The Devil Judge review
악마판사Checked and re-read
A near-future Korea where sentencing is a television format and the judge running it is either the cure or the disease. An 8.7 from 34,901 ratings against 87,053 watchers makes this the most underseen thing Ji Sung has done: he plays the whole show on a held expression, and the circling rivalry with Park Jin Young is the reason to stay rather than any legal question. The dystopia is thin as world building, the trial gimmick is spectacle, and the manipulation subplot around the foundation costs it most of episodes nine to twelve. Watch it for the two-hander and the production, not for the law.
The court system is corrupted and old-fashioned. People desire a new system that can satisfy the crowds. However, are the crowds always correct? The drama shows how judges discover the truth about people in court. It centers around a chief judge who doesn’t believe in justice, but only makes judgements that the crowds will be satisfied with. An assistant judge starts to question his motives and tries to find the truth.
Hooks early Episode 2, once the televised court is running and the two judges are working against each other in public.
Recommended alongside
All dramas →Taken from our own list for The Devil Judge, in the order we ranked it.
