I’ve been looking forward to seeing Ji-soo take on this antihero sort of role ever since his casting news came out, so I’m ecstatic to finally see him in character for the OCN spinoff Bad Guys: City of Evil. To be honest, it took me a few seconds to realize that it was actually him in the teaser, so props to both the directing and his acting for transforming so drastically, especially after his last drama role in Strong Woman Do Bong-soon. A character teaser has also been released for Joo Jin-mo (Woman With a Suitcase), who is chillingly convincing as a “reformed” ex-con, though the body count in this clip might indicate otherwise.
It’ll be interesting to see what motivates Joo Jin-mo to join the titular “bad guys,” since he isn’t incarcerated at the beginning of the drama. Instead, he’s hidden his shady past as a former mobster, and runs a small restaurant in a local market. Though, if his character is any indication, his past might catch up to him: Intercut with snippets of him lopping off a fish’s head are the downed, bloody bodies strewn about in his restaurant. Is it just me, or are those noises of him hacking at the fish super unsettling?
Park Joong-hoon (My Dear Desperado) remarks that “this area is a sewer he’s created,” scoffing at the idea of the former gangster trying to live quietly. He goes on to say, “The world won’t let him.” One of the beat-up henchmen gets up and tries to run out of the restaurant, prompting Joo Jin-mo to throw a knife, which embeds itself right in front of the terrified man. Ever since I first watched Joo Jin-mo in Fashion ’70s, I’ve always thought the actor had oodles of charisma, and I’m so excited to see him channel that into a less-than-clean role.
It’s harder to tell whether Ji-soo’s role will be quite as dark, but seeing as how he ended up in jail for a crime he didn’t even commit, I’m going to hazard a guess that there’s a lot of pent-up anger in his character. Labeled the “hyung support” who has been left with only thoughts of revenge, we see Ji-soo keeping in shape while incarcerated, doing a perfect, two-handed plank with his feet in the air. My abs are cramping in sympathy just watching him. Park Joong-hoon introduces him as someone who took responsibility for another’s crime, and got hundreds of millions of won in return. He ends the trailer by narrating that “those eyes won’t betray you.”
Though I was initially a little disappointed that the second Bad Guys would be a spinoff rather than a sequel, after seeing these promos, I have to admit that I’m quite excited to watch these new characters populate this particularly crime-rampant, noir world. Joining criminals Joo Jin-mo and Ji-soo are the morally gray law enforcement figures, played by Park Joong-hoon, Kim Mu-yeol (My Beautiful Bride), and Yang Ik-joon (Mystery Queen).
Bad Guys: City of Evil will premiere on OCN in December.
