Review: 'Unmasked'

South Korean television is increasingly popular in the United States, but most of the best-known shows are either zombie/dystopian dramas, crime shows or some variation in the classic ninja genre.

But South Korea produces a wide range of programs and one of the reasons why some other types of programming have struggled to find an American audience is that - big surprise - South Korea is not the United States. For instance, their comedies tend to be have specific cultural references that are hard to fathom with an American point of view. 

Given that, I'm interested to see what American audiences think of Unmasked, a new drama that was produced by Disney+ Asia. It has a tone and style that more closely resembles Kolchak The Night Stalker and Brooklyn Nine-Nine than it does a traditional drama series. And while I enjoyed the first two episodes of the series (new episodes are released each Wednesday on Hulu), the show has an over-the-top comedic flair that takes awhile to appreciate.



The series follows the exploits of investigative journalists working at an embattled television news program called "Trigger." Veteran actress Kim Hye-soo plays lead investigator and host Oh So Ryong, and if she looks familiar, you might have seen her in the 2022 Netflix historical drama Under The Queens Umbrella.

Oh So Ryong is a relentless boss who is a sometimes off-putting combination of driven to get the story at all costs while also only sort of listening to feedback from her crew and network bosses. Trigger is battling through a period of bad ratings and in episode one, the show tries to nail down the story of a cult leader who abuses his followers by injecting them with a so-called "zombie" drug. At the same time, they struggle to find "Dr Trigger," the insider who has been leaking the team’s personal stories, as well as solve a twenty-year-old cold case involving a famous actor who disappeared without a trace. And did I mention there is also a cat killer on the loose?

Oh So Ryong is having trouble nailing down the story and even worse, she's lost her head cameraman/producer after he is alleged to have had an affair with a co-worker. That reaction alone is a pretty solid indication that South Korean society is a lot different than it is here in America. He's replaced by Han-Do (Jung Sung-il), who had recently been fired from his job at a daytime soap after he is rumored to have urinated on his boss. Han-Do is moody yet charming, and while he loves kids and animals, he despises most adults. But his character is a nice balance against Oh So Ryong, and in fact, he comes close to stealing every scene he's in.



Unlike the typical K-drama, Unmasked leans into the paranormal and sexual topics that are often censored in more mainstream shows. Director Yoo Sun Dong (The Uncanny Counter) does a masterful job of giving the show a frantic, yet very distinctive visual style. There are moments when the broad physical comedy comes close to derailing the show, but then it easily shifts into a more grounded part of the storyline.

Since I've only seen two episodes of Unmasked, it's hard to predict how I'll feel about the show by season's end. But so far, Unmasked is a much-needed fresh take on the crime-solving drama genre.

New episodes of Unmasked premiere every Wednesday on Hulu.