Apartment 404 (2024)

Mysteries Through The Ages

TL;DR (too long; didn't read) at the end of the review

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"Apartment 404" has captivating moments mixed with occasional lulls. The format and whole structure of this show is what actually caused its quality to decline. Every episode, the cast is divided in two teams to compete against one another, but it really makes no difference because every solves the mystery not far apart from one another. The clues given to the winning and losing team are practically the same clues. The show could've added more variety, like make duos or an individual competition instead, but unfortunately, "Apartment 404" continued using the same formulaic, pointless formation.

This was truly such a shame, as I thought the concept was fantastic. Letting the audience — which mostly consisted of international viewers — learn more about South Korea's history and past controversies that would otherwise be forgotten in the depths of history was a fun idea.

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The cast as a whole had terrific chemistry, which I think was achieved by the fact that the majority of the members had previously worked together on other variety shows.

- Yoo Jae Suk : His lack of scenes actually surprised me, as more often than not, he usually faded into the background. I don't believe the staff utilized Jae Suk's "Nation's MC" title to its fullest extent.

- Cha Tae Hyun : It was quite an experience seeing him since every episode, there's usually something from the 90s or 00s that demonstrated his level of popularity back then, such as a drama clip or a commercial.

- Oh Na Ra : She brought competitiveness & fun to the table every time she showed up on screen. Was she the best at solving the mystery parts? Absolutely not. However, she was entertaining and I'm certain that's what matters most in a variety show.

- Yang Se Chan : He played his role well and had a few prominent moments, but I wish I saw more of his wit.

- Kim Jennie : I didn't expect much from her because she didn't really wow me in any of her other tv show appearances, but she killed it here! She shined in every episode's third act/conclusion, she was a strong competitor, she had noteworthy dynamics with everyone, and she genuinely looked like she was having a blast filming.

- Lee Jung Ha : A cutie pie through-and-through; Jung Ha was a great addition to the cast. He brought something new with his "rookie aura," and it contrasted well with the other seasoned members. Plus, he had a memorable personality with a great smile.

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It's very telling that their best episode deviated the most from the original concept. In the last episode, they completely ditched the apartment setting and used a high school setting, which brought freshness from its usual repetitive format. It focused heavily on the storyline, the only aspect that the staff excelled at, and it brought back a compelling guest, Yeonjun. Having well-known, one-off guests with a dedicated fanbase in every episode was something the staff should've incorporated. It boosts recognition and more interaction from viewers who might not have given the show a chance normally. If a season two is made, however unlikely, I hope the producers takes these details into account.

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TL;DR: great concept, mediocre execution, well-balanced cast, and it has potential for season 2

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Very Entertaining

The concept of Apartment 404, while limiting if you take the title at face value, takes large scale crimes that happened in apartment buildings/complexes from different time periods is SK and has the cast solve them. It made me wonder what exactly goes on in large complexes as I've never lived in one. They dropped a fact about how many apartment buildings there are in SK. I don't remember exactly, but they're one of the top in the world. That's a lot of damn apartments! I think the producers realized they didn't have enough source material and expanded their reach as seen in episodes 7 and 8. This actually gave me hope for a season 2.

I truly enjoyed every episode. It's like Busted! mixed with a bit of Village the 8 (had it lived up to it's potential). It was fun trying to figure out clues and guess which one (if any) of the endearing cast lead by King of the Variety Show, You Jae Suk. I will watch at least one episode of any show Yoo does. Of the shows available to me in the last 12-14 years there's only been 2 that I wasn't fond of. I was familiar with everyone in the cast but grew to love was Lee Jung Ha. You would think he'd get swallowed up by the over top personalities of the rest of the cast, but held his own and got better with each episode.

Rarely to I re-watch dramas but I tend to re-watch variety so I can laugh. In the case of Apt 404 it's more of case of trying to find clues that I missed. I would recommend this as a de-stresser to anyone, especially if they like things that are light hearted with a bit of mystery.

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It's great to watch if you like not much happening

I found this show to be amazingly slow. Do the games have anything to do with the mysteries? The teams switch up each episode, which I couldn't decide was a good thing or bad thing. I think the thing that bothered me the most was the constant replay of scenes so you could see each person's reaction. It really messed with the flow. Lots of running around, which used up a lot of time.

I did like how they filled the apartments with things from the time period that they were investigating...a blast from the past.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed Jennie. She was pretty charismatic and quite a good spy.

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Not my type of show but I learnt interesting stuff, pace of stories could have been better

It took me almost 7 months to complete this variety show. I must preface this review by admiting first that "Mystery concept" variety show are not necessarily the ones I gravitate towards the most. I always have trouble to get into the reenactement of crime/mystery because even if the stories are interesting, cast reactions (or rather over-reactions) often leave me with an uncanny feeling. It is also quite odd when they play games right in the middle of it.

Indeed, the viewer knows that everything is fake, so it is a bit cringe or strange to see over-the-top acting by members of the show. The idea might be to immerse the spectators as if they were watching a theatre piece, but unfortunately it often produces the opposite effect as I feel quite distached. The rythm of the show was super strange: each episode felt king of sluggish, especially in the middle. However, they often managed to have good endings with some rush and thrills at the end of a lot of the episodes but not enough to make me anticipate the next one.

That's said, and despite all the flaws that I perceive and point out, there are positive aspects as well. First of all, I especially liked the fact that I learnt quite a bit regarding contemporary history and various South Korea news items from different period of time. There is an inherent repetive aspect to the mecanics of the show but I also found that they managed to bring enough variety in the stories to not feel too monotonous. Guest cast members (to be fair mainly Choi Yeon Jun who I like a lot) were also a good way to change a bit and renew the dynamic of the episodes.

I enjoyed the main cast: they had a good chemistry together but it somewhat lacked in terms of balance. I started this show for Lee Jung Ha but honestly the whole actors gang ( Lee Jung Ha, Cha Tae Hyun and Oh Na Ra) were my favorites. The others members Yoo Jae Suk, Yang Se Chan and Jennie do the job properly as well. It is clearly more a colleagues relationship and felt not as genuine as some other shows I have seen.

I would recommend this to people that enjoy Mystery Variety show concept. If you are fan from one of the member of the cast or if you are interested by miscalleneous news items you might also want to give it a shot despite its shortcomings (repetitive mecanics as well as relatively bad pacing of the episodes).

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Mystery x History but in a more fun way

Watching Apartment 404 is a journey -- I love it better and better as it progresses. At the beginning, I feel like on the same level as the casts are just trying to figure things out and it shows that even the staff members are also just figuring things out as they go which is the beauty of it. It can't be as genuine as it is. This is a new style of variety show where it's scripted and non-scripted at the same time and I am all for it.

The show kinda feels like a Running Man sub-show because the format has similarities, with the games and stuff but it also differs because this one is also trying to narrate a story. I really love that I get to know more different eras in Korea and the different social issues and histories they had to go through all these years. This format of story-telling is risky and it can easily be boring but they really got my full interest and it kept me wanting to know more about the stories. While some stories are more interesting than others, I think the chemistry of the cast made it a lot more fun. The dynamics of them being clumsy, funny, and competitive all at the same time made a lot of difference. A minor issue that I have is the BGM and the way things are being presented. For some reason, it sounds more horror-y and scary than the story actually is.

All in all, I had fun watching this and I really hope they renew for 2nd season. I'd definitely love to watch it.

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Shockingly boring

If you are expecting an investigative game show à la Busted, The Truth, Girls High School Mystery Class, etc., don't. If you are looking for a thrilling adventure à la The Great Escape or The Zone, also don't. This doesn't even come close, either in format or execution, to any of those shows. This is more of a boring version of X-Man. The cast comes together to eat (yes, EAT. In every. freaking. episode.) and plays two games over the course of the show that has NOTHING to do with the actual case or its investigation, to have clues fed to them and they then have to guess who amongst them is the spy. Then the show will go into an anticlimactic expository sequence where they reveal the half-assedly built case to the viewers. That is it. That is the entirety of it. Yoo Jaesuk, Cha Taehyun, Nara, and Yang Sechan do as much as they can to add some comedy but this show is so dead that even they cannot save it. So have some mercy on yourselves and look for something else. Or just rewatch the aforementioned shows if you cannot find anything. Much better than what this show will ever be.

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