“Sisyphus: The Myth” (시지프스)

By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack
December 26, 2021

Gang Seo-Hae (played by Park Shin-Hye)
Han Tae-Sul (played by Cho Seung-Woo)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

“Sisyphus: The Myth” has an intriguing premise. Tae-Sul is a cocky genius inventor who’s indebted to his older brother, Tae-San (Heo Jeon-Seok). After their parents die, the young orphans fend for themselves, with Tae-San sacrificing his own future to work and educate his little brother. Seo-Hae is a kickass young woman from the future, whose goal is to stop Tae-Sul from inventing a time travel machine, which will ultimately result in South Korea being annihilated from Earth.

The series starts off strong, with some awesome fight scenes, courtesy of Park Shin-Hye, and a compelling storyline that keeps viewers engaged. But the second half of the series loses momentum, as prominent characters disappear and new ones appear to chew up the scenery. 

Cho Seung-Woo plays his part with easy charm, turning his Tae-Sul into a combination of Stephen Hawking and MacGyver, with a bit of a petulant brat thrown into the mix. And Park is steely perfection, especially when delivering her punches and signature line, “꺼져” (get lost)!

As with many time travel stories, you have to suspend your belief in reality to really enjoy this production. And it’s the plot holes — not the acting or CGI — that mar “Sisyphus.” The characters travel back and forth though dimensions at a dizzying pace, which can make it difficult to keep track of which era they’re in. Present day? 2020? 2032? Somewhere in between?

Still, the chemistry between the lead actors is warm and believable. And Seo-Hae’s take-charge attitude rubs off on Tae-Sul, which makes him not only more likeable, but also more relatable than when we are first introduced to him.

Airdates: Sixteen hour-long episodes aired from February 17 to April 8, 2021 on JTBC.

 

Spoiler Alert: Tae-Sul’s tormenter is Sigma (played by the wonderful actor Kim Byung-Chul), who had been his elementary school classmate. Abused at home and a loner, he grows up shunned by society and unable to eke out a living as an artist. Because he believes no one has ever shown him kindness, he hatches a plan to destroy Korea with nuclear bombs from the future. He plays a game of cat and mouse with Tae-Sul and Seo-Hae throughout the series, which ends with a non-ending. (Tae-Sul and Seo-Hae literally fly off happily into the sunset.)

Meanwhile, a seemingly rehabilitated Sigma stares into a mirror, making it clear that he still has vengeance on his mind. He’s not the only nemesis, though. Tae-Sul ultimately is betrayed by his best friend, Eddy (Tae In-Ho), whose jealousy of his genius friend rivals that of Sigma’s.

As for Tae-San, we have no idea what dimension he is stuck in … or if he’s even alive. Since reuniting with and saving his brother was one of Tae-Sul’s raison d’être, it felt incomplete that the writers didn’t give viewers closure in this subplot. 

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