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[HanCinema's Drama Preview] "Prison Playbook"

It takes all kinds of communities to make our world and a prison one is not the kind we often imagine when hearing the word. "Prison Playbook" is brought to us by the creators of the "Answer Me/Reply" series and it is time we get acquainted to such a community through a baseball star turned criminal overnight.

Premise

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Kim Je-hyeok (Park Hae-soo) is a baseball superstar who has it made. In a surprising twist, the celebrity becomes a convicted criminal and has to adjust to prison life. The series follows him as he experiences his new home and new network behind bars.

The Worrying

A ride to prisonJe-hyeok

Limiting Setting

The confines of a prison is a great place for rich character drama and given its criminal associations, it can include a lot of suspense as well. That being said, it is still a microcosmos removed from the variety that society at large provides. The creators have to nail their little world.

Short Format

With the series currently slated for 16 episodes, it feels as if the time is so short when considering the potential. We have a rarely portrayed setting housing characters we do not often become familiar with as audiences and oftentimes people. A longer format would support their development and a slice-of-life approach.

The Reassuring

The inmatesJoon-ho

Unique Premise and Great Cast

As worrying as the confined setting, the amount of characters and the length may be for me personally, there is such great work to be created from the drama's choice of premise. We have a great cast of characters and talented actors portraying roles we rarely experience in focus and outside of stereotypes, which is exciting.

Trusted Creators

A big part of my worries comes from having no experience with these creators and the big buzz machine is sadly a bad place for first impressions. When I think of their works, I think of fan wars and OTP baiting. This fan drama does not represent a team of talented people, however. I look forward to experiencing their work.

Closing Thoughts

I know that a short format series will not allow this to become the great slice-of-life work I imagine it as, but Dramaland has been fond of shows featuring prisoners and prison life lately, so it is a good opportunity for me to enter the genre/premise. I look forward to this new experience.

"Prison Playbook" begins its run on November 22nd and will air every Wednesday and Thursday at 21:30, on tVN. It is directed by Sin Won-ho, written by Jeong Bo-hoon-I and Lee Woo-jeong-I and features Park Hae-soo, Jung Kyung-ho, Jung Soo-jung and Lim Hwa-young.

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Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'

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