Vampire Detective - KDrama

Sometimes watching something simply because it happens to be in the genre you enjoy isn’t such a great idea. Because as perfectly as it is supposed to cater to your appetite it can also happen that the overall storyline isn’t up to scratch. This is unfortunately what I have recently experienced in one of my favorite genre kdramas that sadly failed to live up to the many expectations that were set out before it. Of course that’s just my opinion.

The drama I speak of is Vampire Detective and I must admit that I am sorely disappointed in the way it was executed given the fact that it had so much potential. The story revolves around an ex-police officer who gets infected with a new strain of the ‘vampire virus’ turning him into a special type vampire, not bothered by the sun and if hints are to be believed, not bothered too much by the hunger too. Using these new abilities he works in a private detective agency with an older friend from the force and they go off solving strange and difficult cases that even the police turn away from.

Of course in true kdrama tradition it turns out that most of these cases are connected, in that they lead our fledgling vampire into an underground world where vampires are the norm and that his friends from the force, thought to be dead during a mission, might actually still be lingering around. The main story is admittedly a bit flimsy and the way it is presented is hap hazardous and inconsistent.

While the show does hold some interesting aspects, most of the surprises and action is brief and predictable. Not to mention the whole fact that our lead is a new-type vampire is barely even addressed or fully explored as the show focuses on how amazing his talents as a detective are. Though this isn’t exactly a bad thing it falls short from the promises this genre is supposed to deliver on. The other members of the agency also had much potential, but they basically got thrown to the side as characters just there for some dramatic effect and possible hostages for whenever the baddies needed to make a point.

As for the storyline it remained, in my opinion, inconsistent and sometimes incomprehensible as it rushed through certain things and threw in some random cases just to keep the detective side relevant and maybe show pieces of what a vampire detective could be capable of but not fully of course. It didn’t help that the lead also had a broody personality that didn’t match his actions and motivations, but I have to wonder it that might have been an actor-problem. Whether the acting was good is hard to tell as the story didn’t grip me enough to show that, or maybe even the actors themselves felt there was just something off about the show and didn’t give it exactly their best. Either way I barely paid enough attention to that as I soon grew to just watch the show out of obligation for starting it.

Overall, this was a show with much potential but filled with great disappointment. Hopefully the hint for another season shows a possibility for growth with new storyline and better acting, but if the ratings weren’t as good as I assume, then I doubt even that will come to pass. It really saddens me though that such a show somewhat flopped, but it just goes to show that expectation isn’t something one should give too much energy to when jumping into a new series.