Photo credits: Coupang Play

[Review] One Ordinary Day

We’re back with a new K-Drama Review, this time about ‘One Ordinary Day’. The series premiered on Coupang Play, which is surprisingly an e-commerce platform. 

‘One Ordinary Day’ is based on the English 2008 series ‘Criminal Justice’ written by Peter Moffat. The script was adapted for the Korean version by Kwon Soon-Gyu who wrote series like ‘The Royal Gambler’, ‘Jung-Yi, Goddess of Fire’ and ‘Warrior Baek Dong Soo’.

The drama was directed by Lee Myung-Woo who directed the much-talked about series ‘Backstreet Rookie’. 

Plot

Student Kim Hyun-Soo (Kim Soo-Hyun)  is on the way to a party in the taxi of his father when Hong Gook-Hwa steps in the car. They spend the night together doing drugs and having sex. When Kim Hyun-Soo wakes up in the morning, it is to the stabbed corpse of Gook-Hwa. 

In his shock, he leaves the building with the knife they had used to play a game. However he gets stopped by the police for a breathalyser test. After a bunch of mishaps, he gets escorted to the police station.

That’s where they discover the knife he still had in his pocket. The cops see him as the main suspect. 

The series focuses on two parts. There’s the court case with his lawyer Shin Joong-Han (Cha Seung-Won). The second part is Kim Hyun-Soo’s time in the prison where he has to navigate between gang affiliations. 

Verdict

‘One Ordinary Day’ takes you on a ride between the guilty or innocent verdict. Hyun-Soo maintains that he is innocent, but sometimes the evidence makes us think otherwise. 

It’s very interestingly put together, though I do feel like the ending episode was a bit of a let down. I wish they had approached it a bit differently. Though it must be a bit similar to how the protagonist is feeling. 

The very last moment we get to see actress Kim You-Jung in a holding cell. Shin Joong-Han approaches her to give her his card, it seems that there might be a second season. 

I don’t want to give away too much of the full plot, because the constant questioning is part of the show. I can tell you this though, if you’re into crime series at all and you like a good whodunnit, then definitely give this a chance

Go ahead and check out the trailer below.

A writer with a slight coffee addiction and a tendency to find K-Indie gems in the YouTube rabbit hole.