Inspector Koo tells a story of the titular character, Koo Kyung Yi, played by Lee Young Ae who is a recluse after unfortunate past events, who chases after a female serial killer, K, played by Kim Hye Jun.
I picked this up because it was touted as a remake of Killing Eve, and I LOVE Killing Eve. Season 1, especially. Jodie Comer as Villanelle is just sublime and I cheered when she got her well-deserved Emmy.
However, I have to say the similarities with Killing Eve are just the main plot of a female detective/inspector chasing a female serial killer. Do not go in expecting a proper remake, because I initially did and was disappointed and extremely perplexed by the show, and only managed to enjoy it when I saw it as a completely separate show. The tone of the show is very different - Killing Eve has lots of dark humour but always felt very glam with V's flashy outfits and the various locales, while Inspector Koo's humour is much quirkier and K did not feel as glam. V and K as killers are also very different in terms of their motivations and modus operandi. The investigation teams are centered around Eve in Killing Eve, and Kyung Yi in Inspector Koo, and they're both rather quirky and obsessed with hunting the serial killer, but that's about where the similarities end. And of course, it's a korean drama so no Villaneve here. There is a welcome LGBT representation with one of the side characters in Inspector Koo though.
I did enjoy the writing in Inspector Koo, and the writer clearly made an effort to develop a plot that was mostly coherent from start to end, which I appreciated. The little twists and ways that the two leads tried to one-up each other was fun as well.
Acting wise, I have seen Lee Young Ae in Dae Jang Geum (probably my first kdrama ever) and Lady Vengeance, both of which were ages ago. So I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but she nailed the part of Inspector Koo. I was surprised by how far Lee Young Ae was willing to go to portray Koo Kyung Yi, who is not a very flattering character. After the unfortunate incident regarding her husband, she has become a recluse who spends all day playing games and drinking. Her hygiene is terrible and actions are sloppy, but Lee Young Ae was committed to playing this terribly unglam character.
For Kim Hye Jun, she was the evil queen in the wonderful Netflix series Kingdom, and I recall being not too impressed, so I was pleasantly surprised by her performance in this drama. She was a bit shaky at first, but after a few episodes, I really came to believe her as K.
I liked our little investigative team as well. I am one of the few kdrama fans that haven't watched Hospital Playlist, so this was my introduction to Kwak Sun Young, and I really liked her portrayal as Na Jehee. Jo Hyunchul was hilarious as Oh Gyeongsu, Jehee's junior colleague, and Baek Sungchul was adorable as the sweet Santa. Our main villain was Director Yong, played by Kim Haesook, and wow what a departure from the last role I saw of hers which was the sweet grandmother in Start Up!
The directing of the show was probably the most unique factor. I have not quite seen a show like that and I don't quite know what to feel about it. There were certain moments that were extremely strange, like the transition from real life to video game when Kyung Yi was in a barrel rolling down the hill. I liked that it was fresh and innovative, but it still did feel a bit out of place. There was also the constant use of breaking the 4th wall by Kyung Yi. I did like the directing when the plans were being unveiled though, especially the last episode. Shout out to the lovely OST!
All in all, not a bad way to spend 12 hours at all, but don't go in expecting a Killing Eve remake.