두뇌공조
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Brain Works (2023) is both memorable and unmemorable. It has many fun off-beat moments, but the actual crimes and police work leave much to be desired.
Detective Geum Myung Se (Cha Tae Hyun) inadvertently causes the very public dismissal of famous neuroscientist Shin Haru (Jung Yong Hwa) after he drunkenly tells his journalist friend of his rather trying day. As it happens, Haru’s illegal behaviour is at the root of his woes.
This causes a now unemployed Haru to extend his services to the Neuroscience Department in the effort to find evidence of misconduct to ruin Detective Geum’s career. This proves increasingly difficult as it’s clear to anyone with the tiniest amount of sense that Geum Myung Se is a cutie pie to the extreme! There is not a bad bone in this man’s body. And his laugh brought me so much joy.
The concept of Haru being the complete opposite of Myung Se was fine, but it could have been explored in a far more interesting way. And while so much of the plot (especially the latter half) is hinged on Haru, his past and character development gained through the series, I found myself bored by him. I was far more attached to Myung Se and found Haru’s continuous attempts to ruin Myung Se’s life frustrating.
I found the criminal cases somewhat interesting, especially with the cute little cartoons to go alongside Haru’s scientific explanations for how people felt and why they committed the crime. However, not enough time was spent on them. There wasn’t a great balance between the comedy and serious aspects, and so much of this drama felt surface level. I think with better writing and pacing, Haru’s story could have been better portrayed for an emotional impact. It also didn’t help that Hwang Dong Woo (Jung Dong Hwan) was such a lacklustre villain. He was meant to be this incredibly charismatic man who could make murderers out of those around him and all his scenes were boring.
Again, the integral part of why I kept watching was Myung Se and those around him. Captain Seol So Jeong (Kwak Sun Young) is a very nervous and shy woman. Myung Se is quick to cheer her on and their romance was sweet and made me smile. So Jeong goes through her own personality change and while this was temporary, I truly wish that she could have learnt from that experience and been able to absorb some of the confidence she had exuded. I liked her both as confident and shy, but I did find it strange that her transition back to her introverted self was not touched upon by any character.
Myung Se’s daughter Yi Na (Kim Ah Song) and Haru’s aunt Shin Ji Hyung (Kim Soo Jin) were well written and their personalities remained consistent. This can’t be said for Myung Se’s ex-wife Kim Mo Ran (Ye Ji Won). Her personality as this sex-obsessed, ultra-feminine woman was fun and I enjoyed that she was empowered (please note: me finding her kind of iconic does not mean I condone cheating). I felt the reason for her personality change could have been reasonable, but it wasn’t done in a way that I found genuine.
Overall, this could have been very interesting. Crime dramas that have a scientific element and the ‘psychopath’ conversation tend to be darker and less accessible. There was a large amount of filler that could have been spent on better character development for Haru. The more I think on it, the more I find his character is the reason for why this is just a ‘fine’ drama. I can see myself quickly forgetting this exists, which is a shame as it’s well made and well acted.
rating: 2.8⭐️
Director: Lee Jin Seo || Screenwriter: Park Kyung Soon
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DramaRambles 🌸 
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