Chief Detective 1958 (2024) A Review

It’s 1958. The best cow thief catcher in Gyeonggi-do leaves behind the familiar sights and sounds of regional Korea for the Big Smoke ie. Seoul. Park Yeong-han is transferred to Jongnam substation and finds himself in Unit 1 navigating policing in that neck of the woods. The skills honed over the years from nabbing cow thieves has given him the foundation to becoming a top-notch investigator and while he’s raring to go, he finds that his greatest obstacles are often not the perpetrators but his colleagues and superiors.

Lee Je-hoon fresh off the success of the Taxi Driver franchise continues his run as a crusader of justice. This time his character enjoys official sanction with a badge and an ID but still grappling with the same sorts of issues that the vigilante Rainbow Taxi gang had to contend with. Park Yeong-han has been assigned to Unit 1 as the solitary subordinate. It doesn’t take long before Yeong-han realises that the two of them can’t get much done on their own with an unsympathetic bootlicking superintendent breathing down their necks for causing problems with the biggest gang in town. So he begins his hunt for new recruits — men (and a woman) who share their views about policing in their local neighbourhood. Soon two become five and then six not including other ancillary helpers along the way who agree that their cause is a just one. The show loses no time in establishing that the right team matters as much as the right leadership.

A large part of the show’s attraction is the team dynamics. There’s always a Mad Dog in the mix. Here it’s Lee Dong-hwi (from Big Bet) as Kim Sang-soon whose impulse it is to bite, punch or kick. When the two men meet he’s a member of Unit 2 but kindred spirits connect quickly. Kyung-hwan (Choi Woo-sung) is his own brand of Colossus, larger than life former wrestler with plenty of fist power. Excitement mounts at the station when the first university graduate Ho-jeong (Yoon Hyeon-soo) signs up. The lad speaks English and the rival unit is eager to adopt him as their own until an interrogation incident involving a US serviceman blows up in their faces. The team’s wide-eyed boy might be wet behind the ears but he knows his Frank Hamer, the man who got Bonnie and Clyde in the end. They’re a cohesive bunch. There’s none of the obligatory headbutting that’s becoming passe in police procedurals. Everybody adores Yeong-han. He’s not just the ideal cop, he’s a natural born leader.

The show harkens back to a different arguably more wholesome era without the impact of digital technology or social media. In its earlier more humorous moments, there’s a quaint quality to the show. Yeong-han has the golly-gee-whiz-aw-shucks shtick downpat. Lee Je-hoon brings some of that confected aegyo he perfected in Taxi Driver to this role as he brings his best country bumpkin to the table. On first glance Chief Detective 1958 is a fairly straightforward police procedural with Columbo-esque feels but it really is better seen as a period piece — providing historical snapshots of life in that era of South Korea through the lenses of hardworking cops dealing not only with the usual corruption in high places but gangsters, homelessness, cabals, scammers and the occasional murderer. I am constantly reminded of the South Korean adaptation of Life on Mars which is still to my mind one of the best SK dramas ever made. Both comes packaged with a hint of wistful nostalgia. Life was hardly a bed of roses for everyone in the 1960s (or the late 1980s) but there’s a atmosphere of optimism and can-do spirit that animates the team.

Of course it wouldn’t be a Korean drama without cabals and conspiracies. And why not? They’re the norm regardless of whether we know (or care) they exist. The one highlighted here is born out of Japanese colonialism. Former collaborators (considered by locals to be traitors) who did well out of their Japanese masters and are missing the good o’l days. Birds of a feather flock together and they manage to cook up some scheme to load up their private coffers and protect each other from legal repercussions.

The show’s simplicity is part of the charm. Take for instance the relationship between Yeong-han and the woman who becomes his wife, Hae-joo. It has got to be the most normal uncomplicated romance I’ve ever seen in K drama. Two people who like each other, aren’t too shy about saying so and then marry soon afterwards. There’s no protracted push and pull. No mind games. No beating around the bush. It’s a breath of fresh air after the systematic imbibing of trashy short drama romances over the past many months.

12 episodes is about right although the episodic nature means that it could have gone on a bit longer. Still it does mean that the show doesn’t out stay its welcome and successfully tells its story in a tightly woven script. Chief Detective 1958 is the prequel to an old television series (Chief Inspector) that ran for almost 2 decades. The main actor from that, Choi Bool-am returns for a few appearances in the new series.

Much gratitude to David Hodges for becoming my very first paid subscriber. Thanks for your support, David.

If you enjoyed this post, please like, comment, share and/or subscribe.