Tunnel (2017)

Definitely not a 10/10 but still great

As I was finishing up the series last night, I thought I’d read what other people thought about the series and...well, I do agree with a lot of them. I just want to say I did see “Signal” first so this is definitely a bit of a downgrade except possibly for the acting.

The acting is amazing and the chemistry between the main characters is great. Choi’s emotions just pour out and it’s heart-wrenching especially by the end. It’s great just watching the actors and their characters interact and their relationships get stronger as time goes on and I love that.

The story. As a whole I liked it but it definitely suffers from pacing and a few plot holes. By the end I wasn’t as invested as I was with Signal, but at least Tunnel actually has a closed ending. Yes, I would have liked to see what the real future would have been like, but I’ll take the ending we got. Anyway the story was definitely enjoyable and most of the complaints I had have been brought up by other members here so I’ll spare who ever is willing to read this. A solid 7/10. If it cut down on beating around the bush, I’d gladly have given it at least an 8.

I’m a sucker for time-travel shows and Mystery but I’ve binged two similar shows in a week and I’m getting fatigue so I think it’s time to watch something lighter before going for one more Fantasy/Crime drama.

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The end of the drama

Well, lets leave behind the fact that the drama was tedious in some parts because they want 16 episodes 1 hour each, just for 1 serial killer.
I didn't like the end. First, they caught the killer in the present so he had to catch him again in the past(at least he knew the way). Secondly, I was happy he made it to go back to his wife and child but what about the others? The rookie from the past didn't become chief? Kim Seon Jae did not become detective and did not meet Shin Jae Yi? I mean everything changed and he have no idea how. At least they could have shown everyone 30 years later and what they were doing. This would be the perfect end.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this drama but if the end of a movie or drama doesn't satisfy me....I mean that's what the whole thing was about. Dont screw it in the end!
The reason i put 8 as rating and not higher is because i don't think it deserves 8.7(current rating). If you wanna watch something simiral with fantasy then watch "He is phycometric"(maybe this will make you cry a little bit more but defenitely worth watching much more)

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I ranked Tunnel an overall 7/10 because there were a few things that bothered me about this drama.

I want to start this review by saying that the acting in this drama is really good! The entire major cast is talented and they brought a lot of emotion to their performances, no matter the situation. I actually teared up a few times because the performances were very intense, which I absolutely loved! I am fascinated with actors that are able to evoke such strong feelings through their interpretations. I really have nothing to say about the actors. They worked with what they had and did it splendidly.

Now the script & the story was clearly lacking. I won't give any spoilers but there are a lot of "huh?!" moments throughout this story that are brushed past and create unresolved gaps in the story. There are a lot of nonsensical moments on the detective's sides and how they handle things, the investigations that they do and how they should realistically come to realizations and breakthroughs in the cases. I really hoped for a more intelligent writing of the detective's actions.

The show is good and there are a few actually great episodes but most of them start after episode 7 (which remains my favorite of the entire drama!). The beginning is very slow and I honestly think most of the first episodes are wasted opportunities in building the proper suspense of the show and growing the "time travel" story, which severely lacked in my opinion. I have no idea why it was added. I didn't feel it added anything substantial to the plot and there are a lot of unanswered questions by the end of the show due to this element.

I realized who the real culprit was from very early on but that didn't deter me from enjoying the show. I was curious how it would progress and how the other characters would catch on. It seemed really obvious to me but then again there's very show dramas or shows of this kind that can really surprise me anymore in terms of twists and reveals.

Overall I had a good time watching this show and if you look past some things I can assure you can do so as well.

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Interesting premise destroyed by bad writing

Please ignore the MDL rating (8.6 at the time of writing in 2023)!

The very basic premise (time-traveling detective and serial killer) of this story is interesting. But the writers did a great job of destroying the potential. In two ways:
- All the characters are unbelievably stupid, except the murderers.
- The time traveling aspect is not used at all, it is rather a weird fact on the side.

To come back to the stupid characters: do you know those dramas where there is one lead character who always knows everything in advance and before everybody else, just by being super smart and of course they are also the best in every practical aspect? They can get annoying. Well, in this drama you get none of that :) Everybody is just so unbelievably stupid and incompetent it hurts. When a good detective's skills are 100, the average person's detective skills are maybe 10. All the detectives in this drama are a 1. And that's generous! No common sense at all. And they repeat their mistakes over and over again, and drag this very simple story out into 16 episodes. Some examples:
- When you want to catch a suspect, sneak up to them until you are 10 meters away, then shout at them, so they can run away from you without you being able to catch them.
- When you found out in which house a suspect is hiding, go to the house with 4 cars, all with full sirens! Then storm the house from the front without covering the back door.
- When you are a ML in a team of two and a great revelation comes to your mind, don't tell anyone and storm off angrily to get yourself in trouble.
- When you are a weak vulnerable FL, speak to a serial killer in code via TV and lure him into a dark forest where you wait for him all alone to be his next victim. Don't tell anyone of your police friends about it.

Then the time travel: time travel stories never fully make sense and that's fine. But here's a question for you: when you are a time traveling detective, would you try to catch a serial killer when he is young (in the past) or when he is old (in the future)? And as I said, the time traveling aspect is just there, it is not really relevant for the story, it just makes for some confusion and funny scenes. For a better use of time travel in a detective story, check out the K-drama Signal from 2016!

Ignore the bromance tag on this! It lasts two seconds, is super weak and can't save this train wreck.

I guess I should also say some positive things. The acting is generally quite good, except maybe the time traveling lead who has a limited set of faces. And the character development of the FL was a bit too much: for most of the drama she has the facial expression and emotional warmth of a stone and then suddenly in the end she meets a certain person and becomes normal quite instantly.

Ignore the rating and positive reviews and skip this one!

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To be candid, I was not sure if this would be a good drama because of how dark it seemed, however I watched the trailer and decided to give it a try.

This show was AMAZING! It has sci-fi elements as well as mystery, and drama. In some cases, it had comedy, but it does not show up often.

The acting was a little robotic at the beginning, but I think it fit the story very well because the characters start to open up more. In my opinion, it had great character development and growth.

This drama reminded me of the drama, "Signal" which is also really good. If you have seen that drama, I recommend this one for you (if you haven't seen "Signal" go watch it NOW!).

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I am not sure what made me decide to watch Tunnel, when so far all the dramas I have seen were of the heavily romantic verity. But something about it attracted my attention, so much so that it has also become the first show I watched on-going instead of marathoning as I have done so far.

Whatever it was, I thank my lucky stars that I choose this show to introduce me to the thriller side of dramaland, because it's one I now plan to explore.

At its core, this show is about people. Wonderful people; Angry people; Broken people; Hotheaded people; Closed people; Straightforward people. People who come together and find in each other a place to heal and to mend. A place to find closure.

And this, THIS, is what makes Tunnel a fantastic show. Not the mystery. Not the time travel element. Not the case-of-the-week format of the first half of the show. No, it's the people. It's these characters and the fantastic relationships that form between them. It's the way they navigate and evolve in the situation they have been thrust into. It's the way they start the show one way, and you love them, but then they end the show in a different way and you love them more than you could have imagined. It's the little things; the little looks, the little touches, the little hesitations, the little steps forward. It's the way they find this incredible balance between them.

I have to give such a huge, huge applause to the actors for portraying these characters so brilliantly, for making me feel every single thing alongside them, and for the writers for writing such nuanced characters. And for the casting director for choosing the right people; I can't imagine enough else as these characters.

There are a lot of good things about this drama, like the side characters who are equally amazing as the main trio and help make this show one to remember. I could talk about the mystery, and how it's never supposed to be a mystery to us the audience, and yet it still keeps us in suspense. I could talk about the killer, and how I think the writers wrote him perfectly because of what he turns out to be at the end. I could talk about how much I love the way the old and the new interact. I could talk about how it left me tense every episode, and how I bit my nails as I was watching. I could talk about a lot of things.

But really, I think I have said enough.

If you love character driven shows with a lot of heart and just a smidge of romance to make you all fuzzy inside, do yourselves a favor and pick this one up!

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Tunnel got a lot of comparisons to Signal in the beginning and I can see it a little bit. I don't think it was quite as good as Signal, but I still enjoyed it a lot and looked forward to it every week. The story was engaging and the characters were written well. I enjoyed the dynamics of the 3 main characters and how they interacted with each other. As with all time travel shows, there are a few plot holes, but nothing major enough to detract from the show.

Choi Jin Hyuk did a wonderful job as Park Kwang Ho. He put a lot of emotion into his performance and really twisted my heart for him and how badly he wanted to catch the killer and get home to his wife, Yeon Sook. Yoon Hyun Min also played Seon Jae well, and his progress as a character was interesting to watch. Same for Lee Yoo Young as Shin Jae Yi. She started out almost robotic, but it was a quirk of her character and not due to bad writing. When her shell finally cracks open, she is a sympathetic character.
I have nothing but praise for all the cast - excellent work!

The music was good, nothing stand out, but enjoyable all the same.

This one isn't really suitable for re-watch as the suspense is gone after you've seen it once.

I would definitely recommend it to fans of the shows genres.

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Time travel plot hole the size of a tunnel

- This drama was a solid 8/10 for the first 8 episodes, but unfortunately lost its pacing.
- I binged the first 8 episodes and struggled to get through the rest. The second half did not live up to the first half.
- I love interesting psychopaths but none are in this drama. I found them totally uninteresting, boring and shallow.
- Should have been 12 episodes max
- Liked the ML being clueless about modem tech; Hilarious, wish there was more.
- There's only so many times I can bear to see this team fail. They are constantly outwitted in the dumbest ways.

Overall rating 5/10
- 1 for Acting
FL acting was sterile. Liked the bromance between ML and Chief. Well cast minus FL
- 1 for Direction and Production:
All average nothing to write home about. Nothing wowed me but decent.
- 1 for Music:
Same as above
- 1 for Story:
Good concept but I don't think it was pulled off as well as it could have been. Illogical decisions from characters made me roll my eyes and concepts I wanted exploring were only touched upon. Time travel is hard to get right; without plot holes (This drama does not manage it).
- 1 for Watchability:
Great bingeable first 8 episodes. The rest were a struggle.

P. S - I Judge the English accent heavily.

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resenha tunel

Eu tinha visto 1º episodio desse Kdrama há um bom tempo e não tinha resolvido continuar porque não me interessei por ele logo de cara, mas depois de ver Signal na Netflix, decidi dar mais uma chance para Tunnel e não me arrendo nada disso. Fui convencida no segundo episódio e aos poucos a história foi ficando cada vez mais interessante. Por isso, me senti instigada a seguir em frente até o fim.

Sempre fico com um pé atrás quando o Dorama tem viagem no tempo, porque sei que as chances desses enredos se perderem no meio do caminho são muito grandes. E tenho medo dos tais eventos mirabolantes e extremamente fantasiosos que aumentam a medida que nos aproximamos da reta final.

Mas estou feliz em dizer meus receios não se confirmaram em Tunnel, particularmente acho que tudo o que esse Drama se propôs a fazer ele conseguiu executar muito bem. Nada foi exagerado ou desnecessário e isso contribuiu para que meu interesse pela história se mantivesse igual até o último episódio. O que não demorou muito para acontecer já que terminei em poucos dias.

Gostei bastante do desenvolvimento do enredo, isto é, achei bem interessante a forma como os policiais conseguiam conciliar o caso maior e mais complicado com os casos menores e mais simples.

Devo dizer que o toque a mais dessa história foi o desenvolvimento gradual da relação de amizade do protagonista Park Kwang Hoe com o detetive Kim Seon Jae. Gostei de vários personagens, mas me apeguei muito a essa dupla dinâmica de homens completamente diferentes e estranhamente divertidos.

Além disso, realmente me diverti nas cenas do protagonista descobrindo as "novidades do futuro". E sua jornada para tentar se adaptar a uma nova era de investigação policial é muito interessante.

SPOILER DO FINAL

Gostei de como fecharam a história: o criminoso foi finalmente preso e nosso querido protagonista conseguiu voltar para a família dele. Mas como fã que sou de finais completinhos é claro que gostaria que eles tivessem mostrado como foi a vida dele a partir dali e se ele conseguiu mudar o destino trágico de sua esposa. No entanto compreendo que para isso precisaríamos de muitos episódios a mais.

⠀ ⠀⠀

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⏳The Long Game ↪️↔️↩️ 2 May Enter ↩️↔️↪️ 1 Leaves ⌛8.5,Excellent

Tunnel is a show about Police Detective, Park Gwang-ho/GHO (Choi Jin-Hyuk from The Heirs-7.3 & Mr. Queen-8.5) who has 10 years on the force in the violent crimes unit in the year 1986.

GHO is an old school seasoned detective. His well developed instincts enable him to think like the criminals and anticipate their next move. Beating up suspects? It's a given. Fists fly frequently. He is, at times, the very definition of a misogynist, but he is also loving and utterly devoted to his wife. He's a good guy. He's just a little boorish.

He's currently mentoring Sung-sik (Jo Hee-Bong from My Sassy Girl-8.5) who dreams of being the chief one day, but has quite a distance to cover prior to merely reaching competence as a detective. They investigate a string of murders that appear to be by the same perpetrator. In 1986, though, profiling wasn't developed yet. Serial killers had not been studied sufficiently enough to be helpful with the investigation, either. GHO is deeply frustrated as the investigation is dragging with no leads. He decides to revisit the crime scenes near the times of the corresponding deaths. The first stop is The Tunnel. GHO immediately notices a suspicious character and commences chase. He exits the tunnel 30 years in the future.

At first, he doesn't know he's in the future. It's dark. He has a headache. He's frustrated. He's focusing on how he failed to catch the suspect (Where did that guy disappear to?). He returns to the station. It looks different inside, but all he notices is a stranger in his area. They argue, each claims to be a cop. GHO doesn't want to hear it. He handcuffs the guy to the cell and ends up falling asleep at his desk. He wakes up in a different world.

Writer, Lee Eun-Mi (Navillera), has so much fun dropping this veritable neanderthal into the PC climate of 2017. The station believes he's a new transfer, but... He doesn't know what DNA is, or what CCTV or dashcams are. He tells the criminal psychologist (in front of everyone) that it's all mumbo-jumbo and besides… (in an incredulous tone) .... She's a /WOMAN!/. He doesn't know to use gloves at the crime scene (yikes, they really ran with that one. We need an intervention). Computers? What for? The other cops can't understand how strange he is, or how he's making so many “lucky guesses" as a newbie detective. It adds up to lots of laughs and a fair amount of wincing. In the end, it adds up to growth for GHO. He does grow in the course of the show.

They partner him up with the most coldly detached, methodical, intelligent and antisocial detective at the station, Kim Seon-jae (SJAE). SJAE gives a chilly glance and saunters off while ignoring any overtures or questions. This enrages GHO to the point that he eventually starts a fist fight with SJAE. Will they work it out, so they can work together to catch the killer who is still at large?

That's the premise. Now we'll investigate what they did well, and also what didn't work. In short, they excelled in most of what they put into the show. There are no weaknesses in the acting, soundtrack, dialogue, plot, or character development. The needs improvement list is short and largely forgettable.

The show opens up in 1986. The colors are a washed out yellow/greenish, low contrast palate that looks like an old photo or movie. Coloring the past in such a way shows impressive thought and effort. The directors, Shin Yong-Hwi (Bad Guys) & Nam Ki-Hoon (Voice 3) often use color to send a message to the audience. The creators threw plenty of metaphors in the mix. SJAE plays chess regularly with Prof Mok (Kim Min-Sang from Private Lives-8.1 & Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung-7.6). It represents strategy, moves, counter-moves, gaming, competition, rematches, winners, and losers. They are in a chess game with the killer. We see GHO's wife, Yeon-suk, stuck alone in the past doing laundry. She's made a hole in what she's washing. It's the first hole in her hope that she will see her husband again.

They use misdirection by introducing characters that appear one way, and then quite differently later. Elaboration isn't possible w/o spoilers, so we'll leave it there. Even when it's not difficult to see some of the twists that are coming, it doesn't mean that they weren't done well. The exposition of those surprises was riveting. More important than delivering surprises, the director is chasing the theme of FATE through the tunnel.

We also see some impressive character arcs for several people in the show. Whaaaa?? After a couple weeks with GHO, we see the never-a-hair-out-of-place SJAE, phalanges naked & free, go armpit deep in the trash and pull out a bloody weapon. That's the least of it. The audience's dessert is when he acts out in a way that's too much for GHO. It doesn't happen often, but what tasty morsel it is when it's tossed our way. Professor Shin, the criminal psychologist (Lee Yoo-Young from Dare to Love Me), goes through a transformation as well. Once she's able to face some truths, her makeup is done, her hair is silkier and polished looking, and her clothes are stylish. She's looking hot, actually.

The show is brightened a little by the hint of romance. Or was that a BRO-mance? A 30-year one. Anyway, there's some "mance" happening. {BTW, Is there some Bro-code that when men are fighting, they never knee each other in the dumplings? Even the most sadistic and depraved sociopaths seem to adhere to it both on the big and small screen.} Romance or not, as some people draw closer to eachother, they may start to mirror each other, or their clothes might start to look coordinated. The show sends many visual messages.

Now for some negatives.

At one point Prof Shin decides to act as a decoy, or bait, for the killer. Her attempt is so feeble and ill planned that it's exasperatingly out of character. She's smart, so how could she be that dumb? She had been put under pressure and guilted, so that may have prompted her to act foolishly, but it didn't play well. Given how he acted in their first encounter, GHO will have to mature in his interactions with women to which he's not married. Watch and see. It's arresting.

As I watched, I tried to block out how gorgeous SJAE is (Yoon Hyun-min from My Holo Love) so I could pay attention to the show, but it was a challenge. Is that even a negative, I wonder? Perhaps it belongs in both categories. The biggest letdown is that, while we get a filled out view of the past, we don't get any information about how things play out in the future. That seriously shocked and disappointed me. It almost affected my rating.

In the end, this is too good to rate a "7". The last episode is beautiful and moving. If you decide to give it a try, make sure you watch through episode 5; it's an awesome episode. You should know then whether to continue or not.

QUOTES📢

Sometimes memories can gobble up a person.

If everything that happened in the past was gone, and we lived a new life every day, we could learn nothing from past mistakes. We are who we are today because of the past. (Prof Shin).


〰🖍 IMHO
🎬8 🤔7 🎭8.5 ⚡7 💓7 🎨7 🌞 6.

Age 14+

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