Mouse, Review

Main Cast: Lee Seung Gi, Lee Hee Joon, Park Ju Hyun, Kwon Hwa Woon

Genre: Mystery, Crime, Thriller

Fashion: Black hoodies, black face masks , and a million black caps

Swoondar: 4.5/10

Where I watched it: Rakuten Viki

Where to start with a drama that manipulates your thoughts and feelings towards every character and storyline in a series? Mouse delivered one heck of a rollercoaster ride which had me a gripped and screaming from the start to finish, most likely, to even the sequel movie *whaat?! Another Seung-Gi-serotonin-dose? Yes please!*

My 3-month-long date with Lee Seung Gi has come to an end, but what a joy it has been every Wednesday and Thursday delving into this cryptic and cerebral story exploring psychopaths and serial killers!

General storyline:

*I type as I overcome a deep panic - what even is the general storyline, Mia?! Is there one? There are so many twists, turns and traumas how can I summarise it in just one paragraph? Hwaiting Mia, hwaiting!!*

Jung Ba Reum (Lee Seung Gi) is a rookie police-officer, who wants to dedicate his life to pursue justice and safety in his little town with his honest heart. Teaming up with the cool maverick detective Go Mu Chi (Lee Hee Joon), they take to the streets to investigate the series of monstrous murders in Mujin. As Ba Reum gets caught up in chasing the psychopathic culprit, Seong Yo Han, his seemingly honest life takes a dramatic turn affecting all the people around him and discovers a horrifying truth.

On the surface, Mouse toys with the question - are all psychopaths evil? It further muses massive 'what if' scenarios... What if psychopaths can feel emotions such as guilt and repent for their actions? What if psychopaths are nurtured from birth to be good, will they still end up exploring their psychopathic tendencies? What if a baby in the mother's womb can be tested for the psychopath gene? Leading to the question which ties all of the others together... What if the baby's been tested as a psychopath in the womb, would it be for the best to still have the child?

All the major plots and storylines in Mouse are tied to the dreadful duo, which helped the series to tie up some lose ends and give a clear conclusive picture to the viewers (which I was a little worried they would loose us to if they didn't cinch it in as nicely as they did). So, we have, the psychopath serial killer-come-genius neurosurgeon doctor and appa (dad) 'The Head Hunter' aka Han Soo Joon (aka Ahn Jae Wook), who sent us horrifying shocks and pillow-grabbing-worthy scenes in the pilot episode with intense gore, violence and non-stop action along with his sickening need to have a psycho baby to carry on his killing-legacy (who we suspect is Yo Han's father, therefore Yo Han must, too, have the psychopath gene). And genetics doctor and criminologist, Daniel Lee, played by Jo Jae Yoon. The duo used each other, especially in the past, to perform experiments and gain knowledge to further their exploitative exploration into all things psychopaths, stirring in our male lead Ba Reum and our lead suspect Yo Han to the mind bending pot of misunderstandings, tailings and ultimately... mass killings.

Lee Seung Gi is always a treat to watch, his diversity in acting is proving to be stronger than ever as each of his dramas are released! Since he joined the cast of Busted, and *spoiler alert!* turned out to be the variety show's serial killer working within the detective team aka the Flower Killer, I think that was his stepping stone to this new genre for him, and a genre we will happily welcome him into with open arms! Seung Gi's cheeky-chappy boy next door attitude and looks are perfect for these fantastically deceitful dramas, however annoyingly we get fooled thinking "he'll be a goodie, Seung Gi can't be bad - just look at that smile!" Even 10 psychopath dramas later starring Lee Seung, I'm sure omma and I will still get fooled and fall for him all over again! Kudos to the power of Lee Seung Gi's acting!

This is the first drama I've seen with Lee Hee Joon in and I never want to go back! His character, Go Mu Chi, who has a traumatic past with his parents both being killed by Head Hunter, is so well developed and emotionally portrayed; he is a joy to watch every episode. We undoubtedly relish in a maverick detective (who fights for the greater good, obvs!) which Mu Chi thankfully is, he goes that extra mile not playing by the books, whether it be a little teeny weeny illegal or not, to get to the truth and find justice.

Despite the constant pausing and catching up with what's happening (making an hour episode 2 hours... sorry-not-sorry!), Mouse is a really enjoyable, edge-of-your-seat and clever drama which I think outsmarted itself throughout the 20 part series. There are many storylines, side characters, cheekbones and flashbacks which can at times be hard to keep up with, but to stick with it will be one of the greatest kdrama-decisions you'll make if you love watching thrillers, psychopath explorations and crime mysteries. This drama will keep you gripped, with it's additional garnish of light humour and romance storylines running throughout as well.

Overall Rating: 9/10

M x

Ps...

I'm sure the casting director only called for high cheekboned actors to be allowed on set for Mouse! This, unfortunately, does make it a little confusing when squinting in the darkly filmed scenes to see who's who! Here's a game for you - take a shot every time a prominent-cheekbone character comes on screen throughout the series - good luck!!

Ps 2.0...

I rated the Swoondar a little 4.5, as Mouse is primarily a crime and mystery thriller with somewhat little room to swoon... but we do have Lee Seung Gi, Park Ju Hyun and Lee Hee Joon, and the subtle romance stories in this drama to easily bump the Swoondar ratings!

Please note, this review is all based from personal opinions, if you find statements which you disagree with, that is completely fine as well, all opinions and thoughts are regarded equally.