After an unforgettable March thanks to When Life Gives You Tangerines, it’s honestly hard to top that with anything new on Friday. Yet, the K-drama industry is ready with a dark 6-part thriller starring some of the industry’s biggest actors and still failing to deliver anything actually exciting. What I find really interesting is how we went from having some Webtoon/web novels/graphic novels turned into K-dramas, which was fun and exciting, to having a dozen of them come out every month. Are we really going into the quantity-over-quality zone for K-dramas now? I would hope not, but if that is the case, Karma might be a victim of the curse of overdoing it. On average, I might be watching 4 K-dramas a month at the very least, so if you’re new to Dramaworld, then take what I say with a grain of salt because you’re simply getting initiated into the common tropes.
Karma follows 6 people whose lives get entangled through a series of circumstances that lead to their final moments. At the center of the story is Dr. Ju-Yeon, a doctor who’s been through a traumatic incident in her childhood. When she encounters one of the perpetrators of that incident as an adult, what does she choose to do? Will she be able to step away from her trauma? Or will she be stuck in a nightmare forever? On the other hand is a man who has 30 days to pay off his debt. His solution is to try to do something illegal to get his hands on the money he needs. And then there’s another man who’s just lost his job but is desperate for some money. Between all of this, there are 3 more important characters on the show who have known each other or eventually interact, leading to a convoluted web of connections that eventually leads to an unexpected conclusion. This is the basic premise of Karma.
The show is told in a non-linear way, and the whole multiple points of view thing is a little bit disconcerting, especially at the beginning of the show. However, this might just be the most fun part of the 6-parter, which gets almost more tedious per episode. I honestly was under the impression that Shin Min-Ah is the main character of this show, and while theoretically, she is, she might have an episode and a half of screentime overall. This is quite disappointing to me, even though the story demands such a distance. Park Hae-Soo carries the show. I personally don’t think he’s very charming, but I do feel like he’s a master at playing despicable characters you’d just like to beat up if you could. But I am a little bit tired of his humorous bad-guy act, just like I’m tired of the loan shark plotline that almost every thriller K-drama or K-movie will present us with.
I mean, honestly, I’m wondering how all of these writers can only think about this one problem—borrowing money and then using it as a tool to set up entire plot lines. The show itself is also quite tedious, especially in the first half, which feels like a drag, despite the whole “who is this person and why does he seem so sus?” vibe it’s going for. I also absolutely despise the color grading of thriller K-dramas, especially on Netflix, because if you watch them in the daytime, it’s likely you’re going to miss out on many a detail just because the entire screen looks black.
The show takes some time to establish the connection between its characters; this is actually done quite tastefully. I just wish it happened a little bit faster. If I were watching the show for entertainment, I’d have been bored by the second episode and left it then. But then I’d miss out on the twisted bits that come much too late. The show is like a Russian nesting doll, and each layer comes off as episodes go by until you’re left with a bloody mess at the end. This is the best part about Karma. It really does feel quite twisted, even if you’re able to figure out what might happen next, or even at the end. The characters are all unlikable, which is difficult to work with for sure. It’s basically almost like Suicide Squad, but a K-drama.
The show is very clearly set up to send a message to those who think they can get away with doing whatever they want with zero consequences. It’s quite black and white, not only in terms of its understanding of the plot but also the characters themselves. But the thing is, when it comes to a script like this and a host of characters like these, you’re left with no actual connection with any of them, so there’s nobody to vouch for, not even the inherently good in nature. This is because the story is driven by the motivations of the bad guys. On paper, this seems terribly interesting, but in execution, it really gets a little bit annoying by the time you get to the end, and you simply want almost everyone dead. I’m not sure we’re in the mood for such shows right now. But I could be absolutely wrong.
Normally, with shows like this, the problem is that we have too little information, which makes everything seem convoluted rather than intelligent. In this case, though, it’s neither because we get more than the answers we need. Not only do we get to see everything twice, but the show also makes everything super easy by explaining everything in detail. Sure, being spoon-fed is fun, but for this kind of show, I feel like a little bit of suspense would’ve been more rewarding. At the end of the day, it’s a 6-parter that can be binged in a day, so I suppose if you like revenge thrillers, you might enjoy this one. I would give Karma 2.5 out of 5 stars.
