Grid: Save Humans or Kill Humans?
“Grid” is a 2022 Disney+/Hulu Original Korean drama series, with 10 episodes, and categorized as a Science Fiction (Sci-Fi), Action, Crime and Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense.
♦ Even If You Are a Ghost, You Can’t Be Good and Bad
In “Grid”, a phantom or ghost is on the loose and it’s the weirdest thing. The first time the ghost appeared was to save humankind and then about 20+ years later the same ghost shows up and helps a serial killer escape the police. What gives??
Kim Sae-Ha works for the Administration Bureau. The work he and his co-workers do is top secret. He and his co-workers have been chasing a mysterious ghost for decades. Each time they get close, his boss takes whatever information they have gathered and passes it off to another group that works on top-secret assignments.
Kim Sae-Ha doesn’t understand why he and his co-workers can’t catch the ghost. Why does their work have to be passed off to another group that has not been able to catch this phantom for almost 30 years? Besides … he had a bad experience with this ghost when he was young and he wants to CLARIFICATION and CLOSURE.
Kim Sae-Ha had no idea that when he went into a convenience store he was going to cross paths with a serial killer. When he realized a crime had taken place at the store he called the police. Once he had done his part in reporting the crime, he went about his business. But later when he read the police report about the serial killer escaping he had an accomplice that vanished, and he became interested.
It seems one of the police investigators wrote that the serial killer had an accomplice who vanished into thin air. The accomplice disappeared? To anyone else that story was unbelievable. But Kim Sae-Ha knew it was the truth.
Jung Sae-Byeok is the police investigator who had a close encounter with the ghost. She and a team of police had tracked down the serial killer and were about to arrest him. Jung Sae-Byeok had the bad guy on the ground and was ready to cuff and arrest him when this caped lady showed up wearing a mask and interrupted her.
While Jung Sae-Byeok is fighting with the lady, the killer gets away! If that wasn’t frustrating enough, the hooded masked lady disappears! No! She didn’t run away, turn a corner and vanish! She literally vanished into thin air right in front of Jung Sae-Byeok‘s eyes.
When she told others that story they said she made up a wild excuse because she didn’t catch the bad guy. Jung Sae-Byeok was like “I KNOW WHAT I SAW!!”
Not only that but when Jung Sae-Byeok was fighting, the ghost was wearing a cap and it fell off her head. The lady ghost disappeared but the cap was on the ground. The cap had a strand of hair which she took to the forensics lab for analysis. Making up excuses huh? We’ll see.
The DNA results were … um??? … were … the scientist was not quite sure how to explain the results. He told Jung Sae-Byeok that it appeared to be the DNA of a dead person. A dead person’s DNA?? What gives??
Humankind is already at a disadvantage because the ghost can appear and disappear. When it appeared the first time to save humanity, nobody cared whether the ghost vanished. But now the ghost is helping serial killers escape justice. THAT’S A PROBLEM!!
Jung Sae-Byeok is a competent police investigator who happens to have a special area of expertise. She knows how to analyze biopsy evidence. She is frustrated because people from the Adminstration Bureau (AB) showed up and took all of the information about the serial killer’s case, including the DNA results.
Kim Sae-Ha was among the team members from the AB who showed up. When he was not at work, he met up with Jung Sae-Byeok privately and asked if she would work with him to catch the ghost. Without permission or approval from their superiors, they teamed up.
Jung Sae-Byeok would gather whatever evidence and information she could while doing her police work. Kim Sae-Ha would search for answers by going through the records maintained by the AB where he worked. Together they were going to catch that ghost!
Main Characters:
- The mysterious ghost (played by Lee Si-Young, “SF8: Blink”)
- Kim Sae-Ha (played by Seo Kang-Joon, “Are You Human?”)
- Jung Sae-Byeok (played by Kim A-Joong, “Live Up To Your Name”)
Viewership and Rating:
- IMDb: 6.4 out of 10 stars
- My Drama List: 7.5 out of 10 stars
- NME: 3 out of 5 stars
My personal rating is the same as My Drama List.
You might want to know why this series is titled “Grid”. “The K-drama Grid is based on the idea that a mysterious system called Grid protected humans from a deadly disaster, but then the system’s creator, Ghost (Lee Si-young), disappeared.” (Quote Source: SCMP)
To be honest the first episode went over my head all that science stuff. The setting was a dystopian world and Earth was going to get messed up by solar flares. Looked like the Sun was very angry! But at least in South Korea, they managed to get a protective Grid up and running. The intro was a little bit fuzzy for a non-science person like me.
But when the murder occurred and the police started investigating, the AB folks showed up … then I was able to follow the storyline. OK! There’s a murder. There’s a ghost. There’s something top secret the government wants to hide. Now I can follow along. LOL.
There was one thing about “Grid” that did upset me. Lots of people are trying to catch this ghost. Yet, there was a scene where the ghost leisurely strolls into a bakery and orders several desserts, sits down at a table and eats everything! She wasn’t rushed at all and took her time enjoying every bite. My mouth was watering watching her eat that cake! Then she washed the food down with a soda! That is so wrong!
Other than that scene, this K-drama series was kind of entertaining.
LINKS OF INTEREST:
- Grid review: Seo Kang-joon makes comeback in sci-fi mystery series | YAHOO! Entertainment
- Grid, starring Lee Si-young and Seo Kang-joon, a Disney+ original mystery, sends a message about saving the planet, a rarity in South Korean drama series, director says | South China Morning Post
- Good Ol’ Review: Strong Cast and Sci-Fi Adventure Carry Disney+’s Intricate “Grid” | DryedMangoez.com
- ‘Grid’ review: a cataclysmic murder mystery that stumbles in its opening | NME
TRAILERS/TEASERS:
Hulu. “Grid | Official Trailer | Hulu.” YouTube Video. YouTube, October 6, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehquzb78kcI.
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