Lee Hee-joon sets a wheel of twisted Karma in motion » Dramabeans Korean drama recaps
Lee Hee-joon sets a wheel of twisted Karma in motion
by solstices
Unraveling the tangled threads of twisted fates, Netflix’s crime thriller Karma navigates the lives of six individuals tied up by one accident that connects them all. As impulsive choices spiral into irrevocable consequences, will their paths lead them to salvation — or damnation?
The latest trailer opens upon a life insurance certificate, in which the payout of 500 million won will go to the insured’s immediate family member. In other words, it’ll be paid to the son Lee Hee-joon (Blood Free), known only as “The Debtor” for his crippling debts. The dots connect themselves in the Debtor’s mind all too easily. With a band-aid on his forehead and a plaintive smile upon his lips, the Debtor seeks out a homeless man to strike a deal. “I need you to kill someone for me,” the Debtor says placidly, as if he were merely asking for a glass of water and not patricide. “My father.”
In a hospital bunk bed, the surgeon Joo-yeon — played by Shin Mina (No Gain No Love) — jolts awake in terror, a scream echoing like a specter of the past. A case once upended the whole of Guhoe city, and it all ties back to “that man.” It seems he’s left an indelible mark on all their memories. “Don’t you remember me?” asks Joo-yeon, suggesting she recalls him all too well. Upon a hospital gurney, a man wails in agony, his entire body charred to a crisp.
Elsewhere, the screeching of tires has “The Glasses Man,” played by Lee Kwang-soo (No Way Out – The Roulette), sprinting away from his car in a panic. He’s just run someone over, and it seems a shocked Yoo-jung — played by Gong Seung-yeon (The First Responders 2) — may have been in the passenger seat. But when the Glasses Man yells at her for even thinking of reporting the accident, Yoo-jung warns him not to raise his voice, for someone might overhear.
Indeed, it seems someone has. Park Hae-soo (Narco-Saints) plays “The Witness,” who pays a visit to the Glasses Man in his fancy Gangnam office. “How could a human possibly do such a thing?” the Witness questions, his demeanor that of unnerved anguish. Then his facade drops, and he leans forward with a deliberate air. He’s not here to play the role of an upstanding citizen; he’s here to extort more money out of the hit-and-run culprit in exchange for keeping his lips sealed.
Circling back to the Debtor and his unorthodox request, the unfortunate father is met with a revving engine while the unfilial son narrates: “It needs to look like an accident.” To that, the homeless man Gil-ryong — played by Kim Sung-kyun (The Fiery Priest 2) — simply points out: “Isn’t that also murder?” Touché. Except the plan goes awry along the way, because someone secretly buries the Debtor’s father in the mountains, and his corpse is soon discovered by a passing hiker. “What have you done? You bastard,” snarls the Debtor through gritted teeth.
“Twisted by fate; doomed by destiny,” reads the chyron, followed by a montage of the incidents that inextricably bind our six individuals together. Fire billows through a crumbling building; breathneck chases ramp up the pressure; and the otherwise silent mountains are punctuated by a line of police cars. As we get one last glimpse of our main sextet, each plagued by a different — yet equally intense — emotion, Joo-yeon muses: “In life, have you ever hated someone?” As the burned man lets slip an unhinged cackle, sitting in the Debtor’s apartment, Joo-yeon gazes at her scalpel with intent: “Enough to kill someone.”
Helmed by filmmaker Lee Il-hyung (Remember, A Violent Prosecutor) in both writing and directing, the six-episode series Karma – based on the webtoon of the same name – is slated for an April 4 premiere.
Via SBS
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