“Vigilante” (비질란테)

By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack
November 30, 2023

☆☆½ (out of ☆☆☆☆)
Kim Ji-yong / Vigilante (played by Nam Joo-hyuk)
Jo Heon (played by Yoo Ji-tae)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

This Nam Joo-hyuk (“Twenty-Five Twenty-One”) thriller is based on a webtoon of the same name. Nam plays a police academy student who by day attends school and by night (on weekends, when he’s not in class) punishes criminals got out of prison too soon. As a vigilante, he doesn’t do much to hide his face. He wears a black hoodie and is recognizable to anyone with eyes, but he’s less concerned about protecting his identity than he is in quenching his thirst for justice.

As with “The Killing Vote,” this K-drama centers on the intersection of criminals and their corrupt police counterparts — all of whom benefit from the quid pro quo exchange. Both shows also feature power-hungry female broadcast journalists who will stop at nothing to further their careers. Twist the truth? Sure. Create their own headlines? Why not? Order their bosses around without getting fired? Now hold on a minute!

“Vigilante” (비질란테) showed a lot of promise in the first three thrilling episodes. But with a clearly disturbed and morally-bankrupt anti-hero, it was difficult to root for anyone in this drama. By the end, I was left wondering, “What was the point?”

Airdates: The first three episodes premiered at the Busan Film Festival on October 5. The series premiered to the general public November 8 through November 29, 2023. Eight episodes — each under an hour — aired on Disney+ in South Korea and other markets. I was provided three screeners to view for review and watched the rest on Hulu.

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