First Impressions: “Lookout” Promises Action, Humor, And Thrills With Soon-To-Be Vigilante Crew

A dominating trend in this summer season’s lineup of dramas has got to be the crime-solving story. MBC wants in on the action with the new drama “Lookout,” which promises the whole package: romance, comedy, action, thriller, and crime. It’s a vigilante drama about a motley crew of people who all have one thing in common — they have experienced a great loss. These people band together to form a group that seeks justice.

Plot

Jo Su Ji (Lee Si Young) is a badass detective who drives motorcycles and beats criminals by day and becomes a doting, single mom at night. Everything is going smoothly, and she can balance her multiple roles pretty breezily (just like all tiger moms out there), until one unknown man suddenly barges into the police station wielding a knife, proclaiming that he’s the one responsible for a murder that occurred more than 10 years ago. He confesses to his sins because “someone is watching him,” and that person is threatening to expose his wrongdoings to his wife and daughter. This puts the prosecutor who convicted the wrong person in a bad light, especially when the media is on a tight watch. Enter Jang Do Han (Kim Young Kwang), a budding prosecutor whose senior was the one who did the mistaken prosecution. He does everything he can to disrupt the investigation and ultimately keep his and his senior’s reputation intact.

Meanwhile, Jo Su Ji gets entangled in her job, which makes her break promises to be with her daughter, Yuna. An unfortunate accident happens to Yuna, but is it really an accident? Su Ji employs the help of Kim Eun Joong (Kim Tae Hoon), a righteous prosecutor who is obviously in love with her, to find out.

Elsewhere, two mysterious characters, Seo Bo Mi and Gong Kyung Soo (played by Kim Seul Gi and Key), are hacking a computer system for reasons we don’t know, but it seems they have the key to information that can shed light on unsolved and difficult crimes.

Cast

Fact: Lee Si Young is a title-winning amateur boxer who represented Korea in the sport. She means business, and an action crime thriller is right up her alley. It’s amazing how she can play feminine roles and switch to tough femme fatale characters with such ease. She’s perfect for her character Jo Su Ji, a lonely detective who does overnight stakeouts and runs after criminals so she can make the world a safer place for her daughter. She doesn’t have a husband, and judging by her devil-may-care attitude, it seems like she has no plans of dating anyone at all.

Kim Young Kwang always plays the composed, level-headed, handsome, and princely characters, but this time, there’s a lot about him that’s not what it seems. He, in the role of Jang Do Han, is part silly, part arrogant, part smart, and a whole lot of good looks, of course. He’s a prodigy prosecutor who basically didn’t finish school but passed every qualification exam with flying colors. He’s known as the man who came from nothing and rose to the top. With his fancy car, tailored suit, and expensive molecular $400 gourmet meals, he’s a really good catch. He’s got it all, and he’s social media savvy, too! But behind his alluring exterior lies a deep secret (don’t they always?) and a hidden agenda. It’s great to see him get out of his romantic drama roles and try something a bit different.

Hashtag blessed!

Though Kim Tae Hoon is known for playing nefarious and serious characters, this time he plays the good guy — too good in fact. He’s a prosecutor who follows and does everything by the book. But there’s one thing that makes him fumble: Jo Su Ji, who’s completely clueless about his one-sided love.

Key’s and Kim Seul Gi’s characters are so far the most intriguing ones. Key is a genius hacker, while Seul Gi is a “shut in” (a person who has a social disorder and has a fear of going out of the house) who navigates the world through CCTV cameras. And yes, they wear a LOT of hoodies. How they will interact with the other characters is something we can all look forward to.

Lead characters

When it comes to the interactions between Su Ji (Lee Si Young) and Jang Do Han (Kim Young Kwang), it’s going to be a cat-and-mouse relationship for sure. They couldn’t be any more different. Su Ji is the hardworking, practical mom whose every minute is valuable, while Do Han is the prosecutor who has a lot of time on his hands to make a flat lay of his expensive meals and brag about it on Instagram. He is all about pretenses, and she is no-nonsense. But, as in most K-dramas, opposites attract, although if it involves injustice, we can’t be sure.

Final thoughts

This drama has a lot of tough competition, especially with “Circle” and “Fight My Way” also debuting, but it shows promise. So far it’s been fast-paced, introducing characters quickly and diving into individual stories as the overall picture unfolds. The characters haven’t gotten together yet, but when they do, it will be interesting to see their dynamic and how they pull off solving crimes; the drama’s vigilante crew setup alone sets this one apart from the others, making it a must-watch — at least for the time being.

DP_Kim is an English magazine writer and fashion fan whose goal in life is to wear heels and find the best OOTD locations while living in the farm outside of Jeonju, South Korea. Follow her Korean adventures on Instagram here.