"Beyond Evil": Gay Cops Chase a Korean Serial Killer

 

Two guys face each other.  Younger: "I'm going to move here."  They get even closer.  Older: "What about me interests you so much?"  They get even closer, their faces inches apart.  Younger: "What about me interests you so much?" 

Whoa, palpable sexual tension!  The hottest scene I've seen in months.  Is this a gay love story?  

No, it's Beyond Evil, a Korean drama about two cops, a serial killer, yadda yadda yadda.  0% of the action-adventure movies released during the last 20 years have had gay leads.  Each must think that the other is the killer, so their closeness represents not attraction but threat.  

But what about this shot?  Standard Korean gesture of gratitude?

I'm going in.

Scene 1: Night, in the marshes.  A young cop finds something terrifying.  Panicking, he yells for middle-aged cop Dong-Sik, who comes running.  Close-up of what he found (I can't tell what it is).

Scene 2: Daytime, the year 2000.  A florist drives through the city and delivers flowers to a church. A choir is practicing.  Yu-yeon, a teenage girl, is playing the piano.  Two women discuss how wonderful she is -- intelligent, a good Catholic -- while her twin brother Dong-Sik is a lazy bum.

Cut to the young Dong-Sik playing the guitar and singing in an empty cafe.  The teenage girl in charge tells him to get out: he just bought one cup of coffee, which doesn't give him the right to sing for two hours.  They argue; he threatens to hit her, then leaves. 

Scene 3: The over-accomplished Yu-Yeon gets a text from her brother Dong-Sik, sneaks out of the house, and walks through the dark, scary marshes.  The street lights go out; there's someone behind her!  Cut to her body lying in the marsh, her hands tied so it looks like she is praying.

In the morning, Mom goes outside to get the newspaper, and sees all of Yu-Yeon's fingertips lined up!

Scene 4: 2020.  Top-of-his-class hotshot cop Ju-Won drive through town, passing a lot of posters about the missing girl (never taken down, even after 20 years?).  Meanwhile, middle-aged cop Dong-Sik (left) is investigating an altercation at a beauty parlor.  Suddenly one of the women grabs his hair, and he goes ballistic and arrests everyone.  "Him and his temper!" the guys at the station complain.  

At the station, the chief yells at Dong-Sik for wasting everyone's time. "They were gambling!"  "But only 10 or 20 won!" "So what?  Many a mickle makes a muckle!"  Where the heck did the translators find that obscure Scottish phrase?

Hotshot Ju-Won arrives.  He doesn't even start today, but he's so dedicated that he came early. 

While Hotshot is being processed, the other cops gossip.  He was top of his class at police academy, scored 100% on his fitness test, and he's handsome!  Plus his Dad is the deputy commissioner, the #2 Cop in all of Korea!  Dong-Sik fumes with jealousy. As a teen, he lived in his sister's shadow, and now this!

Scene 5: A man comes into the station complaining that his son didn't come home last night.  Maybe he was murdered, like that girl 20 years ago!  Dong-Sik tells him that in Korea, you can only report someone missing if they are a juvenile or mentally disabled.  They will have to classify his son as a runaway.  

Later, Dong-Sik is crossing the street when his hip injury acts up.  He takes his pain pills.  Hotshot Ju-Won, driving past, sees him hobbling along, but doesn't offer him a ride.  Jerk!

Scene 6:  Manyang Butcher Shop. Dong-Sik and his friends having dinner.  All men, including his "best friend," the rather feminine Jeong-je....hmm.  Jeong-je's sister Ji-Hwa joins them.  They discuss who the Hotshot Ju-Won will be paired with. Jeong-je doesn't want him: "Not my type."  Does that mean the same thing in Korean as in English?

Dong-Sik doesn't want him either, because his father, Deputy Commissioner Han Gi-Hwan, stopped the investigation into his sister's disappearance, back when he was a local police inspector 20 years ago.  Grr!

Flashback to the Deputy Commissioner having dinner with his hotshot son.  Every graduate of the police academy has to spend  six months in a boring hick town.  After that, it's on to glamour and excitement -- if he doesn't screw up.  Apparently Hotshot is not so hot after all.  

Scene 7: Morning.  Dong-Sik introduces himself to Hotshot, who refuses to shake hands.  Jerk! 

Inside the police station, everyone except Dong-Sik volunteers to partner with the handsome Hotshot (wouldn't you?).  Hotshot says he'll take anybody except Dong-Sik the "nutjob."  The Chief thinks that guys who don't like each other are more professional on the job, so he partners them.  

Scene 8: In the squad car, while the germophobic Hotshot (left) wipes everything down, Dong-Sik brings up the snub at the crosswalk.  He denies it until Dong-Sik remembers every detail, including his license plate number. "Be careful," he says threateningly.  "There are no secrets in this town. You are always being watched."

They get a report of Mr. Bang, an elderly man with dementia, wandering in the marshes, and set out to look for him.  Hotshot doesn't like swatting through six-foot tall reeds, or getting his brand-new spiffy shoes all muddy.  Eventually they find Mr. Bang -- someone Dong-Sik knew as a teenager!  He gets combative, and they have to roll around in the mud to subdue him.

Scene 9: They bring Mr. Bang home.  A middle-aged woman tells them that every October he goes berserk and tries to break into an old shed. "Aren't you sick of this?" she asks Dong-Sik.  "Don't you think he should go into a nursing home?" What does Dong-Sik have to do with an elderly man with dementia?

Scene 10: After they clean up, the other cops warn Hotshot about marsh duty.  "Didn't your friends tell you about it?"  Hotshot says that he has no friends, just people who try to cozy up to him because of his family connections. Awww, a poor little rich boy.  Dong-Sik thinks he has no friends for another reason, being a stuck-up jerk. 

The Chief says he was thinking of inviting Hotshot out to dinner, but he wouldn't want him to think he was cozying up because of his family connections.

Scene 10:  Hotshot hesitates, but finally decides to go to the dinner.  Dong-Sik and some other cops are there.  The Chief introduces Jeon-je, the feminine guy from Scene 6, and makes sure they sit together.  Matchmaking?  Jeon-je's sister arrives and makes the faux-pas of mentioning Hotshot's famous father.  Hotshot tells them that he doesn't like hearing his father's name.  They make fun of him.

Scene 11: Leaving the dinner, Hotshot sees Dong-Sik working at the butcher shop.  He must not make enough money as a cop.  He asks what the woman in Scene 8 has on Dong-Sik, that she can call him with family problems, and he comes running.  "I killed Mr. Bang's daughter," Dong-Sik replies. When Hotshot gapes in shock, he says he was only joking. Or was he....

Dong-Sik: You're so gullible.  I like you.

Hotshot: I don't want you to like me.

Dong-Sik: It's not up to you, is it?  I'll like you if I want to.

Scene 12:  Hotshot having dinner with his former tutor Kwan Hyuk (that same night?).   Hyuk mentions a girl, and Hotshot says "I'm not interested."  "I know -- I meant for me.  I want to become the Deputy Commissioner's son, one who never lets him down."   Ok, that does it, Hotshot is gay.

Kyuk gives him the file on Dong-Sik's sister's disappearance 20 years ago, and he takes it to his elegant apartment to read.  Dad texts: "Keep a low profile until things calm down.  Do not disgrace me."  That does it, Hotshot is gay.

Scene 13: Nine months ago.  Hotshot lecturing to some assembled cops: 20 years ago, Dong-Sik's sister disappeared, and Mr. Bang's daughter was murdered, on the same day.  The cases we are working on now have the same MO.  It must be the same killer.  I believe that it's Dong-Sik!

 Scene 14: Dong-Sik supervises as they install a new poster about his missing sister.  Then he gets a call that Mr. Bang is wandering the marshes again, and sets out -- with his former partner, Ji-Hun!  The Captain sends Hotshot out anyway.

By the time he gets there, it's night.  We replay Scene 1: Ji-Hun finds the scary thing.  I still can't tell what it is, but Dong-Sik recognizes the remains of his sister. The end.

Beefcake: None during the show, but fortunately every Korean actor has some shirtless shots posted online.

Gay Characters: I think both Dong-Sik and Hotshot are gay.

Mystery: Who is the serial killer? Obviously not Dong-Sik, and Hotshot is too young. I'm betting on his father, the Deputy Commissioner who called off the search for the missing sister.

My Grade: A if they stay gay.  C+ if Hotshot gets a girlfriend,

(He doesn't.)

"Bureau of Magical Things": Dumb Title, Cute Teencom

 

Is it possible to have a school of magic after Hogwarts, or will any attempt inevitably be compared and criticized?  Let's find out with the Australian teencom with the rather clunky name The Bureau of Magical Things.

Scene 1: Brisbane, night.  A teenage girl goes on a late night run (all by herself?  in America she would be risking her life).  While running through Captain Burke Park on Kangaroo Point, she sees a book floating in the air.  Instead of getting the heck out of there, she approaches and touches it, and gets zapped into unconsciousness.

Scene 2:  Jogger awakens in her room with a nervous, flibbertigibit girl in a nightgown standing over her bed.  She explains that she found Jogger unconscious in the park and brought her home.  Then she sprouts wings and vanishes.  

Scene 3: 24 hours earlier, at River City High ("we got trouble, right here in River City").  .  Jogger -- Kyra -- playing basketball.  Her team loses.  Eyeglassed Peter (Jamie Carter, top photo) tries to cheer her up.  She responds by insulting him. Harsh!  

Meanwhile, downtown, Mr. Bulge...um, I mean Mr. Maxwell (Christopher Sommers)...closes his bookshop and walks through the wall to a magical library, where he orders a ladder to fetch him some books.  Then he catches a nonbinary person trying to steal a book.  He gives them the job of cleaning the library. 

Scene 4:  In the park, Eyeglassed Peter tries to give basketball advice to Kyra and her friend Mathilde.  They point out that he believes in UFOS, so his opinions are worthless. 

They stop for smoothies and look for a free table.  Androgynous Guy -- Darra (Julien Cullen. below) says he was just leaving, so they can have his.  He runs away and zaps to the magical library.

Nonbinary person asks why he missed dinner last night.  He went to a goblin party: "Those dudes sure love to dance!"  So Androgynous Guy has been dating goblins?  

Lily is still missing.  She went on a tooth run last night, so she's probably sleeping in.  So Underwear Girl is a tooth fairy.  She comes running in, and the class begins, with Mr. Bulge as the teacher.  They have a big test coming up.  

Scene 5:  Kyra in her room, playing the guitar and singing "What if you were the one for me?" while the camera pans to the photos on her wall, mostly of her hugging Mathilde.  Wait -- is Kyra gay? Also her parents and various trophies -- big overachiever here! 

Whoops, smoke alarm.  Dad burned dinner again!   Besides, it was a week old --  Kyra will have to heat up a frozen pizza instead. I get it -- Mom has died, and macho Dad is no good at feminine-coded things.  

Meanwhile, Lily the Tooth Fairy is at the magical library, practicing her conjuring, when Nonbinary Person -- Imogen (Elizabeth Cullen) -- sneaks in, steals the book, and zaps to Captain Burke Park in downtown Brisbane, just off the Story Bridge.  Lily follows.  They magically fight over the book, just as Kyra comes jogging by.  She can't see them, just the book hovering in mid-air.  So she approaches -- zap!

Scene 6:  The next morning.  Dad brings Kyra breakfast in bed (gee, I never got that, unless I was sick).  She's late for her Saturday dog-walking job.  

Cut to Kyra walking some dogs through Captain Burke Park.  Suddenly she sees Androgynous Guy from yesterday, and gapes, astonished -- he's got pointy ears.  He's astonished, too -- how can she see me?  -- and runs away.  She pauses at the spot where she saw the floating book, and finds scorch marks on the ground.  It wasn't a dream.

Suddenly she overhears the dogs talking to each other, mind-to-mind.  They are astonished -- how can a human hear our thoughts?

Eyeglassed Peter shows up.  She tells him about hearing the dogs.  He thinks that she is making fun of him, and leaves.  

Scene 7: At the magical library, Imogen returns the stolen book (lame explanation for the theft: she needed it to cheat on the upcoming test).  Lily the Tooth Fairy confronts her: because of your irresponsibility, a human girl saw us.  "That's impossible! Humans can't see us unless we want them to."  "Obviously we did something to her, and we have to fix it!"

Scene 8: Peter goes to the bookshop to deliver a pastry to Mr. Bulge.  It's payment for a comic book he ordered.  (Funny, most small businessmen want their payment in money.)

Cut to Imogen and Lily arguing, then fighting.  A magic beam blasts through to the bookstore, and Peter sees it!  Mr. Bulge makes a lame excuse, shoves him out the door, and confronts the students.  They cover.  

 

They are an elf and a fairy, respectively, and the two species generally don't get along. Elves are dark, brooding, and gender-atypical, while fairies are light, frothy, and girly.

 But they have to work together to erase Kyra's memory

Scene 9:  In her room, Kyra notices that she can levitate objects!  Lily the Tooth Fairy and Imogen appear and explain: There are magical beings all around us, keeping us safe (um...global warming, the COVD pandemic,  white nationalist extremism... they're doing a rather poor job of it!)  But humans can't know that they exist, so they're going to erase her memories.  They advance menacingly and zap her with fairy dust.

It doesn't work!  Kyra can still see them!  She absorbed some magic when she touched the book, and now she has powers of her own.  She accidentally zaps herself to a snowy mountaintop.  The end.

Beefcake:  Some of the guys are cute.  Mr. Bulge is very noticeable in one scene, but not in the others.

Other Sights: Lots of exteriors in Brisbane.

Heterosexism: No one expresses heterosexual interest, except maybe the double-taking between Kyra and Androgynous Guy Darra.

Gay Characters:  Kyra singing "Are you the one?" to Mathilde, and Hot Guy Darra dancing with goblin dudes?  I imagine that those are just coincidences, and the two will hook up.

Story Arcs: The book theft was far less intriguing than I anticipated.  There doesn't seem to be any ongoing mystery to solve, or at least none was introduced in the first episode.

Will I Keep Watching:  Just to see if Darra and Kyra hook up with each other.

Steve Lawrence: All the Sad Young Men

Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme were mainstays of The Carol Burnett Show during the 1970s, appearing in 27 episodes.  He also appeared by himself on The Hollywood Palace, Ed Sullivan, Laugh-In, Here's Lucy, even Sanford and Son.

When I was a kid, I disapproved of adult music as a point of pride, so I avoided him whenever possible,  although I remember a gently anti-War song on Carol Burnett: Steve is recounting the horrors of War to his son (played by a teddy bear), who doesn't understand, and keeps asking eager questions like "Did you kill anyone?  Did you have any fun?"   Finally he says "Daddy, bring me some war," becoming a bona fide hawk (not likely for a kid during the Viet Nam era).

And "The Ballad of the Sad Young Men":

All the sad young men, sitting in the bars
Knowing neon nights, and missing all the stars

All the sad young men, drifting through the town
Drinking up the night, trying not to drown

All the sad young men, choking on their youth
Trying to be brave, running from the truth

I didn't know what "gay" meant yet, but I interpreted the song as a critique of gay men who were too stupid or scared to resist heterosexist brainwashing: they kowtowed to Big Brother, dutifully seeking out women to date and marry, and never experiencing real, true, meaningful same-sex romance.

(I may have been a little off in that interpretation: it's the title of a book of short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald.)

Steve had the looks and the voice, but he never tried to make it as a teen idol.  Maybe he started a few years too early, in 1952, before the teen subculture really took off with Elvis and Ricky Nelson.  Or maybe his songs were too square even for the 1950s: "The Banana Boat Song," "Autumn Leaves," "Pretty Blue Eyes."   But he was on the Adult Contemporary Charts though the 1970s.

He acted in a few movies, playing a stay-at-home husband in the "women's lib" comedy Stand Up and Be Counted (1972), and as Maury Sline, manager to The Blues Brothers (1980).  

He's 85 years old in 2021, and struggling with Alzheimer's.  I haven't been able to discover if he was gay friendly earlier in his life.  Men of that generation always kept silent.

"Young Royals": The Prince of Sweden Falls in Love with a Scholarship Boy

I met Carl Gustaf, the King of Sweden, 30 years ago when he visited Rock Island, and my friend Zack claims to have hooked up with his son, Prince Carl Philip, when they were both attending the ritzy Kent School. So I have a vested interest in seeing how the royal family is portrayed in the Netflix series Young Royals.    

Scene 1:  Teenage Prince Wilhelm of Sweden (Edvin Ryding, below) in the bathroom, distraught, bruised.  Flashback to him in a crowd of partygoing teens, being photographed by papperazzi, getting into a fight.  

Switch to driving in a car with a woman -- his press secretary?  She gives him the speech where he'll beg the country for forgiveness and announce his "decision" to enroll in the Hillerska Boarding School.  He scoffs, but it's all been decided.

At the palace, while getting ready for the apology video, he tells his parents that he won't go.  "I'm not even Crown Prince.  My brother will inherit the throne.  Why can't I live a normal life and go to a regular high school?"  "Nope, that didn't work out. You got into a fight."

Scene 2:  Establishing shot of the boarding school, which apparently doesn't get many royals: the staff is all atwitter.  Crown Prince Erik (Ivar Forsling), who just graduated a few years ago, shows Wilhelm around.  We meet their second cousin August.  Lots of handshaking and photographers saying "Could you do that again, only smile?"

Into a welcoming assembly, where everyone giggles and stares (half the royal family is going there; should they be so absurdly starstruck over Wilhelm?).  The choir starts their welcome song; Wilhelm gazes in awe at the curly-haired soloist.  The Boy of His Dreams!  

Scene 3:  Another photo shoot, on the grounds.  Wilhelm and Crown Prince Erik playfully escape. 

Meanwhile, Second Cousin August (Malte Gårdinger, top photo) finds out that the secret police have scoured everything; no booze anywhere on campus!  And he promised Crown Prince Erik that he'd give Wilhelm "the wildest initiation ever."  Wait - Curly Haired Soloist lives in town; maybe he could smuggle something in.

Scene 4:  Crown Prince Erik helps Wilhelm move into his tiny single room.  How can he live like this?  He's used to a palace! Wait -- didn't he want to live a normal life?  "The faster you adapt, the easier your life will be," Erik suggests.  And leaves. 

Scene 5:  Cousin August approaches Curly Haired Soloist -- Simon (Omar Rudberg) --as he leaves school at the end of the day, and introduces himself.  "We're having an initiation party for Wilhelm, and if you provide the booze, I'll make an exception to the 'no first year students' rule and invite you." Simon refuses.

 Scene 6:  In the stables, Felice is having trouble with her horse, so Sarah offers to help. Felice snippily refuses.  Later, she refuses Sarah'a offer of help rubbing the horse down.  Lots of close-ups of the horse's eyes, making me worry that we'll have an Equus situation later.   Curly-Haired Soloist Simon arrives to pick Sarah up -- his sister?

On the way to the bus stop, they discuss why Felice is being so bitchy.  "It's not a problem," Sarah says. "I'm used to no one liking me."

The bus travels into the city and picks up some kids from the regular high school who know Simon.  "Prince Wilhelm arrived today.  He seems a bit of a loser."

Meanwhile, back in her dorm room, Felice masturbates to a picture of Prince Wilhelm. WTF?  This is a bit racier than I expected!  

Her roommate Maddie interrupts to speculate about the Prince's penis.  Then she asks "Why do you like him, anyway? You're rich."  "But he's royal.  His children -- our children -- will be princes and princesses."  So being rich is not enough -- she wants to become the Queen Mum. 

Scene 7:  Dinner in Curly-Haired Soloist Simon and "Nobody Likes Me" Sarah's small apartment. Two other girls, both around 10 years old; maybe one of them is Mom (why do middle aged women always look 10 years old in Scandinavia?).

Mom asks if Sarah is making any friends at her new, ritzy private school, and she gets mad and storms off. "Leave me alone!  I don't need friends!"

Scene 8: Dinner time at the boarding school.  Prince Wilhelm is forced to sit at the far end of the table, with the other first-years. He is annoyed when the other guys agree with everything he says.

So far the Eton of Sweden has been disappointing, a series of nondescript classrooms, dorm rooms, and dining rooms. Prince Carl Philip attended several much more elegant-looking schools, such as the Enskilda Gymnasiet.

Later, Curly-Haired Soloist Simon calls his friend Ayub to ask for booze.  He can't provide any.  

Switch to Prince Wilhelm, in his underwear in bed, texting his Mom: "Please let me come home.  I hate it here!"

Scene 9:  Morning.  In class, the teacher announces that murder is top, followed by child abuse and rape. What about tax evasion and welfare scamming? What class is this?  Simon wants to know why when rich people do it, it's "evasion," and poor people, "a crime."   "You know who the biggest welfare scammers in the country are?  The Royal Family."  He glares at Prince Wilhelm.  Simon isn't afraid to criticize a prince!  Wilhelm is impressed!

Scene 10: Prince Wilhelm tries to sit with Simon at lunch, but Cousin August calls him away.  

After school, Simon tells Cousin August that he will provide booze, if he and his sister are both invited to the post initiation party.  He goes to the scuzzy apartment of his ne-er-do-well father, who is wearing sweat pants and a Star Trek sweater.

Simon: I know you're dealing booze.  Everyone knows.  Can you hook me up with some? I need it for a party. How strict are the liquor laws in Sweden?

I checked: you can get alcoholic drinks in bars and restaurants, but if you want alcohol to take home, you have to face the complex, expensive government-run monopoly. Many Swedes go to Norway or Finland to get their booze, and moonshine is common in rural  areas.

Dad: I remember what it was like, trying to impress a girl.

Simon: I'm gay, Dad.

Dad: Oh, right, sorry.  A cute guy, then.  Sure, you can count on me to save the day.

Simon: Just don't tell anyone I've been here.  He's not allowed to visit his father?

Scene 11:  Prince Wilhelm is kidnapped by scary clowns, squirted with water, ridden like a horse, and forced to drink a glass of spit.  The hazing over, he pledges loyalty to Forest Hill House, and it's time for the party.  

Lots of boys and girls drinking and frolicking.  Cousin August: "Your problem was that you wanted to have normal friends, meet normal girls, go to normal parties, but the normal people will never accept you as one of them." 

On cue, two normals, Sarah and Simon, arrive. Sarah finds a drunk Felice and bonds with her.  Prince Wilhelm gazes at Simon from across the crowded room, but doesn't approach: he's busy drinking, dancing, and being gazed at by star-struck girls.  When he finally gets around to saying hello, Simon makes an excuse and leaves.  Prince Wilhelm follows.  They end up sitting outside, laughing and talking and gazing at each other.  Enough with the gazing!  Kiss, already!

Nope.  Their faces are about an inch away when the closing credits start to roll.

Beefcake: Some cute guys.  Prince Wilhelm is not at all attractive.

Other Sights: No.

Gay Characters:  Obviously Prince Wilhelm and Simon.  Maybe Sarah.  

A Gay Royal:  Sweden is one of the most gay-positive countries in the world, with 98% of the population favoring gay rights and 92% supporting same-sex marriage.  But since the job of a prince is to smile, wave, give speeches, and have sex with a princess, the Royal Family may disapprove of Prince Wilhelm and Simon dating. I assume this will be the main conflict of the series.

My Grade:  Pleasant, but a little slow (they don't kiss until the end of Episode 2). and the Wilhelm-Simon and Sarah-Felice plotlines are too similar to be of much interest.  We need something else to stir things up.   B