What are the odds—we’ve got two new mistaken-identity police dramas on the way this week, and they’re both starting on the same day. One’s about a con man’s soul possessing the body of a cop, and the other’s about a convicted murderer on death row who steals the identity of a cop. Basically we’re just going to have a bunch of phonies masquerading as police in dramaland this season. Will it be a battle to be the best cop, or the worst cop who makes us laugh the most?
Two Cops
Time slot: Monday & Tuesday
Broadcaster: MBC
Genre: Fantasy, rom-com, suspense
Episode count: 32 (half-hour episodes, 16 hours in total)
Reasons to watch: Jo Jung-seok is up for a dual role in this, so that’s the primary draw. He’s going to play a righteous detective who becomes possessed by a con man, resulting in a body-sharing situation that’ll make him seem like a crazy person to everyone around him. The two characters couldn’t be more different—the cop is humorless and unrelenting and a total badass, while the con man is a cocky smooth-talker who can get away with anything—which should yield hilarious situational comedy (fingers crossed).
The romance with Hyeri is the big question mark, so we’ll have to tune in to find out whether they have any chemistry together. I did love this PD’s last drama, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-ju, so that’s a plus. Mostly though, I just want it to be a body-possession drama that makes sense and doesn’t make gaping logic errors in its setup and resolution. Why is this hard, drama gods?
Doubtful Victory
Time slot: Monday & Tuesday
Broadcaster: SBS
Genre: Suspense, comedy
Episode count: 40 (half-hour episodes, 20 hours in total)
Reasons to watch: This mistaken-identity cop drama isn’t a fantasy, but it will require just as much suspension of disbelief, because Yoon Kyun-sang plays a convicted murderer on death row who chances upon a ready-made identity for him to steal—a violent crimes detective. Of course, he’s not actually a murderer, but was wrongfully charged at the young age of fifteen and had his entire youth stolen from him because of a lazy and corrupt justice system. He naturally grew up hating the law, but will now have to do the work of a detective if he wants to survive.
That sounds like a good story from the get-go, not to mention that this drama comes from a very solid team—PD Shin Kyung-soo of Six Flying Dragons and Tree With Deep Roots and writer Lee Hyun-joo of Pride and Prejudice and School 2013. I guess if I’m already rooting for the hero to fool his detective colleagues and clear his name while fighting crime, they’ve managed to catch my interest.