38 Task Force

Aka -  38 Revenue Collection Unit / Squad 38
Genre -  Crime, comedy
Writer -  Han Jung hoon
Network -  OCN
Episodes -  16
Released -  June  - August,  2016

CAST

PLOT

As a reference to Article 38 which pertains to tax payments, this special police unit utilizes the criminals' own tactics of scams and deceit to catch rich tax cheats. ~Wiki.d-addicts
The task force chief of Seoul City Hall and a con man work together to collect taxes from those who avoid paying large amounts. ~AsianWiki

REVIEW

Two words: Thrill ride.

What an exciting 16 this turned out to be!

This was another stumbled-upon for me, and again, so glad it worked out that way because Squad 38 was interesting, action-packed, and filled with enough riveting plot to keep me wanting more.

The writer took a mundane plot device (taxes) and used real-life situations taken from the news to mold this drama into what it became: amazing.

Why the 1/2 star deduction, then?

The ending, and a few WTF instances that made me groan.

The ending, while funny and as dramatic as the rest of the show, fell flat with me and mainly because I hadn't wanted to see one of our heroes land behind bars (again).

This is about taxation, misrepresentation, corruption at all levels, and just a few of the many wealthy people who go out of their way to avoid paying what they owe.

Not surprisingly, I kept thinking about Donald Trump as I watched -- which might deserve a LOL but I can't bring myself to do it.

He's not funny and I'd rather NOT think about him.

The extended cast did as great a job of reeling me in as the leads, and the two worked together like magic.

Ma Dong suk has an effortless way of tugging at ones heart strings even when he isn't trying.

The quintessential huggy-bear with a sad sack exterior and all-the-feels inside that blend so well for some guys ... guys with heart and soul, that is.

He made me cry about as often as I expected him to burst into frustrated tears.

Then there is Seo In guk, the guy with appeal and an ease of movement that if you're not careful and blink, you may miss something.

In guk possesses that rare and unique ability to transform himself on-screen so that what you are watching isn't Seo In guk the hot actor, but Yang Jung do, the con artist.

These two team up to go after the biggest tax evaders in the district, and while one of the Info sites said it was Seoul, the translator kept using Seowon or Seuon to name the fictitious city -- unless the translator is wrong and it was actually Seoul.

A majority of the dialect used told me this took place somewhere to the south of that big city, but I could be wrong, too.

The con artist has connections to help make a few of their schemes work to their advantage, but it was as refreshing as it was frustrating to see a few of those schemes blow up or not pan out as expected, making for a more realistic story.

With wealthy people comes corruption, greed, and a holier-than-thou mentality that would turn off most anyone, especially me, but the writer weaved as much believable magic into this drama as there was unrealistic nonsense.

And, again, not being familiar with the workings of public office over there, it is difficult to know what is real and what is made up in these types of stories.

Reality would mean the suggestion that a 'mayor' is capable of or possesses the authority to disband the Tax Collection department at City Hall is laughable.

That the media outlets hadn't sniffed out at least half these news-worthy stories a long time ago seems doubtful since most tax evaders end up going down due to a sly news reporters careful and thorough digging up of dirt on said evader.

I've never been tossed in the pokey before, but I'm pretty sure the first thing a cop does prior to bringing any suspect into lock-up is to dispossess that person of all their possessions -- to include jewelry, wallet, and cell phone.

Baek Sung il wore nerd glasses in the first few episodes, and then suddenly they were gone and he never put them back on.

He also drove around in his wife's Pig Trotter's mini van but then usually walked home.

Soo young's Chun Sung hee had a major part in the first half of the 16 episodes, and then she just fell off, appearing only briefly to answer her cell phone or watch her chief, Sung il, get chewed out by an upper inside the tax office.

Not sure if this was the uploaders fault or an OCN decision to annoy, but in every single episode there were at least three overlap instances, making for a drawn-out and repetitive watch that started to irritate after episode four.

Lastly, I think I would have enjoyed this one even more if each episode had shown this team going after a new disreputable character for tax evasion, and I do hope in the sequel that the writer does this instead.

Still, despite those issues, this was a fun watch and I have no doubt it will be something I fall back on whenever there is a lull in the drama viewing world I live in from time to time.

Best Actor

Jo Woo jin's Ahn Tae wook

Dude stole this one and scared the crap out of me more often than the real bad guys!

Pretty Woman

Lee Sun bin as Jo Mi joo

I know there were three leading ladies vying for this coveted spot back home, but for me it is a no-brainer.

Sometimes I had to wonder if the male's on the set had a hard time keeping their eyes in their head or on their own business whenever she was around.

Super beautiful woman and a great supporting actress.

Favorite Scene

Didn't remember to capture a screen shot, but it was when Baek Sung il brings home some apples for his omanee and sets them down while she's sleeping on the floor.

Memorable, heartwarming, believable, and a tear-jerker moment.

The soundtrack was nothing great and one of the two tunes that repeated throughout became a bit monotonous, but it wasn't distracting or horrible.

Thumbs up!

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신 현모양처 / Modern Housewives

I couldn't wait to get home from work today, so that I could blog about this Korean drama!

I don't know how long Mysoju has had this one in their archives, but yesterday (Sunday, January 11) was about the most pleasant day I've had in a good, long time.

I'm a huge fan of Kim Nam-jin, and it makes me sad that there is not more about him online, in magazines, or on the air.

So, to stumble upon New, Wise Mother, Good Wife was a treasure to behold, let me tell you.

Modern Housewives was an aptly labeled comedy with the right amount of episodes (10 in all) to fill an entire day with laughter and excitement at being able to stare at my Ajushi KIM for an entire day.

This was the story of a young, devoted wife/mother, Gyung Gook Hee (Kang Sung Yeon) and the subsequent demise of her marriage/life.

Her husband, Heo (Kim Ho Jin), is the stereotypical mama's boy wimp with a college degree and a steady job.
He could hardly be referred to as attractive, and yet he swaggers with the boys as if he is a jet-setting playboy with dozens of pole dancers at his beck & call.

They have saved up eight-years for their first house, and on the day that Gook Hee is supposed to sign the contract, housing prices suddenly sky-rocket, and the previous homeowner backs out of the contract.

I've guessed from watching so, many of these dramas that Korean's especially are money-happy, soulless Christians hell-bent on making it to the top in order to receive the almighty acceptance of 'society' (whatever that is).

Modern Housewives drove that point home at every turn, but it was refreshing to note that at the same time, the drama focused on the mediocre of Korean society; the work-a-day drones who eek out a living sub-par with Korean society standards.
Factory workers, convenience store clerks, and the ever-present Pojangmacha owners who seem (to me) to feed an entire nation on a daily basis and therefore should be raking in the $$$ about the equivalent of a degree-holding stuff-shirt.



Im Tae Ran (Kim Tae Yeon) enters the picture at this point, and according to the drama synopsis, her character is meant to portray the modern version of the ideal wife.
Tae Ran is a single beauty with abundant wealth, a few homes, a fancy car, and a terrific job as a screen writer.
Naturally, she's single for a good reason, and that is that she's insecure, or relying solely on her appearance to make it in the world of romance while ignoring her glaring personality flaws.
She comes between Gook and Myung Pil, anxious to have what her best friend Gook has by stealing it away with sex.

Myung Pil has no remorse for his affair, and he says some things to Gook that tore my heart apart, they were that vicious and thoughtless.

Worse though, was Gook's determination to hold on to what she is losing so rapidly, and for such a ridiculous reason as money problems.
She clung to her wayward husband, humiliated herself every chance she got, and she ran into the proverbial brick wall at every turn.
I soon began to hold out my palms to the computer screen and BEG her to ssssttttoooopppp already!

You're embarrassing yourself AND me!

It hadn't occurred to me until now that Modern Housewives was a subdued and abbreviated version of Here Comes Ajumma, but with a better cast and a more realistic storyline.
Gook lives with her immature husband, his mother, and their two, little boys in an apartment community, and the association queens play the snob-bitch part to the hilt!
They use megaphones to alert the entire community to the unacceptable ways of the less-desirable tenants (namely, those with no degree or prestigious job).
It's funny, and at the same time, sad as hell to know (or even to have to assume) that people like this actually exist in the world.

A doggy breaks into the trash, so the queen bitch gets on the horn to alert the neighbors of the fact that the undesirables have broken yet, another Association law by putting out their trash the wrong way.
Gook and three, other women creep from their apartments and converge at the dumpster to clean up the mess while complaining about the injustices heaped upon them at every turn.
Gook leaves the group to find her husband, who is at a Pojangmacha with Tae Ran, and she overhears him tell Tae Ran that he hates his wife, is embarrassed of her, and he wishes that he had never married her.
Gook returns to the girls and suggests that they go to the beach.
One of the suppressed is divorced, the other lives in fear of her abusive husband, and the third woman, Soo Duk, refers to herself in 3rd person fashion, repeating a mantra of demands that her overbearing husband makes on her.

"Soo Duk's job is to cook, and to lose weight", she keeps saying at the first-half of the drama, and believe it or not, it never gets tiring!

She's cute but slightly overweight after bringing two children into the world.

The girls arrive at the beach on the night of a full-moon, and the divorcee runs into Park Seok Doo (Kim Nam-jin).
He's a sexy college student and the son of a Korean ambassador.
Seok Doo stays on the beach with the women, and he's instantly attracted to Gook when she makes the poignant observation that his nomadic childhood must have caused him a great deal of loneliness.

AGAIN, because Gook is five (count 'em, FIVE) years older than Seok Doo, she will not even consider getting involved with his royal hunkiness.

More is the pity.

Seok Doo ends up helping the women with their personal problems while doggedly pursuing the now-free Gook-hee.
Her ex-husband loses his cool the first time that he sees her with the gorgeous Seok-doo.
There is a hilarious scene at a sauna where the two, competitive men end up together inside the locker room.
Myung Pil gasps in wide-eyed shock when Seok-doo removes his shirt, revealing his gym-bod.
Then Seok-doo drops his trousers, and Myung-pil nearly faints.

Kim's character smiled a lot, was wise beyond his years, and was multi-lingual as well as smart.
He always said the right things to Gook-hee and her friends to get them back on the right track and not let their fear overwhelm them whenever push came to shove.
One by one, they took care of their nasty other-halves while growing in wisdom and maturity.
Especially our downtrodden Ms. Gook-hee.
She could not afford to leave the apartment community, so she had to watch her husband and his mistress carry on inside their apartment.
Because Myung-pil could not get over the fact that Gook-hee was actually able to snare a hotty like Seok-doo, he ended up devoting more of his time to Gook-hee than to Tae-ran, which lent itself to more, humorous moments in Modern Housewives.

As I said earlier, Soo Duk was funny, and when her time comes to take back her life and gain some much-needed control in her marriage, she does so with absolute gusto.

She behaved mild-mannered until someone touched her, said the wrong thing, or mistreated one of her friends, and then she would turn into a raging mad-woman.
Except when it came to dealing with her (surprise, surprise) unattractive, overweight husband.
When she finally gains her independence, she attacks him in his sleep, beats him down, and with a fist aimed at him, she orders him to read & follow her list of demands.

"Call me Cutie, not fatso, and say you like my cooking."

Not since Get Karl Go have I had this much fun watching a Korean drama.
I'm at an age now where sappy, sentimental crap and sugary, bubble-gum garbage annoys me.
Teenage anything has dominated this genre (especially in Taiwan and Korea) for almost a decade now, so it's always refreshing to find something like Modern Housewives, Get Karl Go, and East of Eden to fulfill my weekly requirement of the Asian fix.

Korean's do a great job with their period drama's, too.
Kingdom of the Winds is really good, and I'll probably never get tired of watching Emperor of the Sea, either.
I prefer Japanese dramas to Korean, and as long as Hideaki Ito remains on top of his game, I should be able to enjoy mature content dramas from that part of the world, too.

Is Kaneshiro Takeshi ever going to star in a drama, btw?

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Can't Live Without Robbery / 도둑맞곤 못살아

This was FUNNY!!!

What a refreshing change to see my love-interest in something besides a dark, dismal drama with a predictable, unhappy ending! He actually smiled a few times, too!

Robbery came out back in 2002, and I'm just now getting around to watching it thanks to Crunchyroll. I still need to see Glass Slipper, Law Firm, We Are Dating Now, Delicious Proposal, and Models.

The movie (also known as Steal it if You Can, The Thief Maker, or Dodookmatgo Motsala) stars So Ji-sub as Choi Kang-jo, a wealthy, playboy business tycoon whose hobby it is to break into people's houses for the thrill, and not to take anything of value.

Park Sang-myun as Ko Sang-tae, the unhappy and clueless husband/father who married a wealthy woman and lives in a fancy house in a deserted area of Seoul that is generally used for military practice. (Dinosaur eggs were discovered on the property, so Ko's dream of an upper-class neighborhood went up in smoke once his home was built).

Song Seon-mi as Mari, his beautiful wife who lacks taste buds, so she can't cook.

Anyway, Robbery is a good flick if you like nonsense and So Ji-sup! He targets the lone mansion outside the big city, and he succeeds in breaking in several times. He tastes Mari's food and chokes, but the unusual flavors of her pig's ear sushi intrigue him, so he sends her an email asking for another sample dish.

Ko Sang-tae meanwhile is determined to catch the burglar, so he enrolls in a Tae Kwon-do class, and that (imho) was the best part of the whole movie. There were scenes in that part that had me rotf to the point where I had to worry about my neighbors next door & below me (I live in an apartment with very, thin walls).

Yes,Asia says that their DVDs are out-of-stock and that they don't make it anymore, which is too bad. I wouldn't mind watching it again, and again on a cold, dreary night in the dead of winter, or when I'm bored, or with my mother, whom I think would enjoy Can't Live!

I said that I would watch anything that stars SO, and I didn't expect to see anything outside the ordinary when I decided to give this flick a try. I'm glad that I watched it, and I'll bet you will be, too.

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