Bad and Crazy – Full Review
Welcome to Bad and Crazy – Full Review. A police officer has made his way up the ranks by turning a blind eye to corruption, but his life is turned upside down when he meets a crazy man with a hero complex. If you haven’t watched this drama yet, I recommend checking out my unspoiled review here.
Bad and Crazy
♥ Aired: Dec 17, 2021 – January 28, 2022
♥# of Episodes: 12
♥Where to Watch: iQIYI and Netflix (March 28, 2022)
♥Genre: Action Drama
♥Starring: Lee Dong Wook and Wi Ha Joon
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The Story
As a prominent member of the Anti-Corruption Unit of the Police Force, Soo Yeol has made his way up the ranks by turning a blind eye to corrupt officials and powerful allies. But one day he meets a crazy man, called “K”, who has no tolerance for dishonesty or wrong-doing. K pushes Soo Yeol to put aside his bad-boy image and work to become a better person. And K’s uncanny ability to show up at just the right moment doesn’t give Soo Yeol a chance to slip back into bad habits. But where did K come from and how does he seem to know Soo Eyol so well?
The Leads
Lee Dong Wook as Ryu Soo Yeol
Ryu Soo Yeol is up for a promotion and all he needs to do is keep his head down and not drawn any unwanted attention. But when he meets a mysterious vigilante named K, he gets forced into doing the right thing, even when it means getting on the bad side of some very powerful people. At first, Soo Yeol decides to just avoid K, but things get very complicated when he realizes that he is suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder and K is his alternate identity. With K’s influence, Soo Yeol begins to see that doing the right thing is more important than getting a promotion and no one should be allowed to use their position and power to hurt others. Now he and K will work “together” to bring down some very powerful figures and bring justice.
Ryu Soo Yeol is laid- back and easy going, but he has buried a trauma from his childhood that left him fractured and created K as a protector. Consciously, he has only small pieces of memories of the events that led him to his adopted mother and brother. Unlocking those missing memories is the key to his healing. Lee Dong Wook is charming as Soo Yeol, although the role didn’t always seem as natural to him as other roles I have seen him in. It was fun to see him play a more comical character.
Wi Ha Joon as K
K is a mysterious stranger who suddenly begins showing up whenever Soo Yeol is in a bad situation. He continues to push Soo Yeol to do the right thing, even when it means putting his own life in danger. Even though K is aware that he is really just an alter-ego of Soo Yeol, he leaves Soo Yeol to discover that on his own. Once Soo Yeol becomes aware of who K really is, he and K agree to work together to expose the corruption that has been going on for years between the police department and city officials. But as Soo Yeol gets more in touch with this side of himself and begins to get his memory back, what will happen to K?
K is crazy and loveable. He does everything with full enthusiasm and sees himself as a superhero. His job is to step in and protect Soo Yeol whenever he is needed. This character represents the good that is in Soo Yeol. Wi Ha Joon was incredible in this role. I found myself laughing almost every time he was onscreen. He was funny and yet so sincere. The interactions between he and Lee Dong Wook were the best part of this drama, and Wi Ha Joon played it perfectly.
Supporting Characters
Ha Ji Eun as Lee Hee Kyum
Ha Ji Eun is Soo Yeol’s ex-girlfriend and fellow police officer. It’s not completely clear why they broke up but it is clear that they both still have feelings for each other. Ha Ji Eun is tough and outspoken, and she is one of the few people who know how to put Soo Yeol in his place when he needs it.
Cha Hak Yeon as Oh Kyung Tae
Oh Kyung Tae is a rookie police officer whose determination to help a little girl find her missing mother leads to our villains eventually getting caught. He is honest and hard working. He is transferred into the Anti-Corruption Unit to work with Soo Yeol and Jae Seon. He adopts Jae Seon as his mentor and the two have a very cute relationship. Some even refer to Kyung Tae jokingly as Jae Seon’s “wife”!
Cha Shi Won as Yang Jae Seon
Yang Jae Seon has known Soo Yeol for years. The two work closely together and Soo Yeol trusts Jae Seon. Once Kyung Tae joins their unit, Jae Seon becomes his mentor as they work on the cases to help Soo Yeol. Jae Seon is irritated that Kyung Tae is able to make connection in the cases that he misses, but grungingly acknowledges his intuition.
Things I Liked
♥ Wi Ha Joon
Wi Ha Joon gave such a stand out performance in this drama. He is charming, funny, and endearing all at the same time. There are a lot of ways they could have played this alter-ego, but I loved how they created a whole new character for him. The energy he put into this role actually made Soo Yeol’s character seem more likeable and understandable. I love a good bromance story and this one was fun from start to finish.
♥ Jung Hoon
While Jung Hoon’s character is kind of a small role, he is pivotal in the story arc of Soo Yeon’s healing. He represents a reflection of Soo Yeol’s past, and when Jung Hoon is victimized by Yoon Ho, like Soo Yeol was, Soo Yeol brings him to the family who loved and supported him through that difficult time. Jung Hoon also gives Soo Yeol a chance to redo the fire scene from the beginning of the series. But this time Soo Yeol doesn’t have to be thrown in and forced to save Jung Hoon. He rushes in on his own, which shows his emotional growth and maturity.
♥ Separate Actors for Personalities
Split personalities are usually just the main actor with a different hairstyle or glasses. It gives the lead actor a great opportunity to show their duality but it doesn’t really feel like two individual characters. The decision to bring in a totally different actor to play Soo Yeol’s alter ego was unique and engaging. Doing this gave the leads a way to intereact and build a relationship that wouldn’t have been possible if one actor had tried to carry both roles.
Things I Didn’t Like
Parade of Villains
This drama took a weird approach with their villains. As each one toppled, they revealed the next one, like a Matryoshka doll, until they finally got to the final villain, Boss Yong. Unfortunately, these villains got kind of jumbled together so it was hard to remember who was who and what their connection to the others was. Also, Boss Yong was such a unique and mysterious character that she could have been a leading role. I would have liked to see more of a focus on her and her operation. The other villains and their stories hardly seem relevant in contrast to her strong screen presence.
Misdiagnosis
While this plot was fun and exciting, there were definitely some liberties taken with the portrayal of DID (Disassociative Identity Disorder). I know dramas need to take some creative license, but if you are going to tackle a hot social issue like mental illness, I believe you have a responsibility to represent it as accurately as possible. Unfortunately, in this case, there seemed to be a mixed bag of symptoms representing numerous mental illnesses all rolled up into one. And some of the treatment suggestions made by Dr. Yum Geun Soo, like just allowing the other personality to take over while you “sleep”, can actually be dangerous to a person’s psyche. I don’t want to harp on this subject too much, but it warrants mentioning.
Yoon Ho’s Profession
So how did the poor, orphan Yoon Ho suddenly become the esteemed Dr. Shin Joo Hyuk? Even if he had stolen someone’s identity, he had to learn enough to treat patients and earn a reputation that made the police department trust and recommend him. That feels like an awfully big jump to me. It doesn’t seem like the kind of thing you can just make happen.
The Ending
“Bad and Crazy” ends with the same energy and chaos it began with. Soo Yeol escapes the mental hospital, with help from K, of course. He ends up confronting Joo Hyuk and having to pull Jung Hoon out of a burning house. Soo Yeol wakes up in the hospital, surrounded by his friends who assure him that Jung Hoon is fine and Joo Hyuk, now Yoon Ho again, has been arrested. Later Soo Yeol walks away from his chance to be reinstated because he refuses to deny that K existed. We see him working with his brother at the pizza restaurant. But after a visit from Hee Gyeom, he decides to go back to work and hints that he would like her to stay in his unit. It seems like the couple are on the road to reconciliation, as if we had any doubts. Yoon Ho’s lawyer offers to claim mental trauma in the hopes of getting a lighter sentence, but Yoon Ho refuses. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like he is able to stand trial, since Yong follows him into the bathroom at the court house and strangles him as revenge for what he did to Andrei. One year later we see Soo Yeol back at the club where the politicians hang out and do business. It looks like Soo Yeol is accepting a bribe until he suddenly grabs his phone to snap a picture and his team comes rushing in to back him up. He is no longer willing to turn a blind eye to corruption. The final scene mimics the beginning, with Soo Yeol rushing to the corrupt commissioner to call him out. With a shout, he flies down the stair and launches into a flying kick, straight to the commissioners face.
Should I Watch
“Bad and Crazy” is a wild crime comedy with a unique plot and plenty of thrilling action. It covers a wide range of genre and even touches on some more emotional scenes surrounding mental health and self discovery. The bromance between Lee Dong Wook and Wi Ha Joon was entertaining, and they never pushed it so hard that it got old. This drama is fast-paced and entertaining, but that pace does leave it open to some loose plots and disjointed storylines. On the plus side, if you want an exciting police drama with plenty of humor and a touch of romance, this one is definitely worth your time. I give “Bad and Crazy” an 8 out of 10 ramen.
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