2014: You’re All Surrounded

The last drama in the series I am covering before the finale of Hwayugi. I am covering this one because of the fact that three of the actors all teamed up for a second time with Hwayugi. Even though this is not a Hong sisters drama, but it gives us an understanding of how compatible these actors already were when they came in You’re All Surrounded together in 2014.

The drama narrates the story of Eun Dae Gu (played by Lee Seung Gi), who is a rookie police detective at Gangnam Police Station. He joins the station with three other people: Uh Soo Seon (played by Go Ara), Park Tae Il (played by Ahn Jae Hyun) and Ji Gook (played by Park Jung Min). This is a team of complete oddballs with extremely quirky characters, with background stories that really formed the backbone of the entire show in a fascinating way. They work under Squad Chief Lee Eung Do (played by Sung Ji Ru) and Detective Seo Pan Seok (played by Cha Seung Won).

While they unravel the various criminal cases that are sent to them for investigation, an old case also begins to unfold involving the murder of a young boy’s mother eleven years ago. This case was one Seo Pan Seok had been involved in previously as he had begged the woman who was later murdered to testify in the court of law for witnessing the murder of a young girl. The woman is the mother of a boy called Ji Yong, who happens to be a witness to the murder of his mother and has evidence regarding the murderer in the form of a locket. However, when the child overhears the killer talking of Detective Pan Seok, Ji Yong is convinced that his mother’s murder was planned and the detective was involved and aware that this would happen. On the other hand, he is an acquaintance of Uh Soo Sun and therefore, the grown up Soo Sun knows about this child. Pan Seok also knows the child and remember’s his mother as the woman he failed to protect despite the fact that she was his main witness in a crucial case.

Eun Dae Gu clearly has a bone to pick with Pan Seok in the present time line, even though nobody is aware of what it truly is. By his attitude in the second half of the first episode it does become clear that he is grown up Ji Yong however it is hard to determine how he changed his name. He is a hot blooded and angry young boy in his 20s, who has a terrible temper and continuously talks down to the detective, acting rebellious and offensive at all times. He owns a burner phone that helps him keep track of all phone calls that Detective Seo receives. He has also got cameras secretly placed in Seo’s apartment and keeps tabs on his daily activities when away from the precinct. It is through this means that we see the murderer contact Seo and the old mystery of Ji Yong’s mother comes back to dominate most of the show.

Other than the theme of rookies in training, You’re All Surrounded dealt in great detail with the idea of corruption in the police force and the influence of politicians on how the force is run. Two Cops that aired more recently had a similar theme, however the way You’re All Surrounded presented us with a story was much more gruesome and emotionally charged. Despite all of the angst between Dae Gu and Pan Seok, we got some incredible acting from the both of them. Ahn Jae Hyun did not fail to impress us as Tae Il, and I enjoyed how his own story slowly became connected to that of the main strands in the plot. The story from childhood also neatly tied into the rest of the narrative and really affected me at a personal level. It was a great show to follow and constantly kept me on tenterhooks. It really showed the chemistry of Sung Ji Ru, Cha Seung Won and Lee Seung Gi, and hence all of this has just been reinforced in Hwayugi. Now, the much awaited finale of Hwayugi takes place day after tomorrow, and I cannot wait for the review. Hwayugi, here I come.