K-Drama Bigmouth is High on Suspense and Mystery

Review of Episodes 1 and 2

Big Mouth marks the most awaited comeback of one of the extremely talented Korean actors, Lee Jong-suk. Here, the actor plays the role of an incompetent lawyer Park Chang-ho alongside Im-Yoona and Kim Joo-hun. The first two episodes lived up to the expectations and the writing by Kim Ha-ram keeps you guessing along with the other characters in the drama. The drama runs mainly on suspense and mystery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-MqNftE0BY

Lee Jong-suk’s character here, is very different from his previous roles. The actor, for the longest time has been typecast as ‘the genius’ in his drama roles. Rich or poor, he always played the role of a genius. It seems different here, because Park Chang-ho is an incompetent lawyer who is nicknamed as ‘bigmouth’ for the way he blabbers without knowing anything. But we cannot rule out the possibility that Park Chang-ho could be a genius, because the story, for the most part follows an unreliable narrative pattern.

Park Chang-ho, the protagonist is also the narrator here. But we do not know if he is telling the truth. There is some kind of mystery that this character holds. We are yet to discover his true nature in the upcoming episodes. The creators of Big Mouth have done an impressive job in leveling up the guess factor.

[Big Mouth Cast and Creditshttps://mydramalist.com/685801-big-mouse/cast]

The opening shot is pretty gloomy and dark with rain, thunder and lightning as the background. It’s all dark until we get the first glimpse of the protagonist looking outside a window. The scene becomes brighter when he turns around and sees his wife Mi-ho, played by Im Yoona. There definitely is something secretive about Park Chang-ho which we need to keep guessing and guessing.

The majority of first episode is lighter and brighter but with a bunch load of stereotypes. The chemistry seems a bit off between the three characters which form the protagonist’s family. The humor is forced and does not land organically. Acting is also very typical. Yoona’s character (Mi-ho) is very typical and has nothing new to offer. She is the female lead we see in most Korean dramas these days. Still, we do not know everything about her. There must be more to her character too, and hopefully so.

Despite its flaws, Big Mouth seems interesting. Mainly because of the ‘guess factor’ I talked about. There are definitely more to uncover. There are also the aspects of violence and pathos which makes the drama intriguing. My verdict is that the drama has the potential to keep surprising the audience and will be worth your time.

MBC’s ‘Big Mouth’ 4-minute Highlight (Lee Jong Suk, YoonA) [premieres July 29]
byu/hilllllllly inKDRAMA