[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Voice" Episode 3

"Voice" is still centered around the intrigue of the episode's case. Through the case Kwon-joo proves her acute hearing skills to Jin-hyeok, but he's still a tough man to convince. Not much screen time is spent on his difficulties digesting the connection between them and their tortuous past, but the cliffhanger jerk's the story forward.

The child of this case is a victim of child abuse at the hands of a mentally unstable woman who suffered the same in her childhood. In terms of plot fodder, this sort of case is what crime shows are made of. "Law and Order" capitalizes on the mentally unstable. What is tough about using such subject matter is how poorly it is sometimes portrayed and "Voice" doesn't do the difficulty of diagnosis of mental illness and trauma justice. Kwon-joo diagnoses this perpetrator and victim over the phone with very little contact and that can be a dangerous thing. But one can't read too deeply into a drama. Careers and diseases are often poorly portrayed.

Jin-hyeok eventually believes Kwon-joo after she helps him save the child with her keen ears, but a true partnership has not yet formed. For that to happen he has to really trust her and she has to stop withdrawing into herself. More than that, the depiction of her skill is almost hokey although the concept is quite fun. It may be because the show focuses so much on the cases. This episode was a breakthrough from last week's, however, because it tackled the mutual past that Kwon-joo and Jin-hyeok shared and shed some light on Kwon-joo's personal trauma. We see, and hear, from her point of view on the night her father died. It would've been better had this revelation come sooner so she could've been easier to relate to. Better late than never.

There are hints of the new emergency response team coming together and I'm interested in that. I love watching teams form bonds. Give me some bonding.

Written by: Lisa Espinosa AKA Raine from 'Raine's Dichotomy'

"Voice" is directed by Kim Hong-seon-I, written by Ma Jin-won and features Jang Hyuk, Lee Ha-na, Baek Sung-hyun and Yesung.