Undercover 언더커버 [2021]

[40somethingahjumma]

No subs? What a shame. Looks interesting. People close to my age. Ji Jin-hee seems to be the perfect man. 

Looks like the leads have a special needs child.

[SnowBlob]

Yay! Finally the first 2 eps are subbed  @abs-oluteM @40somethingahjumma

Only watched the first ep but I think it's off to a good start. I think this will be quite a ride.. I can already see the angst and distrust coming.. I just hope it won't be like FoE (although I must say after watching ep 1, I somehow get a similar vibe). 

 

On ep 1..the winners would be the ahjussis in this drama  First is the handsome JJH with a very lean muscular body. Next is Heo Jung Ho ahjussi with a bicep bigger than my two arms combined together. After that is Jeong Man Sik ... the shot of him when he lifted up that rude young man and gave him a fright ...  (honestly I felt happy that rude young men got beaten by an 'old' man HAH). 

 

So far I like how Yoo Seon Ho portrays Han Seung Soo who I'm guessing is somewhere in the spectrum (ASD maybe). 

 

Ep 1's pace is pretty good. Very soon I already got some ideas about several characters' background and can somehow guess where this drama is heading to. So I'm gonna stay tuned for now~ 

[abs-oluteM]

@SnowBlob I’m so excited to hear that . Ok will definitely check out the episodes soon 

[SnowBlob]

Ep 2 was another good episode for me :) 

 

These first 2 eps managed to get me teary. First ep was the scene where on hwang jung ho got the news that his something got delayed again. Second ep was of course the scenes between Han Jung Hyun and his father (especially those flashbacks!). 

 

I love all the family interactions.. Really loving and warm. I'm gonna savour those moments as much as possible coz soon I bet those moments will be rare until perhaps towards the end of the drama? Andweeeeee 

 

 

[40somethingahjumma]

I was wondering why the female lead looked so familiar and after a bit of digging, I found out that she was the lawyer in Watcher. Of course. In that drama she was a cynical dubious mercenary lawyer and here she's done 180. Yeon-soo is a crusading human rights lawyer. Kim Hyun-joo is a really fine actress and her chemistry with Ji Jin Hee is good although so far they're spending more time with other people than with each other. :D

 

The show is off to a really good start. I've never seen the British version so this is the first experience I have of this franchise. I really liked the set-up and the family dynamics is lovely to watch. Han Jung-hyun seems to be the perfect husband and dad in this family of four that includes a daughter and a special needs son that he's been training to run the bicycle shop. His perfectionism in law enforcement obviously translated into raising a family. JJH looks trim and terrific. This kind of role suits him well. The good caring family man who is more than he seems. It's not entirely Designated Survivor but his character here carries echoes of the president in that. His younger version bears a strong resemblance to him and his action sequences are quite impressive. 

 

The juxtaposition of present day doings with flashbacks reminded me of When My Love Blooms especially because Yeon-soo was involved in student demonstrations when the couple met for the first time. 

 

I'm not sure I like the idea that you can never retire from the services. That's ridiculous surely. Does a person have to be tethered to the system forever?

 

 

[abs-oluteM]

@SnowBlob I caught both episodes. Liked it a lot. And I agree with you @40somethingahjumma - I get When My Love Bloom vibes because of the story telling and the use of a strong leads for the younger version of the OTP. @ktcjdrama I don't know if you will have enough time for this , but so far this has been interesting and may be your cup of tea.

 

I love the pairings for both the younger and older versions, and that is very important for smooth flow in story telling.  This, I think, is the 3rd time that Ji Jin Hee and Kim Hyun Joo are working together, so I was quite certain the pairing would work. Yeo Woo Jin and Han Sun Hwa ( who play the younger version and who have also worked together before ) match well too and I enjoy seeing flashbacks to how they met. 

 

I felt quite emotional by the scenes of Jung Hyun and his father. Clearly when Jung Hyun fell for Yeon Soo, it wasn't only his job in the NIS that he had to give up, but he also had to stop being his father's son. That was really heartbreaking. He had already assumed this new identity , and I supposed he may have lost YS if he told her what he really did.

 

But I don't understand why the NIS is portrayed as a thug organisation here? Jung Hyun closed the case he was working on before his resignation. Was it because he was one of their top agents that they felt betrayed? The NIS is a government agency after all - a civil servant quitting should not be a problem. But anyhow, it does feel like a lot of shady things are going on in the NIS, and I am curios why they would be so against Yeon Soo becoming the Director of the CIO. She has obviously kept that idealism and passion as human rights defender over the years , and would be the perfect person for the job. Is it because it will expose Jung Hyun?

 

Anyway, I am so happy we get subs somehow. Look forward to this weekend's episodes. I have a feeling my heart will break quite a bit as the story progresses.

 

 

[abs-oluteM]

 

New stills from : https://news.jtbc.joins.com/article/article.aspx?news_id=NB12002302

 

BTS

 

[ktcjdrama]

4 hours ago, abs-oluteM said:

 @ktcjdrama I don't know if you will have enough time for this , but so far this has been interesting and may be your cup of tea.

O, this is definitely on my watch list. I love all leads, except the younger female, not familiar with her. Time passes so fast and didn’t realize it already started. Yes, yes, will definitely make time for this 🥳
Thanks for the tag! 

Edited April 29, 2021 by ktcjdrama

[ktcjdrama]

Ep.1 was great! Agreeing with the others that there’s similar vibe as When My Love Blooms, with this one having more tension. Yes, strong leads for the younger counterparts makes a whole lot of difference, and they did a great job casting YWJ and HSH. 
 

Love the action scenes in flashbacks. Wonder if we’ll get to see as much in the present time, or there will be more politicking instead? 
 

[mademoiselle]

BTS

 

[abs-oluteM]

I am actually most excited for eps 3...just saw some cuts. I am glad we get to see quite a bit of flashbacks to how they fell in love. I think then we can understand , why he gave up everything for her and also why he can't come clean with her about what he did in the 1st place. 

Spoiler

 

When I see these scenes, it feels believable that they could be the younger version of  JJH and KHJ's characters

You can see similar vibes to the older pair here

 

[oppasaranghaeyo]

On 4/25/2021 at 2:53 AM, abs-oluteM said:

 I can't find subs...

 

On 4/25/2021 at 6:29 AM, SnowBlob said:

how is it you can find a subbed ep 1?

 

It seems no other streaming service, other than K-plus, has picked up this series. Perhaps TVing wanted it exclusively for now. I watched it raw, and then I watched it with Chinese subs for parts that I am unsure of. 

 

 

On 4/28/2021 at 5:38 AM, SnowBlob said:

Yay! Finally the first 2 eps are subbed

YAY! Glad there are English subs now. Glad that you all, and more folks, can watch it. It's really good!

[LaLa]

Finally I got the time to finish 2 first episodes, with sub. I watched the sub from the dark side and they credited the subs taken from kplus channel, so I guess in the future we will have a delay for the subs until it airs in kplus channel then? It's alright, I'm just thankful that we got a sub. 

 

We got an interesting opening in ep 1, where Yeon Soo points a gun to Jung Hyun and asking about his identity. We knew it won't happened until the later in the story, but I guess it's a way to make us anticipate about the rest of drama. And I can't say it didn't help because the drama pace is quite fast. We go back and forth from the past to present to tell us about the story how the couple met and about the future problems our couple have to solve because of things that happened in the past. 

 

It's my first time watching Kim Hyun Joo and Ji Jin Hee as couple and their chemistry is really great. Maybe because this drama is their 3rd time pairing as a couple. The younger counterparts, Yeon Woo Jin and Han Sun Hwa, well they do look together too even though sometimes I feel awkward while watching Sun Hwa as young Yeon Soo. Woo Jin did great playing the younger version of Seok Gyu. I can see the resemblance between them in several scenes.

 

Heartbreaking moment when Seok Gyu found out that his father has passed away in his sleep. He couldn't mourn properly in front of his family because he hid his real identity from them. When we got a flashback scenes where they met accidentally, you can see that his father missed him so much from his eyes and the same goes with Seok Gyu. Unfortunately because he decided to live with his alias name, he couldn't even introduce his children and wife to his father. I don't know if I'm imagining it but I thought the lake where Seok Gyu sat while remembering his late father and the lake where Yeon Soo was thinking about her past memories with her colleagues looks similar. 

 

NIS and people with high power and authority in this drama seem to do many dirty tricks to achieve what they want. From framing to murder, they have it all. I guess they will be the evil that need to be defeated by Yeon Soo and her soon to be force team. I really hope Jung Hyun's identity will be revealed as soon as possible, so that we can get through the angst between the couple and soon they will team up to take care of the evil people.

 

Some things that I noticed didn't get sub is when Oh Pil Jae (Seok Gyu former boss) gave his business card to him. He is the owner of Sunshine Rental Car, the place where Cha Min Ho (the current case that Yeon Soo is working on) rent his car. I wonder if he play a role in the murder of Cha Min Ho, or he is just an innocent owner who don't know anything. 

 

Upcoming episodes, Yeon Soo's nomination as CIO director got released to public and I guess unfortunately Seung Goo will have a hard time because of time, due to his condition. When we had a short flashback, it looks like he's a normal child from the way he talk 

[abs-oluteM]

Yay you are watching this @LaLa . 

 

12 minutes ago, LaLa said:

Upcoming episodes, Yeon Soo's nomination as CIO director got released to public and I guess unfortunately Seung Goo will have a hard time because of time, due to his condition. When we had a short flashback, it looks like he's a normal child from the way he talk 

Oh really ? ...I was under the impression he was on the spectrum for autism. 
I had to also used the dark side subs  but at least we have some available.

 

Hmm who is this woman?

 

 

 

 

[LaLa]

@abs-oluteM yes from his character description on the chart I rough translated before, Seung Goo did have the autism disorder but it looks like it developed late? His action on the flashback scenes with Seok Gyu's father look normal.

 

Based on the character charts, the woman is the former agent  of NSA, just like Seok Gyu did before. I wonder if they have worked together or not. 

 

This is a spoiler for upcoming episodes, but has shown in the highlight preview.

Spoiler

Yeon Soo starts to suspect that Jung Hyun started to change and having an affair with that woman when she witnessed them talking close together in the middle of night. If I remember correctly the woman even hug Jung Hyun. 

 

[mademoiselle]

Hey, they did a photoshoot together too

 

more: https://www.instagram.com/p/COVDUc0DZhu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[SnowBlob]

Yay @LaLa welcome! So far..do you think this drama is too heavy for you? Hope not~ 

 

I haven't watched ep 3 yet .. I saw it available but of course unsubbed. Sigh... 

 

I for one think that the younger counterpart for Kim Hyun Joo looks so much like her but not really JJH's one. 

 

I guess with them using different actors to portray their younger days help me a lot in understanding the flow between past and present. I guess I usually have troubles with dramas showing past and present simultaneously because they use the same actors and only played with different 'colours' to portray the past and present. 

 

As much as I like the flashbacks, I still hope that they won't take too much time as I want to see JJH and KHJ more 

[LaLa]

11 hours ago, SnowBlob said:

Yay @LaLa welcome! So far..do you think this drama is too heavy for you? Hope not~ 

 

Well the politic fight isn't my favorite, but the highlight preview that I've watched looks interesting and I knew both leads so I'll try to watch. The supporting casts are all established actors and actress so it gives a similar feeling with Chief of Staff (which I dropped in the middle because it's too heavy for me) but it mixed with the family love so I hope it won't be that heavy? :D Although I have to prepare instead of heavy politic fights, in the future we will get some angst between the couple once the identity of Jung Hyun / Seok Gyu is known to his family. 

 

I've watched ep 3, and wah.. I've predicted a little that NIS would play dirty with Yeon Soo's family past and it's true. Seung Goo attacked a jerk of man while trying to protect a woman from being assaulted but with too much force. I guess due to his disorder he was frowned upon by the culprit and then evil NIS used it and with the help of media, they tried to make Yeon Soo's reputation down. I really hope the evil media and netizen wouldn't try to touch Seung Goo. It's already bad enough that people looked down on him because of his condition. 

 

Jung Hyun seems to support Yeon Soo for being the director of CIO. He remembered about her past when they met for the first time that she's passionate about what she believes in and would reach for justice. That side of her made him didn't want to stop her for reaching her dream and ignore Yeong Geol warning to stop Yeon Soo. And then he found out that somehow Yeon Soo is investigating about Cha Min Ho's case which is related with NIS. He even picked up the file that Min Ho has copied in the previous episodes and found out his old identity card. Worse is that that newbie officer saw him taking the documents and point out that he's the culprit 

 

Ep 4 we will see more action from Jung Hyun when he confronts his former colleagues while trying to dig more information about Cha Min Ho and why his identity card is included in that particular documents. I wonder why NIS really want to catch Kim Tae Yeol (Yeon Soo's friend) the head of student council at that time. He even has his own supporter who was willing to cover his trail so that he won't be followed or attacked by someone. Why did he look so important? hmm 

 

12 hours ago, SnowBlob said:

As much as I like the flashbacks, I still hope that they won't take too much time as I want to see JJH and KHJ more 

 

After watching 3 episodes, it looks like the flashback mostly happened in the beginning and couple of scenes if it's necessary in the middle of drama. Other than that we are is the present. But still less time for our couple. 

[SnowBlob]

Ok.. finished ep 3 but haven't gotten around to watch ep 4 yet. 

 

On 5/3/2021 at 2:27 AM, LaLa said:

Jung Hyun seems to support Yeon Soo for being the director of CIO. He remembered about her past when they met for the first time that she's passionate about what she believes in and would reach for justice. That side of her made him didn't want to stop her for reaching her dream and ignore Yeong Geol warning to stop Yeon Soo.

I'm so glad that this show decided to (at least for now) go against what other dramas would normally do. I was already so scared that JH would choose to stop YS from becoming CIO's director (and if this were the case, I could already picture the 'drama' that would come from that decision). So happy that JH decided to support her and in his own way he is trying to protect his family regardless. Hopefully he won't change his mind further down the track unless YS is the one who decides to back down.  

 

I'm actually glad that there are some good people around YS (or will be).. apart from her family, the policeman who is still digging into Cha Min Ho seems to be an upright cop. The other one is the investigation bureau's guy, Chu Dong Woo. I read on Asianwiki that this guy is part of the CIO. So I'm guessing YS would be his boss if she's chosen. I want to believe that YS' old friend, Kang Choong Mo is a good guy too and so his boss Secretary General Kim Myung Jae. And of course reporter Min Sang A is YS' close friend. So YS will have some support from good people across different roles/jobs and I like that. It evens out the playing field because the bad guys are indeed many and powerful too! 

 

I just found out that Kim Tae Yool's actor is the one playing the role of Kang Yeo Joo's assistant in Cheat on me if you can @ktcjdrama (since you watched that drama too). I didn't realise at first and I just thought wow..that guy really looks like Kang Dong Won. Now that I know that he's in COMIYC ... It's like deja vu... coz if I'm not mistaken, I said the exact same thing when I watched that drama ... that he looks like KDW 

 

I'm guessing Cha Min Ho's wife isn't aware of his husband's job. Could it be that he's also working undercover? If yes, then in a way she is just like Yeon Soo as YS is also unaware of JH's true identity. 

 

Gotta wait until tomorrow before I can watch ep 4 

 

[abs-oluteM]

I have watched both eps 3 & 4 and love how the story is unfolding. It's going to be a painful journey ahead for Jung Hyun and Yeon Soo once his identity is discovered but it does make a for a good drama. 

 

Anyway , because I love Yeon Woo Jin who plays the younger Jung Hyun, I enjoy seeing the flashback scenes. It was clear in eps 3 that one of the main reasons Jung Hyun fell for  Yeon Soo and she in turn was attracted to him was because they both share similar ideals and values. Both have a desire to help and to serve , and both care for others beyond themselves. That's why she chose to be a lawyer who fights for what is right and he chose to be a cop and subsequently drafted into the NIS. Many agents do start off with the same ideals of wanting to serve the nation, and it was clear that JH was good at what he did in all the operations he has been part of. I am just wondering though why JH after he resigned did not come clean with YS. Was he afraid he would lose her once she knew he had been lying about his identity?

 

For the last few episodes it has boggled me why the NIS chief and the Company ( the nickname they give the NIS) is so against Yeon Soo's appointment. What I am guessing is that they have been using the actual identities of these past agents ( dead or resigned) to launder money. Bank accounts are opened under these agents and Cha Min Ho ( the guy who died) was also an agent who worked with JH in one of the operations. The woman who was fighting with JH in the alley at the eps 4 is also another agent. Anyway CMH must have found out what happened that's why he had all the bank details etc printed out and sent to Yeon Soo. I think they will try to get rid of all these agents who was part of the Widow operations then.

 

I can definitely see why the Blue House is very keen on having YS head the CIO. Clearly there's a lot of corruption and illegal things going on even within agencies like the NIS  -  YS has always remained true to her principles and is not one to easily cave in. She is the right person for the job. What I really  hated though was how low they  went to get  rid of her nomination- it was awful how they used the son. I must commend the actor Yoon Seon Ho who is doing such a fine job playing someone with autism.

 

 

The ride ahead will be rough for this couple & their family ,but I am very keen to see what will happen next

 

Preview 

 

[SnowBlob]

10 hours ago, abs-oluteM said:

I am just wondering though why JH after he resigned did not come clean with YS. Was he afraid he would lose her once she knew he had been lying about his identity?

Isn't it because he might have something to do with Kim Tae Yool's death? I'm just guessing though ... 

 

Glad that the issue with their son was resolved by the end of ep 4. I would have disliked it if the drama continued to drag it further. 

 

I really can't wait for YS to be appointed as CIO and to team up with the upright cop + Chu Dong Woo. They'll make a great team  Too bad that JH's identity is still hidden, otherwise, he'll make a good investigator or something in that team (and plus he could beat up the bad guys easily ). 

 

So the ex-NIS lady, Go Yoon Joo, is no longer an NIS agent due to her using heroine right? And wasn't the 'mark' on her wrist in 1991, an injection site mark? So it could be that due to her undercover role, she got addicted to the heroine? 

 

4 episodes in and I'm still liking this drama 

[abs-oluteM]

20 minutes ago, SnowBlob said:

Isn't it because he might have something to do with Kim Tae Yool's death? I'm just guessing though ... 

Oh you think he had something to do with Tae Yool's death? Oh my that will complicate things further as Tae Yool is someone she looked up to a lot and her inspiration to continue the good fight. Who knows maybe Tae Yool may have some skeletons to hide.

 

I saw the mark on the female agent but didn't realise it could be because of heroine addiction . However I will not be surprised as I have seen a number of dramas involving agents going undercover for drug rings and very often they end up being druggies themselves in order to keep up the facade. 

 

Well since JJH is always posting the same type of photos of him at the gym, at least we know his gym hours paid dividends. He looks fabulously fit and the fight scenes were legit good

BTS

 

[SnowBlob]

4 hours ago, abs-oluteM said:

Oh you think he had something to do with Tae Yool's death? Oh my that will complicate things further as Tae Yool is someone she looked up to a lot and her inspiration to continue the good fight. Who knows maybe Tae Yool may have some skeletons to hide.

 

That's what I think at this stage... just because it was JH who was assigned to catch Tae Yool. Maybe he didn't cause his death directly ... but could still play a part in it  Let's see how it unfolds~ Ohhh... I also have a gut feeling that Tae Yool might not be the 'good' guy Yeon Soo thought him to be. 

 

LOL! I wonder whether JJH started gym-ing for his role in Undercover? I gotta spy on his instagram post and see whether he posted gym shots prior to last year or something. I agree @abs-oluteM, so far I'm liking the fight scenes ... they're better than

Spoiler

L.U.C.A!

 

[oppasaranghaeyo]

On 5/4/2021 at 7:33 AM, SnowBlob said:

I'm actually glad that there are some good people around YS (or will be).. apart from her family, the policeman who is still digging into Cha Min Ho seems to be an upright cop. The other one is the investigation bureau's guy, Chu Dong Woo. I read on Asianwiki that this guy is part of the CIO. So I'm guessing YS would be his boss if she's chosen. I want to believe that YS' old friend, Kang Choong Mo is a good guy too and so his boss Secretary General Kim Myung Jae. And of course reporter Min Sang A is YS' close friend. So YS will have some support from good people across different roles/jobs and I like that. It evens out the playing field because the bad guys are indeed many and powerful too! 

Me too. I'm glad. Unfortunately, the field is never evened out, so to speak. The big difference between the good and the bad - the ruthlessness, evilness within the hearts of the baddies. They would never "play by the rules" and would go as foul as "murder to eliminate the good" and so I do fear for CYS and HJH, and those good folks around them.

 

On 5/4/2021 at 12:41 PM, abs-oluteM said:

I must commend the actor Yoon Seon Ho who is doing such a fine job playing someone with autism.

Indeed! Fine acting! I don't think I've seen him before. But I hope he will appear in more projects after this.

 

On 5/4/2021 at 12:41 PM, abs-oluteM said:

It was clear in eps 3 that one of the main reasons Jung Hyun fell for  Yeon Soo and she in turn was attracted to him was because they both share similar ideals and values. Both have a desire to help and to serve , and both care for others beyond themselves.

Exactly! I have my doubts though. I would say with full confidence that this is the case for CYS. However, with HJH, it is still unclear what he did back then, apart from being involved in that drug bust operation, that he needed to emerge with a new ID.

 

What's more complicated, to me at least lol, is why did he use his new ID to infiltrate the students' protest to tail KTY, and in so doing, to get to know CYS and KCM? I thought his involvement (not sure to what extent atm) in KTY's death was the reason for his new ID?  

 

On 5/4/2021 at 11:22 PM, SnowBlob said:

So the ex-NIS lady, Go Yoon Joo, is no longer an NIS agent due to her using heroine right? And wasn't the 'mark' on her wrist in 1991, an injection site mark? So it could be that due to her undercover role, she got addicted to the heroine? 

Right. GYJ was fired once she became addicted to drugs. The sad part was that her addiction was due to the nature of her "undercover" job. I thought it was ludicrous for her to be fired for that reason, let alone putting her in danger of health and harm.

Spoiler

GYJ was apparently an ex-lover of HJH, if plot stays true to its BBC original. I am curious to find out if that was before or after HJH fell for CYS.

 

I like this K-remake a lot. I tried to watch the BBC original but one episode in and... nah. This is so much better. 

 

CR: All Ep 3 images - JTBC.

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by oppasaranghaeyo
insert images

[abs-oluteM]

@oppasaranghaeyo I too have not seen the BBC version. Am very happy with this one so far.

 

There’s a pre-released cut .

He calls her & she tells him that she’s on the way to Chungmurro station to check the CCTV where the locker is.  He panicked & made his way there. But think it will be too late as she & the young cop are already watching the recording.