More Drama, Less Substance
Abyss returns for its second half of its double bill of episodes this week, picking up right where it left off from before. Se-Yeon and Prosecutor Seo drive off together after we gain a brief glimpse into how they came to be in the same car. He tells Se-Yeon he has news regarding the Oh-Yeong case and she agrees to follow him. However this happens to be a ploy to get Se-Yeon alone. Thankfully, she gets a text from Cha Min that confirms Seo is the kidnapper. Stopping at a nearby restroom, she locks herself in the bathroom, trembling as Cha Min races to the scene. When he arrives, Seo is gone and a grateful Se-Yeon launches herself into his arms. From here, Cha and Se-Yeon continue to grow closer together, with Cha taking her home and showing her his secret hideout. We see a glimpse of Cha’s family life too in a flashback before our two characters share a moment where they almost kiss before the secret door swings back round again, leading to an awkward moment involving Cha’s Aunt. Meanwhile, Oh-Yeong is transferred, but not before he manages to blackmail the judge. They arrive at Go Se-Yeon’s house where he re-enacts the murder in a nonchalant manner, angering some of the other detectives. On the way back to the prison he asks to stop in order to use the toilet but after some time passes, the Detective rushes in, realizing he’s taken pills and is currently unconscious. Bundling him into the car, they rush him to hospital although this is all an elaborate ploy to break Oh free. In a flashback we see as much, with Oh-Yeong staging this whole operation in order to break him out of prison. Meanwhile Se-Yeon and Cha grow closer together, sharing extra time in Cha’s secret hideout. After a particularly difficult moment involving Cha’s mum, Dong calls him, telling him about Oh Yeong and warning that Se-Yeon shouldn’t go outside. However, she has headphones on and doesn’t hear Cha calling her. As it happens, Oh-Yeong is already there and with bloody hands, he stalks her while the abyss glows in his pocket. Once again Abyss ends with a big cliffhanger but little substance beforehand to really get us excited up until this point. Sure there’s some good drama and a few decent comedic bursts but as I’ve said before, Abyss can’t quite decide what sort of show it wants to be. Right now it feels like a mix between a crime thriller and a quirky comedic romance, ignoring a lot of the sci-fi elements that made it so endearing to begin with. We’ve seen little of the abyss or any of its previous rules either and since this mysterious ball has shifted over to Oh-Yeong, it’s really taken the proverbial sting out of this one. Abyss continues its lackadaisical approach to storytelling here and it’s a real shame, there’s definitely potential but right now it’s difficult to know where that spark of imagination is going to come from. We’ve got 3 weeks left of this Korean drama and Abyss is looking set to be one of the more disappointing shows of the year.
