Due to the current trend in pre-show advertising, I’m going to have to reserve judgement on ANYTHING until I’ve watched at least the first two episodes. Come see why I changed my mind about Police University after two episodes and see if it’s the right drama for you, too.
Where It Started
Here’s one of the trailers I saw first:
Can you see where I thought this might be a comedy?? And the original plot description went something like this: “Cha Tae Hyun (Team Bulldog), Jung Jin Young (My First First Love), and Krystal (Prison Playbook) star in a drama about a detective and a hacker and an upright first-year student who meet at the police university and work together to investigate a case.”
Pretty basic, right? Mentor and mentee and the teacher’s pet work together to solve some sort of a case, shenanigans and a romance ensue. I thought it would be easy enough to watch for a couple of episodes, since it sounds straightforward and somewhat fluffy.
How It’s Going
Y’all, Jun Jinyoung’s character has NOTHING fluffy going on. Kang Sun Ho is a genius-level hacker who lives with his adoptive family after his father’s death. He’s constantly trying to make up for imposing on them by learning how to repair computers, both the hardware and the software. He doesn’t have any goals in life except to make life better for his dad, whom he struggles to call “Dad,” and his best friend/brother.
At his brother’s judo competition, Kang Sun Ho spots Krystal’s character, Oh Kang Hee, after overhearing an argument with her coach about competing even though she’s injured. Kang Hee’s passion for achievement snags his attention, and he’s immediately smitten. After Sun Ho does a little low-level social media snooping, he manages to run into Kang Hee outside of her study prep class for the police academy. Suddenly, Sun Ho might have a dream for himself after all.
On the other side of the coin, we have Cha Tae Hyun’s Detective Yoo Dong Man. He throws every resource he has into taking down crime rings, and currently he’s trying to take out a casino that deals in cryptocurrency. One night, he and his partner accidentally crash into Sun Ho’s family van in pursuit of the criminals and they all end up in the hospital together.
Through a series of unfortunate choices, Detective Yoo comes to severely dislike Sun Ho. When they end up at the academy together as professor and student, Detective Yoo decides to do his best to tank Sun Ho’s probationary period and get him kicked out of the academy. Kang Hee can see something is going on, and supports Sun Ho in small, kind ways.
Will I Keep Watching?
I hadn’t planned on it, but yes I will! There’s FAR more to the plot than I’ve covered already, including Sun Ho’s dad doing little suspicious things, Detective Yoo’s secret online hacker buddy, and someone from the gambling ring being AT THE ACTUAL ACADEMY. Krystal isn’t being particularly wooden, and the friendship dynamics between Sun Ho and his best friend/brother are shaping up to be the best kind of bromance. I’m in it just to see where this mystery will go.
Until the next roll call, I remain —
Karie the Maknae
Dramas with a Side of Kimchi