Adamas 아다마스 [2022]

[mademoiselle]

7 hours ago, Chocolate said:

Pssst

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I just started The Long Ballad 🤣🤣🤣 partly because it is on Netflix so easy access. But I should be watching The Good Detective 2 and Big Mouth instead....

Omg you 😂😂😂

I thought you said you don't have time! A sign telling me you like Wu Lei (approves of him)... @Tofu will approve & happy 😄

[abs-oluteM]

I feel like the whole forum has become like a love like the galaxy thread ! 🤣🤣

@Chocolate @mademoiselle 

 

I had intentions to pick this up , but I really don’t have the time .  I could only squeeze in one more new drama on top of the ones I had , so I guess Kim Min Jae won . 

[mademoiselle]

1 hour ago, abs-oluteM said:

I feel like the whole forum has become like a love like the galaxy thread ! 🤣🤣

@Chocolate @mademoiselle 

 

I had intentions to pick this up , but I really don’t have the time .  I could only squeeze in one more new drama on top of the ones I had , so I guess Kim Min Jae won . 

It's insane. I honestly tried to watch other things but really couldn't get into most of them! Adamas I have no motivation after falling asleep on E3...

[Chocolate]

6 hours ago, mademoiselle said:

Omg you 😂😂😂

I thought you said you don't have time! A sign telling me you like Wu Lei (approves of him)... @Tofu will approve & happy 😄

I don’t need to read subs so can do other things while “watching”. So it’s much easier to “find time”. 

Haha I don’t “like” Wu Lei but I don’t mind watching him just to see if his acting is better elsewhere. But the acting in The Long Ballad for a lot of the cast is BAD! 😂 Which is quite surprising because even mediocre Chinese actors are better than a lot of other productions.

 

5 hours ago, abs-oluteM said:

 I had intentions to pick this up , but I really don’t have the time .  I could only squeeze in one more new drama on top of the ones I had , so I guess Kim Min Jae won . 

Sadly, I think don’t need to rush into it. Nothing much has happened in 4 episodes. Will update here on the progress.

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by Chocolate

[mademoiselle]

3 hours ago, Chocolate said:

I don’t need to read subs so can do other things while “watching”. So it’s much easier to “find time”.

Huhhh? Are you watching English dubbed ones then? Wouldn't it be weird? I don't like the English subs for Chinese dialogues, especially historical. It just didn't do justice to the lines. Like Consort Yue told Lady Luo's servant off for stuttering, she actually said “吞吞吐吐的演給誰看？” but in English it only translated to something like "stop stuttering". It took away the comedic bit for me.

3 hours ago, Chocolate said:

Sadly, I think don’t need to rush into it. Nothing much has happened in 4 episodes. Will update here on the progress.

Really? TBH, I can't even remember what was going on. I just remember the journalist's parents died, she was sad. Then Writer brother faked being poisoned. The Boss made up with his power obsessive Housekeeper. Everything else for me became a blur. Did the assistant leave?

[Chocolate]

@mademoiselle

Spoiler

No no, I listen to the Chinese dialogue. I don't read the Eng subs. That's why I can do other things at the same time and don't have to stare at the screen.

 

Agree that it is always better to hear the original words. There are so many idioms and the way they say it, that a lot is lost in translation. I'm sure it happens to with the korean translations too.

 

Btw, I've dropped The Long Ballad after ep 5. Can't take it anymore 😂

 

[Chocolate]

I'm up to date with Adamas. But somehow it still feels like there is not much progress from day 1. We do find out more about stuff, but are they really important stuff? It's a strange feeling.

 

Anyway, one of my favourite writers is apparently watching. She wrote some great articles for The Devil Judge. Maybe she'll provide some insight or change my mind. But god no to the romance between Ji Sung the prosecutor and the reporter! 😨

 

 

Slick, Stylish, And Suspenseful: “Adamas” Is Mystery At Its Absolute Finest

Aug 14, 2022 by shalini

 

Ji Sung is back and better than ever! After an incredible turn in last year’s “The Devil Judge,” he’s back to challenging himself with dual roles this time as twins seeking to avenge their father’s death. But it wouldn’t be Ji Sung if there wasn’t a good old twist somewhere in there, and “Adamas” certainly delivers on that in the opening minutes. Slick, eerie, and just the right side of unsettling, the show examines the world of the wealthy through a dystopian lens to ask the age-old question: just how far will the uber-rich go to protect their interests?

 

And if that doesn’t hook you, here are five compelling reasons to dive in!

 

1. The cinematography

Spoiler

 

Straight off the bat, it bears mentioning that the cinematography in this show is nothing short of stunning. From wide-angle shots to tight close-ups following our characters, this drama is evidently helmed by a deft hand. The director, Park Seung Woo, is the same one behind cult-favorite “Kairos,” and he’s only gotten better since. From the prison cell montage to the juxtaposition of the twins getting ready and using that to show their personalities, this show is all about showing, not telling (in a manner, very reminiscent of “Stranger”). As Ha Woo Shin (Ji Sung) enters the house of South Korea’s wealthiest man, the camera’s subtle panning gives us a sense of wrongness, of secrecy. No dialogue is necessary, which adds to the sense of tension as Woo Shin attempts to navigate this new minefield.

 

kimgoeun

 

2. Ha Woo Shin

Spoiler

“Adamas” is a show that very much lives and dies on the strength of its characters because they drive the plot hard. Woo Shin hits the ground running almost immediately and is the focus of the first two episodes. A best-selling author, he is mysteriously recruited by the wealthy CEO of Haeseong Group, Chairman Kwon (Lee Kyung Young, who is playing every single villain these days), to ghostwrite his autobiography. Woo Shin’s motivations aren’t made entirely clear to us, but we know he has the inkling that Haeseong was involved in his father’s death 22 years ago. So, it’s easy to root for him as he accepts Haeseong’s uber-exclusive invitation to stay at Chairman Kwon’s home while he writes the book.

 

 

yohankang

 

Security Guard Kim knows what’s up

 

Only, the house feels more like a prison. Butler Kwon (Hwang Jung Min), who oversees all household matters, is a veritable dragon who takes an instant dislike to Woo Shin and to really anyone who doesn’t bow down to her immediately. She also takes pleasure in poisoning maids for no reason. The head of housekeeping slyly warns Woo Shin that the third floor of the house is off-limits to him. On his first night, Woo Shin finds a poisoned maid and calls for help, only to find a sea of cold faces that only take the maid to the hospital because Woo Shin has clearly seen her. The security cameras record people’s heat signatures to identify when an outsider gets too close. Woo Shin has no access to his own clothes, cellphone, or the outside world, save an old rotary phone in the main hall that everyone can monitor him using.

 

 

It’s a setup reminiscent of Bluebeard’s Room and every gothic story with the protagonist in a house that doesn’t seem quite right. And Ji Sung is playing it with aplomb. But the house isn’t the only one with secrets and Woo Shin didn’t go into this entirely blind. He came here for a very specific purpose and that purpose elevates this show to sheer brilliance.

 

3. The Adamas

Spoiler

One of the key mysteries behind the death of Woo Shin’s father is that the murder weapon was never found. But judging by Woo Shin’s dogged pursuit of the Adamas, he may have an inkling of what it is. The show reveals its cards early with respect to what the Adamas is: it’s a multimillion dollar diamond arrow, crafted by Haesong Group to serve as its emblem (and to disassociate the corporation from its Imperial Japanese roots). All people know is that the arrow is hidden somewhere in Chairman Kwon’s home in a spot only he knows.

 

 

And that is what Woo Shin is after: to steal the Adamas from the tightly-guarded home of a meticulous, potentially psychopathic CEO of a group that pretty much runs Korea. What a fantastic premise! It basically elevates Woo Shin’s half of the story to the heist of a potential murder weapon from a creepy mansion of a billionaire. And he isn’t the only one running the show.

 

4. Song Soo Hyun

Spoiler

parkhaesoo

 

Oh yes

Woo Shin’s diametrically opposed twin-half is a mouthy prosecutor who couldn’t care less about what his higher-ups have to say. Song Soo Hyun (Ji Sung) does his job well and has no time for political shenanigans. So when a dogged reporter from a mainstream media channel pursues him to argue that he should care about the upcoming election, he doesn’t want to hear it. The reporter, Kim Seo Hee (Lee Soo Kyung), warns him that the current assemblyman in the lead, Hwang Byung Chul (Kim Jong Goo), plans to reinstate the death penalty upon coming to power. And the first person to be executed will be Lee Chang Woo (Jo Sung Ha), the killer of Soo Hyun and Woo Shin’s father. Soo Hyun sees that as good riddance but pauses when Seo Hee tells him it would actually be a tragedy because Lee Chang Woo is innocent.

 

 

Soo Hyun refuses to hear it at first, but Seo Hee’s remarks start to make an eerie kind of sense, and when he start digging, Soo Hyun quickly finds that she’s right. The key witness in his father’s case was bribed. His father’s murderer is actually still on the loose. The issue? The people who covered it up are Haeseong Group, and Soo Hyun doesn’t know it. For a guy who likes to do his job without playing the long game, he’s going to have to start learning and fast. Because in this world, Haeseong sees all. And they have their eyes fixed on our intrepid twins. Even worse, Soo Hyun can’t communicate with Woo Shin, who’s cut off from the world at Chairman Kwon’s home. They’re on their own. But they aren’t. Not really, because “Adamas” is much more than Ji Sung’s one-man show.

 

5. Eun Hye Soo and Kim Seo Hee

Spoiler

 

Yes and yes to the amazing women we have here. Eun Hye Soo (Seo Ji Hye, reuniting with Ji Sung after over 10 years!) is Haeseong’s slightly strange daughter-in-law. Married to a man who seems content to leave her confined at Chairman Kwon’s home while he gallivants across Seoul, Hye Soo spends her time growing illegal opium and secretly aiding Woo Shin for some unknown reason of her own. She’s the one who tells him that the Adamas is the murder weapon that killed his father. She also falsifies his medical records, allowing him to enter the mansion without having to mention whatever implant he’s hiding in his hands. Hye Soo has an agenda and is as mysterious and calculating as Woo Shin (perfect foils for each other, really). But why go through all the trouble?

 

 

Seo Hee, on the other hand, is a perfect match for Soo Hyun’s temperament. Both take no nonsense, have no time for pleasantries or political games, and would really rather if people got to the point asap. They also don’t take no for an answer. When Seo Hee’s boss shoots down her expose on Assemblyman Hwang Byung Chul for political reasons, she doesn’t hesitate to take matters in her own hands and seek out Soo Hyun to work with him to tear the man down. But the question of motivation rises again, because why would an up-and-coming reporter go to such potentially career-destroying lengths for a man she doesn’t even know?

 

The women here have their own motivations and stand on their own as strong characters. Even the fierce Butler Kwon makes a splash. It isn’t clear if this drama is going to get romantic at any point, but Ji Sung is always so wonderful to watch when romancing (“Doctor John” and “The Devil Judge” are both great examples) that we’ll hopefully get some!

 

 

He’s literally just met her and he already looks fond.

 

“Adamas” packs quite a punch in just its premiere episodes with a lengthy list of characters and interlocking motivations. And with such a capable cast and crew at the helm, it’s safe to assume we’re in for the ride of our life. And with two Ji Sung’s to boot! Life is grand.

 

parkhaesoo

 

Source

 

Edited August 17, 2022 by Chocolate

[ktcjdrama]

I am up to date with this too, yay!! 
It’s not the best drama, but I am still intrigued so will definitely keep on watching. 

SJH is so classy, I think I’m having a girl crush 

[Chocolate]

4 hours ago, ktcjdrama said:

SJH is so classy, I think I’m having a girl crush

 

She is! I think her parts are one of the more interesting ones in the drama.

 

So it is true that she first loved the son who died, and was forced to marry the remaining son by her father, who owns a hospital. Her father, together with the man running for SK Presidency, are at the mercy of Chairman Kwon. (On the side, why all these rich daughters have no jobs of their own, or savings, to become independent so they don't have to marry when they don't wish to, amazes me.) So she is likely helping Ji Sung so that she can escape this household.

 

(Btw, I just noticed on Asianwiki that the Chief Housekeeper is also surnamed Kwon. Are they related???)

 

Her husband is seemingly in love with Chairman Kwon's deaf and mute secretary. Whom I must say is quite busty 😂 She is the actress who played Yoo Jin Woo's ex-wife in MOTA.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by Chocolate

[ktcjdrama]

1 hour ago, Chocolate said:

 

(Btw, I just noticed on Asianwiki that the Chief Housekeeper is also surnamed Kwon. Are they related???)

The housekeeper’s family has served the Kwon household for generations. It was believed in the past that the servants/slaves do not have proper names, so oftentimes the employer let them take up their surname. I read this somewhere. Or was it explained in the drama? Can’t remember hahahaaa
 

There’s also new revelation in ep.7 on why she is soooo loving towards Chairman Kwon. 
 

1 hour ago, Chocolate said:

Chairman Kwon's deaf and mute secretary. Whom I must say is quite busty 😂 She is the actress who played Yoo Jin Woo's ex-wife in MOTA.

She is. She also played the girlfriend of the main character in the musical drama Uncle. Not a popular drama, only 2 other persons watched with me here, LOL...

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by ktcjdrama

[ktcjdrama]

I can't seem to enjoy the drama anymore since the appearance of assassin Sun. Such an annoying character. I can stand the character of Ms.Kwon the butler, but I really cannot stand watching this Sun. Sorry but she doesn't come across as intimidating but instead very annoying to me.

 

Since we're told that she works alone, no one can ever convince me that with her petite skinny build, she can carry the big dead body of Gong (Soo Hyun's assistant) down the stairs of SH's house, transport it, and then heaved it up to the car's trunk. It will be more believable if she has a minion, like Song Yi Kyung in the drama Inspector Koo. In fact, the character Song Yi Kyung to me is scarier than this Sun.

 

I'm not sure, I might switch to just reading recaps about this drama from now on.... 

[Chocolate]

@ktcjdrama @mademoiselle @UnniSara 

Just thought I will do an update if you gals didn't finish this 😂 It was a hard slog... and when you think it is finishing (because Chairman Kwon died), there were another 2 episodes of... NOTHING!

 

Lee Chang Woo used to work for Management Support (the predecessor of A-Team) and thus Chairman Kwon. So his hands are dirty too. When his girlfriend was expecting, he wanted to end his employment with Kwon. Of course it won't be so easy. Kwon gave him a gun to kill himself instead. He really pulled the trigger on himself (instead of shooting Kwon but the gun had no bullets) thus proving his loyalty to Kwon. So Kwon offered him to be a deal where he had to go to prison for 15 years and after that he could have his life back. So he was caught as a "thief" and went to prison.

 

He didn't explain all this to his girlfriend. So she married Mr Song and had the twins. After release from prison, LCW visited his ex to see how they were doing. There were also 2 accidental encounters with Mr Song. Now, Mr Song is a nice man. He brought a photo of the twins to LCW's house, probably wanting to share with LCW, and that is where he was mistakenly killed by Mr Lee (boss of A-Team) who thought he was LCW.

 

Mr Song was a poor man. LCW wanted to help the family live better. So when Mr Lee asked him to work with him to steal the Adamas and split the proceeds, he agreed. Of course, Mr Lee was planning to steal it after that and kill LCW, and that is what he did. But LCW had also pre-empted this and made a fake Adamas. This was the one Mr Lee grabbed from the table to kill Mr Song, and the one Chairman Kwon has been keeping all these years without knowing it was a fake.

 

Adamas was made to be such a big deal. Actually it was just a sceptre with a sharp diamond head. It was meant to be a symbol/icon of Haesong which is why Chairman Kwon valued it so much. Soo Hyun and Woo Sin wanted it because they thought it could help to find the real killer of their step-father, Mr Song. But in reality, Mr Song was stabbed in the eye with the Adamas - can you really identify it as a killer weapon like a knife wound in a body - I'm not too sure about that. So the whole premise seems silly.

 

Anyway, guess where the real Adamas was kept - in the toy figurine that Soo Hyun thought his step-father gave him - actually LCW had left it at their house on the way back to his home and discovering Mr Song had been killed.

 

So LCW was caught for the murder of Mr Song and went in for his second prison stint.

 

... to be continued.

[ktcjdrama]

@Chocolate I actually ended up finishing it, haha... Read recaps first, then watched on high speed to see the whole execution, and watched at normal speed for certain scenes, only to see the performance of the actors. It’s unfortunate that with a strong ensemble of cast, the narrative is rather mediocre and yes, silly. 
 

[mademoiselle]

Hahaha I dropped it and it has been so long that I don't remember names so had to rely on AsianWiki.

 

Adamas is really not as enjoyable as The Devil Judge.