Thrillers, thrillers, thrillers, so many thrillers. Each third present I evaluate appears to be one, and even when that math will not be completely appropriate, the seeming is actual sufficient. Typically they’re stuffed with fascinating characters and concepts, typically stuffed with posturing stereotypes with nothing to say, typically largely smoke and noise, and sometimes simply take you the place you’ve been earlier than — it’s solely how they’re dressed that units them aside.
What most clearly units “Butterfly,” premiering Wednesday on Prime Video, aside is that it takes place in South Korea, with Korean and Korean American heroes and villains. Tailored by Ken Woodruff and Steph Cha from a graphic novel by Arash Amel and Marguerite Bennett (through which the characters are usually not Korean, and the setting not Korea) it stars Daniel Dae Kim as former CIA agent David Jung — believed lifeless, however not lifeless.
Data is developed and doled out throughout its six episodes, however however the twists and turns, it’s a simple state of affairs. David, who co-founded a personal sector safety enterprise after leaving the company, disappeared from view 9 years earlier; thought to have been killed in the middle of an operation, he’s been hiding in South Korea in plain sight with a second spouse (Kim Tae-hee). David’s late first spouse was the mom of his daughter, Rebecca (Reina Hardesty), 23; in his absence she was raised by and is now working as a top-flight murderer for Juno (Piper Perabo), David’s former associate in Caddis Non-public Intelligence — which for the comfort of the manufacturing has opened a shiny new headquarters in Seoul.
Earlier than his obvious demise, David and Juno had been heading down separate paths relating to their firm — he extra high-minded, she extra mercenary. “The one enemy I’ve is peace,” she’ll say, managing to keep up an air of well-connected respectability whereas doing the soiled work. Juno additionally has a son, Oliver (Louis Landau), whom she had packed off as a teenager to dwell along with his father in England, the place he acquired an accent and the patina of certainly one of Bertie Wooster’s much less assertive buddies. Now he’s working as an aide to his mom in a lower than important capability and searching for her approval.
Though the spy stuff accounts for the working and capturing, the automotive chases (which Rebecca appears to particularly get pleasure from), the martial arts dust-ups and close to fixed menace of dying, it’s additionally inappropriate. “Butterfly” is a form of an motion cleaning soap, an prolonged household melodrama with weapons. The political story, must you care to trace it — not that you actually need to — issues lower than the private one, set in movement by David’s reappearance and his want to reconnect with and save Rebecca, which places him into battle with Juno. (And with Rebecca, who will not be satisfied she wants saving.)
Rebecca (Reina Hardesty) discovers that her father David (Daniel Dae Kim) is alive, and he tries to reconnect along with her.
(Juhan Noh / Prime)
She is of course indignant with him for leaving her, however earlier than lengthy she is asking him “Dad” and interesting in spiky banter. There shall be tears — and punches.
As in much less explicitly violent variations on the theme, kids resent their mother and father’ selections, and fogeys reply that all the things they’ve executed, good or in poor health, is to maintain the youngsters secure. (Rebecca is being requested to decide on between her father and her surrogate mom as in the event that they had been divorcing spouses.) Absolutely no different spy drama has contained so many declarations of affection, pleas for love, expressions of guilt or apologies.
For all its emotionality, the dialogue generally is a little flat, a bit of stiff, a bit of cornball. (David: “You damage my household and I’ll destroy all the things you care about.” Juno: “Whilst you performed lifeless, I constructed an empire. You may’t contact me.”) The tonal transitions, from creepy to weepy and again once more, may trigger you some aesthetic whiplash. Gun (Kim Ji-hoon), a fine-featured, long-haired killer engaged by Juno and who will play for Workforce Evil towards Workforce Much less Evil within the inevitable climactic showdown, is the form of half you will note much more of as soon as AI kills all of the screenwriters. Minor roles — assorted buddies, family and employees — are usually extra lifelike for not having to hold the load of the melodrama and light-weight up the proceedings right here and there.
The motion is well-staged and executed, and the collection as a complete seems to be unbelievable; not one of many present’s many areas, whether or not upscale, downscale, city, rural or industrial, is wasted, however is captured with a crispness that frames the drama splendidly. Other than the fussing and preventing, there’s an interesting journey component to the collection. Native delicacies — getting ready it, consuming it, admiring it — performs an element as an expression of affection and love of nation. (We all know that Juno is a damaged particular person by the meagerness of her lunch.) “Butterfly” would be the place you study budae-jjigae, or “Military base stew.”
The present flies on towards an ending that retains ending and eventually isn’t an ending in any respect. (You’ll sense it … not coming, earlier than it doesn’t come.) Clearly that is to get you again for a second season, and whereas I perceive that, I’ll say that this explicit non-ending felt a bit of imply to me, a bit of unfair. Life isn’t truthful, it’s possible you’ll say, however tv has the chance to be higher than that.
Nonetheless, I suppose I’ll examine in when “Butterfly” comes again — and between the thriller impact and America’s love affair with Korean tradition, I count on it is going to — simply to seek out out what’s on the backside of that cliffhanger and the way indignant I ought to truly be about it. The collection, which isn’t any worse and considerably higher than “completely wonderful,” actually has its factors, Kim and Hardesty not the least amongst them. Would I favor to observe them in an episodic procedural as father-daughter investigators fixing crimes from week to week, or doing spy stuff, or cooking collectively? Sure, I would really like that very a lot.
