeong is a determined, successful detective.  When he is kidnapped and forced to take a powerful new street drug until he forms an addiction, his career is in serious jeopardy.  But when he finds out his best friend from high school, Jun Seo, suddenly killed himself in a suspicious fall from an abandoned building, he decides to put off rehab until he can find out the truth about what really happened that night.

When he meets a group of his old classmates at Jun Seo’s funeral, he becomes more sure that something about the suicide story doesn’t add up.  And the incident bears some striking similarities to an accident of another classmate years ago.  Fortunately, the funeral also puts him back in touch with two of his close high school friends, who share Jae Gyeong’s suspicions.  Now the trio will combine their talents to uncover what really happened, both in the past and now.  

Jang Jae Gyeong was expelled from his high school for threatening to report the death of his classmate as more than a simple accident.  He has always believed in doing right, no matter how hard it might be for him personally.  So finding out that he has developed a drug addiction puts him in a devastating moral dilemma.  But his desire to see justice for his friend takes precedent over his career and personal wellbeing.  And as his addiction becomes more consuming, he knows better than anyone that this case needs to be solved quickly and clearly, for everyone’s sake. 

Ji Sung is a phenomenal actor and he has had a lot of memorable roles.  But even by that standard, I felt that this performance was outstanding.   The emotional distress that he portrays while under the grips of powerful addiction felt real and breathtaking.  I absolutely loved watching him in this series.  

O Yun Jin works as an investigative reporter.  She is saddened by the news that her former high school boyfriend, Jun Seo, is dead from an apparent suicide.  And she is absolutely shocked when she hears that, although she had lost contact with him shortly after graduating, she and Jae Gyeong had been named as beneficiaries on Jun Seo’s insurance policy.  She can’t help but think there must be a reason he would name the two of them.  And since, as long as his death is ruled a suicide, the policy is void, she is even more motivated to join Jae Gyeong, combining their investigative skills, to find out the truth behind Jun Seo’s death.

Yun Jin is the only person Jae Gyeong tells about his recent kidnapping and drug addiction, since they seem to be somehow related to Jun Seo’s death.  It is Yun Jin’s support, through some of the roughest moments of withdrawal, that keep Jae Gyeong from falling deeper into his reliance on the drug.

O Yun Jin lost custody of her young daughter during her recent divorce.  Since than, she has become desperate to earn enough money to bring her child back home.  Because of this, she has gained a reputation as someone who will do anything for the right amount of money.  Right or wrong, this definitely factors into her decision to help Jae Gyeong investigate Jun Seo’s death.

Although Jeon Mi Do is actually rather new to the small screen, I have enjoyed her as an actress.  I feel like her feisty personality was a nice fit for Yun Jin.  But I wish that they would have done more to show her character’s journey and growth through the drama.

I loved Yun Jin’s character but I wish we could have seen more of her story.  I think this is even more disappointing because the foundation is there.  The story of her divorce and custody battle, the obvious missed romance between her and Jae Gyeong in high school, and her confusion about what to do with the insurance money all have the makings for an interesting character.

It was surprising and a bit far-fetched that at the end of it all, it was Chairman Won, not the guys, who actually killed Jun Seo.  It seems incongruous that the man who chose to abandon his own son to save the company would bother getting involved in the drug problem Tae Jin caused in the first place.  Also shocking that in all the years since high school, none of the friends had ever figured out that Jong Su killed their classmate.

I feel like it would have been nice to see more of the relationship between Jae Gyeong and his colleagues.  After all, Yeon Joo and Chang Soo put their careers on the line to help him.  To make that believable, it would have been nice to see a bit more of their closeness demonstrated.  

‘Connection’ ties up all the lose ends and sees justice served before ending on a sweet, comic moment.  In the end, we see Yun Ho and Tae Jin dead.  Jong Su, Chairman Won and his secretary, Sang Ui, and Chang Soo are all behind bars for their crimes.  Jae Gyeong and Yun Jin got the insurance money and share it with Jun Seo’s wife.  The final scene shows our trio on a beach trip, when they suddenly realize the final code for the crypto account is a date dubbed by Jun Seo as Friendship Day back in high school.  They use their final attempt, and when the account opens they react in shock and excitement!