Actor Kim Song-il left a strong impression.
In MBC's new Friday-Saturday drama The Judge Returns (planned by Jang Jae-hoon/written by Kim Kwang-min/directed by Lee Jae-jin and Park Mi-yeon/produced by OH Story and Slingshot Studio), Kim Song-il, who appeared as Choi Jong-hak, CEO of S Construction, raised the temperature of the drama at once with a presence beyond his short screen time.
In episode 1 of The Judge Returns, which aired on the 2nd (Friday), the shocking development unfolded in which Lee Han-young (played by Jisung), known as the so-called "farmhand judge" and the son-in-law of Haenal Law Firm, becomes a murderer after defying a verdict that his father-in-law Yoo Seon-cheol (played by Ahn Nae-sang) had been asked for by S Group. Kim Song-il, playing Choi Jong-hak, CEO of S Construction, portrayed the fall of a man who instantly became the target of suspicion in the midst of a giant group's "scapegoating."
Allegations including embezzlement of public funds, slush funds, illegal loans and bribery poured in, tightening the noose around Choi Jong-hak. Kim Song-il built Choi Jong-hak's effort to not collapse until the end, and the unease that crept through those cracks, without exaggeration.
In particular, when someone places a capsule next to the soup in the interrogation room, Choi Jong-hak's gaze wavers and his breathing falters. Kim Song-il's acting, which steers the emotional line toward "collapse" rather than "explosion," dominated the scene's atmosphere and pushed the episode's tension to the end despite the short appearance.
With this appearance, Kim Song-il once again left a strong impression on viewers. If he completed a sense of everyday life and warm sentiment as Director of Operations Gu Myung-gwan in the recently concluded tvN drama Typhoon Family, Choi Jong-hak in The Judge Returns portrayed the nakedness of a superficially flashy power holder with a crushed tone and breathing under pressure.
Thanks to Kim Song-il's acting, which precisely drew genre tension with a completely different face, Choi Jong-hak's ending left a vivid afterimage in the development of episode 1 of The Judge Returns despite the short appearance.
Meanwhile, episode 2 of The Judge Returns will air on Saturday the 3rd at 9:40 p.m.
[Photo] MBC broadcast capture of The Judge Returns
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