Jam-packed with zany comedy, heart-pumping action, and a deceitfully despicable villain of the week, Crash kickstarts its vehicular crime-busting journey in style. Though said style comprises offbeat humor and ridiculous wigs — but that’s a bonus, isn’t it?
Editor’s note: Weekly drama coverage is confirmed.
EPISODE 1
Right off the bat, we’re introduced to the Traffic Crime Investigation (TCI) unit, a small squad of four specializing in — you guessed it — vehicular crimes. Stuck somewhere in between the criminal division and the traffic division, the TCI is the black sheep that doesn’t quite fit in anywhere. Still, despite being looked down upon by their fellow officers, they fulfill their duties with resilient diligence and a fighting spirit.
At the heart of the team is the gung-ho MIN SO-HEE (Kwak Sun-young), who tricks a car dealer into revealing his scam together with her partner EO HYUN-KYUNG (Moon-hee). Joined by team leader JUNG CHAE-MAN (Heo Sung-tae) — who’s hilariously out of touch with modern pop culture — and gentle giant WOO DONG-KI (Lee Ho-chul), they proceed to take down the illegal dealers in a hilariously action-packed sequence.
Amidst the flying fists, bespectacled insurance investigator CHA YEON-HO (Lee Min-ki) gets caught in the fray, knocked out by So-hee’s mighty punch. Meek and polite, he winds up getting carted back to the police station, where his name card alerts So-hee to her blunder. Yeon-ho isn’t the least bit upset at being treated like a criminal; instead, he gives So-hee a manila envelope containing a serial murder case he’d like her team to investigate.
So-hee doesn’t spare it much thought, but when she loses the kind neighborhood granny to a traffic accident, she runs into Yeon-ho again at the wake. Disappointed by her lack of action, Yeon-ho remarks that she’s just like the others — he’d given the case to three other police stations, to no avail. Chastised, So-hee pores over the case files all night.
That brings us to our case of the week. JUNG HO-GYU (Bae Yoo-ram) is a heartless perpetrator of insurance fraud, who targets elderly women to pay off their relatives with meager sums of settlement money. Exploiting their sympathy with a sob story and guileless puppy eyes, Ho-gyu evades a court case time and time again — then profits from the insurance payout.
All the evidence gathered so far is purely circumstantial, which raises doubt about Ho-gyu’s culpability. If given the benefit of the doubt, maybe he just has awful luck? No way, Chae-man counters. Once bitten, twice shy; had it truly been a tragic accident, Ho-gyu wouldn’t have bought a second vehicle a mere month later, much less rack up four such “accidents.”
While checking out the most recent accident site, So-hee once again bumps into Yeon-ho, who rattles off a spiel of calculations to estimate the car’s velocity. Peering closer at the road, Yeon-ho realizes the location of the yaw marks left by the car’s tires reveal the driver’s intent. The swerve wasn’t to avoid the victim, as would be the case for most accidents — it was to ensure he’d strike her down.
In a lucky coincidence, the used cars dealer that Ho-kyu obtained his vehicles from just so happens to be the same one the team had apprehended. Plying the car dealer into cooperation with delicious food, the team sets a trap for Ho-kyu, outfitting a used car with wiretaps and hidden cameras.
Unfortunately, Ho-kyu catches on to their scheme and sells the car off to a stranger, sending the TCI on a wild goose chase. Elsewhere, an irate Ho-kyu speeds straight towards the used car dealer — only to crash into a bicycle that suddenly cuts into his path. It’s Yeon-ho, who’s now sprawled on the ground with a bruise on his jaw.
All in all, Crash delivers a solidly entertaining premiere with delightfully quirky characters, exhilarating car chases, and little dashes of humor sprinkled between the absurd comedy. (That delivery guy closing the door on his way out, then smoothly opening it again for the TCI team to catch the baddies, LOL!) It’s like Taxi Driver with more legal repercussions and less vigilante vengeance; the signature flair of director Park Joon-woo is evident, and it was fun to spot all the cameos.
The first episode doesn’t particularly make a mark in any one aspect just yet, but it keeps a good pace, introducing us to the ragtag team behind the wheel and laying the groundwork for their future trajectory. Your mileage may vary, but as long as it doesn’t veer too far off the rails with its wacky antics, I think this show has the potential to be a fun joyride.