It seems the world of the anti-hero is here to stay. In K-dramas, 2021 has served up a cornucopia of Batmanesque stories with some of the big splashes being Vincenzo, Taxi Driver, and now The Devil Judge. Out of them, The Devil Judge is very much the winner, even if Vincenzo is more pure in its anti-heroism. Both Taxi Driver and The Devil Judge are honestly just revenge stories, which of course have been churned out non-stop by Hollywood lately. While Vincenzo is the story of a man who slowly gets pulled into other characters plights, until he takes up the mantle of responsibility, thus actually following the classic hero's journey. Oddly, The Devil Judge does have this same journey, it's just not the tale of whom the show calls the Devil.

Quickly, the BASIC synopsis of The Devil Judge:

A newly appointed judge ( attractive every-man Park Jin Young) is placed as one of a triumvirate panel on a live broadcast, viewers vote in, major crime trials television show in an alternate modern day Korea. Once there, he finds himself caught in a political cat and mouse game being played by the charismatic and enigmatic central judge (Ji Sung showing how to be thrilling in a role while not going overboard). As plots unfold and more light is shown on the world around our new appointee, he finds himself confronted with traumas from his past that threaten his ideologies on what makes one a good man and if the law is truly just.

Yet, even though this is the synopsis, it is the central judge character that leads the show as if he is Gatsby to our protagonists Nick. The revenge plot of TDJ begins with Ji Sung and only pulls Park Jin Young in later and, I argue, is what ultimately causes the story to come-up short. While some heavy themes are layered into the 16 episodes covering current day crises such as virus outbreaks, vaccine practices, isolationist political leaders, racism, ethnocentrism, government corruption, fearmongering and wealth elitism, the story only deals with these issues because they are perpetrated by the same group of evil doers that our judges are seeking revenge against.

That is, the show seems to want to cover lofty ideas like changing the system, cleaning house, and bettering the world. All things we can get behind as viewers. But, it only brings them up and uses them as means of blackmailing or trapping those that selfishly escaped a fire ten years prior. The fire being the true evil act and not the long list of atrocities above. It makes TDJ come off as small. While we are dealing with presidents, ministers, and conglomerate owning villains who align in an almost Illuminati type power group, we are only after them cause they hurt the judge's family.

Also, as the TDJ makes these societal moral judgements it does so while allowing homophobia. In a scene where a punishment is handed down to a sex offender, the society-which votes for castration (Yep), is appeased when our Judge instead shows video inside of a Texas Prison for sex offenders and slides down a cell block where all the men make sexually suggestive remarks, kisses, and say they can't wait for the convicted to come join them. The courtroom erupts with applause and you hear people shout they knew the court wouldn't let them down when it came to a punishment, and our criminal all but faints saying he won't go.

Because yes, going to a prison with gay people is as bad if not worse than being castrated. Really? Note it wasn't a South Korean Prison because Koreans don't do the gay stuff that's over in the west....it was quite distasteful and caused me to pause. Remember this was done by our heroes and not the villains.

As for these villains, for a K-Drama, most are actually well portrayed. The two female villains steal the evil throne. Both being vicious, powerful, and one of which is the only evil doer of the bunch who gets their hands dirty. The male villains are much more average and mostly forgettable. That is except our good o'l Mr. President played by Baek Hyun Jin. Mr. Baek ends up falling into cartoon over-the-top territory. He chews up every scene he is in with eye roll worthy antics, that yes are based on the USA 's Donald Trump, and are just as grating. While one could argue, that was what he was supposed to do, IF you have seen Taxi Driver, you will find this EXACT SAME VILLAIN there just as a CEO instead of a PRESIDENT. Range and nuance are not on display here, which is a true pity, considering The President's character is written in a way that could have made him a truly terrifying enemy. His lust for stardom and power sends us and him on a totalitarian power grab that includes a bit of genocide. But the show always turns him into a clown instead of letting us actually fear him.

Now as I have mentioned, two of the villains are women, and they make up half of the females on display that matter. Here the program, like most K-Dramas fails its females. While, yes the BEST of the evil doers are women, that is just it, powerful women have always been portrayed in media BUT always as the villains. When we move to our two counterparts on the good side, they fair little more than a sacrificial love interest and a sidelined judge who quickly becomes the "softer side of Sears" for the televised trial program. Her role is to cry, look pretty, and be liked. Something she is happy to do as long as she is a judge fighting along side the dreamy (picture on her desk) Ji Sung.

As for our love interest, she only shows up when she needs to be there for our main male lead. Her life has been about following him around and taking care of him and even asking him to be her guy 5 times over and all 5 times him turning her down. But she still always shows up vigilant as ever in waiting. She does get the most rewarding slap to someone's face and gets to utter "Don't ever show your face to me again," in one of the strongest scenes of the series, but this strength comes with a steep price paid very soon after.

As for our male leads, the show mostly shines. From the get go Ji Sung's Yo Han is mesmerizing and terrifying. Intense, forceful, relentless, and yes beautiful, the interest he shows in our protagonist is intoxicating. That is as long as he is not theatrically grand standing in the televised trail room. Yo Han quickly establishes that he is not a good guy, but he is fighting the good fight. Flat out stating he does and will continue to do illegal acts to get what he wants because he has a goal and plan and everyone is either part of his solution or part of his problem. The character is layered with his own childhood trauma, that is further exacerbated by the aforementioned Great Church fire of 10 years past, and then burned in his skin (crucifix style) by the hate of the only people today that he has any inkling of caring. Yet, the greatest side of his character is the relationship that blooms between Yo Han and Ga On.

This relationship quickly becomes a homoerotic bromance with brotherly trimmings. Any novice YouTuber could make one of those 2 min BL videos to music without even trying with the scenes the show delivers. From staring longingly out of windows as the other frolics in the sun, redressing of wounds as one cowers over being topless, intense stares and shoulder crumpling embraces...yeah its all there. Except its all because Ga On looks like his dead older brother, which is never explained except for mere coincidence. Remember the homophobia I talked about earlier, just bringing it up again cause the show has let us know where it stands here. So now lets go back and basically have these two fall in love with each other....no homo.

Park Jin Young's Ga On is a bit more to chew on. The character is written extremely flawed, and honestly if I were asked to pick which one is the Devil, I would actually pick Ga On. You see, the Devil thinks he is right, and righteous, and is actually liberating heaven and the world from a tyrannical God. The Devil doesn't see the evil in himself. This is Ga On.

Yo Han sees his evil and knows his evil but honestly believes the means justify the end. Ga On is given to the audience as a noble bright eyed moral judge, and he believes himself this. When he begins questioning the world and himself after he falls under the thrall of Yo Han, he always comes out on the pious end. Yet, as we go through the series we learn that as a teen he was troubled, attempting to kill a man. He attempts to kill that same man again within the first half the series. He also attempts to kill two others during the show and also attempts to kill himself. He commits crimes as a judge, but somehow remains morally superior to Yo Han, and is only brought back to earth by the earnestness of his lady love. He has remorse, but then turns right around and repeats his crimes. By the shows finale Ga On has done just as many criminal and heinous acts as Yo Han, but the show tells us hes the better man. He still believes he is the better man. We are supposed to accept him being the better man. But he isn't.

This brings us to final muddled message of the show. Society and justice are a game with no true good or evil and no true right or wrong. Whoever plays the game the best decides who and what was truly just. Wealth is all that matters as it has the most influence.

Now, this isn't wrong perse, its just isn't right either. A society cannot function and operate if this is honestly what the people think of their own world.

Yet, the ending of TDJ reinforces these ideas in a final show of anarchy and nihilism. Just like Vincenzo and Taxi Driver before it, the only place for true justice is at the end of your fist. What a sad world we live in that the public, as in the show, cheers this message forward. But there is a bit of light in all the dust, and I assure you that there is entertainment and fun to be had along the path to reaching this climax whether you agree with its message or not.