Le Frog

If you're expecting a high-paced thriller that leaps from one plot twist to another, "The Frog" might have you croaking in frustration. This miniseries is more of a slow, deliberate hop through murky waters, and you'll need the patience of a saint (or a snail) to fully appreciate it. The acting is solid, especially the lead with her psychotic charm, but boy, does this series take its sweet time.

The first half feels like you're in a fog, trying to connect timelines and wondering if the writers are as lost as you are. Characters chew loudly (yes, really) and the show drags in parts-enough to make you consider speed-watching, if only Netflix allowed it. But stick with it, and the pieces start to come together in a weirdly satisfying way.

It's not perfect, and it sure isn't for everyone, but if you like your mysteries with a side of confusion and a dash of "what-the-heck-was-that," then "The Frog" is worth a watch-just keep some snacks handy for those slow moments, because you'll need them.

This 8-episode series made my weekend fly by. I was gripping my seat trying to figure out what was going to happen next or yelling at the screen the whole time. The direction, writing and acting were all top notch. If you're looking for something to watch while multitasking, this is not it. You will need to pay attention if you want to understand what's going on. There are great performances by great actors in this show. They agreed to act in a production when they weren't even main characters. I believe that shows you what a quality mystery/thriller this is. I plan to watch again just to make sure I didn't miss any interesting tidbits.

Plot

A man's life unravels when a mysterious woman arrives at his motel one summer, forcing him to grasp tightly to what he cherishes most.

Cast

Everyone is great but Kim Yoon-seok and Go Min-si deliver standout performances.

Verdict

I'll be honest I'm at the stage now where I see a South Korean movie or tv show and I don't hesitate, they've been consistently knocking it out the park lately. Seeing The Frog released and seeing it be a limited series so no risk of a premature cancellation I leapt in excited but did it live up to my high Korean expectations? Not really, no.

You see The Frog tells quite the captivating tale and delivers fantastic performances but it's an extremely slow burn that suffers with one major glaring flaw. That the leading mans behavior is so illogical, so baffling, so unbelievable that it irreparably damages the whole thing. I spent each episode scratching my head, struggling to empathize with this gentleman as what he was doing was counter productive, he was bringing it all on himself stage after stage after stage and at no point did he do any of the things that could have brought his woes to an immediate halt.

Top that off with the analogies, the reason it's called The Frog is explained and touched upon lightly and it's positively awful. And don't even get me started with the line that the narrator opens with in every single episode, what was that all about? No I get it don't get me wrong, but it's such a wafer this metaphor it simply didn't work.

The Frog has its strengths and is worth a watch, but you must suspend a lot of disbelief and forgive it for some truly baffling writing decisions.

Rants

No spoilers here but really? Really!? How did he let it get to that stage. I can think off many ways to have cut that down straight out of the gate, I mean okay that wouldn't have allowed the show to happen but still! How weak do you need to be to allow people to behave like that with you? How far would you allow it to go? It baffles me. It's like bullying, I've never understood it on either side. I don't get the mentality of the bully and why they think their behavior is acceptable and I don't understand why the victim allows it. I just, don't get any of it.

The Good

Kim Yoon-seok and Go Min-si are excellent Some decent moments Slow burns well for the most part Great cinematography

The Bad

The writing is often deeply confusing Unbelievable in places The slow burn fumbles in places.

Sigh! These negative comments for a show that is far from being "garbage".

Unfortunately, in recent years especially, IMDB has become a cesspool of negativity and hate just like other sites.

Not only it seems some of the viewers didn't possibly give the show enough time but also if you have been more into Hollywood productions that mostly follow certain safe storylines then this can be too confusing, boring and slow. I am always amazed at the countless number of times I have seen comments about slowness of a show even from film critics as if that's a bad thing! Quite the opposite. Slow burn is usually what makes a show good because it takes its time to tell a story and build its characters.

As for the show, a slow burn, I found it to be more of a philosophical art-house type thriller/mystery because from the beginning we get to know one of the culprits and strongly suspect the other who committed the crimes. What slowly develops is how those crimes and the choices and actions or inaction of one can have severe physical, emotional and financial consequences that can even ripple effect through generations. This is told through two parallel unrelated stories at two different times that eventually converge towards the end because of shared themes of justice, shame, guilt, pain, looking the other way, etc. In the beginning episodes, it can be hard to connect all the dots because of the two timeframes and the constant sudden jumps between these two time frames and the unrelated stories but it will eventually all fall into place as the series goes on.

The acting, music score (especially the beginning theme song) and cinematography are top notch. I really got interested because Kim Yoon-seok from the movie The Chaser is in it. He is such a good actor and he doesn't disappoint here either.

I would recommend watching and giving it some time.

As far in as episode 3 and what can I say, this is a good thriller, suspense crime series and it is quite the watch, acting is superb. Nevertheless, in all general point of interest, 6/10.

The suspense and mystery has been way more than the movie itself. I keep questioning the screenwriter or Netflix itself, what are we writing here? What's the point? Where is the head? Where's the tail? Where are we going? Finished episode 3 for an 8 episode series and I still don't know the point or the destination. They keep dragging it and I hope my movie taste doesn't become sour. I do hope it is worth the drag.