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?
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♦ (2) Bad Guys: Vile
City (2017)
(NOTE:
This is “Bad Guys 2.)
Available
on Apple TV+
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.
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♦ (3) The Bad Guys:
Reign of Chaos (2019)
(NOTE:
This is a movie. The series “Bad Guys”, released in 2014 is the
prequel.)
Available
on Apple TV+
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.
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♦
(4) Bad and Crazy
(2021-2022)
Netflix
USA started streaming the series on November 28, 2022.
Main
Characters:
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!
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♦
(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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