The Korean drama "Stranger" is highly regarded as a well-made drama. It has been recognized as a well-made drama by winning the Grand Prize and Best Script awards at the Baeksang Arts Awards, Korea's prestigious arts awards ceremony. Driven by its popularity, season 2 aired in 2020, and a spin-off is scheduled for release in 2024. What are the reasons why you should definitely watch "Stranger"?

1. A story that is hard to look away from

Ordinary crime genre dramas typically aim to solve a major case that runs through the entire series, from the first to the last episode, while solving smaller cases along the way. In these cases, the major and minor incidents are often unrelated. However, in "Stranger", all the incidents that occur in the drama are interconnected. Using this kind of development style, there are drawbacks that make it difficult for viewers to join in mid-way, and if the connection between events is not properly explained, it can be difficult to convince viewers. However, this drama explains sufficiently how previous events are related to subsequent events, making the long breaths of the drama a strength. It also tried to overcome the drawback of making it difficult to join in midway by briefly summarizing the past story before the drama begins.

2. An ending that makes you want to watch the next episode

To prevent viewers from dropping out, you need to make them want to watch the next episode. This is why the ending scene of each episode is important. "Stranger" has a strong effect on the immersion and curiosity of the ending scenes, to the point that all the ending scenes from episode 1 to 16 are masterpiece scenes.

3. Distinctive characters

The main five characters, including the protagonist "Hwang Shi-mok", "Han Yeo-jin", "Seo Dong-jae", "Young Eun-soo", and "Lee Chang-jun", are all distinctive. Hwang Shi-mok is a character who does not feel emotions. Because of this, he judges all cases based solely on reason, without emotion. This is an advantage as a prosecutor, but sometimes he shows a lack of empathy for the victims. He shows a side of gradually recognizing emotions as he solves a series of cases and meets people around him.

Unlike Hwang Shi-mok, who hardly feels emotions, the police officer Han Yeo-jin is portrayed as a bright and empathetic character. She approaches Hwang Shi-mok naturally, despite his lack of emotional sensitivity, and genuinely empathizes with the victims of the crime. However, when an incident occurs, she is more proactive than anyone else and solves the problem by getting involved physically. Although she is highly empathetic, she is not a character who investigates with emotion. When dealing with cases, she judges rationally and is a capable detective who acts emotionally when empathy is needed.

"Seo Dong-jae", Hwang Shi-mok's fellow prosecutor, is a character with a strong inferiority complex and is a sort of middle villain. Because he is a character composed of inferiority complex and a sense of inadequacy, he is sometimes drawn to power and sometimes to the good side. That is why he is called a character that you can't hate among viewers. In some ways, he is also the most loved character. That's why he became the protagonist of the spin-off "Good or Bad Dong-jae" to be released in 2024.

4. The acting skills of the lead actors

No matter how good the story is and how three-dimensional the characters are, it's hard to get immersed if the actors' performances don't back it up. "Stranger" is known for its solid acting skills with lead actors such as Jo Seung-woo and Bae Doo-na, who have already been recognized for their acting skills in Korea, and all the supporting characters are famous for being drama without any acting holes. It is also easy to find differences in the script published after the drama's success and the actual dialogue in the drama. The actors, with their long acting experience, have received praise for naturally modifying the lines or adding ad-libs to the drama.

The drama "Stranger" has been praised for its perfect ending. Even after it ended, there are still people who keep watching it through OTT. Personally, I feel that season 2 didn't live up to the quality and entertainment of season 1, but I still look forward to the spin-off drama that is scheduled to be released.

You can watch the Korean drama "Stranger" on TVING, Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video.