By Jae-Ha Kim
jaehakim.com
December 23, 2021
Han Yun-Jae (played by Gong Yoo)
Dr. Song (played by Bae Doona)
Captain Ryo (played by Lee Joon)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.
With a cast that includes Bae Doona (“Kingdom“) and Gong Yoo (“Train to Busan“), “The Silent Sea” — which premieres tomorrow (December 24) on Netflix — has been one of the most anticipated K-dramas of 2021.
The ambitious production is based on director Choi Hang-Yong’s graduation project during his student days at Korea National University of Arts. His short film, also titled “The Silent Sea,” debuted in 2014 at the Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival in South Korea. A longer version of that film may have fared better than this eight-episode series, which feels unnecessarily long at times.
This action-adventure sci-fi series is set during a time when water is so scarce that it’s a precious, rationed commodity. The more privileged you are, the more access you have to as much H20 as you’d like. Dr. Song, a scientist, is one of these chosen few. Exploration leader Yun-Jae — whose young daughter desperately needs water to heal from the illness that has her hospitalized — is not.
Both are selected to travel to the base of the moon to recover research from the previous mission, which inexplicably left the entire team dead. Once they get there, Dr. Song and Yun-Jae discover what killed the previous exploration team and realize they’re endangered as well.
I had high hopes for this series. The premise is intriguing and there are not a lot of Korean dramas set in space. And the cast is stellar, especially the leads, who provide the gravitas that their roles require.
I get that the showrunners don’t want to reveal everything at once. But the first episode should set the tone for what’s to come. Unfortunately, the first hour is slow in both pace and plot development. If this wasn’t a Bae Doona/Gong Yoo series, I may have stopped before seeing this series through — which would’ve been a shame, because each episode does get better, as motives are revealed, action sequences ramp up and the villains-among-us subplot fleshes out.
Netflix regulars: K-drama fans who watch a lot of Netflix will recognize many familiar faces. Heo Sung-Tae (“Squid Game,” “Beyond Evil“) plays a bureaucrat. Gil Hae-Yeon, who is so good at playing insufferable characters (“One Spring Night,” “Beyond Evil”) that I’ve grown to be suspicious of anyone she portrays in a Netflix series — including her ringleader role here. And two of the mission members are played by Kim Sun-Young (“Crash Landing on You,” “Reply 1988“), who portrays a medical doctor, and former MBLAQ idol Lee Joon (“Bulgasal: Immortal Souls”), who turns in a great performance as the mission’s lead engineer.
“The Monkey’s Paw“: My son’s English literature class recently read W.W. Jacobs’ “The Monkey’s Paw,” which is about a family that is granted three wishes. What they don’t realize is that for each wish granted, there is a devastating price to pay. I thought about that short story as I watched “The Silent Sea.” The answer to Earth’s problems seems be at the lunar station. But what they find is deadly.
Auld Lang Syne: Though I have other articles that are scheduled to run after this review goes live, this is the last piece I plan on writing in 2021. If you watch “The Silent Sea,” I hope you’ll share your views in the comments below or on social media. You know where to find me. Happy holidays, everyone. See you in 2022!
Airdates: Netflix will release eight episodes — each about 50-minutes or less — on December 24, 2021.
Do you want to read more about K-dramas?: Check out my picks for the Top 11 K-dramas of 2021, my reported piece about how K-dramas portray adoptees, and my overview of Korean dramas and films.
Spoiler Alert: After this series premieres on Netflix tomorrow, I may come back and add some more spoilers here.
© 2021 JAE-HA KIM | All Rights Reserved
okay I wouldn’t trust anything this Jae-Ha Kim writes anymore. I just viewed her(?) review of guardian the lonely and great god and welp, nahh. Not my The Silent Sea heart
Did you find any factual errors and therefore have a lack of trust? Or just a difference of opinion? But I know what you mean: there are some critics whose opinions are the exact opposite of mine, and that’s fine.
You gave Goblin 3.5 our of 4 stars. Does she hate Goblin or what is she trying to say? lol Also your Silent Sea review is on point. It could’ve been so much better than it was. What a waste of talen.
Why? Because she talks about how indecent it is for a man who presents as middle aged to be in a romantic relationship with a high school student? Just say you don’t care about children. That was a disgusting aspect of the plot.
I agree. But these weirdos think anything their faves do is appropriate. I couldn’t finish watching Goblin once I saw where it was headed.
If Gong Yoo wasn’t in it, I would’ve stopped watching. It was not great. I fell asleep at one point. That never happens with a Gong Yoo series, until this one.
Everyone wants another “Squid Game’ and that’s unfair. The problem is that once these big companies got involved, Kdramas just aren’t like Kdramas, but are more like westernized dramas and I have no interest in watching those. This, Dr. Brain, they were awful. Such a disappointment!
Well, that’s 8 hours I’ll never be getting back. What a waste of space. Yes, pun intended. Korea still hasn’t figured out how to do Sci Fi well.
It wasn’t that bad but it certainly wasn’t good either.
The review was fair. I think I liked this a little more than you, but it is not the best Gong Yoo vehicle.
People are complaining about all the negative reviews of this series. Maybe there are a lot of negative reviews because it’s not that good. I would’ve given this 1 star if that tbh.