“Military Prosecutor Doberman” (군검사 도베르만)

By Jae-Ha Kim
jaehakim.com
May 15, 2022

☆☆☆☆
Do Bae-man (played by Ahn Bo-hyun)
Cha Woo-in (played by Jo Bo-ah)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

“Military Prosecutor Doberman” explores some of the same themes as last year’s superior “D.P.” — but with more fight scenes, comedy and shirtlessness, courtesy of the series star Ahn Bo-hyun (“Itaewon Class“). It also stars Jo Bo-ah as his kickass military prosecutor colleague who’s as full as vengeance as he is.

MINOR SPOILER IN THIS PARAGRAPH: Both lost their families due to Noh Hwa-young (played by Oh Yeon-soo), the Army’s first female division commander whose thirst for power is second to none. Having planned her revenge for almost a decade, Woo-in convinces Bae-man to help her take down Hwa-young.

Like “Taxi Driver,” the duo mete out punishment when the law fails to do so. There are many cases covered here: abuse on military bases, chaebols getting their sons out of serving mandatory military duty, sexual assault, murder etc. And while Bae-man is overt in his fights, Woo-in uses her red-haired alias to literally kick into action.

Though I don’t tend to forgive characters who were horrible — but do an about face at the end of the series — I actually was rooting for Tae-nam (played by Kim Woo-suk) despite his heinous crimes. That’s how good the writers and this actor are.

Tae-nam was presented as one of the series’ most despicable characters. The only child of Noh Hwa-young, he initially was beyond immoral. He and his privileged friends drug women and videotape the unconscious victims as they are being raped. And then his powerful mother — who has powerful political ties — gets him out of his mess.

But Kim Woo-suk does such a good job of showing Tae-nam’s remorse and character growth. I was rooting for him not only to survive his time in the military, where he is abused, but to thrive. His storyline is one of the most compelling ones in this series.

Airdates: Sixteen 60-minute episodes aired from February 28 to April 26, 2022 on tvN.

Spoiler Alert: One of the minor plot points I didn’t like occurs in Episode 10. One of the women in Bae-man’s office pretends she doesn’t know how to operate the computer. Why? Because she wants to puff up her male colleague’s ego. In reality, she is a skilled hacker who was recruited for her skills.

In the end, Bae-man and Woo-in capture everyone responsible for killing their parents. And after serving time in prison for his crimes, Tae-nam finds happiness working at an animal shelter. Though his mother is still in prison for her crimes, she hasn’t forgiven him for turning on her. Even though she has done unforgivable things to him (like making him hold a live hand grenade when he was younger) and refuses his requests to visit her in prison, he still hangs onto hope that she will forgive him one day.

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