Review | Netflix K-drama review: Bloodhounds – Woo Do-hwan, Lee Sang-yi lead breathless brawler bromance that packs a mighty punch
- Woo Do-hwan plays Kim Gun-woo and Lee Sang-yi is Wong Hoo-jin. Young amateur boxers, they meet in the ring and afterwards become fast friends
- Gun-woo uses his winnings to help his mother out of debt, but a loan shark ruins things. Helped by the latter’s foe Kim Sae-ron, the pair take on his goons
4/5 stars
Lead cast: Woo Do-hwan, Lee Sang-yi, Kim Sae-ron, Heo Jun-ho, Park Sung-woong
Netflix delivers a knockout punch with its barnstorming early summer K-drama series Bloodhounds, the tale of two fresh-faced pugilists who go up against the vilest loan shark that Korean screen entertainment has offered us in years.
The show has a serious case of the wobbles thanks to some off-screen drama in its last few episodes – more on that later – but this is a series filled with the kind of white-knuckle tension that will have you standing up in front of your TV, as though you were ringside at a prize fight.
Bloodhounds takes place at the height of the pandemic. Characters wear masks in most locales, and check in to buildings with QR codes; sporting events take place before empty stadiums.
One such event is an amateur boxing tournament, where young fighters Kim Gun-woo (Woo Do-hwan) and Hong Woo-jin (Lee Sang-yi) meet for the first time in the final. It’s an evenly matched contest of contrasting styles – Gun-woo is calm and patient, Woo-jin is brash and wild – and the latter’s bravado eventually gets the better of him.
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Following a thunderous blow to a kidney, Gun-woo wins the tourney’s 10 million won prize money, almost all of which he plans to give to his mother, whose debts are piling up while her cafe struggles during the pandemic.
He uses the remaining 50,000 won to treat himself and his beaten opponent to a meal. At an all-you-can-eat BBQ buffet, the pair, who discover they both served as marines, become firm friends.
Gun-woo’s prize money is a help, until his mother becomes an unwitting target of the cruel loan shark Kim Myeong-gil (Park Sung-woong).
She is approached with a too-good-to-be-true loan and soon Myeong-gil’s goons descend on the cafe. Gun-woo comes to the rescue and knocks them all down, until Myeong-gil’s wild-eyed top dog arrives and sends him to hospital.
Woo-jin tries to help Gun-woo get his mother out of debt, and an opportunity presents itself when the altruistic former loan shark Choi (Heo Joon-ho) puts a call out for some bodyguards to look after his hot-tempered adoptive granddaughter Kim Hyun-joo (Kim Sae-ron).
Hyun-joo has been tracking some small-time operators connected to Myeong-gil’s Smile Capital. While she’s adamant that she doesn’t need any help, Hyun-joo is eventually won over by Gun-woo’s earnestness and a new trio is formed.
Before long, the worlds of Myeong-gil and Choi will viciously collide, with this trio and a pair of Choi’s grizzled former lieutenants on the front lines.
Bloodhounds’ story is a very simple one in which the forces of good and evil stand toe to toe – there’s no murky river of grey separating them.
Though it starts out well, the show really hits its stride around episode three. By then the protagonists have thoroughly won us over, which is tantamount to torture for us viewing at home since this is clearly the kind of story where very bad things are going to happen to them.
Woo Do-hwan, of The King: Eternal Monarch, adds a bright-eyed touch to Gun-woo. His character is tough as nails, but he’s the politest pugilist you’re ever likely to meet. Early on he repeatedly bows and apologises to the belligerent drunk he’s ejecting from a bus, to applause from its other passengers.
Setting the show in a world where Covid happened is a clever touch, as it adds relatable weight to the story. Though it reaches a little, Bloodhounds draws compelling parallels between the pandemic and the financial crisis in the late 1990s that forced South Korea to turn to the International Monetary Fund for bailout funds.
It all works beautifully … until a major character suddenly disappears from the story. Kim Sae-ron was caught driving under the influence of alcohol during production of the series in 2022, a case serious enough to put her career on hold. As one of the highlights of a very engaging cast, the loss of Kim is felt acutely.
Recasting her wasn’t an option, so instead the production team appear to have rewritten the last few episodes in a rush, adding an unconvincing replacement female action lead in the form of Jung Da-eun.
There are still some terrific moments in the show’s home stretch, but one can’t help but wonder if this very good show might have been a great one.
Bloodhounds will start streaming on Netflix on June 9.
