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KBS2 Drama "MAD DOG" Yoo Ji-Tae, Woo Do-Hwan & Ryu Hwa-Young. *Thanks for watching, Mad Dogs!!^^*


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Woo Do Hwan (@.wdohwan instagram update í•­ìƒ ê³ ë§ˆì›Œìš”íž˜ë‚´ìž

(Thank you all the time 1f60d.579a911aaf.png you can do it 1f4aa.72b2f9424d.png1f4aa.72b2f9424d.png)

 

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  • Mad Dog: Episode 1 - recapsMadDog01-00752-copy.jpg

 

Mad Dog offers a different approach to criminal cases with a team of insurance investigators who don’t hesitate to bend the law for their own purposes. They cross paths with a mild-mannered accident specialist who’s better at his job than they are, and introduces an element of mystery. Our hero has a tragic past that he can’t escape, but just maybe he’s found someone who can understand his pain.

 

EPISODE 1: “Rigged Game of Go Stopâ€

A young man eats lunch by a cafe window and witnesses a car accident on the street. A montage of injury-accidents accompanies a narration that explains that Korea’s population is heavily insured, but as the young man runs to catch a bus, we learn that he’s one of the uninsured minority. The young man boards his bus and looks out a window at a broadcast of a public memorial honoring dozens of victims, his mood suddenly serious.

The narration informs us that insurance fraud follows trends and the latest one is collusion (illegal collaboration). The camera zooms in on a man on a rooftop who uses binoculars to monitor a woman, JANG HA-RI (Ryu Hwa-young), who identifies herself as “Player Jang†as she limps into a hospital.

Inside, her colleague PARK SOON-JUNG (Jo Jae-yoon), aka “Cheetah,†is undercover as a computer technician, which allows the team’s hacker, “Pentium†OHN NOO-RI (Kim Hye-sung) to remotely help him copy files. The man on the roof is the team’s leader, “Mad Dog†CHOI KANG-WOO (Yoo Ji-tae), and he informs everyone that they have ten minutes.

 

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A doctor suggests surgery for Ha-ri’s sprained ankle, which would mean a two-month stay for a generous payout, but she worries that she’ll get out of shape and asks about a gym. When the doctor hesitates, she leans closer and her low cut dress gets her a personal tour of the hospital’s secret gym.

Ha-ri notices a man running on a treadmill and the doctor explains that he received a billion won for angina. Ha-ri’s purse is equipped with a hidden camera and she points it at the man on the treadmill.

Kang-woo informs his team that police officers have arrived at the hospital. An alarm sounds inside and Ha-ri’s hidden camera records the angina patient as he hurries back to his room.

 

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The doctor who was with Ha-ri greets MANAGER PARK MOO-SHIN of Taeyang Insurance with a threat to call the police. Manager Park has a detective serve the doctor with a search warrant in a fraud investigation and Ha-ri calls Kang-woo with the news. At the same time, Soon-jung finishes his mission to copy the digital files just before hospital officials arrive to destroy the hard drives.

Ha-ri escapes to the rooftop where she tears off her fake cast to pull on the leggings hidden underneath. She walks along narrow ledges expertly as Soon-jung drives up in her car below. Ha-ri falls from the roof and grabs a beam as if it’s a parallel bar and then slides down the structure as Kang-woo compliments her skill.

 

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Ha-ri and Soon-jung drive away but Manager Park chases after them and Kang-woo warns, “Puppy got our tail.†Ha-ri keeps her cool as she weaves through traffic while a nervous Soon-jung drops to the passenger floorboards. Manager Park vows, “Those lawbreaking punks. I’ll get you all today,†and his prediction almost comes true when they’re forced to stop at a light, but Ha-ri gets away, leaving Manager Park trapped.

Ha-ri and Soon-jung arrive at the team’s headquarters where Kang-woo and Noo-ri are waiting. When Soon-jung produces the memory stick with the necessary files, Kang-woo announces, “Let’s catch him.â€

The angina patient, Lee Han-dong, sits with his wife in a real estate office and is just about to purchase a property for 1.5 billion won when Kang-woo saunters in and exclaims, “Gosh, I finally get to meet you.†He presents a business card that identifies his company as Mad Dog.

 

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When Kang-woo presents evidence that Lee Han-Dong received over a billion won for angina, the man suddenly acts as if he can’t breathe. Kang-woo laughs and holds up his phone as it plays Ha-ri’s video of Lee Han-dong on the treadmill and explains, “Mad Dog is a cure for a man like you. You’re done now.â€

The Mad Dog team celebrates in a restaurant where a televised report announces the arrest of the doctors and patients that they exposed for insurance fraud. Ha-ri gets a text that their reward money was deposited into their bank accounts. Kang-woo happily toasts their success but looks away when a glance at his phone shows a photo of his wife and young son.

 

MadDog01-00208-copy.jpg MadDog01-00223-copy.jpg

 

Manager Park interrupts the celebration, angry that Mad Dog embarrassed his department. The team doesn’t take him seriously when he threatens to expose them for illegally copying hospital files and Kang-woo insists that they’re incapable of such sophisticated tactics, saying that Soon-jung still uses a flip phone and Noo-ri is allergic to sunlight and can’t work in the field.

Frustrated, Manager Park challenges Kang-woo, “Will you keep living all messed up? Aren’t you ashamed to your late wife and son?†Soon-jung drags Manager Park away while Ha-ri glances at Kang-woo in concern.

 

===Read more: http://www.dramabeans.com/2017/10/mad-dog-episode-1/

 

 

COMMENTS

Mad Dog does a good job of balancing strong character dynamics with the element of tragedy that overshadows the hero, Choi Kang-woo. His smile hides his broken heart and it’s clear that he’s driven by the desire for revenge for the deaths of his wife and young son. He’s assembled an interesting team—ex-con/nurse Soon-jung, computer whiz Noo-ri who can’t go outside without taking extreme measures to avoid the sun, and the sexy but detached Ha-ri, who is protective of her damaged boss. I can’t wait to learn how this motley crew came together.

That mix just got a whole lot more interesting with the introduction of Kim Min-joon, who is scary smart, shrewd, patient, and up to something. Even though he didn’t show up until halfway through the episode, he had a huge impact. I don’t think for a second that he crossed paths with Kang-woo by chance—he’s too interested in the Mad Dog agency for that to be a possibility. No, he’s like a spider who has spun an intricate web and Kang-woo and his team were too confident in their conclusions and abilities to notice that they were falling into a trap.

 

I just loved how Min-joon hid behind his mild mannered persona and played team Mad Dog like a master. By the time Kang-woo wised up during that demonstration on the roof, it was too late, he was in over his head. The smiles, nerdy finger exercise, and round glasses were the perfect camouflage against a team that doesn’t show any respect to their competitors. Now they find themselves in an uncomfortable predicament—work for Min-joon or get turned in for their illegal antics. After seeing how he handled his boss, they can appreciate what Min-joon is capable of, all by himself.




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But all is not lost, because it looks as if the plane crash that took the lives of Kang-woo’s family is of interest to Min-joon. With his suggestion that he and Kang-woo should bet their families, is it possible that he lost a family member in that crash as well? If that’s the case, it would make sense for Min-joon to seek out Kang-woo, who has experience with the science of accidents. With his background in insurance investigations, they can join forces to determine the truth about the crash and find justice for the victims. It looks like Min-joon doesn’t break the law like the Mad Dog team is willing to do and perhaps that’s why he’s interested in them. They certainly offer a unique skill set.

This week’s case had everything to do with Kang-woo’s inability to ignore a family’s pain and the power of a mother’s love. He may have been wrong about the cause of the accident, but he did for that family what he couldn’t do for his own wife and son by giving them hope for a future together. Even though Min-joon was responsible for sending them much needed money, it was Kang-woo who took notice of them and listened to their story. It’s this kind of sensitivity that gives weight to the story and the characters. Kang-woo is definitely a damaged person, but it’s what makes him notice what everyone else ignores.

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Edited by FranCella
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Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching??

 

 

So, what are we all watching this week?

What kept you reaching for more (or agonizing when there was no more), and what made you want to throw your remote through the screen? Time to weigh in…

 

girlfriday

  • Mad Dog: Yoo Ji-tae’s tragic backstory was so engrossing that I wondered why the show didn’t open on it, but in hindsight I get the appeal of opening on slick, capery hijinks instead, even though it then takes two full hours to get a complete picture of the story. When the team is on a mission, the show feels very much like Lookout or Police Unit 38 with the added advantage of Yoo Ji-tae’s gravitas, and I’m eager to see how Woo Do-hwan’s presence will affect the tight-knit team.

 

odilettante

  • Mad Dog: I would watch Yoo Ji-tae be tall’n’sexy no matter what, but I enjoy it even more when he gets to be a vigilante bringer of insurance justice in a black leather jacket. The plot so far seems fairly predictable and similar to other dramas that have gone before, but it’s still an enjoyable romp with a great cast. A drama that doesn’t require anything from me but to go along for the ride is sometimes just what I need.

cr

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"Mad Dog" RECAPS 

 

 

Episode 1

 

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Mad dogs never let go and our pack's leader makes that obsessive and fierce nature of his clear as he leads a team of misfits into fraud-fueled adventures. If white-collar crime does not seem appealing, worry not. The drama is clearly going for very big crimes involving physical harm and death for the victims, so bring on the anger, tears and hopefully solid catharsis.

 

The first episode of "Mad Dog" packs action, espionage, conflicts and a hefty bit of trauma and machismo. As usual with shows of the type, the episode feels very try-hard with its introduction. The action feels over the top, especially during the introductory sequence, the characters designated as the comic reliefs exchange the usual constant one-liners and the femme fatale's use of her body to get her job done is what defines her so far.

 

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This is nothing unexpected, but despite its at times cringe-worthy forcefulness, the characters are easy to like. I believe that the reason for this is the genuine devotion most of them exhibit for their work and the victims of crime that it involves. They do not seem like mere mercenaries and the company their leader runs is not exactly one you would find in local job listings, so I am curious about their recruitment.

 

My guess is that these people all have their own sad story which made a life of crime to fight crime seem appealing and we are already getting hints of that. Aside from the grieving husband and father that is the dog pack leader and the team's mysterious new benefactor or possible captor, our comic relief is surprisingly the most well-rounded so far. A fighting spy nurse with a criminal record is as big of a backstory tease as they get.

 

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The first episode of the drama is not terribly exciting , but the cast manages to keep it from being a potentially easy drop. The chemistry between very different acting styles and characters works well and having a lead with the gravitas of Yoo Ji-tae is a smart choice. Woo Do-hwan is the poster boy for this, however and so far he looks like an equally captivating choice, although I do hope the butting of egos will not persist.

 

We have several introduced mystery characters aside from the new self-recruited genius and an impressive cast compiling them. It feels like we know very little about everyone for now and while the first episode of "Mad Dog" could have done a better job at making me want to discover more, I hope that the series will pique that interest in time.

 

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Episode 2

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Nothing makes me feel more sadistic as a viewer than that sigh of relief upon seeing characters suffer. As cruel as the reaction would be in real life, fiction needs that raw humanity in order to be interesting and eventually cathartic for what is essentially a detached spectator. "Mad Dog" was off to a shaky start, but I really like what I see this time around.

 

Episode two packs the punch that episode one should have. Teasing with action and style before going into the meatier bits is not uncommon, but the tease needs to be engaging. Episode one sadly delivers too little to write home about in terms of emotional investment and I can see how many would simply drop the series at that point. Audiences have a lot of options and that is why introductions must stand out.

 

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Those who did stick around get a treat, however and this is what matters in the long run. The episode is well-paced, informative and emotionally engaging. We get much needed backstory, but I appreciate the fact that not everything is laid bare. For example, we know how our mad dogs were related at the time, but we do not yet know how they met. We know Chairman Cha Joon-gyoo (Jung Bo-suk) is a highly suspicious gangster-like figure, but not how our Choi Kang-woo (Yoo Ji-tae) became involved with him.

 

Most importantly, we have a much needed personal connection with what seems like the big picture and main plot of the series. An episodic format exploring different cases of deadly fraud would work just fine, but Korean drama does love its grand connections and "Mad Dog" is full of them. One could argue that it is full to the point of being cheesy and contrived, but most of these connections are sought out by the characters, rather than being cases of random chance.

 

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What I am most curious about aside from the character connections, however, is the future of those connections. Kim  Min-joon's (Woo Do-hwan) purpose for joining the team and revealing his identity is no mystery, but unless the series has been misleading in its portrayal of the crash, his brother was very much guilty. What will happen between our two heroes when the truth comes out is a thought which is admittedly very enticing.

 

"Mad Dog" is still not off the hook for not delivering its own hook earlier, but I am quite interested in the series now. It has the makings of a good story carried by potentially nuanced characters and if it can deliver on its promising set up without becoming too keen on its cheesier elements, we might have a fine revenge drama on our hands.

 

cr

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  • love changed the title to KBS2 Drama "MAD DOG" Yoo Ji-Tae, Woo Do-Hwan & Ryu Hwa-Young. *Thanks for watching, Mad Dogs!!^^*

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