Hunter with a Scalpel Park Joo-hyun teams up with Kang Hoon
Hunter with a Scalpel Park Joo-hyun teams up with Kang Hoon
by solstices
The bait has been cast for Hunter with a Scalpel, U+ Mobile TV’s crime-thriller centered upon a forensic pathologist — and the corpses that her murderer of a father sends to her autopsy table. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Choi Yi-do, this drama isn’t for the faint of heart.
A back alley, shrouded in the shadows of nightfall. A girl, standing frozen under the dim glow of a street lamp. “Se-eun,” a man’s voice calls out. Our lonesome protagonist is Seo Se-hyun — no longer Se-eun, it seems — played by Park Joo-hyun (Perfect Family). Fleeting vignettes of long-buried childhood memories flash past, offering a glimpse of a doll being stitched up. Then the voice reminds her it’s time to leave for a business trip, but the disquieting lilt in its tone suggests this work is of no ordinary nature. A gloved hand grasps a scalpel engraved with Se-hyun’s initials. The thread turns red, as if suturing a wound.
An ill omen, perhaps, because a grisly crime shakes the city. The corpse of a woman in her twenties has been discovered at the break of dawn, calling forth a perturbed Kang Hoon (Dear Hyeri) to the scene. He’s Jung Jung-hyun, the chief of the Violent Crimes unit who believes in the innate goodness of human nature. But this particular case might just shake his faith. Dubbed the “murder of a tailor” by social media, there’s no doubt that it’s the work of someone with experience under their belt. For one, the crime scene is far too clean, without even a speck of evidence left behind. It isn’t the culprit’s first killing.
That’s how Jung-hyun joins hands with the genius forensic pathologist Se-hyun, entrusting the victim to her capable hands. Picking up her trusty scalpel — the one etched with her initials — Se-hyun begins her work. But a horrible surprise awaits her. Carved into the cadaver are marks that look all too familiar. It’s a message from the murderer; after all, serial killers are prone to showing off. Sure enough, Se-hyun recognizes the signs. As the chyrons point out, they’re none other than the work of her very own father.
Holding a finger to his lips in a shushing motion, Park Yong-woo (Tracer) levels a threatening glare, his face marred with blood that isn’t his own. This is Yoon Jo-gyun, the murderer who fathered Se-hyun. Judging by their differing surnames, it’s safe to say that she’s cut all ties with her abomination of a father — but he’s crawled out of the woodwork, and this leopard certainly hasn’t changed its spots.
“Do you truly have nothing to tell me?” asks Jung-hyun, as if he knows more about Se-hyun than he lets on. Might that concern the torn photo of a young child that Se-hyun held up for Jung-hyun to see in the autopsy room, thoroughly bloodstained as if it was pulled from the victim’s corpse? Or perhaps it has to do with the composite sketch derived from that photo, which looks eerily like a grown-up Se-hyun? Either way, tension stretches taut as father and daughter come face to face at last — and then Se-hyun lunges at Jo-gyun, scalpel in hand. The moment of impact isn’t shown — all we see is Se-hyun in her father’s arms. A deadly embrace, mayhaps. “Welcome home,” murmurs Jo-gyun. “My daughter.”
Helmed by director Lee Jung-hoon (Ms. Ma, Nemesis) — with scripts penned in a collaborative effort by Jo Han-young, Park Hyun-shin, Hong Yeon-yi, and Jin Se-hyuk — Hunter with a Scalpel is slated for a June 16 release and will also release on Disney+.
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