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Cha Tae-hyun as Geum Myung-se in a still from Korean comedy drama Brain Works, streaming on Viu.

K-drama Brain Works: Cha Tae-hyun, Jung Yong-hwa lead duff procedural comedy-drama

  • With its regressive gender stereotypes, toilet humour and a messy plot, Brain Works is unlikely to be remembered as a classic, but still has time to improve
  • The series is similar to another Korean drama series, Ghost Doctor, in portraying two men with clashing egos who warm to each other

There’s a scene in the second episode of Brain Works, a new investigative comedy-drama starring Cha Tae-hyun and Jung Yong-hwa, in which a character’s ex-wife launches into a pole-dancing routine on a street lamp in broad daylight to seduce a middle-aged stranger she’s barely made eye contact with.

This is Kim Mo-ran, who earlier in the show is helpfully labelled as being in possession of a “hypersexual” brain.

The other main female character is Seol So-jung, the klutzy and mousy forensic hypnosis investigator who is the junior member of the newly formed Neuroscientific Investigation Team. So-jung, who has an “anxious” brain, wears oversized spectacles and cowers before all the men in the show – when she isn’t busy getting stuck in dustbins.

Mo-ran is played by Ye Ji-won of Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol, a respected actress known for her frequent collaborations with director Hong Sang-soo, while So-jung is portrayed by Kwak Sun-young, who recently impressed with powerful turns in Inspector Koo and Behind Every Star.

Given the regressive stereotypes they are called upon to represent here, neither is likely to remember Brain Works as a high point of their screen career.

Of course, Ye and Kwak are merely the co-stars of Brain Works and play second fiddle to Cha and Jung. The former portrays perpetually aggrieved middle-aged police officer Geum Myung-se, the lead detective in the Neuroscientific Investigation Team, ex-husband of Mo-ran and father of surly teen Yi-na (Kim Ah-song).

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Despite his ill humour and bad manners, Myung-se is generously labelled as having an “altruistic brain”. His generosity occasionally shines through, such as when he loans money to a local restaurant owner in danger of going under, but these moments are exceptions.

Jung, previously seen in Sell Your Haunted House, plays Shin Ha-ru, a supercilious superstar neuroscientist who works at the Brain Hub laboratory. Ha-ru, who is exceptionally conceited, possesses an “extraordinary” brain, and boy does he know it.

Myung-se and Ha-ru aren’t a good match to say the least, but after a disastrous first encounter, fate and pettiness conspire to bring them together when Ha-ru joins the Neuroscientific Investigation Team as a consultant.

Jung Yong-hwa as neuroscientist Shin Ha-ru in a still from Brain Works.

The team’s first case involves a middle-aged rock star who collapses and dies of a sudden brain haemorrhage in the middle of a concert. The musician was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at a young age and underwent deep brain stimulation surgery to reduce his hand tremors but, as a result, could no longer play guitar.

He bought a high-frequency bracelet to keep playing guitar on stage, and asked his wife to operate it, but during the concert someone raised the frequency too high, killing him. Was it his wife, or did someone else, such as his manager or personal doctor, hack the app controlling the device?

What is actually a pretty simple murder case is dressed up with an unlikely collection of medical conditions and procedures, including the rare Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome – an illness brought on by alcoholism – from which the musician’s wife suffers.

This is used to turn the character into a nervous wreck, adding to the show’s troubling female characterisations.

Kwak Sun-young as forensic investigator Seol So-jung in a still from Brain Works.

Ha-ru is initially contacted to consult on the case, but before he has a chance to do so he uses Myung-se as a dummy to fool some colleagues while he dissects a notorious serial killer’s brain.

Myung-se gains an ugly bald patch for his troubles and isn’t quick to forgive. He makes a drunken complaint to a journalist pal, which leads to an article that ultimately gets Ha-ru sacked by the Brain Hub board.

Looking to get even, Ha-ru volunteers as a full-time consultant for the Neuroscientific Investigation Team. When Myung-se is dumbfounded to bump into him in the team office, Ha-ru cuts to the chase, saying: “I’ll stay glued to you and chew you to pieces.”

Jung Yong-hwa as Shin Ha-ru in a still from Brain Works.
In this way the show is reminiscent of last year’s Ghost Doctor, another show about two men with clashing egos who warm to each other over time.

With its mix of confrontational office comedy and episodic investigation, Brain Works is light and undemanding entertainment, but sadly marred by its regressive gender stereotypes.

The show doesn’t make a great effort to distinguish itself from similar fare aired previously, and this is particularly noticeable in the case of Cha. The My Sassy Girl actor has been playing the exact same character for the past few years, in shows like Team Bulldog: Off-Duty Investigation and Police University.
Cha Tae-hyun as Geum Myung-se in a still from Brain Works.

In between bouts of toilet humour, it’s hard to tell if Myung-se’s disaffected countenance is a part of a performance or a symptom of Cha’s fatigue with playing the same role over and over again.

There’s some amusement to be had watching Myung-se and Ha-ru at loggerheads, and if we give the show the benefit of the doubt, perhaps Mo-ran and So-jung will become more nuanced characters over time. But for the moment at least, Brain Works has a lot of ground to make up.

Brain Works is streaming on Viu.

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