Tunnel - An intriguing detective drama that is High on emotions!

Arun Gowtham

In 1986, Detective Park Gwang-Ho (Choi Jin-Hyuk) is desperate to find the killer behind 5 brutal murders that happened in the city. Despite a lot efforts. he could not find the culprit or even a hint. And in the meanwhile, he got married to his love interest Shin Yeon-soo. Months passed, still determined to find the murderer, Park Gwang-Ho searches for more evidences day and night and one day park came closer to catch the culprit and while chasing him into a Tunnel, he mysteriously lands in-to the year 2017, while he gets outside of other side of Tunnel.

Park Gwang-Ho in 1986

Park goes to the same police station he worked and figured out 30 years is already passed and the case is still unsolved. He could not find his home or his family or the traces. On other hand, the serial killer has resumed the killings that began 30 years ago. Under the disguise of Park Gwang-ho ( A police officer who went missing on day 1 of his transfer to same station, co-incidentally he has same name as him) he teams up Detective Kim Sun-Jae (Yoon Hyun-Min) and Professor of Criminal Psychology Shin Jae-Yi (Lee Yoo-Young) to catch the killer.

At start detective Park wants to go back to his past at no cost, to get back to his wife, however he met his daughter who has been living lonelier all these years. Will he go back to his wife, does he catch the Killer? what happens to the missing officer who has the same name as him! All the above questions have been answered in the 16-episode drama that is now available on Netflix. Choi Jin-Hyuk as Park Gwang-Ho steals the show, you can simply credit everything to him, from his authoritative tone to Adapting to the modern world to the emotional scenes with his wife or daughter, he nails it. It was him who made the show more engaging. Yoon Hyun-Min as Kim Sun-jae has an interesting connection to park in the past, however both don't realize that at the start and they get along well over time. Lee Yoo-Young as Shin Jae-Yi scores big.

Park Gwang-Ho in 2017

Unlike a regular detective drama, this drama basically rides more on the emotions. We have a detective who gets himself between future and past and more complexity arises when he meets his own daughter in future, to whom he could not reveal his identity. We have victims' families who have been waiting for justice for years. Over a point you want the detective to stay in the present, given the amazing bonding with his team and his new found daughter, but you also want him to go back to his wife, who has been waiting for him for months since his mysterious disappearance. Now what you would choose present or future? What do you want him to do?

You could sense a big tear-jerker here, but all is well when that happens for good and brings Happiness, Park has to be very calculative to make everything right, right for all, in the past and present and writers made it everything very interesting with every episode. The detective drama has its own share of smartness throughout that one would expect but the emotional connect is what makes it look stronger.

Verdict: An intriguing detective drama that is High on emotions! Highly Recommended

Rating: 3.75/5