Karma: Episode 1 (First Impressions) » Dramabeans
Karma: Episode 1 (First Impressions)
by SailorJumun
Netflix continues its long line of dark thrillers with Karma, a series that follows six different people somehow tied together by fate. The first episode introduces us to greed and how one man’s desperation for money turns deadly. It’s truly disturbing to watch someone lose themselves to selfish desires, but you know what they say — what goes around comes around.
Editor’s note: This is an opening review only. For a place to chat about the entire drama, visit the Drama Hangout.
EPISODE 1
Karma is the kind of show that I enjoy as a character study more than anything else. There’s no one to get attached to, no one to root for, but there’s plenty to be fascinated by. Right off the bat, I’m glued to the screen as an abandoned building is set on fire, and inside, a man (Lee Hee-joon) is tied to a chair.
Firefighters are able to rescue the man and have him taken to the hospital, where he’s treated for severe burns and smoke inhalation. Because of his injuries, he’s barely recognizable, but he does give the name Park Jae-young. This makes one doctor (Shin Mina) freeze, earning the concern of her colleague (guest appearance by Kim Nam-gil).
We jump back to fifteen days earlier. And I find it interesting that from here on out, the man supposedly named Park Jae-young is simply referred to as THE DEBTOR in the subtitles. Since it seems to be a creative choice, I’ll be referring to him as that as well.
So, the Debtor owes a hell of a lot of money to people — to his friends, to his landlord, and of course, to a loan shark. He tries to avoid all of these people, but the loan shark (Jo Jin-woong) refuses to be ignored and barges into his apartment.
The Debtor gives his excuses and, unsatisfied, the loan shark knocks him out and takes him to his place of service. There, the loan shark shows him another debtor being “operated” on for organs. And if the Debtor doesn’t come up with the money in the next thirty days, he’ll have the same fate.
Once the Debtor is let go, he goes about his daily business, and he witnesses a co-worker threaten their boss with a knife after being let go. This co-worker is a Korean-Chinese man named JANG GIL-RYONG (Kim Sung-kyun), and he leaves quite the impression on the Debtor.
To the Debtor’s annoyance, he’s called back to his hometown to take care of his father, who’s been in a minor car accident. Even in this instance, we see how greedy and uncaring the Debtor is — the first thing he does is weasel money out of the driver who hit his dad.
The dad’s church friend (and maybe girlfriend) comes by to visit, which is the Debtor’s cue to leave. He goes to his dad’s house to retrieve some clothes, and while there, he stumbles upon Dad’s life insurance policy… Oh boy. The wheels start turning and a plan starts forming.
The alley by Dad’s church doesn’t have any CCTV, so it’d be the perfect place for an accident. And the Debtor knows that his former co-worker Gil-ryong is also in need of money and will probably do anything, including kill, to get it. It’s scary how easily this all comes together, how easily he quite literally throws his dad under the bus.
The Debtor approaches Gil-ryong with this proposition, offering a nice chunk of change (but lying about the overall amount). Gil-ryong isn’t stupid, though, and when he finds out how much the dad’s insurance really is, he demands much more. They finally come to an agreement, but the way Gil-ryong looks back at the Debtor makes me nervous.
On the night the accident is supposed to happen, the Debtor works on his alibi. He has dinner with a friend, and then he goes to several public places and makes sure that the workers remember he was there. Meanwhile, the dad is leaving church, walking down the dark alleyway, when a car revs up and runs him over.
The following day, the Debtor gets the call that his father has indeed passed away. For a second, as he tears up, I wonder if he’s actually sad. And maybe part of him is, but I read it mostly as relief. He practices more grieving sobs in a bathroom before going down to the police station and fully hamming it up.
As the Debtor fake cries, the police officer gently reveals that they suspect foul play. He explains that there was a witness who saw the dad get hit and who found the driver’s actions suspicious. The Debtor nearly breaks character when he finds out that the witness was his dad’s church friend.
The Debtor tries to bring it back to the possibility of it being an accident, but the officer is sure that it’s not. The witness aside, there’s also the fact that the dad’s body was later found buried in the mountains. When the officer leaves, the Debtor’s face shifts into anger — what kind of trouble has Gil-ryong left him in?
I mean, are we really surprised that this murder plot didn’t go as planned? In the rush to get things done, the Debtor and Gil-ryong didn’t exactly work out all the details. It could just be that Gil-ryong was trying to be more efficient by getting rid of the body… but something’s not right here. I definitely get the sense that there’s so much more going on and that shit’s about to get crazy.
Like I mentioned before, I do not like these characters. The Debtor is selfish and slimy, Gil-ryong is cold and calculating, and who knows what the next few characters will be like. But, knowing that the Debtor and the others are going to get a healthy dose of karma, it makes the viewing process a lot easier. Depending how things play out, it could be extremely satisfying.
I’d say that the episode’s cliffhanger hooked me, but in reality, I was hooked after the first five minutes. The show did a great job of setting the tone and creating intrigue with the building fire and with Shin Mina’s brief appearance. Why did her character react that way to the patient’s name? How does she know them? How will any of these characters know each other? I guess we’ll have to put the rest of the puzzle pieces together to find out.
RELATED POSTS
