MBC Drama: Homicide Investigation Team

[jade_frosts]

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://img.imbc.com/imbc/afieldfile/2007/03/14/1024x768_every_02.jpg')

Episodes: 20
Genre: Action & Investigation
Broadcast network: MBC
Broadcast period: 19 Mar 2007
Air time: Mondays & Tuesdays 21:55

Cast
Ko Hyun Jung as Cha Soo Kyung (Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Investigation Team 1, Lieutenant. First female chief of homicide)
Ha Jung Woo as Kim Jae Yoon (Prosecutors’ Office, Rookie DA)
Kim Jung-min as Kim Young-doo (Ex-cop. Currently runs a bar)
Yoon Ji-min as Jung In-hee (A doctor at the National Institute of Scientific Investigation specializing in hypnosis)
Son Hyun Joo as Jo Gyu-won (Suprintendent. Soo Kyung's superior)
Jung Dong Jin as Kim Il-joo (HIT team member)
Kim Jung Tae as Shim Jong-geum (HIT team member)
Choi Il Hwa as Kang Ol-ha (HIT team member)
Dong Suk as Nam Sung-sik (HIT team member)
Lee Young Ha as Jung Taek-won (DA. In-hee's father)


Synopsis
Cha Soo Kyung is righteous and powerful detective collaborating with the new prosecutor, Kim Jae Yoon. This “professional drama” portrays the real life of a detective fighting alone to catch serial killers and criminals.

From MBC's website:

A love story.
A story of men and women who have different values in their profession, who each go through their personal conflicts and doubts, but in the end, come to understand each other.

A drama about professionals.
Previously, Korean TV series only used the characters' occupations as a mere backdrop and hardly ever dealt with the joys and sorrows of the profession.
This series portrays prosecutors and police officers through the conflicts of values and their daily lives.

A story of a team.
In modern society, everything happens in units of teams, families being the only exception.
With many families breaking up in this day and age, teams are becoming your family outside the family.
Viewers will be able to relate to the conflicts and interests among the team members and experience a catharsis from the trust and friendship that overcomes those conflicts.
This is a success story of team members who overcome their differences and unite as one.

A series that challenges the stereotype.
It breaks the stereotype that prosecutors are rigid and always play by the book, and only men can be homicide detectives. This series is based on a real-life prosecutor representing his new generation and the first female chief of homicide. It will deliver their challenging spirit to the viewers and satisfy their needs for something new as well as entertain through the portrayal of a life of a woman in a men's world.

A constant roller-coaster ride.
On top of the romantic love affair and strong loyalty among the team members, its crime busting action will relieve the stress of viewers who are exposed to the constant danger of crimes in modern society.
The carefully detailed scenes will be spectacular and entertaining..



This sounds good. I adore detective investigation drama series but haven't seen any Korean made ones so far. It seems that it's also faring well in the ratings game. Anyone watching it now?

[Lady Zhuge]

I haven't watched a Korean series in ages, but this does sound like a good one. I'll wait for more feedback.

[jade_frosts]

I'm not so sure you'll hear much about it because there isn't really popular eyecandy in the drama which I guess will determine if HIT gets subbed and gets lots of active forum postings.

[jade_frosts]

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://img.imbc.com/imbc/afieldfile/2007/03/14/1024x768_self_02.jpg')

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://img.imbc.com/imbc/afieldfile/2007/03/14/1_1024x768_self_01.jpg')


I managed to watch the first episode today and from the looks of it I'm going to keep tuning in each week. In the first episode, we are introduced to the two main characters Cha Soo Kyung and Kim Jae Yoon who meet under less than pleasant circumstances but later end up being assigned to the same team. Soo Kyung is a dedicated, righteous, maverick policewoman who solves cases by examining the shoe prints left at the crime scene - a technique which seem to have led to many case breakthroughs and her meteoric rise up the ranks. She's blunt, temperamental, rather obsessive and quite a maniac, and her behaviour often leads team members to wonder whether she's a truly a woman. Jae Yoon, on the other hand, has just joined the public prosecutor's office as a DA but hardly seems the man one would want on the job as many of his friends tease. He doesn't have a strong sense of justice. In fact, that seems nonexistent. He has the aimless air of one born into a wealthy family and also seems to have built quite a reputation for himself as a gambler and womaniser which prompt his friends to question his career choice and confidently voice their doubts that he'd last long on the job.

[jade_frosts]

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/HIT-1.jpg')

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/HIT-2.jpg')

[jade_frosts]

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://img.imbc.com/imbc/afieldfile/2007/03/15/1_1024x768_every_01.jpg')

The Homicide Investigation Team is formed at the end of Ep1. Soo Kyung is tasked to lead the team to tackle a spate of serial killings with have chilling similarities to an event that occured 14 years ago. Jae Yoon is also assigned to the team although he is with the public prosecutor's office. It is a team made up of disparate characters with different agendas which put the team's very existence in jeopardy. To compound matters, the Homicide Investigation Team was formed by the police chief to soothe the media, making it seem to amount to nothing more than a public relations stunt to quell criticism and fury as long as investigations make headway.

[jade_frosts]

The serial killings become linked to the collective disappearance of several palour masseurs and as it grows into a race against time to apprehend the murderer, the conflicting interests of each HIT member, the section chief and other elements start to make the police seem like a farce. Soo Kyung is frustrated, but obsessed with tracking the murderer down and desperately wanting answers for a killing 14 years ago, she neglects to lead the team and pay heed to internal tensions.

By Ep5, it emerges that the Homicide Investigation Team members were put together by the section chief to ensure the early demise of the team. Even the team's maiden success is marred by accusations, jealousy and resentment and as things threaten to spiral out of control, a crisis hits the team.

HIT is as much an investigative story as it is a character study of its cast of characters, in particular, Jae Yoon and Soo Kyung. In Soo Kyung, we see a woman still trying to overcome the horror that suddenly took a loved one from her 14 years ago. Unable to catch the murderer, she remains psychologically trapped in the past and throws herself into her work - as if she'd be able to numb herself or exorcise her demons by catching all the criminals in South Korea. In Jae Yoon, we see a man who has more mettle than Ep1 led us to believe but he hides an unhappy childhood that has scarred him on the inside.

[jade_frosts]

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/HK_Love.jpg')
$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/HK_Ship.jpg')

[Ueda Jiro]

I'm really looking forward to this series (waiting for the English subs to be released). I can watch with Chinese subs but I'm still more comfortable with English. Heh.

[jade_frosts]

Unlikely bed fellows:

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/HITteam.jpg')
Clockwise from top left: Shim Hyun-sa, Kim Hyun-sa, Jang Hyun-sa, Nam Hyun-sa

Straight after cracking the serial murder case, the Homicide Investigation Team stumble upon a syndicate involved in the illegal smuggling of crack during a seemingly innocuous trip to Hong Kong by Jang Hyun-sa to locate his daugther who is in the territory on a modelling assignment arranged by a Korean agency. Soo Kyung comes after Jang Hyun-sa but things suddenly spin out of control and threaten to imperil their lives even as Kim Hyun-sa and Jae Yoon rush to Hong Kong to aid them. This event, however, provides the catalyst that changes their relations with each other as they are thrown together in the face of danger.

[jade_frosts]

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/cast-HIT.jpg')

The first english-subbed episode of HIT is available from D-Fansubs at D-addicts.com

[Lady Zhuge]

Thanks, jade. I will watch this.

[jade_frosts]

Korean dramas lock horns with their American rivals
Excerpts from JoongAng Daily

The MBC drama H.I.T (Homicide Investigation Team) has been compared to the American drama CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) from the get go. At present, the drama is holding steady with a 16 to 18 percent viewership.

Since the long-running show, Susabanjang, centering around a police station, went off the air in 1989, there hasn't been a hit crime drama on Korean television.

H.I.T stars actress Go Hyeon-jung as a female section chief. Compared to past dramas that focus on marriage and family life, H.I.T tells a different kind of story. Since it first aired on March 19, viewers have been divided in their opinions. For CSI fans, the drama was a disappointment, but for others, H.I.T was a new kind of drama that hasn’t appeared on Korean television for years.

Responding to the criticism, the show's producers said that they were not looking to make a Korean CSI. Kim Yeong-hyeon, who writes for H.I.T, said during a press conference promoting the drama that the production "concentrated on making a ‘Korean’ crime drama ― something that stays true to this particular culture."


Goh Hyun-jeong on How to Play Tough
Excerpts from Chosunilbo

Goh Hyun-jeong, plays a tomboyish detective in the drama H.I.T. Asked if she resembles her character in H.I.T, Goh laughs, "It's not a documentary. How could a character in drama be my real self?"

Goh plays a tough detective who chases a serial killer. She lost a lover, and the hurt is so deep that she cannot wear pretty shoes but just put them in a shoe box.

"Cha Soo Kyung is a sad character. She didn't used to be so tough, but she changed to adjust to life's hardships. She couldn't help but change. Everyone has those ups and downs. I hope I can play her well enough to give viewers who suffer such hardships some comfort. I want to be remembered as Cha Soo Kyung."

[jade_frosts]

More screenshots from HIT:

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/HIT.jpg')

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3928/ostqd9.jpg')

H.I.T Soundtrack Listing
01 Success - Super Junior
02 Pain - Gummy
03 That Person - JM
04 Last Love - Kim Jung Min
05 Separation from You - Lee Jung Kyun
06 H.I.T - Super Junior
07 H.I.T & Run
08 Human nature
09 Delightful Love
10 Instinct
11 Suorrowful Love
12 Urban Shock
13 So What
14 In A Heartbeat
15 Shotgun
16 Stormy Day
17 Arrest
18 Spies ‘R Us

Available at D-Addicts (http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/viewt...2bd7e2d83d4ce7)

[jade_frosts]

I'm just halfway through this drama, distracted in turn by CSI Vegas, House and Bones. I think Homicide Investigation Team is more like Bones than CSI, as from the very outset, its focus has been more on its characters and their relationships rather than the police cases. There are drawbacks to a drama with such an approach, though at turns intense and riveting, HIT lacks the gritty suspense, mystery and pace that I've been quite accustomed to having. The revolving theme of HIT is the fateful murder that Soo Kyung encountered 14 years ago and continues to haunt her to the present day.

HIT's strength lies in its characterisation and evolution of individual characters and relationships. I particularly like the actors who flesh out Soo Kyung, Jae Yoon and Shim Kyung-sa but can't say the same of the two actors who play the secondary characters Young-doo and In-hee.

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/20070523102415MjAwNzA1MjMwNjQ4MjI5O.jpg')

The drama has just finished its run in Korea, and there's reportedly word that the station may make a second season.

Episode ratings (Seoul):
18.0%_17.7%_18.5%_19.7%_14.8%*_16.9%_17.3%_15.8%_1 6.0%_15.0%_15.6%_15.2%_14.3%_
13.3%_13.7%_13.8%_14.2%_15.5%_17.0%_18.5%

*Ep5 was shown at a later time slot than usual.

[jade_frosts]

Jae Yoon & Soo Kyung's First Encounter

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/JY-First-Glimpse.jpg')
Jae Yoon in the toilet of an illegal casino that Soo Kyung raids

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/SKJY.jpg')
Soo Kyung: Stop! Police!
Jae Yoon: What? (turns to flee)

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/JY-flees.jpg')
Jae Yoon: It's so embarassing! I've been hit by a woman.
Soo Kyung: Where's Buffalo? (takes out handcuffs)

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/Hostage.jpg')
Jae Yoon: Don't shoot!
Soo Kyung: Don't move!
Suprintendent Jo: Don't shoot! Can't you see the hostage?
Soo Kyung: They're together. It's an act.
Suprintendent Jo: What?
Soo Kyung: I've seen him before!
Suprintendent Jo: You're still not allowed to fire. Aren't you putting your gun down?
Soo Kyung: Argh! (as the boat makes a getaway)

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/high-speed-chase.jpg')
Jae Yoon jumps overboard to allow the police to capture Buffalo

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/exchange.jpg')
Jae Yoon and Soo Kyung exchange glances

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/arrogance.jpg')
(Newspaper headline: Prosecutor catches Buffalo)
Jae Yoon: I caught him by chance. Use this for a meal. This is my duty as prosecutor.
Soo Kyung: You were gambling. Do you know it's illegal? That plus you're a prosecutor.
Soo Kyung: When are you coming to write your account of events?
Jae Yoon: Do you have proof?
Soo Kyung: We can confiscate the CCTV footage.
Jae Yoon: Let me go this once.

[jade_frosts]

Clash of Wills

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/clash.jpg')
Soo Kyung: Looks like you still have some conscience to come all the way here to write your report.
Jae Yoon: Are you treating me this way because you want to be involved with a prosecutor? Is it because you eye my family's status? What do you need? Money? My father's power? Don't tell me you want to marry me?
Soo Kyung: (slap)
Jae Yoon: You hit me! This is violence! Police hitting a prosecutor. This isn't a small matter. We're even now.
Soo Kyung: Hah.

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/surprise.jpg')
Jae Yoon: I'm Prosecutor Kim Jae Yoon, and will oversee HIT.
Soo Kyung: (stunned look)
Jae Yoon: I won't just be here today. I'll be here everyday. We'll be a real team.

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/more-glances.jpg')
Soo Kyung and Jae Yoon sizing each other up

[jade_frosts]

Soo Kyung's Demons

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/looking-for-soo-kyung.jpg')

Jae Yoon: Cha team-jang!
Jae Yoon: I was calling you. Why didn't you answer?
Soo Kyung: I'm looking for footprints. The search team stopped here but didn't search further because dusk fell.
Jae Yoon: This is all grass. Will there be footprints?

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/struggle.jpg')

Soo Kyung: At least I'll find some other things.
Jae Yoon: Cha team-jang! Will you wake up?! A 200 member team found nothing so what can you find at night?
Soo Kyung: What should I do then? Should I just watch time flow by?
(raindrops start falling)
Soo Kyung: No! If it rains the footprints will be gone!
Jae Yoon: Cha team-jang. Let's go down.
Soo Kyung: I must find it.
Jae Yoon: Let's go.
Soo Kyung: Let me go!
Jae Yoon: Come!
(struggle breaks out)
Soo Kyung: I'm telling you to let go! Let go!

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/past-sorrow.jpg')

Jae Yoon: Why must you be so stubborn? Can a dead person come back to life if you do this? By doing so, can you catch past criminals?
Soo Kyung: I want to live like a normal person. To be able to eat, sleep, walk...Isn't that being alive? How good it would be if I could live like a normal person.

[jade_frosts]

Understanding Soo Kyung

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/Injured.jpg')

Jae Yoon: What did you do? Shim hyun-sa, I want you to take him away to the detention centre. Make sure Cha team-jang doesn't get near him.
Soo Kyung: Let me go! Let me go! What are you doing? Let me go!

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/going-to-hospital-1.jpg')

Soo Kyung: Let me finish asking. Let go! He knows it isn't the knife. I want to finish asking him. He may know something. Let go! Where are you bringing me?
Jae Yoon: The hospital! The hospital!
Soo Kyung: I'm fine. Don't worry!
Jae Yoon: Worry? I'm worried about you. I feel uneasy. I feel very worried. So just keep quiet and come with me.

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/After-hospital.jpg')

Jae Yoon: Cha team-jang, stop drinking. You're the victim now. He's a dangerous criminal but what did you do? You threw procedure and regulations aside. Just like a protagonist in a martial arts novel going about recklessly to avenge her father. Not knowing you're bleeding, not knowing what your team members are up to, just knowing that you must keep on running forward. Why is this so? Why?
Soo Kyung: Because I'm a victim. Because my psychology is that of a victim's.
Jae Yoon: Will such a policewoman do? Can a person full of vengence be a good police?
Soo Kyung: I asked you why the sun and moon siblings became the sun and moon, didn't I? Because they were victims. Long ago, two siblings were attacked by a tiger but no one came to their rescue. They were alone, helpless and could only depend on heaven. So they rose to the heavens and never came down again. And they lived, not as humans, but as the sun and moon.

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/sk.jpg')

Soo Kyung: Because I'm a victim, I don't want to see other people become the sun and the moon ... ... That was a very painful incident so I just want to become a policewoman that the people trust.
Jae Yoon: You hide the high heel shoes you want to wear at home. You're also gradually losing yourself and being isolated from your surroundings.
Soo Kyung: I most want ... ... to find myself. I have many dreams. It's very simple. I want to find my old cheerful self. That's why I'm like that. If I can't find the bastard from 14 years ago, I can't go back to what I used to be. There's no way. Please understand.
Jae Yoon: That's not the mentality of a victim. It's just a consciousness. Blaming the past for casting a shadow on you, forsaking the present. The past cannot change the present. Only you can change the present.

[jade_frosts]

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/HIT_Scenes.jpg')
$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m86/raven_frosts/HIT_Scenes-1.jpg')