[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Switch - Change the World" Episodes 27-28

As Tae-woong recuperates from his vigorous physical assault at Do-chan's hands, there's discussion of how alarming it is that this time, Do-chan was actually seriously going after Tae-woong. And yet Tae-woong recovers from his real injury about as quickly as he did from the fake one. And despite the implication being made that Tae-woong needs to take the situation more seriously, by and large the man just acts the same as he always did.

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What's especially odd about all this is that we'd expect this turnabout to be a moment of humility for Do-chan, who's so used to being in control. But rather than show introspection, Do-chan simply acts very smug and smart in jail. You'd think that Do-chan would sleep with an eye open in anticipation of an assassination attempt, considering that Tae-woong has been trying to find Do-chan for murdering purposes.

I blame the one-dimensional soundtrack. Don't get me wrong, that big jazz riff that pops up any time Do-chan accomplishes something is really cool. It's just, that riff has been overused a lot lately to try and cover up how the quality of Do-chan's plans has plummeted dramatically and no one else has been taking up the slack. Joon-soo just acts really grumpy, and Ha-ra reminisces about the good times.

Do-chan's con artist team with their near infinite resources always manage to come up with something, even absent any reliable means of communication with their boss. Which is probably why it's so difficult to get much in the way of dramatic conflict out of "Switch - Change The World" at this point. Even at their absolute lowest point, Do-chan and his team never feel like they're in various serious danger, that their actions have consequences, or most importantly, like they can fail. Look at the scene in the woods. Even in context, the threat just doesn't feel real.

Tae-woong also suffers from this problem. The guy never acts like he's in trouble, no matter how obviously bad the situation is. Observe how ridiculously calm Tae-woong is at the cliffhanger, when the revelation is a major gut punch to the continued viability of his operation. We have seen Tae-woong go into temper tantrums over very minor setbacks, when he was interpreting those turnabouts as a threat to his intelligence. This just isn't good consistent characterization- which is a real shame. Tae-woong and his collection of goofy suits used to be a big high point for me.

Review by William Schwartz

"Switch - Change The World" is directed by Nam Tae-jin, written by Baek Woon-cheol and Kim Ryoo-hyun, and features Jang Keun-suk, Han Ye-ri, Jung Woong-in, and Jo Hee-bong

Watch Episode 27 on Viki

Watch Episode 28 on Viki

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