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Pierce Conran

This article contains spoilers.
3/5 stars
Lead cast: Cho Jin-woong, Yoo Jae-myung, Kim Mu-yeol, Yum Jung-ah, Lee Kwang-soo
With its rotating roster of characters and dizzying series of twists, the creators of No Way Out: The Roulette could never be accused of taking the easy way out.


However, breathless though this punchy crime thriller undoubtedly is, the failure to follow through on story threads results in diminishing returns over the course of its eight episodes.
This began with the show’s introductory conceit, of a masked man compelling people to inflict bodily harm on criminals for financial rewards in videos where he spins a customised roulette wheel. Yoon Chang-jae (Lee Kwang-soo, Live), the first target, has his ear sliced off by someone who is then paid a billion won (US$758,000).
The plot thickens during the investigation when the attacker accidentally dies while being chased by cash-strapped Detective Baek Joong-sik (Cho Jin-woong, Signal), who finds the money and stashes it away for himself.
Things kick into high gear when the masked man spins his roulette wheel again. This time, the needle drops on the name of notorious rapist and murderer Kim Guk-ho (Yoo Jae-myung, Itaewon Class), who is about to be released from jail. The prize money is now 20 billion won and anyone who wants to claim it must kill Guk-ho.

In the pandemonium that ensues, Joong-sik is assigned to Guk-ho’s protective detail, an assignment that no one on the force is keen to take on. While dealing with the shifty Guk-ho’s demands and hiding his new-found fortune from his colleagues, Joong-sik is soon tracked down by Chang-jae, who believes that the money rightfully belongs to him.
Following this exciting opening flurry, No Way Out: The Roulette expands its scope to include a number of other characters who come crawling out of the woodwork thanks to Guk-ho’s headline-grabbing infamy.
These include the hotshot lawyer Lee Sang-bong (Kim Mu-yeol, Sweet Home season 2), who offers his services to Guk-ho; local mayor Myeong-ja (Yum Jung-ah, Sky Castle), who sees an opportunity to boost her poll numbers before a coming election; and the assassin known as Mr Smile (Taiwanese actor Greg Hsu Kuang-han).
Each larger than life than the last, these characters chew up the screen while they are on it but do not have a lasting impact on the story and leave it as abruptly as they entered it.

Also stepping into the spotlight, but more anchored to the story, are Guk-ho’s conflicted son Seo Dong-ha (Sung Yoo-bin, Mr. Sunshine) and Sung Joon-woo (Kim Sung-cheol, Sweet Home), the handsome but suspicious pastor of a church.
Dong-ha is a promising young violinist who has an opportunity to study abroad, but the presence of his father and the effect it has on his poor mother prevents him from boarding the plane with a clear conscience.
As a not-quite corrupted youth, Dong-ha offers a refreshing contrast to the other amoral or villainous characters in the show.
When evidence appears linking the masked man to Joon-woo’s church, it is immediately obvious that he must be the man behind the mask. It is so telegraphed that you would be forgiven for expecting it to be a red herring, but this show moves a little too quickly for that kind of narrative subterfuge.
Joon-woo has a dark backstory and his twisted game turns out to be an elaborate act of revenge. Cackling and sneering like a madman when not pretending to be a good Christian in front of his congregation, his character leaves much to be desired.

Although never less than engaging and always easy to follow, thanks to a strong sense of spacing and the clear and crafty direction of filmmaker Choi Kook-hee (Default), in the end, No Way Out: The Roulette is not able to live up to its early promise.
The narrative is dynamic but lacks surprise, and the characters are largely performative caricatures. One or the other could be overcome, but not both, and the series steadily sinks under the weight of its superficial busyness.
Furthermore, some of the best elements, such as the vivacious constable Park Eun-jeong (Oh Woo-ri, A Killer Paradox), who aids Joong-sik in his investigation, are carelessly cast aside when the show would have benefited from lifting them up.
As with many recent Korean streaming series, No Way Out: The Roulette makes a big effort to set up a second season, which as yet has not been confirmed.

No Way Out: The Roulette is streaming on Disney+.


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While the show started off strong, it is bogged down with hammy characters and a plot so superficial that it flounders under its own weight


Although engaging, an overabundance of hammy characters and a superficial, twisty narrative means the series steadily sinks under the weight of its own story. Will we see a season two?


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An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


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.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}While the show started off strong, it is bogged down with hammy characters and a plot so superficial that it flounders under its own weight

While the show started off strong, it is bogged down with hammy characters and a plot so superficial that it flounders under its own weight