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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Blood" Episode 15

The format at this point is pretty much to be expected. After an apparently daring cliffhanger where it seems like Ji-sang is just about to really get into it with Jae-wook...the younger vampire just leaves. I can't quite recall the last time I saw a drama go through so much deliberate build-up only to not actually be working up to anything. Ji-sang's strategy, to the extent he can be said to have a strategy at all, just seems to be to slowly wear down Jae-wook's weaknesses by being kind of a pest.

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That is, unless the script calls for fight scenes. And at this point I've pretty much embraced the fact that "Blood" isn't really about vampire surgeons so much as it is about vampire administrative staff. I'm almost inclined to think that this is supposed to be some sort of metaphor for workplace bureaucracy, except I'm not really sure how that would work. The basic idea of having to do battle with your own security guards for the sake of an internal investigation is just plain bizarre.

Bizarre but more importantly absurd. At its best "Blood" manages to exude a sort of goofy kinetic quality, wherein one's mind is fully aware of how ridiculous everything is, but I'm still willing to accept the situation because it's all just so comical. Writer Park Jae-beom-I pretty much has to contrive a romantic storyline out of nowhere- such that even Ji-sang isn't terribly convinced. And this definitely gives "Blood" a kind of cult quality.

When it can last anyway. While the the episode starts out fairly strong and does well right through the middle in terms of setpieces often literally forcing the story forward violently, inevitably the action slows down as the characters get back to discussing boring hospital administrative procedure. Also there are some attempts at actual serious storytelling, which don't go over quite that well because they mainly just call attention to how bad the vampires are at concealing their identities.

Even in serious moments, though, there's certainly some fun to be had from that. If you must watch "Blood" at all this is really the kind of drama that goes down better with friends, if only because you can comment to each other on the general absurdities of the storyline. The narrative is most definitely not one that warrants watching with respectful reverent silence- although it does manage to be just entertaining enough to watch for fun.

Review by William Schwartz

"Blood" is directed by Ki Min-soo, written by Park Jae-beom-I and features Ahn Jae-hyun, Koo Hye-sun, Ji Jin-hee, Jung Hae-in, Kim Kap-soo, Son Sook and more.

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