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[HanCinema's Drama Preview] "Mad Dog"

There is that saying about death and taxes and while action comedy "Squad 38" focused on the latter, this seems to be where its core similarities to "Mad Dog" end. The upcoming drama has a dark tone and some grim content as well as a good cast, which may bring a solid story of justice to life.

Premise

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Choi Kang-woo (Yoo Ji-tae) is a former detective whose new mission is to weed out those who commit fraud through his work as an insurance fraud investigator. He teams up with different characters, including a scam artist, in order to bring victims justice by any means necessary.

The Worrying

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Exciting Fraud

Con artists do not make the most exciting villains compared to, say, serial killers, but it looks like "Mad Dog" is aiming big with fraud leading to the loss of life. Even so, having white collar villains who use a pen and paper as murder weapons means that their characters have to be engaging without using action as a crutch.

Action Vs. Story

As an extension of my previous point, the series needs interesting villains, but it also needs interesting main characters to support the action and make audiences care. While this can be aided by the use of real events, which I will talk about in a moment, the story should not rely on their sensationalization.

The Reassuring

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Bold Use of Reality

The promos show incidents reminiscent of real tragedies, including the infamous Sampoong Department Store collapse, which was incidentally the topic of the film "Trace of Love", also lead by Yoo Ji-tae. The series may stay true to the events or use creative license to inject its own villains and story, but the topics are interesting nonetheless.

Cast

A solid cast is a good basis for an ensemble-based story and if the information and goodies out so far are anything to go by, "Mad Dog" definitely looks like a group effort aiding a strong lead. We have veterans and newbies here, all of them of established skill or having shown good potential.

Closing Thoughts

I have seen many a drama with a focus on an ensemble cast and action-related content fail, but it remains a type I wish to see more successes from. "Mad Dog" does mostly look like a one- or two-man show, but I hope everyone is brought together for a satisfying and emotionally gripping experience.

"Mad Dog" begins its run on November 11th and will air every Wednesday and Thursday at 22:00, on KBS2. It is directed by Hwang Ee-kyeong, written by Kim Soo-jin-V and features Yoo Ji-tae, Woo Do-hwan, Ryu Hwa-young, Kim Hye-sung and Jo Jae-yun.

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Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'

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