Through the Darkness is a show that, in a skillful way, shifts the focus from the criminals and their mentality, to profilers and the psychological consequences that their job has on them. Yes, we still get the fair share of why criminals do what they do. We still get the eerie conversations with serial killers - the look into their deranged psyche, but the story focuses more on the interviewer, not the interviewee.

If you are looking for unreasonable wits and close to supernatural skills characters like Sherlock Holmes had in the BBC tv show, you won’t find it there. Profiling wise, it’s as basic as it can get. That’s expected from a show that is based on the book that depicts the beginning of Korea’s first criminal profiling team. And yet, it was never boring.

Song Ha Young was more fascinating of a character than any of the killers and criminals presented combined. The depth of the portrayal thanks to Kim Nam Gil acting was one of the best aspects of the show. The character represented pain, loneliness, desperation, fixation - all that could lead to a tragic outcome without a proper support system.

Kook Young Soo, who became my favorite character, was like an anchor that kept Ha Yeoung grounded. He was a perfectly balanced character - knew the importance of his work, but did not ignore his own needs, health and people around him.

What Through the Darkness does perfectly, is showcasing the variety of realistic characters that have believable flaws, but are never over the top caricatures. We see how some of them might be greedy, full of prejudice, corrupted, but there is a realistic limit to their flaws and how far they are willing to go based on just these characteristics.

The writing was that good. When you have solid source material and people who care not to misrepresent it, you get the quality content. The tension build-up in every episode was just phenomenal. The interviews were just... terrifying. The journey of Ha Young - heartbreaking.

Even the soundtrack leaves nothing to desire. Listening to Lullaby gives me chills and makes me tear up a little bit. Lyrics for Can’t Run Away are the perfect representation of Ha Young’s character, motivation and emotional state. Bloom and Fall Alone made me think about all the victims. Each song elevates different aspects of the story.

If I were to complain about one thing - how little we get Yoon Ji, the reporter. I think her narrative was also really important, since she served as a better connection for the audience to relate to, than the detectives did. How we as society view killers and psychopaths. What kind of narrative gets our attention, and what we find not "interesting". How we ourselves pay more attention to the perpetrators than the victims. I was waiting for her to be a more integral part of the show, but instead she started to show up less and less.

That said, as much as I loved the show, I would not recommend it to people who prefer action and fast pace. This is slow. There are countless scenes of main characters just walking around trying to find clues, observing the surroundings of the places the crimes took place. Ha Young is not this confident cop who is so assured in his skills and position, no criminal can get to him. We watch him waver, we watch him break, but we also see him push forward.

Overall, for me it was close to perfection. Last two episodes made me feel extremely emotional, as I got closer to the end. It was fascinating to see the journey the characters took, and it made me appreciate the people who are willing to step into that dark and twisted world, just to keep others safe.