The Devil: ep 6 caps and meta

[dangermousie]

Episode 6 of The Devil continued the trend of each episode being better than the last.



Also, while I understand Lawyer's motivation, I can't forgive him putting Hot Rumpled Cop through such hell (and I bet he just started) and drinking it all in. Hot Rumpled Cop is, by now, one of my favorite drama characters ever...so. I don't mind if Lawyer ends up buying it, but I don't want Cop to die too. Can't see it ending well for anyone though :(



He was sent pictures of himself in high school, so he finds out that the killings have to do with him. So, in a very direct way, his best friend died because of him, because the killer wanted to hurt him.



Lawyer enjoying the pale light. He is never really in the full bright warmth, is he?



And that is where I started to hate the Lawyer. He sent Librarian a tarot card. There is a good chance she'd freak out and think she was the next target! (She isn't, because this card has a different meaning etc) and he knows it. Luckily she is full of common sense. I fluctuate like mad between loathing for Lawyer and his head games and liking him again, when there is a scene which shows his hidden vulnerability and how messed-up he is.











I love this shot:



Flashback to Hot Cop when he was a kid who accidentally stabbed somebody. But his powerful father got him off. Clearly, Lawyer's revenge has something to do with this murder. I hate th say it, but come on, Lawyer! Live in the present, not the past, blah blah trauma, get over it.



Especially when your revenge made this innocent single Mom a murderer. She will be racked with guilt forever now, are you happy?



I don't know why, but I really like the adulterous!otp of Cop's older brother's wife and his secretary:







But someone is taking photos. This can't end well...



On the phone with his father (who is kinda awful):





I was almost crying during this scene too. Especially when he still had his (presumably dead) Mom's phone number programmed into his phone still.





She tells him about the tarot card:



Lawyer being human with his adopted brother:









Hot Rumpled Cop rushes over to the Library, to make sure Librarian is OK. I love how she very pure she and her work always look.





A funny misunderstanding scene follows.



Ilove this intercutting of shots:









She is so wonderful and he is so tormented. Especially when she mentions something about what the tarot card means:







She tries to comfort him:







He meets her Mom. Awww :) I want Cop/Librarian now.



He comes to his Best Friend's funeral:



Oh God, I hate you, Lawyer. He is all 'I thought I was going to miss you' but I bet not! I bet you wanted to be there to drink in his misery for yourself.



I love these shots of him. And somehow, I don't hate him anymore, with the sadness and alone-ness. Grrrr, drama stop making me rollercoaster! Don't stop.





Intercuts:







HATE AGAIN. DO NOT LOOK SO HAPPY TO BE WRECKING SOMEBODY'S LIFE.



I don't care if he accidentally stabbed someone when he was a kid. I don't care if that person was some sort of relative and your Mom was also somehow involved. That's really sad blah blah. But shouldn't you (a) find out if maybe your target isn't an awful person first and/or (b) go up to them and punish them directly, not slowly torment him? Seriously. I hope you have a FRELLING nervious breakdown when you do have that realization (because Lawyer's character is shown not as psycho or incapable of love or sympathy or compassion, but just a messed-up young guy out foor revenge a little too thoroughly). What will you do then? It's not like you could bring dead people back to life or unwreck other lives.







And then, suddenly, I don't hate him again, but feel only pity and a desire to make all the hurt go away. There is his Mom's wedding ring inside the box:







His eyes well-up with tears...oh man, JJH you are goooood!





On her day off they drive to the building she saw:





It happens to be his former school! And he starts falling apart...







Gosh, this scene was so painful to watch:

Comments

[timescout.livejournal.com]

Ah, the awesomeness that is EP6 - the ending nearly did me in too. And it gets even more messed up from now on. We learn more of the past but it does not make anything clear at all.

How I love the main cast - they are all so good.

*off to watch ep 9*

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

The acting in this, and the cinematography, are both phenomenal. I am just more and more in love with this each ep.

[lain7.livejournal.com]

The drama slows down a bit after this. I think the middle act could be trimmed a bit. Still, it never gets downright boring for me.

The death of his brother wasn't an accident, as far as the lawyer knows. Even the librarian can't tell from her vision whether the cop deliberately stabbed him. The rest of the world believes his brother was the bully and the cop killed him in self-defense.

go up to them and punish them directly, not slowly torment him?

Barring the inexcusable use of innocent people, I have to say the lawyer's revenge doesn't bother me that much, partly because he saved the cop for last.

The contrast between the cop's family/friends and the lawyer's fascinates me. The lawyer went from a wonderful birth family to a wonderful adopted family; everyone close to him is a good person, with one exception he created (/spoiler). The people the cop grew up with... are various degrees of scums, sorry. Most of them genuinely love and care about the cop, but all are ready to protect/further their interests over others' misery. And that's how the lawyer gets them.

Compare the cop's comrades to his friends, his superior to his father. He's worked hard to become a good person (though he still exhibits traits that used to get his younger bully self into trouble - I just love the writing), but his homies haven't. If the homies weren't so loyal to him, he might have left them behind. The very first ep. establishes that he prefers work to home. Again, tight writing.

The lawyer observed all his targets for a long time before beginning his revenge; he knew their dark secrets. He doesn't acknowledge the cop's shiny new goodness at first because the others' badness covered it like smog, I think. But once he starts to interact with the cop...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

The drama slows down a bit after this. I think the middle act could be trimmed a bit. Still, it never gets downright boring for me.

Seeing that so far it has been moving about eight times faster than a normal kdrama (and I am not even talking about draggy ones), I think a slowdown won't bother me.

Barring the inexcusable use of innocent people, I have to say the lawyer's revenge doesn't bother me that much, partly because he saved the cop for last.


I realize that Lawyer doesn't know Cop didn't stab his brother with vicious purpose or whatnot, and even if he did, I can see why someone wants to avenge the death of a loved one. I could understand if he limited his killings just to the death of the Cop. But the 'collateral damage' is unacceptable to me, and I am not even talking about the innocents he uses (that goes without saying). Was the dead old lawyer scum? Yes. Cop's best friend was nothing to write home about either. But I don't think being an arguably corrupt lawyer, or a guy running an illegal lender business who might have perjured himself earlier to save a friend, are either of them offenses that can or should be punishable by death.

Your point about Lawyer being surrounded by a wonderful circle of family/friends and cop surrounded by scum is excellent. I never thought about it. But of course, that makes me wonder...despite being surrounded by lowlifes, the Cop turned his life around and is a good person. Yet, one cannot possibly consider Lawyer a good person, despite the goodness in his background. It might be because Cop felt he had things in his past to atone for, while Lawyer felt more sinned against than sinning. I know it is impossible with the ending the drama has (yes, I spoiled myself) but I think it would have been interesting to see what Lawyer would have done with his life once he, too, realized he had something to atone for. How would he have gone about it? I also wonder what he planned to do with himself afterwards, after the revenge, if his conscience wouldn't have bothered him because the Cop turned out to be, in an alternate reality, scum. His life was driven by revenge for so long, could he ever return to normalcy?

And you are right, the writing is very tight: we establish right away the Cop would rather sleep in the office than at home. I can't say I care for his father or brother at all (of course, side note. I am sure his father got him out of trouble in large part because he didn't want his career and public profile tarnished, but to be fair, I think any parent, even if he was a good person, would do that for their child if their could, regardless of rights and wrongs of the situation).

But once he starts to interact with the cop...

I can't wait to see that! Because you are right. We, the viewers, are privy to a lot of things about the Cop, but so far Lawyer had very limited interactions with him.

[lain7.livejournal.com]

I don't think [...] are either of them offenses that can or should be punishable by death

Not by any reasonable legal or moral judgment, no. I don't think they deserve death either; I just don't care. Had the corrupt lawyer not destroyed another man's life, or had he shown remorse when that man showed up to demand apology, he would be alive and well. Do I care when a single mother accidentally kills a debt collector after he threatened her and then her little girl went missing? Well, yes... about the mother and the girl.

The Lawyer doesn't attack the secondary targets so much as setting them up to fall on their own swords. Later on we'll see why he hates them almost as much as the Cop. The ways they fall are all directly linked to their own awful conduct and attitudes.

I think any parent, even if he was a good person, would do that for their child if their could, regardless of rights and wrongs of the situation

More light will be shed on this in the last act. Parents teach by example. The Cop's father is lucky to have a son who doesn't take after him.

Yet, one cannot possibly consider Lawyer a good person, despite the goodness in his background.

I agree. The Lawyer is so the rotten apple of his circle. I think deep down he knows it, hence the "come to hell with me" message to the Cop. He avoids thinking about his future post-revenge, probably. "Do I lie to these wonderful people forever, or do I tell them the truth and break their hearts?" His actual end is poetic justice.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I care when a single mother accidentally kills a debt collector after he threatened her and then her little girl went missing?

But I do care. He was hardly a shining beacon of humanity, but I feel bad for his death anyway. And Lawyer does create a heck of collateral damage. It's acceptable for him to wreck/risk (or wreck further) the lives of former convict, single Mom, her child (if the woman is convicted, kid goes to the orphanage) etc. Not to mention the families left behind.

I would have no problem with him if he went to the Cop and stabbed him. What he is doing though...not so much.

More light will be shed on this in the last act.

I got the sense, from ep 8, his father never cared for him but didn't want trouble so got him out. But while I can't get behind the motivation, I don't have the problem with the act itself simply because even a good parent would have acted that way.

[timescout.livejournal.com]

I've been pondering upon this drama far to much lately. I kept thinking about the themes of goodness/badness, forgiveness/ revenge all mornging. My thoughts have been going very much on the same lines as yours. I can understand the Lawyer up to certain point but that's as far as it goes. One of his pawns calls the Cop a selfish person to his face but that's not true. It's the Lawyer who is throughly selfish, thinking only his own loss and hurt, never giving a thought to the fact that he's causing the same to countless others.

It's interesting how the two men are polar opposites and what's in view is not what that person really is. The Cop always comes off like a 'bad boy', a bit thuggish but he's really a good guy. What happened in his youth left a wound in his soul but the rest of it is still intact and all good. He really was able to turn his life around and committed it to helping others and doing what is right.

The Lawyer on the other hand is so pretty and shining but he's never done anything good without deeper, baser motives. Those he chooses to 'help' are all picked according to their usefullness to his grand plan. His soul is almost totally shrivelled and dead - hate does that to you. It slowly eats you up till there's nothing left. It's only now that he started interacting directly with all these people that he's beginning to see them as actual persons and not just some pieces on his chess board. Too late....

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It's the Lawyer who is throughly selfish, thinking only his own loss and hurt, never giving a thought to the fact that he's causing the same to countless others.


Exactly. He is making wrecks as he goes along: the people he tricks into murdering, the families of the murdered left behind, let alone the victims themselves. I mean, the Old Lawyer had a wife and kid, their lives are scarred forever. Or that poor single mother!

His soul is almost totally shrivelled and dead - hate does that to you.

The person he destroyed the most is himself. I love the scene in the beginning of ep 8, where the Cop confesses to the Librarian his past sins (the scene is almost shaped like a confessional even). One of the things that stuck with me the most from it is that one of the things tormenting him is that despite it all he wants revenge on the guy who killed his friend. That is the thing...he is tormented by that fact, he hates it. Lawyer is completely at peace with the notion of revenge and head games. I think a little sense of his own unworthiness and fallibility would have done him a world of good.

The Lawyer on the other hand is so pretty and shining but he's never done anything good without deeper, baser motives.

I just remembered the Lizzy line from Pride and Prejudice: "One has all the goodness and the other all the appearance of it." Now, that is obviously too simplistic, but in a way, the whole show is about how impressions are often wrong: Cop is a good person and not evil killer, Lawyer is hardly the charitable paragon he appears etc.

he's beginning to see them as actual persons and not just some pieces on his chess board. Too late....


Too late indeed.

[xiaobellsa.livejournal.com]

I have now bought the dorama- you make things irresistible with these pictures- bring on the angst!!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yay! This is really really good!

[wistfulmemory.livejournal.com]

I think you've actually convinced me to watch this drama. Now to figure out a way to fit it into my schedule...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yay! Am so glad!

[shinystory.livejournal.com]

I got up to here over the weekend (and would gladly watch more, if not for ending up a really bad friend). It's good. Really, really good.

Visually, I really like how stark it is. There are no frills about it, even in the characters' clothes.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yay, so glad you like it! It is beautifully shot.