Grandpas Over Flowers Investigation Team

Romanization: Kkothalbae Soosadae
Hangul: 꽃할배 수사대
Genre: Cops, Comedy
Network: tvN
Episodes: 12
Release Date: May - July, 2014

Cast

Park Min woo - Han Won bin (20s), Byun Hee bong as Han Won bin, Choi Jin hyuk - Lee Joon hyeok (20s), Lee Soon jae as Lee Joon hyeok, Park Doo sik - Jeon Gang seok (20s), Jang Gwang as Jeon Gang seok, Kim Hee cheol as Park Jung woo, Lee Cho hee as Jung Eun ji, Kim Eung soo as Kim Young chul, and Lee Ki woo as Park Tae min

Synopsis

Young detectives, who suddenly change to 70-year-old men, struggle to regain their young bodies. ~AsianWiki

Review

Not quite, but it is a part of the plot.

This is about five young detectives who join a special task force after they discover a nefarious plot underway that involves young, wealthy men of Korean descent from around the globe. They're either turning up dead or missing, and the team needs to figure out what's going on.

Right away, they arrive at a warehouse and after beating the guards down, they discover two elderly men unconscious and tied up inside a huge tank filled with smelly water.

Doing the young, impetuous and dumb thing, they dive into the tank to unchain these two old men, and when they reemerge, three of the four young men are not young anymore.

Smarty-pants TALL grouch Lee Joon hyeok is now curmudgeonly SHORT silver fox (Lee Soon jae), vain, PRETTY womanizer Han Won bin is now vain, UGLY womanizer (Byun Hee bong), and dunce, MUSCLES Jeon Gang seok is now dunce, FLATULENT bald guy (Jang Gwang).

This was really cute and am pleased to discover that a second and third season are out: Grandpas Over Flowers in Spain (a variety show), and Grandpas Over Flowers in Greece (variety show) -- and PD Na is involved!

I'll be watching, of course.

NO CINDERELLA PLOT HERE, FOLKS!

Each episode takes us a bit closer to the real culprit in this aging people for profit scheme, and as far-fetched as the plot sounds to most of us, it still managed to capture my interest and appear intense, funny, and thoughtful when needed.

I adore these old guys, and they made a terrific team of mismatched, polar opposite personality types forced to band together to solve crime.

Hee bong as Won bin did the best job of an aged dandy who remains in love with himself and continues to flirt with the ladies at every opportunity.

Soon jae nailed the stuffy Joon hyeok as well and remained the leading man despite loud opposition from his team mates.

Jang gwang's Gang seok was hilarious start to finish. Gassy, effeminate, tough as nails, and sweet enough to garner the affections of women half his age, he had me laughing so hard that my stomach started to ache.

The only three issues I had with this were minor ones and why it received 3.5 stars:

First, it took too long to get to the bottom of an issue that really should have raised the entire nation's eyebrows and become a national security issue, but it wasn't and it didn't ever get past the local police department handling the case.

Second, it disappointed me when the Super Junior guy, Hee Cheol's Jung woo changed his hair style mid-way. He went from looking hip and mature to high school mushroom head Ken doll.

Hee cheol did a good job. Only mildly stiff but relaxed enough to let a bit of his own personality shine through.

and Third: Choi Jin hyuk had very little air time, and after awhile, especially in the last episode, I had to wonder if he was pressed for time schedule-wise and chose another engagement over this one.

Lot's of rapid-fire dialogue but with great subs courtesy Dramafever, plenty of laughs, and not a ton of recap or thought-dwelling instances, either.

Hurray!

Park Min woo has come a long way, hasn't he? The guy is growing on me with ease, and it makes me smile any time I find him in a movie or drama.

If you're looking for something comedic with a great cast and a wacky plot, this is the drama for you.

Jang Se hyun as the Fortune Teller (ep.6)