If this wasn't a time-travel drama and this character was a detective from the present time, it'll still work just fine. Instead, he adapts to the modern world so well. By this I mean that he could've possessed old-school yet surprisingly useful methods that help with the modern crime-solving process, or rather appear really countrified that he looks funny. The main character who time-travels lacks a lot of 'oldies' qualities I expected to see from its premise. I just think that they could've made use of this theme much more – or dropped that idea completely. Of course, the 'tunnel' and the time-traveling play a part in this story. It's still too bad that after all those satisfying second half, I still don't see the point of making this a time-traveling drama. By the end of the series, I was more satisfied than I thought when I went through the first half. The last phase of the drama, episode 13-16, cools down a lot, but it still keeps playing with the main story. There is a surprising amount of improvements from character development to story revelations. These are the most exciting and suspenseful 4 episodes in my opinion. From then on until episode 12, the pace of the drama suddenly changes in a good way. I believe that the story picks up around episode 8. Apart from that, the main characters are good at their job, so the one-case-one-episode is averagely fun on its own. However, the length of 7 episodes of doing that is painfully long – 44% in and there's still no progress whatsoever. As soon as our main detective Park Kwang Ho arrives in 2016, Tunnel plays that card.įor character introduction purposes, not touching on the main plot for a short while is totally okay.

If you have seen American series (police or crime series in particular), you'll know how they start an episode with one case and ends it within that episode, and nothing from that episode will affect the next episode at all. Each episode from 1 to 7 wasn't bad they just didn't add up into a good 7-hour experience for me. Rewatch Value 7.0 While most people claimed they lost interest in the second half of the series, I found the first half very plain and the second half better – which led me to give it an 8/10 overall when it could've been as low as a 6/10 up until episode 7. I recommend giving it a try, but be ready to be at the edge of your seat each episode, and be warned that you'll probably spend sixteen hours in front of your screen because it's hard to stop watching one you start. 'Tunnel' is not a perfect drama but it's a good addition to the ever-growing crime genre in Korean dramas. The ending wasn't as sharp as it could've been, and it wasn't unique like how I would've wanted it (but I do like sad and torturous endings), but it was a heart-warming one. It was hard for me to get through episode fourteen but I'm glad I did. This drama's weakness comes towards the end, just like 'Voice', it began to fizzle out, with too many police stupidities and too many instances of Park Kwang Ho, the main character, just yelling 'bastard' over and over. Sharp, smart, and unrelenting, she was a great female character that held my attention alongside the male duo. One of the things that stood out to me in this one was the main female lead, something that I've disliked with OCN's dramas are their stupid and useless female characters (though, to be honest the rest of kdramaland is no better), however, Shin Jae Yi has been the exception for me. In my opinion, 'Signal' was a better crafted drama with less plot-holes/the-police-is-too-dumb moments, however 'Tunnel' is still a drama that deserves a chance.

If you've watched 'Signal' (if you haven't - what are you doing?!), you might think that the premise sounds a bit familiar, though the dramas don't have that much in common. Alas, I stuck through and I'm glad I did. I was unfamiliar with the leading actors, and was unsure after the first episode. Rewatch Value 7.5 I'll be honest - I picked up this drama because I'm an OCN fangirl, and I'll do the same for the one after it.

Signal kdrama review