Check out this list of Korean dramas with the word “Bad” or “Bad” in the titles, available on popular streaming platforms in the USA.
♦ (1) Bad Guys (2014)
Watch Bad Guys (2014) Online for Free | The Roku Channel | Roku
Main Characters:
Oh Goo-Tak (played by Kim Sang-Joong)
Park Woong-Cheol (played by Ma Dong-Seok)
Lee Jung-Moon (played by Park Hae-Jin)
Jung Tae-Soo (played by Jo Dong-Hyuk)
Yoo Mi-Young (played by Gang Ye-Won)
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller, Police Procedural
PLOT: Who better to fight bad guys than bad guys? In the classic American war movie “The Dirty Dozen”, the military decides to send a dozen criminals into enemy territory to fight for their country. They had particular skill sets that were useful and the military just needed to train them to be soldiers. This Korean drama has a similar storyline. A police detective lost his daughter to a murderer. He was suspended from his job for using excessive force to apprehend suspects. But then he was called back to work because one of his superiors also lost his son to a murderer. Violent crimes are on the rise, so the police detective forms a crime team made up of criminals to catch criminals. One is a contract killer and the other is a serial killer. Their work will result in reduced sentences and possibly their freedom. But will this really work?
♦ (2) Bad Guys: Vile City (2017)
(NOTE: This is “Bad Guys 2.)
Main Characters:
Woo Je-Moon (played by Park Joong-Hoon)
Jo Young-Kook (played by Kim Hong-Fa)
Heo Il-Hoo (played by Joo Jin-Mo)
Jang Sung-Cheol (played by Yang Ik-June)
No Jin-Pyeong (played by Kim Moo-Yul)
Han Gang-Joo (played by Ji Soo)
Genre: Mystery, Action, Crime, Thriller, Police Procedural, Political
PLOT: The bad guys keep fighting the bad guys in this Korean drama series sequel. It has the same theme as Season 1. This time a crusading prosecutor and a detective work together and go after a crime lord. The investigative team includes a serial killer, an assassin and a mobster with a personal vendetta. The crime lord has managed to evade capture because there are those on “the inside” who work for him. Battling organized crime is hard enough but it's extra hard when you have to fight institutional corruption. But no matter, because for the team, it's just another day at work.
♦ (3) The Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos (2019)
(NOTE: This is a movie. The series “Bad Guys”, released in 2014 is the prequel.)
Main Characters:
No Sang-Sik (played by Jo Young-Jin)
Detective So Oh Goo-Tak (played by Kim Sang-Joong)
Park Woong-Cheol (played by Ma Dong-Seok)
Kwak No-Soon (played by Kim A-Joong)
Ko Yoo-Sung (played by Jang Ki-Yong)
Genre: Crime and Action
PLOT: While prisoners are being transported, the vehicle is attacked by ruthless assassins, in order to free a former Korean gang boss, who works with the yakuza. A crime investigative unit is tasked with capturing the escaped prisoners, especially the former gang boss. The unit includes certain criminals who are promised reduced sentences if they succeed. Some in law enforcement are aligned with the yakuza leader and they interfere with the mission and even betray their fellow officers. But the crime investigation team never wavers. They know what their mission is and they aim to catch the escaped prisoners and put them back behind bars.
♦ (4) Bad and Crazy (2021-2022)
Netflix USA started streaming the series on November 28, 2022.
Main Characters:
Ryu Soo-Yeol (played by Lee Dong-Wook)
Alternate Personality named K (played by Wi Ha-Joon)
Genre: Police Procedural, Legal Drama, Medical Drama, Action, Comedy
PLOT: A young man has a split personality. He suffers from multiple personality disorder, also referred to as dissociative identity disorder (DID). It's not that he's “bad” or “crazy”. He just wants career advancement in the law enforcement agency he works for and figures the best way to get a promotion is to overlook or cover up crimes that have been committed. All he has to do is neatly wrap things up, close the cases, and file them away. However, his alternate personality known as “K” pricks his ethical and moral conscience and makes him do the right thing. In other words, his alter ego is a justice-seeking HERO!
♦ (5) Bad Prosecutor (2022)
Viki viewers rated this series 9.5 out of 10 stars
Main Characters:
Jin Jung (played by Do Kyung-Soo)
Shin A-Ra (played by Lee Se-Hee)
Oh Do-Hwan (played by Ha-Joon)
Genre: Legal Drama, Action
PLOT: A young boy who witnesses many things that were unjust decides that when he grows up he will wield a sword of justice just like the swordfighters in video games. However, as an adult, he realized the fight against injustice was rigged by people with wealth and power, in their favor. The “sword of justice” he planned to use would not be effective in eliminating crime and corruption. He was hired as a prosecutor and assigned to the Central District Prosecutors' Office Criminal Division 3. Some of the prosecutors he worked with were as corrupt as the bad guys on the outside. They abused their positions of public trust and covered up crimes. Going by the book was not only time-consuming, but those standard processes and procedures usually did not work. Because his work methods were different from his fellow prosecutors and he didn't follow the “rules”, the young man was labeled a “bad prosecutor”. Since he knew that some prosecutors had ways to erase dirty deeds, he simply developed ways to work around them so that justice could be served.
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