You're probably here because you're asking: Is the series worth it? The honest answer is: No, unfortunately not.
In Trigger, "unknown" firearms are sent to the general public, even though such weapons are banned in South Korea. As a result, the police - including our main character - are completely overwhelmed.
We're then introduced to a boy who's constantly mistreated by those around him, receives one of these weapons, and goes on a shooting spree.
Unfortunately, the show doesn't just tell this story once or twice - it does it three times, each time with different characters. Naturally, this means we never get the chance to form any real emotional connection to the victims, since the supporting cast keeps changing. After being introduced and developed for one or two episodes, they're just gone for the rest of the show. And honestly, to show us how deeply bullying can affect someone, the first story would've been more than enough.
As a result, multiple episodes are wasted retelling the same thing in different shades, while the main plot barely moves forward. At least during these episodes, the antagonists - various gangsters - are introduced. But even here, the show decides to drop pretty much all of them about 60-70% through the season. Suddenly, the focus shifts, and it's no longer about the characters that were built up - instead, it's back to the whole firearms issue.
But that theme has already been hammered into our heads through the repetitive storytelling of the first half. As for the main antagonist, he suddenly gets the most cringe, over-the-top writing. Any trace of logic is completely thrown out the window.
Here's an example: The people sending the weapons use packages with a big red logo of the organization on them. Now, millions of weapons are being smuggled into the country. Police quote: "There's nothing we can do, it's hard to intercept the packages! 80 million packages are shipped daily!"
Of course, there are apparently no agreements with major shipping companies to scan for those marked packages, and it's also impossible to trace them... Meanwhile, the military isn't deployed, even though more and more civilians are arming themselves and mass shootings are on the rise.
The antagonist casually shoots a couple of cops and then gets interviewed live on-site by a journalist, broadcast on every screen in the city. Do the police send reinforcements to arrest him? Nope. He just gives the interview and walks off.
And that part was supposed to be a secret - that the reporter is being paid to follow and film the guy whenever he shows up. But of course, the reporter runs up to him with a live camera and the antagonist even asks, "Are we live?" and the reporter replies, "Yes, I've got you perfectly on camera, this will be a great shot."
It's not like the news station would ever ask, "Wait, you know the man who's flooding our country with guns and said nothing?" or "You're assisting him in murdering police officers?"
The whole thing ends in a very underwhelming way. After the series is before the series.
Save yourself the time. If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend My Name - similar genre (gangsters + cops), and one of the best (Korean) series of all time. Also available on Netflix. Enjoy :)
