This teaser is solid proof that if I like the actors enough, I could watch them just talk at each other all day. We have our first look at KBS’s upcoming crime drama Mad Dog, which promises a refreshing, fictional counter-attack on the frustrating realities of modern Korea. Yoo Ji-tae (The Good Wife), Ryu Hwa-young (Father Is Strange), and Woo Do-hwan (Rescue Me) star as members of the titular Mad Dog team, formed to bring criminals committing insurance fraud to justice.
Yoo Ji-tae will play Choi Kang-woo, who is the team leader of Mad Dog, so named for his own stubbornness and persistence when it comes to pursuing his targets. He’s an experienced investigator with regards to insurance fraud, and has a 99% arrest rate, probably due to his eye for detail, spot-on instincts, and deceptively nice smile that hides the ability to see through to people’s true motives. He’ll be joined by Woo Do-hwan’s Kim Min-joon character, whose character description is curiously missing the professor title and string of degrees that earlier reports mentioned. Instead, he’s described as an intelligent (ex-?) con artist, who can wear any facial expression and become any person if necessary.
This first teaser begins with investigator Choi Kang-woo, making his way to what looks like a pawn shop, where con artist Kim Min-joon sits behind a counter fortified with metal bars. Eschewing any pleasantries, Kang-woo gets straight to business, and rolls a toy car Min-joon’s way. The street-smart con lays out the facts of a case: “Four people, including the driver. Family all assumed dead. The driver is the sole survivor.” We see brief glimpses of a car crash, and a man cackling ominously in his car as he reads an insurance policy. The insurance payout is listed as 700 million won.
Kang-woo, this time with a toy airplane in hand, counters with a case of his own: “A suicidal pilot crashes his plane as it lands in Jeju. Majority of passengers and crew expected dead.” Min-joon looks up alarmed at the scale of the veteran detective’s case—the copy reads that the insurance payout is a whopping 3.4 billion won—and asks, “Are you sure you can handle this?” Kang-woo gives a small wink in lieu of an answer and walks out of the room, ending the teaser.
I’m not quite sure what I was expecting tonally from Mad Dog, but I thought this teaser was a tad dramatic, considering this is a drama about insurance fraud. Which also raises some questions about whether these cases the two characters were talking about were real incidents that criminals caused or are taking advantage of, or if these con artists are somehow faking accidents and then cashing in on the policies. ‘Cause that distinction would make a whole lot of difference in the scale of these scam artists’ depravity.
As an aside, I am so happy to see Woo Do-hwan sign on to a follow-up project even before his current show has ended. I am absolutely loving him in Rescue Me—so much so it hurts to know he’s not the main lead—and I’m glad I don’t have to wait too long to see him on my computer screen again. It’s all the more exciting to know he’ll be acting alongside Yoo Ji-tae, whom I trust to put in an amazing performance, whatever he’s in. Is it strange to feel like this show will have almost too much charisma for one screen?
Mad Dog will premiere on October 11 and take over Manhole’s Wednesday-Thursday slot.
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