Connection / Ep. 89

Episode Transcript
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(00:19):
I'm Jessica and this is Tabot K Rambles where a couple of
friends review Korean dramas andwelcome back for another
episode. We are going to be reviewing
Connection. And for this episode I am joined
by my true crime crime thriller bestie, Caitlin from the No
Sleep for Dramas podcast. How are you, Caitlin?

(00:40):
Hello, I'm good. I'm so excited I get a chance to
talk about this. Oh my God, So girl, like we have
been chatting on and off about this drama for a long time.
You're the one who put it on my radar because last year you said
it was in like your top five dramas of 2024.
And I said, whoa, what is this drama?
So we kind of were talking through and we were like, we

(01:04):
have to watch this drama. What if I, what if I covered it
on Tabak? Would you come on and review it
with me? And you were like absolutely,
100%. I'll come on and review it with
you. So now the time has finally
come. I have watched it for the first
time. You have rewatched.
It. I'm just so excited, so excited.
To talk. I'm excited because, yeah, when
I watched this the first time, there were not a lot of people

(01:26):
who watched it for various reasons.
Like some of the dramas that were airing around the same time
were a lot more popular. Some people might not be fans of
G songs, so they skipped it. So like, I literally, it was
like me and one other person on Instagram who were both watching
at the same time and we were both messaging each other.

(01:47):
And I, I have to remember who itwas because I don't remember off
the top of my head right now. But we were both like, thank God
you're watching this. I need to talk about it with
somebody. Yeah.
If you remember the game, shut them out.
But I will, I, I'll, I'll look it up or maybe I'll give it to
you after and I'll you can put it in the notes or something.
Yeah, because honestly, this show, no, like barely anybody

(02:08):
was talking. I think I saw one person on
TikTok talking about connection and really it was not in a lot
of top ten, top five lists at the end of the year.
Creators just were not talking about this.
K drama. And I like to genre hop.
I like to dip my toes into a lotof different genres.
I don't just stick with romance.I don't just stick with slice of

(02:31):
life. I like dark and gritty dramas
and this one really grabbed my attention from the get go.
So before we get into it though,if this is your first time
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(02:52):
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(03:13):
patreon.com/debakpod and shout out to our patrons, Janet
Curtis, CD, Alana, Grace, Lorna,Sammy, Caitlin, Julian #1,
Michelle, Tanmayi, Martha, Delphia, Maria, Sarah, Julian
#2, Pam, and Cynthia. Thank you so much for supporting
the show. All right, so we're going to
deep dive on connection. I have some notes.

(03:34):
I'm not sure if you have notes or if you're just going to wing
it because. I'm winging it.
I usually do. Caitlin doesn't show up with
notes, she just like wings it every time.
And I respect that. I respect that.
I really do. So we're going to start off as
always with the My Drama list synopsis for this non spoiler
section, it reads. Detective Dong De Kyung of

(03:57):
Onions Narcotics Unit is forcibly addicted to a
mysterious drug as his body deteriorates.
Reporter All Yunjin, his former high school friend, investigates
a drug related death and crossespaths with him again.
Their pursuit of the truth entangles them with Gung Hyung
Groups vice chairman and a prosecutor unraveling a dark

(04:18):
conspiracy tied to $50 million. As betrayals surface, Jake Young
bows retribution. But who is the real mastermind
and who will survive the battle?This aired from May to July
2024. So happy anniversary, one year
anniversary to Connection. Because when this episode airs,

(04:39):
it will be, I think, a May 8th release.
This originally aired at the endof May.
But that's OK, We'll just give it the one year anniversary.
Happy one year. Some of the other dramas that
aired around this time, you mentioned that maybe this would
affect it. You know, the popularity of
Connection. Midnight Romans and Hogwan aired

(05:01):
May 11th and was airing around the same time.
The Atypical Family aired May 4th and Crash aired May 13th.
So some other dramas that we're cooking around this time,
there's other ones too, but I just thought, oh, these were
like a little more popular than maybe some of some of the other
ones. This show is 14 episodes long,

(05:23):
1/4 and it looks like it has twodirectors, Kim Moon Kyo who's
directed Trolley and Lovers of the Red Sky and Quan Dassam
who's directed My Demon and Trolley.
So these directors have worked together twice on Trolley and
Connection. It's written by Ehion.
For some reason it looks like this person has only done 2

(05:43):
projects, Connection and Diary of a Prosecutor.
Wow, that's a very, very different genre.
So so you've watched some of these shows like have you
watched Trolley I? Have actually not watched any of
them. Trolley has been on my list
forever because I've heard very good things about it.

(06:04):
I have not watched Diary of a Prosecutor.
I've heard, again, very good things, but it's more of like a
slice of life for a prosecutor'slife.
And so I'm very wishy washy whenit comes to slice of life genre.
So I just haven't checked it out, but a couple of people have
been like, dying for me to watchit.
Gotcha. So, yeah, yeah.

(06:25):
All right, this show does have alarge cast, a large ensemble
cast, but I'm only gonna focus on two people right now.
We can talk about other ones. Maybe that drew your eye in the
cast, but we have Ji Song as Zhang Jakyong.
He's the cop. He's been married to actress
Eboo Yong since 2013. They've been dating since 2007.

(06:47):
I hear from people in my DMS that this is a nice couple, that
they are, you know, well liked, well respected in the industry.
I have watched her in some dramas as well.
Ji Song has 6 movies to his name, 23 TV shows to his name
including Adamas the Devil, Judge, Doctor John, Familiar
Wife, Kill Me Heal me. Would you believe me if I said

(07:10):
this is my very first G Song drama?
Yes, I actually would. Yeah, yeah, 'cause I also have
not watched a lot of his famous ones.
Like again, the Devil Judge has been on my list to check out
forever. I still haven't clicked play, so
I actually am not really surprised by that.

(07:31):
Yeah, here's what I'll say aboutG Song.
I have always known of his existence.
I know of his, you know, career.I have seen the posters, I've
seen the trailers for his shows and have just never, ever felt
the urge to press play on anything, whether it be the plot

(07:52):
is kind of like I never felt drawn to any of his projects.
And maybe it's because in his younger years, I kind of didn't,
I think he looked very attractive.
This sounds weird to say becausehe's not ugly to me.
I just don't maybe. And I said this in Adm to
somebody because they were talking about how hot he is.
And I was like, he looks like a gecko to me.

(08:13):
Like, you know, some people justhave a look to them and there's
no rhyme or reason. You're just like, that person
reminds me of a llama. And like you're just like,
there's no, it's, it's irrational.
Geez. It just looks like a gecko, a
very angular gecko face to me. And again, a very rational
thought. I have no beef at all with G

(08:35):
Song. However, I thought in connection
him being, oh, what is he like in his 40s now?
Has he has to be like in his 40shim, in his 40s him?
With he's almost 50. He's 48.
Oh, 48. OK, so he's 48.
He's 48. OK, so he's 48 years old.

(08:59):
And him with the police. Get up with the chunky black
jacket. Listen to me.
I was salivating. I was like, this is it like, I
love this look. I thought he was so hot.
Sorry. Like, sue me.
I thought he looked so attractive in connection.

(09:19):
Maybe it's just, you know, age meeting the right aesthetic
look, right? I don't know.
I don't know. But him and connection really
connected with me. Nice one.
Nice one. Yeah, yeah.
OK so his main Co star is Chon me though she plays O Yunjin.

(09:41):
Quickly going back the the dramas I have seen him in Oh
yes, please were well, obviouslykill me, heal me.
That's like one of his most famous roles ever.
I don't remember much of it, butI definitely have watched it.
And then I've watched most of like his more crazier dramas
like secret, which is like a Uber mahjong crazy, crazy drama,

(10:07):
which I probably need to rewatch.
Defendant I've watched is a unbelievably good crime drama
like this is probably defendantsmy second favorite role of his,
but it's one of those like really, really well acclaimed
crime dramas and he's the star of it.

(10:27):
And then that's pretty much it. That's I've like watched a
really, really classic and then some more classic but crazier,
crazier dramas of his. Any of his more recent ones I
have not though. OK, OK, I thought you might have
watched some recent ones. The one that I almost feel like
I was closest to pressing play on was Familiar Wife.
Yeah, I've heard. I've heard good things, like if

(10:50):
it's a genre that works for you,it's just not a genre that works
for me. So I didn't click play on.
Yeah, I've always wanted to watch Adamus, but I have.
It's one of those things where Ihaven't heard anybody talk about
the show, so I don't know if it's good or bad.
Which means I should probably just check it out, because
again, connection no one was talking about.

(11:10):
It true. The thing is, I think when no
one talks about shows and we're like, man, I wonder if it's any
good, you're looking at the people who should be watching it
then. Because I think at this point,
we're the people who are checking out shows and telling
others. That they should have watched.
Them or not. Also, for like the longest time,
Adamus wasn't available anywherein the United States.

(11:32):
It is now available, but it tookat least a year, if not longer,
for it to become available overseas.
Yeah, that's the thing too, is that a lot of shows, especially
older ones, may or may not be available in your region through
reputable means. So you know G Song?
Also G Song has been famous for a really long time.
Really long time. And I feel like a lot of people

(11:55):
might not know him. Right.
Yeah, yeah, because it's not necessarily he doesn't, he
hasn't like stepped back from making noise.
I think he makes at least like once A1A year.
He already has one lined up for next year.
I don't think it's coming out this year, but he's not a
traffic star per SE anymore, whereas back in the day he was.

(12:18):
I mean, I wouldn't say he lost any of his fame because as you
said, he's he and his wife are very beloved in Korea and they
go on variety shows all the time, especially the married
ones. But I would say he's not the
traffic star that he was 15 years ago or something.
Right, right. So that's Jason.
His Co star John Middo plays Oyunjin and she's only been in

(12:44):
like 4 dramas and I remember covering her in Hospital
Playlist. This is where people will know
her best from. She's the neurosurgeon in
Hospital Playlist one and two, she has a background in theatre.
Hospital Playlist was basically her first major TV role and
obviously she can actually sing in real life.

(13:05):
She was in 39 in 2022 and I was pleasantly surprised to see her
in episode 1 of Connection and she plays just a huge role
throughout the show. What do you What is your
experience with John Nido? So I started watching 39 but I

(13:25):
eventually dropped it. So that is my, that was my only
prior experience of her. And of course I've heard of
Hospital Playlist, but that's not a genre I will ever watch,
so I'm never going to be watching that.
Yeah, but. Medical slice of life, right?
I can't imagine that you'd pressclay on that.

(13:45):
Right, I actually did try just because I was curious about it
and I was like Nope I need like trauma code version of medical
show, not this. Not this.
It's so light and sweet and they're singing and it's like,
OK. Yeah, yeah.
So yeah, this is really my firstfull drama I have watched of
her. She was great in 39.

(14:07):
I did like her character in 39 but the story just didn't work
for me. OK, yeah, it didn't work for a
lot of people. I I never.
Yeah, I know that a lot of people dropped that drop.
A lot of people were bitching about that show anyway, So tell
me though is in this show and isthere anybody else that you
wanted to cover from the? Yeah, I want to touch base on

(14:28):
Quan Yul. OK, OK, Talk to me about South.
He plays Pactigeon. Yes.
And the the reason I want to point him out is he had a really
big year last year. Oh.
Did he? Yeah, he he's always been
around. He's always been supporting
characters and kind of just showing up everywhere.
I mean, he was in voice, he was in Connection, he was in Dolly

(14:52):
and the Cocky Prince. Like he he's been acting for a
while, but last year it seemed like he was consecutively in a
drama like all year. So last year he was in frankly
speaking, which was just a guessrole and that aired.
It was in May. So around the same time of
connection, then he did connection, then he did Sweet

(15:15):
Mobster, which he was ironicallyalso a prosecutor, I think.
Because he did it so well. Yeah, and I think Sweet Mobster,
like, aired right after this. Like it was connection and then
it was Sweet Mobster. Yeah.
And then he showed up in Cinderella at 2:00 AM.
It was only a couple, like a guest role for a couple

(15:35):
episodes, but he was consistently on people's TV.
Screens for like. Six months.
That's the way you got to do. It right, which that was a lot
for him. He only does like two or three
or one or two dramas a year. If you look at his MDL.
So like to have three dramas wasa lot.

(15:56):
And so I remember just, I remember when I was commenting
of like, wow, he's doing a lot this year.
And it's like good roles, like it's ones that people remember
him if they were watching. Every voice.
Yeah, that's where I know him from.
I was introduced to him in the Voice franchise, which they're
making my. Fairly from 2009.

(16:19):
Oh yeah. Dude.
Oh, he was in Let's Eat too. No wonder I thought he looked
familiar. Anyway, so that's our cast.
Anybody else that you wanted to talk about?
Well, you have Kim, King Nam, who people love and know very
well, and then you. Have I didn't know.
I mean, I know that he, I was surprised he was in this cast

(16:41):
because he hadn't done a drama in three years like this was,
and I couldn't remember if it was because he did the.
Military. Or he just was.
Where Stars Land, About Time, Come and hug me, Prison
Playbook. So I remember him from Prison
Playbook, which there's an episode on that.
Yeah, and Come and Hug me was a very prominent role for him too.

(17:02):
He was also in defendant. He was, You just mentioned
defending. He was defended as CL's
secretary. I don't know.
Yes, yeah. And so, yeah, this was a this
was a surprise to me because like, he hadn't done the drama
in three years. And I was like, oh, you're in
this drama. Interesting.
OK. And it was a role I had never
seen him do because I don't wantto do spoilers, so I'm not going

(17:25):
to say what his role was. We'll be doing that later.
And then the last person I want to mention is Jung Yu Min.
She was the lead from my perfectMy perfect Marriage Revenge,
which again, like my perfect marriage revenge was her like
comeback drama. She hadn't been in the drama for
years. And then she pops up in this and

(17:46):
I'm like, oh, you're like ridingthat wave.
Like people were excited to see her because they had just come
off of perfect marriage revenge,which she was excellent in and I
think she was excellent in this one.
So I find that it's I, it's funny that like a, a bunch of
these support characters have been acting for a really long

(18:06):
time and kind of use this as a comeback.
It was. A nice vehicle for everybody.
Yeah, because it like it was an ensemble drama.
Like obviously, yes, it was about G Song and the trio of him
and we'll get into that. But like the the other
supporting characters that you had still had pretty prominent

(18:27):
roles in this. Yeah, no, because how of how
well written it was. Right, right.
Yeah, so. I just wanted to point that out,
all right? Do we want to go into the awards
it got? Oh, sure.
Really quick OK, so I'm if people don't know I, I watch all
of the Korean drama awards on New Year's Day, like I'm

(18:51):
marathon them and that is like how I start out my year every
single year. I've been doing it for five
years. So I watch the SBS, I watch the
like the three major networks. So this one, this is.
SBS. This is SBS so Jung me Do won
the top Excellence Award for a specialized genre or action

(19:11):
miniseries, and I want to say this was like her first award
she had ever won ever She. Barely has a career.
Not that she barely has a career.
She barely has a resume, especially compared to a lot of
the cast. Yeah, like this is the same
network that aired Flex Cop and Good Partner.
Yeah. So like Good Partner was winning
a lot of awards. The judge from Hell was the same

(19:33):
network, Fiery Prince was the same network.
So let's see Kuan Yu one as a supporting actor, Kim Kyung Nam
1, You Some Bong 1 and Jung Yu Min all one for best supporting
actor. So basically all the friends and
Kimmy Ju won best new actor Kimmin Ju, which is one of the

(19:59):
high school students. With.
The one of the actors who playedthe high school students and
then it won best drama of the year.
Like it won the big, big award for the drama thing.
Obviously G Sum was up for day song, but he didn't win.
It was good partner, which made sense.
But yes, these award shows kind of are like everybody gets an

(20:21):
award type of thing. But that's how I feel like I
never it was. Yeah, yeah.
I never report on that. I know everybody wins one.
Yes, it would be as if a network, as if The CW was giving
out awards for all The CW shows that aired that year.
And it's like, OK, it's just a pat on the back of the network.

(20:43):
So I never kind of put stock in those.
But yeah, absolutely. I feel like these people are
definitely deserved some recognition, especially at the
larger award ceremonies like PakSong and the Blue Dragon Awards
and stuff like that. The but they it did not.
Right, it didn't. But what I will say though is
given the competition of last year for SBS with good partner

(21:06):
everything, I was surprised theyeven got awards because good
partner with the ratings. This did really good in Korea,
but good partner, like swept it out of like swept everything.
So I wasn't expecting anybody toget awards at all, let alone be
nominated so. Yeah, I was looking at the
ratings for it and it was good for basically consistently

(21:28):
second place in Seoul and nationwide.
And so I was like, well, that that's not bad at all.
It was, it ended up with like 14% of viewership.
So that's fantastic for what it is, and considering nobody in
the international audience or the international sphere was
necessarily talking about it. So this show did fairly well.

(21:50):
So yeah, I'm going to switch gears and ask you, what did you
think of Connection? I think everybody knows what he
thought generally, but you know,please, in your own words.
So for me, it's nearly a perfectcrime drama.
For me, there was one thing at the end I did not like and I did
not think was necessary. We can get into that, but I can

(22:12):
ignore that one thing. So I will say it's a 5 out of
five for me. I, I can, it wasn't necessary.
I could have done without it. Rewatching it, I kind of
understood more why they put it in there.
But my first like watch of this,I was like, oh, why are we
adding this thing? It's not needed, blah blah blah.

(22:33):
I gave it a 9.5 out of 10 due tothat small minuscule thing that
they added at the end. I can ignore that now, but I say
it's 5 out of 5 for me. Wow, so you're already giving it
5 out of five toju bottles and you have very minuscule
complaints about it? Yes.
OK, Yep, Yep. All right, I will go ahead and

(22:56):
say I fucking love this show. I had a fantastic time with this
show. I was messaging you throughout
my watch in all caps. I was sending you really
panicked messages because the experience of watching this was
second to none. This was a wild, wild ride.

(23:16):
It was a Mr. A murder mystery. It was a crime thriller.
It was a noir. It was just the seedy, underbill
corruption. It was everything all at once.
It wasn't just one thing. And I loved this paranoia, like
running through it because of Chi Song's character, not

(23:40):
knowing who to trust, not knowing who got him addicted to
drugs and who knows and you knowall these things.
Who can he trust? And I love the the concept of
ethics and morality in not just the police force, but also in
journalism with Tonido's character of Eunjin.

(24:03):
I love that. I loved the friends group, who
is the one that kind of like received all the awards.
You named all the actors, but that ensemble group.
Really cool to see them in action and to see how all of the
roles are split up because they each have a function within the

(24:24):
group and you're not quite sure what they do until like, because
it plays out right. Like you're just not everything
is given to you all at the same time.
And I love that. I love how they're it's drip
drip instead of drip marketing drip storytelling you.
Basically find out when the characters find out, which is in
my in my opinion, the best way to do a crime show.

(24:45):
Yes, yes. And everybody knows, not
everybody, but I would say a vast majority of people who
consume Korean dramas and Asian media kind of understand
implicitly that Korea has some of the strictest narcotics laws
and are the hardest on drugs. If you do drugs outside of Korea

(25:09):
and you come back, they can still pick you up for that.
They will still go after you forthat.
People have gone down. People have committed suicide
over getting drug allegations thrown at them, right?
It is like a death sentence for your career in Korea.
If you are some sort of entertainer and you get caught
up in drug allegations and the fact that this is a narcotics

(25:29):
unit and the cop is the one thatgot addicted, I Oh my God, I was
like living. I remember when they announced
this story and I was like, how the hell are they going to pull
that off? Because I know, like, just from
what you said just now, like they have the strictest drug
laws. How is that going to be received
by the public who's grown up in this society that has a very

(25:51):
strict drug law? Because in like America, we have
drugs in our shows all the time.It comes to like, because it's
kind of dude. Your neighbor down the street
is. Addicted to drugs?
Exactly. Yeah, and they have a full time
job. They they pay their bills on
time. Like it's crazy here in America.
Yeah, so I thought they pulled it off very well.

(26:12):
It like exceeded my expectationsjust because I didn't really
know what to expect. Yes, yes, there is so much
anxiety in this show. I love the reveals.
The cliffhangers at the end of every episode had me pressing
place it's so freaking hard. Imagine me watching this week by
week. Oh no.
I don't know how you did it. I do not know how you did it

(26:35):
because it was so compelling. It was so engaging.
I was guessing different things.I had all these theories and
then all this at the same time. I was like, I don't even know.
Live and let God like I don't even know.
Right, I just. Let him go.
I likened the experience of watching this to watching Uncut
Gems or Uncut Gems the Julia Foxaudio.

(27:02):
My sister reminded me of it the other day.
Anyway, Unka Gems for those who don't know, is an Adam Sandler
movie that is not a typical AdamSandler movie.
Like he could have been nominated for an Oscar for it.
It is an anxiety inducing ride that does not let up on the gas
pedal I had to put. I told you this yesterday when

(27:23):
we were recording. I had to put my head between my
legs at the end of the the theater showing when I watch
Uncut Gems because I was like hyperventilate.
I like could not stop my heart from pounding out of my chest
after Uncut Gems. So that's how I felt watching
Connection, and I was so thrilled with every part of it.

(27:47):
I do have, like, little qualms with it, but for the most part,
I loved it the way that it was filmed.
Oh my gosh, yeah. My gosh.
I thought it was so well done. It was visceral and tactile.
The experience, watching him struggle with his addiction and
with the withdrawal symptoms, him stumbling around,

(28:10):
collapsing, disorientation, headaches, extreme sweating.
He was pale. Like all these things were also
told visually, like on screen and the way that it was shot.
I keep saying like the way it was shot, the way that it was
edited. They had like first person POV
shots. Yeah, yeah.
I love those like every time they do this I'm like, this is

(28:31):
entirely effective every time. Gives you that disorienting
effect of losing control, losingyour balance.
There's a shot, and this isn't necessarily a spoiler, but
there's a shot of CEO Yoon. She has like a, a person behind
her comes out from a hidden doorbehind her, looking kind of
haggard and blocking what's in the room behind him because it's

(28:52):
like a hidden door that he emerges from.
And when he moves out of the doorway, it reveals what's
behind him in the room. And it's a body that's hanging.
It's a man strung up, evidently being tortured.
And it is so shocking. That's a visual shock to the
audience, right? I love when they set up things

(29:12):
like that. Right.
And it gives you a like she already had a presence, but this
adds to. Yes.
Her presence and her lore of hercharacter.
Exactly. I loved it.
It was she was so nonchalant, like she was in the foreground,
just really chill. And this is happening behind
her, some sort of henchman evidently killing or torturing

(29:35):
somebody in this hidden room behind her.
I'm like, Oh my God, this adds so much.
But I love the editing and the blocking of that.
There's an elevator shot of the prosecuted character and G Song
and G Song is behind and the prosecutors in the foreground
and they do deep focus photography.
I love when they do deep focus photography where it's both

(29:56):
characters or both people. Foreground and background are
both in focus. That's where deep focus comes
from. And it's very Hitchcockian,
right? Hitchcock used to do this all
the time. And you see the stressed dipshit
prosecutor asking questions and nervous and then answering these
questions back to G Song, who's behind him.

(30:20):
You understand implicitly that the male lead G Song has the
upper hand, right? Right.
Yeah. It's just so effective.
They changed the aspect ratio for flashbacks.
They narrowed it with the bigger.
Color grading too. And the integrating too.
Yeah, bigger letterbox letteringon the top and bottom.
Oh my God, just so expertly done.

(30:43):
I loved everything about it. So I love that the show was
constantly surprising you and subverting exectations because
it wasn't just like twist. It was like, oh, and here's
something else about this character that you didn't know.
Right, yeah, it reminded me of AI mean we I know Liliana has
talked about this show and I also have talked about this

(31:05):
show, but murder in something something tower.
It's the Chinese crime show. I can't remember it, but it this
is the same thing is like all the episode.
The first episode is a perspective one person and then
you learn something about something from that perspective.
And then they the next episode goes to the next perspective,

(31:27):
you learn something new and it goes on like that.
This, this is kind of it's not explicitly like that in
connection, but it I felt like it was like that because you
again are learning as Joo Sung finds things out or Jung Bido's
character finds things out. And then that show you learn as
the cops who are investigating find things out.

(31:47):
So it's the same thing. Yeah.
Anything else you wanted to add before I I don't want to say too
much else, I kind of just want to get into spoilers.
Well, what's your what's your rating?
I would probably do five. I would also probably do 5 cool
5 out of five hold you bottles because I loved it.
So you're like me, like you had some qualms with it, but like

(32:09):
you could overlook them. I can and still give.
Five out of five. Just such a ride.
Yeah, yeah. Such a ride.
And I, my sister, I think she was downstairs as I was watching
some episodes yesterday and she goes, I heard you earlier and I
was like, what do you mean? She's like, I heard you watching
that show. I heard you go.
I knew it from all the way upstairs.

(32:33):
I'm screaming. I knew it and like just it was
such a great watch experience and my only fear is that if I go
and rewatch it, it won't live upto the first time I watch it
because I already know what's coming.
Maybe you can speak to this because you've rewatched.
It I would say, I would say to some extent, yes, because yeah,

(32:56):
like part of the first time watches, like you don't know
what's coming, but you will notice other things that you
might have missed. Like I said, I did, I still
disliked the one thing in the end, but I noticed something
about it that I didn't realize in the first watch that made me
dislike it a little less. I still disliked it, but still.

(33:21):
So I would say if you want to rewatch this, give it time
though, because you might forgetsome of the details, you know,
because I I for sure did, even though I just watched this last
year. I was like, Oh yeah, that's
right. That's how this played out.
Yeah. So, but yeah, I it definitely
you lose that shock factor a lotof the time.

(33:43):
What are some comps maybe that people, if they're on the fence
about watching it, if they've watched these other shows or
they like to these other shows, then definitely.
Watch connection. That's a hard question because
again, this is like the first ever like drug drama.
I've like drum K drama. I've ever watched defendant.

(34:07):
I will always say defendant likeit's just such a good crime
drought and it's one of those things again, where it's like
it's revealed after and after and after that.
Trying to think of ones that would be like shock value.
I kind of thought stranger was alittle bit.
Stranger would fit in there. The Memorist probably is a good
one that's like a little underrated, but it definitely

(34:31):
went places that I didn't think it would go.
I would say voice to an extent like that was a pretty.
It's visceral in the way that this show is visceral.
It is definitely gory and thingsthis isn't as gory as voice at
all. Yeah, I would say that if you're
afraid of blood and guts and butchering of people, really

(34:55):
this, this show doesn't have that at all.
Right. But yeah, I would say like
defendant if you're looking for like the shock value, Stranger
if you're looking for like the corruption part of it, voice if
you're just looking for a classic crime drama.
Yeah, yeah. Those are three I can think off
of the top of my head. I'd add signal for like just a
fantastical. Yeah.

(35:17):
Supernatural side of yeah crime fighting anyway we're going to
break for spoilers and talk about everything that happens in
connection and I can't wait to do it we're going to get back to
it right after this excuse me I.Can't tell.
I can't tell you know I have no signal.
Oh sorry, swear. Discussing what?

(35:46):
All right, we're on the other side of spoilers.
We really have not talked about any details regarding
connection. If you do not want to be
spoiled, you need to stop now, watch the show and come back
later. If you don't care, if you want
to spoil yourself, then fine, keep listening.
Or if you've watched, then of course, keep listening.

(36:06):
All right, the first surprise that I've wanted to talk about
was that. I'm diving in, right?
I'm. Diving right the fucking so join
me though, who is you know the basically the one of the only
female characters in the show. She was our hospital playlist
girl. Maybe we'll just call her
hospital playlist journalist girl.
You see her in episode 1. Yunjin is the name of the

(36:29):
character and I was jaw on the floor because she is a corrupt
journalist who takes bribes and can be bought.
She's even extorting money from the guy sitting across from her
who's like some representative from some company there who's

(36:50):
done some wrong and I. Was.
Shocked, because let me tell yousomething, she's like an Angel.
In a. Hospital playlist An Angel.
So to see her in the show was a shock to the system.
I loved how morally Gray she was.
Yeah, and she's consistently morally Gray.

(37:13):
It wasn't like just that scene. No, I remember being so angry at
her character. Something really especially
well, especially when she like is literally actually thinking
about. Well, First off, yes, I realized
she had problems with her ex andmoney problems and whatever.

(37:34):
But like when she was actively thinking about the money and
then trying to go to Kwan Yul's character and gets attacked with
that. And I'm just like you creedy son
of a bee. Like I remember being so angry
in those types of scenes becauseit was consistent throughout the
show. She was constantly thinking

(37:56):
about money and constantly bringing it up and constantly
trying to find a way to make to blackmail these people and to
get more money out of them. Yes.
Yeah. Yeah, the only reason why she
joins hands with Chi Song is that there's a potential that
she could get the insurance money right if they prove the
murder versus the suicide. Yeah, she gets a payout.

(38:20):
And I was like, Oh my God, I loved it.
I loved it. Like this is, it's such an
interesting complex character, let alone all the other
characters too. But her as a mother, they keep
harkening back to this, that sheis separated from her daughter

(38:40):
who's living in Canada with her like shitty ex.
And she keeps having to send herwhole paycheck and all of this
alimony and like money and childsupport to Canada for her
daughter. And she misses her and wants her
back in Korea to live with her. And everything that she's doing
is so that she can bring her back to Korea.
I totally understand that, totally understand that.

(39:01):
But she is also just kind of despicable.
Yeah, yeah. And I love that.
Yeah, it's a very, very fun character to watch.
Like, because on one hand she islike, yeah, on one hand, you do
root for her. You know that she's like, she
may be despicable, but the people they're fighting against

(39:22):
is are. Even more.
Despicable. So like, you're like, OK, pick
the the lesser of two evils here.
Exactly. You know, yeah, like, she may be
greedy. She may be all for the money.
She would never go and murder some people.
The other people are greedy, corrupt and would murder people
on a dime. Right, Right.
Yeah. I, I loved that.

(39:44):
That was the initial subversion was that most audience members
would see her as a hospital playlist girl.
They barely see her in a drama. They've seen her in 39, they've
seen her in hospital playlist. That's pretty much it.
I think One other mother, I think she was in as like a.
Maybe a sporting role? But she is fairly clean.
She does not have history, right?

(40:07):
She doesn't have baggage like G Song may have baggage like
people have seen him on television.
They see him in the variety shows.
They know who his wife is. They don't know about her as
much. They know has a hospital
playlist. But they've seen her singing.
They see her in a group, you know, right?
And I love that they played off of that because she's so great

(40:29):
and she's so greedy in the show,right?
You're just taken aback immediately.
You're like, wait, wait a minute, wait a minute.
Yeah, and it's interesting to see her just to this.
What is the word just next to, I'll say that next to G, son,
because G overall being a cop isthe more goody 2 shoes of the

(40:54):
show. Super righteous.
Yeah. Yeah.
But then you have the third of their trio who's like, really,
really, really righteous. Oh my God.
He's like a regular dude. Yeah, he's a regular guy who
like, just thinks everybody is good and like, would never do
anything and is constantly shocked that people would lie to
him. Right.

(41:14):
He's like, you guys did this without me, like he's just a
puppy dog. I thought he was a dog.
Here's my thing. I thought he was going to be
evil in some way, shape or form.Same.
Same. OK, yeah.
But then he became too much of the Comic Relief.
Or like, they're not going to make this guy evil.
Like it it fell back on the cliche puppy cop being the evil

(41:34):
person, one of the evil people. Yes, yes, because either when
you have a puppy cop, either they're dead by episode 12 or
they turn out to be a betrayer and end up taking a bribe or
doing something. That's one of the two cliches of
a crime drama. OK, so the the moment when they

(41:55):
find the dead and putured body of the third beneficiary in the
insurance policy, it was like a pharmaceuticals researcher who
presumably concocted the new drug.
Yeah, the lemon Mulberry drug. Yes, the lemon Mulberry.
Well, he, he concocted the original iteration like, yeah,

(42:17):
the the first version of it, yeah.
Yeah, I love this part, too, because they found his body and
they're like, it was frozen, butthen they thawed it out and they
put it in back in his house. And they left all of this, like,
paraphernalia around to make it seem like he was related to the
audiophile group. Like, we were going to find this
body. And then these Molotov cocktails

(42:37):
start flying in the house. And I'm like, what is going on?
Destroying all this evidence, trying to kill them.
Obviously, that was another big,you know, surprise because now
there's some sort of dissension in the ranks of the evil people
who are out here killing drug engineers and putting them back

(42:59):
in their houses. Someone put the body there for
them to find and someone is trying to kill them.
Right. So I just.
The wheels are started falling off.
Yes, yes, yeah. I love when you figure out that
someone deleted the footage of him taking Lemon Mulberry in the
police precinct. Oh my God, that gave me OK, so

(43:22):
the the the parts that gave me anxiety for a lot is when he was
high. Well, not high.
He was going through a withdrawal looking for a drug in
the police station. Yes, like that was the most
anxiety inducing parts because it happened multiple times.
It wasn't just like once. It was like multiple times

(43:42):
because obviously he's a cop. So he's not only avoiding his
own unit. There's also there's other
really annoying unit in the police station that is
suspicious of him because they work for the corrupt dude.
Prosecutor. That unit can suck ass.
They. Were.
Horrible. They had no integrity whatsoever

(44:02):
and they were active. It looked like they were
actively sabotaging their investigations in the drug.
And even if they were asking seemingly innocent questions
about their investigation, they were like, no, we're not going
to share information. This isn't your.
It was like all of this. Yeah.
Territorial. They're so territorial now.

(44:23):
I will say in real life that does happen in police stations.
People can be very protective oftheir own cases because if they
solve it, it will be like they'll get the credit, right?
You're right. So, like, it made sense on some
in terms of the territorialness of it.
But what I was mad about is like, they just kept going at G

(44:45):
Song the entire time, like beingsuspicious of him.
Granted, yeah, he was going through withdrawal symptoms.
Of course they were suspicious of him.
But like the whole getting his hair at the end, I remember
being so angry because I was like, that is totally illegal.
What you just did. Yes, yes, good for them like
calling them out, but I was justlike, really dude, it's like

(45:07):
you're already. Corrupt.
I liked that. They're, I like that the unit
chief for the narcotics unit wasthis older female.
I was like, Oh yeah, I get it. Bitch loved her.
Loved her? Sure.
Always on his side, even if she didn't like understand, like she
wasn't really involved in a lot of like decent stuff.
But you know, the fact that she had such a position of authority

(45:29):
and was on his side, especially in the latter episodes when it
comes out that he's an addict and all this stuff, I was like,
yes, like, she's amazing. Him going through the police
station, trying to get to the one place where these drugs were
stored because they found some, and then taking them.
I was just like, Oh my God, you're going to get caught.
Somebody's going to walk in. And then when they when the

(45:51):
footage was erased, I was like, who the hell erased the footage
for you? That was a that was a thing.
That was what he's going on. It's because like the the
episode like ends and you're like.
Who the hell? Deleted the footage, who saw it,
who helped him, who gave him thedrugs?
All these questions. Every and then you're like
suspicious of everybody. Like it was.

(46:12):
Just so well written because youdid not know who the trust other
than G Sung and then like you. I mean because like for
instance, because Jung Migo was so corrupt in her own space, you
couldn't honestly trust her for a lot of it too.
And then like it, I mean, it wasrevealed that Jung SU Wan, like

(46:32):
the the third of the trio, the the insurance person, he was
talking to Jung me Dong, but never telling things to Gsong.
And Gsong was talking to Jummy Doe and never telling things to
him. Like, yeah, even though they
were working together, no one was communicating because no one
trusted anybody. Right.
It was so great. But then you compare that to the
villain group and they were doing the same bullshit they

(46:54):
were. Same thing.
Doing things. Two of them would do something
and not tell the others, and then one of them would do
something not to the others, andthree of them would do something
and not tell the others. It would breed all of this
animosity between them, distrustin the group and the other group
imploded before our, you know, quote, UN quote, good trio.

(47:17):
Yeah, definitely. But.
Yeah, but miscommunication was way worse on the villain side
than it was on the side of truth.
Justice in the American way. But the I loved when the that
moment when he goes to see the CCTV footage and it's already
been scrubbed. Such a great moment.

(47:38):
I also loved when you found out that June So's widow and the
prosecutor were in on it together and they were having an
affair. Oh my God.
Yeah. The affair reveal was so great
because the prosecutor bust intoher home.
She opens the door like, hello, welcome to my home, like,

(48:02):
nothing. And he comes busting and
immediately starts strangling her.
And you're like, Oh my God, what's going on?
Why is he strangling her? When he stops strangling her,
that's when it's revealed that they were having an affair.
And they they, you know, they have all this history together

(48:23):
and you're like, Oh my God, thisbitch, this bitch, because you
thought that she was this loyal wife, right?
She didn't want her husband to have a big why on his chest from
the autopsy that they were gunning for and stuff because
she didn't want her husband to meet up with her daughter in the

(48:43):
afterlife and like him have this.
Scar. Scar, all this thing and I was
like, this page was cheating on him the whole time.
Oh my God right? I also love the scene where G
Song was in her apartment and like basically questioning her
but not officially questioning her.
Yes, he was going through all oftheir home videos and footage

(49:06):
trying to get some sort of. Evidence.
And then he was leaving. He was leaving and the door and
the door starts beeping. And I, I remember watching this
like, OK, who the hell is on theother side of that door?
It's prosecutors. And then all of a sudden it
opens up the prosecutor and everybody just like phrases.

(49:27):
And that's the end. That's the end of the episode.
Yeah, like a lot of the cliffhangers were relationship,
yeah, had to do like relational issues, right.
And that that's another one. Is that the cliffhanger?
Was he potentially could find out that they were having an
affair because the prosecutor just knew the House code?

(49:49):
Knew the house. Code and was walking into the
widow's apartment and like what the fuck so yeah yeah I'm like
breathing hard and everything over here the.
The taxi driver? Yeah, the taxi driver.
He was I. Thought shit.
Crazy. Bat shit crip.
Bat shit crazy. I thought he played bat shit
crazy in Psychopath. So great.

(50:13):
Like he was doing something withhis jaw, like he would kind of
like hang his jaw a certain way.And I don't even know how to
describe it, but I was like, that's genius.
He looks crazy. And then he had crazy eyes too.
Yeah, of it. Yeah, He had really nice crazy.
Eyes, but he could turn. Crazy eyes.
Really good. Yeah, Definitely, definitely.
Because there were some scenes where I was like, OK, he looks
kind of sane here. Right.

(50:35):
The other two were angry, but other than yeah, yeah, so.
Great. Like when he was washing his
hands of the blood in some public bathroom or whatever and
the kid sees the blood, some child in the bathroom sees the
blood and he makes eye contact with the kid.
I was like, oh, there goes the kid.
The kids going to tell. There goes the elementary school

(50:55):
kid, because he looked at he looked crazy.
He did. He did.
Oh, so great. They revealed that the puppy dog
police cop was in on it as well.Not in on it.
When I say in on it, it's like in on something else.
Like he knew CEO Yun, who was one of the distributors of Lemon

(51:19):
Mulberry and was like a drug cartel leader in town.
This was the stupidest part of the show though, because this
guy really thought, he really thought that if he made a deal
with this CEO Yun, a drug cartelleader, to keep the streets

(51:40):
clean. OK, you take out some rival drug
cartel, A rival drug family, andI, CEO Yun says.
I will keep the streets clean. Right.
Yeah, like you're. Why do you?
Believe anything that's coming out of her mouth.
The. Cop that E Chung SU, Detective E
Chung SU. Stupid.

(52:01):
He's stupid and then he would come to her and like be mad at
her. Right.
I was like, do you know who you're dealing with?
Dude, you're going to end up in the Han River.
Keep going right? It's great.
It was just so like, why would he believe anything that she
says? Right, exactly it.

(52:21):
Just like. He was that cop was just in over
his head. Well, it was the.
Same thing with like so like. Another anxiety inducing part
was when he was deleting the CCTV in her backroom.
Of him, yes, yes, yes, yes. And I was.
Just like you're doing this in front of everybody in the front
room. Yeah.
Yeah. Like, obviously he had to do it
right then and there, but it wasjust like, oh, my God.

(52:43):
But that was it was the same thing with when he drove the van
into the lake. I was just like.
The band in the lake was like such a oh, you talk about it,
you talk about. It, it was just like, I mean, it
was true for what they they saidthis beautifully in the show.
It was just the things did not match up.
The guy, the handcuffs being on handcuffed because when you have

(53:07):
a suspect in the back, you usually handcuff them to
something. So the fact that those were
undone, the fact that the windowwas open when it drove in, how
he easily was on shore already like, and things just did not
match up. And I'm just like, you got you.
Clearly this was impulsive. It was an impulsive decision.
He didn't plan to do it because obviously the guy that they had

(53:28):
just arrested threatened him to reveal everything.
So he impulsively had to choose to kill the guy.
But it was just you didn't thinkthis through.
You did not think any of this through, which matches the
impulsiveness of the decision. But yeah, it's just you.
Eventually we're going to get found.

(53:48):
It was a matter of time. It was just Elaine the
inevitable. And he really did not like he
said. He just didn't think it through.
He like lowered the window and like jerked the yeah.
Honestly I thought the delivery bike kid was going to get in
more trouble. I thought he was Juico.
I thought he was Juico's fair kid for like the longest time.

(54:14):
Like I bet it was obviously revealed it wasn't.
But I was like, dude, this dude had an affair and his wife had
an affair. Like everybody was cheating but
that kid. Was old like he was like a.
But they've been married teen like high school, they've been
married for a really long time. Like they got together like
right after. No, yeah.

(54:34):
I. Think so and the why I.
Think the yeah I think they weremarried for a while.
No. I could be wrong, I don't know.
Maybe they never said how long they were married.
I don't know. But I thought that he was like a
love child somewhere. I don't know.
I I that never crossed my mind but wow.
No they couldn't have done that because Chunzo had to stay this

(54:55):
like perfect Angel of a of a dead person otherwise nobody
would have done anything to prove who murdered him.
He would have been also like an ambiguous villain in this whole
thing, which we don't. I guess he gets a free pass for
everything that he does. Hey, there's.

(55:16):
Nobody that well, there's nobodythat prosecute.
Of course he does well like. Yeah, but I thought that
delivery by kid was going to getin more trouble because he's the
one that swapped the drugs. Right.
Yeah. He does get run over in the
rain. You thought he was going to get
murdered at some point? But I thought he was going to
get prosecuted. I thought he was going to get
murked something because he swapped the drugs on the drug

(55:40):
run that June so was supposed todo and he ended up killing the
old lady with a brain tumor. Right.
Right, because she got the wrongdrugs.
Yeah. Poor lady, you know.
What I'm saying, I know it's crazy how this title connection
has more than one meeting in this show.
Yes. Because it's like the little

(56:02):
intricate connections of the threads that revealed throughout
this show, for one. Then it was like the
relationships between everybody.Because one of the more
surprising parts for me was when, when you first enter this
show, you're like, OK, June So'san old high school friend who
ends up dead. Like, that's it.
I was like, OK, he's going to behe's going to be finding out who

(56:24):
murdered this dude. And then he's always going to
figure out who drugged him. Like, that was the story.
And then as you go along, you realize that this had been
stemming from high school, like these connections and these
feelings and these relationships.
And then you find out like, how deep this dude was, Jinso, the
dead guy, how deep he was in Yeah, how deep he was in this

(56:50):
and how everything was connectednot only with the high school
relationships, but also the evilsquad over here who all knew
each other in high school, were friends, were not technically
friends with G Sung in high school, but like, knew each
other in high school. And like how everything stemmed
back to the high school, the incident that happened in the
high school. And then just like it, all the

(57:12):
threads just connected. I think I had questions about
what happened in the flashbacks and what happened in high school
because who the hell was the kidthat they killed?
I thought you would. So it basically it was just a
kid they bullied as far as I remember.
But they made it seem like that kid bullied 4 eyes.
Maybe. Maybe I'm just not remembering

(57:34):
that part. Because there was a scene where
they were all together. All the bullies were together.
I don't even know what's called him the Doom Squad.
All the Doom Squad were togetherin a classroom.
And they were like, hey, you gotbullied again.
And Four Eyes, the one who created Mulgarry in the future,
He's sitting there with like a busted lip.
Right. Yes, yes.

(57:56):
So I'm like OK, did he get bullied by another kid?
No, yeah, I think I, I think you're right.
I think they bullied. I think it was bullied by that
guy, or at least hit by that guy, right?
Something about like, oh, you got your lunch money taken
again. I don't even know if it was
lunch money, but it was something.
And then they went to go. Bullying to rough the guy up?

(58:17):
Yeah, they went to rough the guyup.
Yeah. And things went awry.
Things did not go how they planned.
So awry which number one? Number one, when they showed the
debt, the guy that the kid that ends up dying and his friend in
this, this traditional house hasno running water, no
electricity. Right.

(58:38):
Even though it's wired for electricity because there is an
on and off switch in the bathroom or a light.
So that was strange. They spilled an obnoxious amount
of gas on the ground. They did.
They did. And they didn't seem fazed by
it. I would have been freaking out.
Yeah, because that's not. That's not a few drops of gas.

(58:59):
No, it's not. No, it was a puddle.
It was, it was a big, it was a whole.
Last puddle of gas and then theyjust they just sit in it with a
lighter and light up the grill. I was like no no no.
Is this just because I'm older now or is this the stupidity of
youth? Or are they just more stupid

(59:22):
than usual? I I couldn't wrap my hand around
why they would still can even ifthey spilled that much gas.
You have move move away from thegas to light up the grill just.
Yeah, the reveal of the fact that Jung SU Kim Kyung Nam's
character. Yeah.

(59:42):
Came back, Oh yes and killed theguy.
He came back for his name tag that fell off at some point and
then he beat him to death. Yeah, was like, Oh my God,
'cause like, obviously he already killed the guy.
Like, I see, I I was like, I wassurprised because technically he
already had killed the guy because he was going to die

(01:00:03):
anyway from the injuries that healready had.
Yeah, but. They cracked his skull open.
Yeah, to add on that layer of viciousness and the layer of no
one can touch me, no empathy, the inhumanity, like I'm the
rich kid no one can touch even though I'm crazy high on drugs.

(01:00:27):
I need a best friend hired by myfather to like, keep me under
wraps and keep me into control. Comes back and just with nobody
else. So he just goes crazy and
actually kills this guy. I was so surprised by that
because I thought like, OK, thisdude's already dead, like he
killed them. But to add on that layer of

(01:00:49):
viciousness and that layer to that character was the
surprising part for me, not the fact that he came back.
But no, no, it was the fact thathe took a freaking.
He doubled down. He doubled.
Basically I was not expecting the double down.
Oh, I see, I see, I see. OK, I guess I had a worse
opinion of the character than you did, mostly because I don't

(01:01:11):
know. I don't know.
I just thought he was shit. He was shit.
Of course he'd like finish it. And it wasn't because he it
wasn't out of necessarily malice.
No it wasn't. No it.
Was out of fear, right? It was out of fear.
And he had proven himself, even up to this point in the show,
that he was a coward. Yeah, definitely, definitely.

(01:01:32):
So it totally made sense to me that when he kind of came back
to life and was begging for his life and was touching him and
stuff, it scared him enough thathe started to just beat him to
death. So.
Yeah, because he was afraid of his father.
He's. He's afraid of consequences.
Yeah. Yeah, not necessarily, you know,
justice system consequences, his.

(01:01:54):
Father, he was afraid of his father.
Consequences. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
So it totally made sense to me. I was as surprised in the
slightest. I I don't think I even blinked
harder during that far. I was like, Yep, here we go, the
table doing more damage. Right, right.
I thought the kid that was hiding in the bathroom though

(01:02:16):
was June. So for like an episode?
Yeah, that happened to me too. I thought it was June so far.
Yeah, that was. Like, not clear who that kid
was. Yeah, but speaking a word on the
kids though, in the flashbacks they were excellent at
portraying their characters and matching the adults

(01:02:36):
performances. Yes, and I think they I.
Don't know if you like. Had thoughts on that or?
Picked up on that, but. Oh yeah, I thought they did very
well. I also thought the likeness of
them, too, They found kids that,like, obviously didn't 100%
match, but like, matched enough,Yeah, that you knew exactly who
each one of them were. Yeah.
I thought that was impressive. So going back to I think it's

(01:02:59):
episode 7. Yeah, Episode 7 our home girl
get our home girl journalist hospital playlist girl, she gets
abducted, like straight up abducted by the linebacker.
Like I have no other way to describe.
It's just like the. Muscle, the bodyguard.
The bodyguard in the in the Dunesquad.

(01:03:21):
And they try. He tries to pay her off.
He tries to blackmail her with all of this evidence that she's
been bribed as a journalist for so long, and she ends up
returning the payoff money. Yep.
And she says I'm known in this field for easily accepting
what's offered to me. Everyone will be tired of it.

(01:03:43):
Hey, it would be worth a news article if a giraffe ate some
meat. Who cares if a wolf has some
meat? And I was like yes girl.
Like she has some balls on her. Oh yeah.
She has some balls on her. This was a very slow, slow
journey back to being ethical and moral and somewhat

(01:04:06):
journalistic integrity or just integrity period for this
character and her valuing friendships and the chase, like
the satisfaction of the chase ofa story more than getting paid
off. And the money aspect and her
feeling the weight of what Chun so was unable to say to her when

(01:04:31):
she last saw him before he died.So I really liked that about the
show. And that was very slow because
she, again, very morally Gray throughout the show.
But, you know, talking about on the opposite side, the cop, our
cop character from G Song, his journey is also interesting
because besides the fact that he's dealing with all the

(01:04:54):
addiction at the beginning of the show, he's like this
independent cop who didn't believe in friendship anymore
and was not relying on others and didn't trust people and was
doing all of this on his own, you know, living on his own and,
you know, trying to make it and rise up through the ranks all on
his own. And by the end of the show, you

(01:05:16):
realize that he he needed all ofthese people.
He needed a tribe, right? It's about him learning to trust
people again and, you know, havefriends again, make friends.
So I liked that journey as well.I thought the password for the
crypto account was going to be her birthday.

(01:05:38):
I thought it was going to be Yuno's birthday.
Yeah, I love that piece of writing.
Cuz you, you really do. Think it's going to be DID?
You really do think it was goingto be the birthday?
That it was going to be the birthday, and it was not.
It was not her birthday. I love that twist.
I loved it. And then after that, I thought
it was going to be the SOS code 1882.

(01:06:02):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't, I don't think they
landed that necessarily, that the last four digits were the
friendship day. Yeah, that was one of the small
qualms I had. I was like, they could have
picked a definitely a better story with that part, yeah.
I think it should have been the SSI.
Think so too. I like that idea more.

(01:06:26):
I think it was a good choice to not have it be her birthday.
Oh yeah. Because it just, it just sounds,
it shows more of like the paranoia part of it all.
And then it brought his widow into the paranoia now.
But yeah, I that was one of the small issues I had at the end
was like, I I think they could have wrote that part of the
story better or picked a different significant date than

(01:06:49):
that. This insurance guy had
superhuman strength though. I love I cheered when that
happened. When?
He picked up like Superman picked up the prosecutor who was
choking out, you know, and threwhim across the room.
Yeah. I.
I have a speechless. I was like, where is where is

(01:07:10):
this coming from? Does he compete like this is?
Incredible. Is he high on?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I I had so many more
questions than answers. I was like, I don't know where.
He just has this unbelievable Herculean strength.
Right. Right.
It's never addressed. Then we go back.

(01:07:32):
And then I thought, oh, maybe I saw it wrong.
No, then they go back and they had the prosecutor look at the
CCTV footage, right? And you see it again.
You see the scene again. And I'm like, no, no, no, no,
that's that was nuts. That was actually nuts.
Yeah, yeah. Oh, my God.
The one thing we're dancing around is who is the doctor?

(01:07:54):
Yeah. Who was the doctor?
Who was the doctor? And I said before our spoiler
break that I yelled out I knew it, and my sister overheard me.
This is what I knew from the funeral of Chun.
So was that Four Eyes who have been calling?
Four Eyes was the doctor. Yeah.

(01:08:17):
I was like, that guy's shady as shit.
I clocked him early too. What I didn't clock was how
crazy he was. No, no, no, that was crazy.
Like, like I did. I was like, oh, no, he
definitely is like some bad person.
I might not have like, clocked he wasn't a doctor until
somebody started mentioning the doctor.
But I was like, Oh no, he's in on it somehow.
Like he's too innocent over hereand he's too much, like, on

(01:08:40):
screen for not to be important. Yeah, but I didn't clock how
crazy he was going to be. It was.
Did it work for you how crazy hewas?
Yeah, I think it worked because it was just the the audacity of
it all was just like it was fun.I wouldn't say it was 100%

(01:09:01):
worked for me, but it was fun. And the same with Kwan Yules
character, the descent that he had by the end, it didn't 100%
make sense but it was fun, at least for him.
At least for Kuan Yew's character, it made a little more
sense in his reasoning because he was just so arrogant by the

(01:09:24):
end. Oh yeah, the.
Doctor, his reasoning, especially for drugging Jason
just was not. It was not 100.
Like it wasn't there like I think it helped to prove it was.
It was shaky, but it also helpedto prove how insane he was.
Yeah, he was. He didn't need a.
He didn't need a sane reason because that wasn't his

(01:09:44):
character. Yeah, like we need it.
You'd think that the rest of theDoom Squad are crazy psycho.
You know, they're willing to kill people.
They're willing to, you know, freeze people right in there.
What is it called? Cold storage cold.
Storage, thank you in the cold storage and just do despicable

(01:10:08):
things. Half of them creating this lemon
Mulberry demand in the drug market and creating this
business basically and the otherhalf not realizing that that's
what they were doing. Let alone like distributing
outside of their organization too.
It wasn't just them within theirorganization.
They were taking bribes and distributing outside of it

(01:10:29):
because they were all arrogant. So they they're doing all of
this and then you have and you're like, that's crazy.
That's they're wild. Then you have sang Sanghi, I
think is his name sang Sanghi 4 eyes and I had clocked that's
the doctor. But you're like, why?
Why do this? The next question is why get our

(01:10:51):
male lead who never heard a family addicted to drugs
addicted to London Mulberry. You see in this crazy flashback
that, you know, this incident happened.
They killed this other kid in this fiery inferno.
It burned down his whole house, and they're covering it up.

(01:11:11):
And they just got our male lead expelled and, like, transferred
to another school. So you think that's going to be
the end of it? Then you see Sangy for our Four
Eyes character go, is that enough?
Yeah. And you're like, what the fuck?
Wait, wait. There he goes.
That's not enough. We need to break up June so and

(01:11:33):
you know the the Mr. Body who eventually becomes Mr. Body and
our journalist hospital playlistgirl because they were dating in
high school. Break them up and this group
should have never created this club and music club audiophile
and all the stuff so we could fuck up the club.
This guy had June so literally vandalize his own beloved school

(01:11:56):
club with a baseball bat and then violently cut ties with,
you know, and he relished. It Yeah.
And that's when you're like, OK,I think he beat all of them.
He's psycho, yeah. This dude is insane.
Yeah, yeah. And then you hear him spouting
to Ji Sung and Jummy Doe the reasoning the episode. 12

(01:12:18):
exposition dump. I don't like exposition dumps,
but this is when he starts saying I just didn't like you.
Yeah, also I didn't like you, but I also was was friends with
June, so for 20 years. So I was like his biggest
support and how dare he like includes you in the will.

(01:12:39):
How dare that. How dare that you only talk to
him a handful of times and he thinks you're.
It was a jealousy thing in a way.
Right, but it was a jealousy thing.
But I don't know. Did Sangi for Eyes know about
the will before June so died? No, I don't think so because it

(01:13:01):
happened after. OK, no.
I don't. No, I do not think he did.
That's what I thought too, because by the time the funeral
happens, the male lead is already addicted to lemon
Mulberry. Yeah, so he didn't drug him
because of the will. He drugged him, as you said,
because he just didn't like him.He just didn't like him.
But then he, he, I think he drug.

(01:13:22):
Jealous of their. Collection, yeah.
Or just the connection that Jungso thought they had.
I think, I think it was a combination of a lot of things.
He didn't like him in general. He didn't like that even though
he was 20 years friendship with Jung so and like there for him,
Jung so could not let go of the guilt of what happened to Ji

(01:13:45):
Sung's character and was trying to make amends for those 20
years and G Sung and he was mad at G Sung because G Sung didn't
let him have that resolution. Yes, Never gave him forgiveness.
So I think he drugged him first,just didn't like him because he
wanted to kind of get rid of himso Jung so would be able to move
on. But then when the will was read

(01:14:08):
and then he found that out, thenhe doubled down and was like,
oh, I really don't like you and I'm so jealous of you and I'm
just going to make your life miserable and haunt you with
this stuff. But he also wanted to use him as
revenge because he'd been like, bullied by the Doom Squad and
John. So for that matter, yeah, he was

(01:14:30):
like using him at the same time to get revenge on the people.
That was a it was all about Juneso for him, right?
In a way, both in revenge, but also in jealousy and like
wanting to get rid of them so hecould have June so to himself.
Yeah, he, yeah. Which was nuts it.
Was about half crazy. I told me you guys can't see
this but I'm just shaking my head with crazy eyes.

(01:14:53):
He also, it made it sound like he and you mentioned this, that
he set him loose right near the drug hand off in the subway
station so that he could bust those guys that were part of the
Lemon Millbury distribution system.
And it would lead back to him, lead back to Four Eyes, and

(01:15:14):
eventually lead back to the prosecutor and get at all of the
Doom Squad, right? Found out and arrested for this
lemon Mulberry. Trafficking thing, yeah.
But then it didn't happen that way.
He kept saying like, you're a bad cop, basically, you keep,
you keep letting these guys go right?
I keep handing things to you andlike you, you can't get your

(01:15:36):
shit together right. And honestly, it's stupid only
because he got him addicted to lemon Mulberry, and lemon
Mulberry is impairing him the entirety of the show, right?
Yeah. So it's just, it's so he's
getting upset that he can't do his job at the efficiency that

(01:15:59):
he wants him to. But it's entirely his.
Fault, but it's entirely his. Fault.
Exactly. Exactly.
Yeah, stupid. It's just psycho.
It was psycho, baby. It was psycho.
It was psycho, yeah. Yeah, anyway, I had questions
about the last episode where ourprosecutor, because I genuinely

(01:16:21):
thought he was admitting to killing June.
So yeah. Mm hmm, that was the part I did
not like. OK, talk to me about it.
So I wanted it to hit be him. I wanted it to be him and done
me too. And then to have the CEO father
come in at the very last second and be like, Oh no, it was
actually my plan. I was like, why like it was?

(01:16:44):
That was not needed at all. Kwan Yul did a amazing
performance, went off the deep end, was so arrogant, was so
good in that scene. And then four Eyes just shut him
up, him up out of nowhere. I'm just like, Oh my God, I was
not like I was because I knew hehad the gun, but I wasn't at the

(01:17:08):
same time. I yes, yeah.
Just because, like, if he didn'tdo it, somebody in that room was
going to either punch him or kill him because they were like
boiling over at that point because he was just talking way
too long. He was doing them the the cliche
manifesto. Oh, yeah.
Of a correct thing. Yeah.
Because he was just so arrogant because he thought he had beat

(01:17:28):
everybody. Yeah, So I would would have been
very, very pleased with that ending.
I would have been 100% OK with that ending.
And then you had to bring in like, yes, the shoe thing was
still bugging people. I understand that.
But it was just like, OK, it wasexplained in that scene.

(01:17:49):
It didn't really need to be investigated more.
And then they just went down therabbit hole of the cliche
corruption CEO hired somebody todo the job again, which I just
did not. I did not like That was the one
thing I did not like at the end.I wish they had left that out

(01:18:10):
because it wasn't needed. It was not needed.
It didn't add anything. And because it also didn't
really make sense for the fatherlike it did and it didn't
because like the on one hand, itdid because he was very, very he
was set on image. He needed a certain image.
His company was failing. He he needed that.

(01:18:30):
That wasn't. Just come to work out, it was
the entire conglomerate, the group.
Yeah, and he needed that projectto work out.
It obviously wasn't going to work out.
So he obviously did the cliche thing and hired the person who
was going to reveal everything. The show did a great in part of

(01:18:50):
that reasoning, but then they also threw in like, I needed to
protect my son, which was not believable at all, because he
hated his guts. He hated his entire life.
His entire life he hated his guts.
Yeah. He was embarrassed of him.
Yeah, yeah. And he clearly wanted the
prosecutor. To some extent, he wished he was

(01:19:12):
his son. Yeah.
I loved every. Time.
It never was going to happen. Oh.
Not the CEO every time that old man chairman humbled the
prosecutor. Yeah, yeah.
That was always an interesting. That was a fun thing to watch.
Yeah. Yeah.
So that was the. That was literally the only part
I did not like in this room because it just did not.

(01:19:34):
It wasn't needed. It was.
It was not necessary. I thought I was genuinely
surprised when they do it like atwo months later time jump after
he gets the prosecutor gets shotin the head by four eyes and
they still don't have the insurance payout and they're
like, we still need to figure out who it is.
I was like, what do you what right.

(01:19:55):
I was like, it was not the prosecutor because he had, he
was the shadiest 1. He was the one blocking every
attempt at solving the murder. He didn't want the autopsy.
He stopped the elevator before they got to the 9th floor.
All these things really did add up that he was the murderer, or
at least, you know, hired somebody to push him off the 9th

(01:20:17):
floor. Right.
Yeah. I don't I completely agree with
you that it the chairman being the big bad of a murderer didn't
sit right right and him having this thin reason of.
The shoes, right, which you saideven pointed out was like, yeah,

(01:20:39):
but 50% of people don't actuallytake off their shoes.
They even wrote that into the script was which was, which was
hilarious to me. But yeah.
They caught him in like a weird technicality and I didn't.
I didn't appreciate that. But anyway, that's neither here
nor there. And then I like the paycheck
ending, though where I don't know if you've seen the movie

(01:21:00):
Paycheck with Ben Affleck. A long time ago, I barely
remember it. And you know what?
I I also have only watched this movie once like 20 years ago
when it came out but the ending has always stuck to me where
they have the winning. Oh, spoilers for this movie.
By the way. I guess where they find the
winning lottery ticket, they still have it.

(01:21:23):
Yes, yes. And so this is their winning
lottery ticket moment, right? They have the final four digits
of this cryptocurrency account that has all of the profits, all
of the proceeds of the Lemon Mulberry business, right?
And they're able to get into it and you see their reaction.
They're super excited because not only did they get the payout

(01:21:43):
and they're splitting it and they're giving some to the
cheating wife and they're putting some away for this and
that and the other had to pay taxes and all this stuff, but
they also got into The Dirty money account.
The Dirty money, yeah. And I really like that.
I like that too, yeah. Because you don't know what they
actually do with it. That.
I like that part. You just that's that's the end.

(01:22:04):
As you know, they got in. Yeah, Yeah.
The first part, I, I had to rewatch that scene the first
time because when they were zooming out and it was just the
dialogue, yeah. I, I thought they had entered it
wrong. Or I also had thought that the
laptop had died and I was like, wait, what?
So I had to like, rewatch it. I was like, oh, OK, that's not

(01:22:27):
actually what happened. Yeah.
No, it's good. It's good.
I think that's everything that Ihad in my notes.
Is there anything else that you wanna talk about for connection?
Because I think we made it all the way through the show and we
talked about the ending. It was a happy ending.
He gets clean. G Song's character gets clean.

(01:22:50):
No more Lemon Mulberry, which I really like that name by the
way, for the drug. So you have here, like, thoughts
on the music and OST? I like the music.
I thought the music was was good.
Yeah. I thought it fit the show very
well. I mean, it actually, it
obviously added to like, the anxiety of watching him go

(01:23:12):
through withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms.
I mean, I, I mean, I don't know,I just think of the cliched
withdrawal symptoms. So I don't know any.
Oh. My God, you brought up with the.
Withdrawal symptoms or everything but like I thought
they were extreme. So two things they were.
Oh my God, you reminded me of two things.
One was the freaking copico product placement throughout the

(01:23:36):
show. I remember, I remember cuz it
was very heavy at the end of theshow.
It was heavy throughout the show.
What are you talking about? Like it was noticeably heavy for
me at the end cuz. I don't understand.
Three times in the last two episodes.
I thought this was the biggest irony of the show is because
this is about a narcotics unit. This is a cop getting addicted

(01:23:56):
to drugs. They're trying to figure out,
you know, this whole system, thelemon, Mulberry, all the shit
and they're they're still peddling caffeine tablets,
caffeine gum. This is legalized stimulants is
what you're doing. I'm like, this is a drug.
People have withdrawal symptoms.They don't have coffee like

(01:24:19):
caffeine. People have caffeine addictions.
I'm like, you're feeding into this addiction and shit.
I don't understand why they would take the Coffee Co, the
Coffee Co product placement. That was completely strange to
me. I was like, I understand there's
money in this, but this is diluting the message, don't you
think? Like, I don't know and #2 every

(01:24:45):
single person who saw G Song waslike, are you OK?
You look pale, you're sweating, your eyes are red, but
everything. It didn't matter if they were a
doctor, a nurse, a coworker, someone he saw on the street, a
grandma who was fixing talkbookie for him.
Didn't fucking matter. Everybody was commenting on his
appearance and everybody to me was a narc.

(01:25:09):
I'm like, is the entire society looking out for drug addicts?
Yeah, I mean, that was part of the anxiety of the show too,
Yes. It's like it was noticeable on
him. Right.
But even when it wasn't, even when it wasn't and he just kind
of looked a little pallid. Yeah.
They were like, are you like? Jumping no, trying to like
constantly feed him because it was a it was an appetite

(01:25:29):
suppressant. Yes, so.
Yeah. I did like that detail is that
you almost you'd never see him eat, right?
Never see him eat. You only see him drinking water,
stuffing pills down his gullet, and you never see him sleep.
You never see him eat. Yeah.
So yeah. Really really crazy show if you

(01:25:50):
don't want high glasses. Yeah, if you yeah, make sure
you're ready for anxiety inducing ride, Yes.
So obviously the the throw against the computers was very
satisfying with the prosecutor, but what did you think of the
slap in the next? Oh my God, I loved it.

(01:26:12):
Oh, that was one note that I almost didn't say.
Thank you for bringing it up. Because they go to the hospital
after the cheating wife, the widow attempted murder because
the taxi drivers on the loose, right?
He's literally roaming town trying to get away from the cops
and he tries to kill the widow because he thinks there's

(01:26:34):
evidence. Whatever.
She's in the hospital, and G Song clocks Quaniel's character
in the face, the prosecutor, andthe prosecutor hits him back.
But he's, you know, weak and stuff.
He's trying to make it through another, like, withdrawal
episode. And he just falls on the floor,
collapses. Yeah, collapses.

(01:26:54):
And I love when you and Jin, thejournalist shows up because she
just walks down the hallway and she's like, like, she winds back
and hits the prosecutor so hard.I was like, yes, girl, like
what? Come and get him.
Come and get this man. And she said, I just came down

(01:27:15):
here to see who was fighting. Like she was just, Oh my God, I
loved her character so much. Also, Oh, we didn't talk about
this last thing, the chemistry between Tomido and G Song.
These crime dramas, they just, they just.
Really get you delusional about these ships.

(01:27:38):
Yeah. Yep, Yep.
They get you all riled up and then nothing happens.
Yep. Because tell me why those two
should have been married with three kinds by the end of the
show. Right, right.
Anyway, that's all I have to sayabout connection.
Anything else? Yep, that's it.
That's. All right, nice.

(01:28:00):
Thank you so much for coming on,Caitlin.
I haven't absolutely every time you're on.
Yes. Thank you for watching
Connection again, going on this wild ride with me.
Before we get out of here, wherecan people find you online in
case they don't know? I'm I'm everywhere.
I have TikTok, I have Instagram,I have a blog, I have a podcast.

(01:28:21):
You can find the podcast on Apple podcast and Spotify.
I now have a YouTube channel under the same name, No Sleep
for dramas #4 No Sleep Number 4 Dramas podcast, and you can find
that and use that in all of those places to find me.
Thank you so much, Caitlin. This was so much fun.
And that's been our show. I'm Jessica and this has been

(01:28:44):
the Teba Kia Rambles podcast.

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