Lee Jin-wook, Shin Sung-rok
I wasn’t too impressed with his cheating husband role in Man Who Dies to Live, which is why I’m doubly excited for Shin Sung-rok to return to the type of role where he shines most: psychopathic villain. He’s confirmed that he’ll be going to SBS next as one of the main leads of upcoming drama Return.
He’ll play a character called Oh Tae-seok, a CEO of an IT company. He comes from a wealthy family and would have been able to live comfortably off his trust fund, but he has a shrewd business acumen and developed a smartphone app that skyrocketed to popularity, earning him a lot of money. And so without any of his family’s help, he was awarded Businessman of the Year and has been a rising financial star ever since. However, in order to correct a mistake he made, he keeps on making the wrong choices which puts him on a path of no return. His character slowly transforms into a devil whose rage cannot be contained.
The main story though is about a late-blooming poor lawyer, played by Go Hyun-jung (Dear My Friends), and the wife of a high society murder scandal suspect. They end up working together in a partnership to defend her husband. The wife is also a lawyer by training, but she’s rusty because hasn’t practiced her craft in a long time. The case is headed by a gangster-like investigator, who in the middle of pursuing an illicit drug manufacturing operation becomes aware of a crime of passion committed by the heirs of high society. Some reports say that this role has been offered to Lee Jin-wook (Goodbye Mr. Black) and that he’s considering, but other reports say this is a baseless rumor. So, there’s just been a lot of speculation in the media and it’s unclear whether he’ll be cast.
In any case, the character seems quite interesting: With the highest arrest rate in the violent crimes division, his character has received the medal for Best Policeman for three years straight. But due to his fiery temper, he also has one of the highest rates of disciplinary action against him. He had crossed paths with Go Hyun-jung’s character five years ago due to a criminal he’d caught back then.
PD Joo Dong-min (Take Care of Us, Captain, The Family Is Coming!) is collaborating with Writer Choi Kyung-mi for this upcoming courtroom drama. The writer is a mystery, so I’m banking on this awesome cast with Shin Sung-rok and Go Hyun-jung to deliver.
Wednesday-Thursday SBS drama Return will air in January next year, following While You Were Sleeping and Nothing to Lose.