“Somebody” (썸바디)

By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack
May 13, 2023

☆☆☆☆
Sung Yun-oh (played by Kim Young-kwang)
Kim Sum (played by Kang Hae-lim)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

A psychological thriller that was initially very promising, “Somebody” revolves around a serial killer (Kim Young-kwang) who uses a dating app to find his victims — and the app developer (Kang Hae-lim) who is drawn to him … even after figuring out his true identity.

I’m not sure why the writer made her character someone who is on the autism spectrum disorder. It felt like that was thrown in to explain her quirkiness, as if they have to rationalize why a coder has certain predilections. Do people with ASD have some idiosyncrasies? Sure. But are they inclined to be murderous or sympathesizers of serial killers? Of course not.

One of her best friends is a disabled police officer reliant on a wheelchair. Matched with the serial killer on the dating app — and thinking he is also wheelchair-bound — she goes to meet him at an abandoned swimming pool. When he gets out of his chair and walks towards her, she rightfully freaks out. (Frankly, I freaked the eff out, too!) But he smooth talks her, they have sex, and — whether he’s upset because he was flaccid or because he’s just a sadist…or both — he hides her wheelchair and abandons her. By the time she manages to drag herself back to her car, she’s out for vengeance.

She eventually figures out who he is and agrees to meet him again … in an area with an ongoing demolition. She. Is. A. Police. Officer. Why is she making rookie mistakes and not even calling for backup? I get that she’s embarrassed and doesn’t want her colleagues to know that her one-night stand abused her, but why not tell her friends so they are aware of what’s going on?

You can tell this is a Netflix production because of the sex scenes with gratuitous nudity — which aren’t common traits in most of the K-dramas Westerners have fallen in love with.

Is “Somebody” a good series? I found it uneven and lacking, with characters I didn’t really care about. I thought this would be a series I would binge, but I had to force myself to get through it.

Airdates: Eight 50-minute episodes dropped on Netflix on November 18, 2022.

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