IRIS

... in the Korean Peninsular, you will understand why the North could really win because the spies in the South are always deeply in love. Even in situations where there are lives at risk, possible terrorist attack or even nuclear bomb detonated, the two lead characters will always have time to spill a few tears of longing. They always seem to be in the verge of crying and when they are not, they are wondering about the other which leads to more sorrow close-ups. If you can stand extreme melodrama then the action and plot is not too bad.

"In Greek mythology, the river that flows in front of Hell is Iris." Mega-talent Lee Byung-Hun (Mr. Sunshine-9, Our Blues-8.5, Squid Game-8.4) is Kim Hyun-Jun. He looks so young! "Keep an eye on him, or he'll turn into a terrible monster," the lead behavioral scientist warns. I also say, keep your eye on him - Yes, he's gorgeous, & he goes through he!! Lee Byung-Hun is a world-class talent. My first look at him was In Squid Game-8.4. All he does is take off a mask and look at someone, but I was smitten-on-the-spot by his talent. That doleful, pensive stare said volumes. He's that good.

"You have a solo mission. Just like Hungary played a pivotal role in the reunification of Germany, you'll be able to play the same role in unifying the Korean Peninsula, if you succeed in your mission." For anyone not familiar with Korean politics, that's no trifle. Hyun-Jun does succeed in his mission but he's shot and stranded in Hungary, left hungry for the support he needs to escape. He holds up at the safe-house. The cheerless black-suits are closing in. Things go slip-shod; fade to black. Next, the filtered light creates a dreamy quality. We are with Hyun-Jun on a lush college campus in another place and time. We're back at the beginning.

Iris is a 2009 release that is rated 89 on AWiki. It is 2 seasons consisting of 41 60-minute episodes, with only S1 available to stream on Netflix, currently. Ep1 has a Hollywood action feel and jumps from the present to the past. We don't get caught back up until ep4. The Budapest mission becomes Buda-bust. Something is terribly wrong. The rest of the series will be devoted to up-ending things that have 'turned', as many things have started to go the wrong way.

Kim Tae-Hee (Welcome to Samdal-ri, 99 days with the Superstar-7) is The Girl, Choi Seung-Hee (SHee). She totally shoots 'like a gurl', but she is beautiful and capable. They meet on the first day of college; she's smarter than he - sort of. He wows her with his photographic memory. She out-drinks him. He wakes up alone... She isn't in class... He's ghosted. He learns from the prof that SHee was just auditing at the request of the DOD. In the last third of the show SHee changes, becomes frumpier, and gets alittle irritating. I believe that is designed as a plot device to make her less attractive, but it doesn't play well.

Jeong Jun-Ho (SKY Castle, The Tale of Nokdu) is Hyeon-Jun's buddy, Jin Sa-Woo. He meets SHee somewhere else and also falls for her instantly. The guys don't know they've fallen for the same girl. As it turns out, she's no ordinary girl and she's a much harder 'get' than either of them realize.

Kim Seung-Woo (Basics of Love, Their Embrace, Late Night Restaurant, 71: Into the Fire) is NK agent Park Cheol-Yeong, and he's a fabulous presence. Kim So-Yeon is NK agent/sniper, Kim Sun-Hwa. She has the look, hair, and gravitas to play a badass agent anytime, anywhere. By the end of the show I preferred her. Maybe it's the hair... Other successful roles for Ms Kim are Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938, Two Weeks, and The Penthouse series. The directors are Yang Yun-Ho (Grand Prix, Criminal Minds) and Kim Kyu-Tae (Our Blues, That Winter, The Wind Blows-7). There's 3 writers: Kim Hyun-Joon (Secret Royal Inspector & Joy, Ho-Gu's Love-7.4), Jo Kyu-Won (Different Dreams), & Kim Jae-Eun (Korean Ghost Stories & Bad Boy).

You might think the training is extreme. I've read about Korean congressman fainting from intensive training /videos/ in the last part of the 20th. (Apparently, politicians aren't built for sacrifice, pain-for-gain, or inner strength anywhere in the world). Iris is superb through 16 episodes. As there's an excess of Kdramas that start out great but unravel before ep10, that is commendable. What's wrong is that Iris just had to be 20 episodes long, and eps 17-20 feel tacked-on. They aren't nearly as good.

Let's deal with eps 1-16 first. The budget was in excess of 40 billion won (US$34.97 million) and it shows. One thing that stood out is that communist agents look the same on film whether they're Korean, East German, or Russian: Straight-laced, severe black garb, cheerless. (If you want the full flavor of living in a surveillance-laden, clamped-down, cheerless society, watch Chernobyl-10). There's excellent writing, acting, and directing that make a near perfect spy thriller. It is one of the most Hollywood-feeling K-features I've seen. The cadence is perfect: They have 20hrs; they can take their time, but it's not slow. The second unit didn't cut any of their film school classes - the action is exciting. I would not hesitate to confidently recommend this to the action hounds in my sphere. In fact I did recommend it to my niece when I was on ep8. She ended up finishing it before me and came at me demanding answers. Whoops! Knowing what I know now, I still would recommend it - but I would slap a warning label on it.

Maintaining integrity is one of the themes. "He could become a monster." "I fear whether we will become monsters, in the end," we hear. But then there's this: "A man who lets his conscience or sense of responsibility weaken his ambition can never achieve anything." So says one of the brass at the agency. Sounds like a lofty statement to cover sleazy undertakings. Hyun-Jun loses his way for a time & makes a directional change that hurts. There are understandable temptations, and he was misled, but it's still a difficult pill to chew on.

In the aftermath of 911, the way the CIA operates came under discussion. Some wanted to cut ties with any slimy characters while others argued that in the world of intelligence, agents, assets, and the pay-for-info crowd, that is all there is. One can't deal in trading classified information without brushing up on slime. In Iris, the world of secret agents gets convoluted. Around the midpoint we have two agencies working against eachother. The supposed "good guys" have an agent who's actually trying to facilitate the nuclear attack, while the "bad guys" have a guy who's working at stopping it. Who are the good and bad guys? It gets muddy. It depends on the way the wind is blowing on certain days. The mid eps through ep16 are crazy CRAZY good.

Another theme is the shadow power behind the power. Yep, another conspiracy piece. Conspiracy theories are a blast. They can't all be true, but it's naive to think there are NO conspiracies in the world. That's not the nature of power. I, pretty much, believe that politics is a big distraction, and that we effectively have the illusion of choice. The money and effort we put into political leaders, who don't deserve our love or respect, would be better spent elsewhere. They're all good at pointing out problems. Oh, how they excel at that. It's solutions (actual ones, not words) that give them trouble. The only thing politics has accomplished in the last 40 years is that we all hate eachother. Having said that, don't skip the show's quote at the end of this article.

The soundtrack is excellent. It ranges from instrumental, to rap, to Kpop. Dreaming Dream (Kim Tae Woo) is VG. Their trip to Japan is just wonderful and romantic. He gets in trouble for not remembering "White Day". On March 14, in Korea, men are expected to show appreciation for the chocolates they received on Valentine's Day by giving women candy. SHee expects candy. Hyun-Jun is from Mars, so he doesn't get what the fuss is about. There's quite a few more people with tans in this show than the average bleached out Kdrama. Unfortunately, most of them don't end up in a great place. East Asia needs to rethink their shallow skin color preferences and diversify more. Ditto for the rest of the world.

Eps1-16 are as good as it gets. Now for the last 4 eps. This show would probably have been perfect at 16 episodes. Ep17 is sort of a pause, recap, and flashback episode. Okay... The main plot did just have a conclusion of sorts. The last 3 eps aren't /bad/ (perhaps they are, slightly), but they feel tangential. They definitely don't augment the show - they bring it down a notch. I rate eps1-16 at 8.6, for example. S2 sees a big drop in the ratings and eps17-20 give us a preview of the decline. The 2nd half of ep20 is really good. BUT, with 5min to go, something feels ominous...

My word of warning to all is: Consider stopping at the end of ep16. I doubt anyone will heed my warning, but there it is.

〰🖍 IMHO

📣8 📝8 🎭8.5 💓7🦋7 🎨7.5 🎵/🔊7.4 🔚6 ♦ 🌞3 ⚡8 😅2 😭5 😱5 😯3.5 😖4 🤔4.3 💤0

Poli-wagging - 2/10. The NK agents are humans in a difficult place. The REAL DEVIL is the Japanese agent. What 2 countries in this world have the worst opinion of Japan? Korea and China, based on some brutal history that won't be overlooked any time soon.

Age 14+ violence, sexual situations

Rated TV-14: Parents Strongly Cautioned.

Re-📺? Name, rank, and serial number only

QUOTE📢 In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way. ~Franklin Roosevelt~

In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Mad For Each Other-7.8 ~silly fun; Crazy Love-7.8; Love to Hate You-8.9; Romance is a bonus book-7.9; Crash Landing On You-9.1; Oh My Ghost-10; Private Lives-8.1; It's Okay Not To Be Okay-9; Love Struck in the City-7.3; When the Camellia Blooms-8; K2-8 Tunnel-8.1; Signal 8.6; Sisyphus-8 My Mister-9.5; The King's Affection-8.3; Mr. Sunshine-9 Squid Game-8.4; Kingdom-8.3; Flower of Evil-8.9; D. P.-8.4, The Man from Nowhere-8.9; The Cursed-8.3; Black-9.

This is a review of season one. The story line is fast paced and keeps your interest with tension. The production values are better than average for a Korean TV series, with the exception of the then, trendy, camera jerkiness which is horrible at times. Don't expect the production values to be as good as a movie.

There are the typical plot holes, but the show moves fast enough you can mostly ignore them. It is amazing to me that still, in 2020, most Korean shows never admit the ability to track a cell phone for location or recent calls after a bad guy or phone number has been identified. Regardless, I didn't mark this 2009 show down for that omission because my review is in comparison with other Asian dramas.

The show is well written enough that I couldn't always tell what was going to happen next, which I really enjoyed. Most shows follow pretty standard plot lines and this one follows a common overall plot arch, but the details were often difficult to predict, especially early in the show. Later in the show it becomes more formulaic.

The main characters aren't the best actors in the world, but they had chemistry with each other and with others, so that worked well.

SPOILER ALERT! I have to admit that I was disappointed in the tragic ending which I assumed was a vehicle to pull the female lead back into the spy agency. But, turns out that is not the case. So, just another Asian drama with a tragic ending.

I am usually very analytical (an engineer by education), but I generally want my shows to lift me up at the end, so that is entirely emotional and I did not enjoy the ending.

I just want to mention that Season Two is mostly new characters, weaker writing and weaker production values. It starts roughly 3 years after season one.

Lee Byung-hun stars in one of my favourite movies "A bittersweet life" so I am always going to be generous with my rating in whatever he is in. As usual he puts in a great performance along with the whole cast and there are some really great action scenes which reflect the budget. My issue is the story does not flow as well as it should and the series concentrates on the big explosive scenes and not enough time on the development of the characters. Enjoyable action packed drama but could have been great.

Iris was a serious South Korean spy thriller, with interesting plot twists, engaging performances, and several brutal betrayals, culminating in a finish that resulted in more than a few questions remaining unanswered. Promising to answer some of questions raised, Iris 2 is a show that had enormous shoes to fill, and unfortunately, its feet do not match the ambitious size of the original. Though one might imagine the sheer number of story-lines would make for a wealth of material, several aspects of the plot are tirelessly dragged out, obviously in the show's desperate attempt to reach 20 hour long episodes. Often predictable, with minimal character back-story, and a plot held together at the seams with sticky tape, the conflicting and often contradictory story-lines risk the production falling apart at a moment's notice.

However, if you look past the flaws, there are a number of notable reasons why this show deserves a look, not least of all, the poignancy that is efficaciously delivered by the writers, alongside the talented (and VERY attractive) actors. This is heightened by the amazing musical score, including the gorgeous song from Davichi. Several of the fight sequences are sure to impress, though at the same time, those familiar with the aforementioned original, or even Athena, will see a great number of similarities, alongside the addendum that their frenetic orchestration can make them hard to follow.

Furthermore, though some of the dialogue could be accused of immaturity, the chemistry and interactions between the characters prove to be engaging in themselves, the romantic and familial relationships being conceived with much emotion, while some of the witticisms are especially enjoyable. Though the show is often unrealistic, with characters severely injured in one episode, and running around during the next, alongside contradictions in the story-lines, and ideas that fail to be fleshed out, Iris 2 gradually finds its footing towards the end, resulting in an emotionally powerful and worth-while finale.

Jung Yoo-Gun (Jang Hyuk) and paramour Ji Soo-Yeon (Lee Da-Hae) work together for the NSS, under the authority of deputy-director Choi Min (Oh Yeon-Su), who is determined to rid the world of Iris. Her goals however, are continuously been undermined by the ambitious Kang Cheol-Hwan (Kam Il-Woo), who seeks control of the agency, though his allegiances are unclear. When an Iris cell, led by Rey (David McInnis), storms the NSS prison housing the agency's former director Baek San (Kim Young-Chul), and extricates him in an attempt to garner much needed information, it becomes clear that Baek San has an important role to play in the war against the terrorist group. When North Korean traitor Yoo Joong-Woo (Lee Beom-Soo), a man desperate to clear his name, is recruited by Iris agent Kim Yeon-Hwa (Lim Soo-Hyang) to assist with her mission, tensions between the North and the South begin to escalate, and threaten the inevitable commencement of a unification war.

With the sheer number of cast members, it is no surprise that some are provided significantly less screen time than others, with fellow NSS agents See Hyun-Woo (Yoon Doo-Joon) and Yoon-Shi Hyuk (Lee Joon), alongside Iris operative Park Tae-Hee (Yoon So-Yi), being difficult to associate with due to the significantly lacking characterization. Set over the course of more than a year, Iris 2 includes not only locations throughout South Korea, but internationally as well, which involve a car chase through the streets of Hungary, and a chase sequence on the ski slopes of Japan. When in its home nation, the shoot-outs often occur in warehouses, amongst other abandoned and condemned locations, which offer little in the way of uniqueness.

Moving on, it's a fact, in every production, the antagonist is defeated. However, what's most important is not only how, but what horrors they have in store for the heroes. In short, how impressive a villain are they? The monotonous repetition of failure that consumes the enemy organization with every turn they take however, only makes their defeat all the more inevitable. To add insult to injury, the enemy group, Iris, have no motive or agenda, and without a cause, the audience is unable to connect with them on any level. If ever a cause was mentioned, it must have been whispered, for this viewer certainly never heard it.

The lacking interest in the terrorist cell is heightened by the show's inability to continuously hold us in suspense. Even the threat of a third world war, despite the emotional performances by the actors, flat-lines in its ability to make us legitimately believe this may in fact come to fruition. However, where the show excels, is its ability to captivate the audience with its character relationships. Unlike American shows, that often drag out romances to the point of utter boredom, Iris 2 gives its viewers enough tension, poignancy, grief and hope, to keep us entrenched for the entirety of the season. Moreover, though antagonists are loathed by the audience at times, on other occasions, they are equally sympathetic. Although the acting could occasionally be accused of being a little too melodramatic, one cannot ever deny the potency, with more than a few moments having the capacity to bring a tear, or more.

In conclusion, Iris 2 is best watched in moderation, and despite the occasional complexity of the stories, the show is very easy to follow. Despite been an enjoyable experience, Iris 2 is not a show that will cause you to continuously reminisce over the story-lines or characters. The show's conclusion leaves the Iris franchise open for a sequel, with a number of plots left unresolved, and several character stories requiring a more definitive close, though whether a third installment will occur, remains to be seen.