As two talented boxers bond and form a strong friendship after a match, our main hero gets caught in a powerful loan shark’s web when trying to defend his mother. Can he fight his way out?
Editor’s note: This is an Episode 1 review only. For a place to chat about the entire drama, visit the Drama Hangout!
EPISODE 1
We’re quickly introduced to our main character, KIM GUN-WOO (Woo Do-hwan) as we see him training his boxing skills late at night. Making his way back home, we get to see what kind of person he is. Waiting for the bus, a drunk man harasses and threatens the bus driver – as he doesn’t have a mask and needs one to ride the bus – so Gun-woo takes it upon himself to remove the man from the bus and deal with the situation peacefully despite the unruly man’s attempts to fight. After sending the man on his way, Gun-woo makes his way back on the bus and humbly bows as he receives a round of applause.
After he arrives home, we see that he lives with his mom, YOON SO-YEON (Yoon Yoo-sun), who is working hard to pay off the debt that she has accrued. Since Gun-woo knows she is struggling, he is doing everything he can to help her. He signs up in a boxing tournament with hopes to win the money to help his mom pay off her debt.
As the competition starts and progresses, two boxers on opposite sides of the tournament bracket are making waves due to how skilled they are. One is Gun-woo, and the other is an arrogant, overzealous, and a bit unhinged competitor: HONG WOO-JIN (Lee Sang-yi.) Woo-jin is a quick and explosive fighter who loves to talk the talk, while Gun-woo is more quiet, calm, and calculated in the ring, but he’s got an iron fist that does all the talking for him. The two punch their way to the top of the ladder until they eventually have to fight each other for the championship.
After what looks like it’ll be the best fight in the bracket, Woo-jin lets his confidence get the best of him so he willingly opens himself up to one of Gun-woo’s massive punches, thinking he can counter it. Gun-woo, confused, remains on guard for a bit, but then decides to rush at him. Unable to follow Gun-woo’s shifty movements, Woo-jin takes a massive hit to the ribs which takes him down to the ground – resulting in him losing the championship.
The two see each other as they’re leaving the arena and Gun-woo asks Woo-jin if he wants to go grab food. Although hesitant at first, he ends up tagging along. On a side note, Gun-woo is so wholesome for someone who can literally punch a whole through someone!
The two bond a lot over dinner as they feel each other out and discover similarities – one of them being their prior service in the marines. Woo-jin also learns of Gun-woo’s motivation to earn money to pay for his mom’s debt.
Working in the background is our main antagonist KIM MYUNG-GIL (otherwise known as one of the best villain actors in dramaland, Park Sung-woong) who is an extremely powerful and notorious loan shark who has a lot of sway due to his wealth. Early on in the episode, he loans money to a business man so a hotel can be made, seemingly with a trick up his sleeve – I have a feeling we’ll see the implications of this down the road. Later on, we see Myung-gil start an initiative that supposedly pays off people’s debts for less interest than the bank. However, there is fine print that states the people they are “helping” need to pay an extension fee in exchange for lowered interest within 24 hours. They are setting up a scheme that sets desperate people up for failure – oh yeah, that’s pretty evil if you ask me.
Gun-woo’s mom takes the deal, not realizing that she’s getting herself into trouble. The next night, Myung-gil’s men show up at her café and wreck the place, throwing chairs through the windows and destroying the seating area. Gun-woo sprints to the café after hearing his distressed mom over a phone call. Once he gets there, he’s surrounded by about ten of Myung-gil’s goons. Next thing you know — after a fantastic action sequence — Gun-woo is making his way up the steps to rescue his mother from KIM JUN-MIN (Jo Wan-ki), who works under Myung-gil.
Gun-woo rips Jun-min away from his mom and slams him up against the wall, asking him why they’re doing all of this. Myung-gil walks into the room after them all gangster-like, of course. After making all the other henchmen look like a cake-walk, Gun-woo is matched up against the massive and intimidating KANG IN-BUM (Tae Won-seok.) Gun-woo lands some punches but none of them affect In-bum. In-bum throws a couple punches back at Gun-woo and they overwhelm him, sending him flying. In-bum takes the full advantage and continues to pound Gun-woo’s face in until Myung-gil stops him. To end this fast-paced episode, Myung-gil kneels over Gun-woo’s pummeled body and runs his knife along his face leaving his signature mark: the same one he has on his face.
What a first episode! Bloodhounds did not hold its punches by any means – pun intended. Now we wait until Woo-jin catches wind of this scheme and the dynamic duo form up to fight back against Myung-gil.
Gun-woo is such a bright character and you can see he really cares about the people around him, so I’m curious to see if these events will change him and take away the cheery smile he always has on. I also wonder how it will be possible for two kids from the street to be able to take down a kingpin like Myung-gil. This drama is not lighthearted by any means, but I’m all here for it.