“Black Out” – Two Missing But Are They Dead?

“Black Out” is a 2024 Korean drama TV series, with 14 episodes, categorized as Crime, Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense; streaming on Disney+/Hulu. It is based on the best-selling German novel “Snow White Must Die”.

SUMMARY: When Ko Jung-Woo was a high school student, he was arrested and charged with the murders of two missing high school girls who were both his friends. He insists that he is innocent but even his own mother doesn’t believe him. The police forced a confession out of him and sent him to prison. After surviving the torture of prison, he came out with one thing on his mind. He wanted to find the missing bodies and the real killer. But will he be able to find out the truth? Nobody in the village wanted him there. If he stayed they would torture him even worse than how he was tortured in prison. What price was he willing to pay to know the truth?

♦ Was a Convenient Scenario Concocted to Convict an Innocent Man?

In “Black Out”, two 19-year-old girls are missing and presumed dead. Ko Jung-Woo has been arrested and will be charged with their murders. He insists that he is innocent. But the police TELL him that he’s guilty. Not only do they insist that he is guilty but they explain to him exactly how he did it. He was drunk and because he committed the acts in his drunken state, he murdered two of his friends. Then his mind went into “protection mode” and he blacked out. Now … conveniently … he can say he doesn’t remember anything. That includes where the missing bodies are. Of course, they didn’t explain numerous details like the part about how he managed to move two bodies to a place where nobody can find them. The police practically forced a confession out of him and then put him in prison. So you have to ask … convenient for who?

Ko Jung-Woo survived the hell of prison, served ten (10) years, and was released. He returned to his hometown and obviously, he was not welcomed by anyone. His father passed away while he was in prison. His mother never visited him in prison and had remained there in the town, even though the townspeople mistreated her. The first thing Ko Jung-Woo did was go to see his mother and he found out that she was being mistreated. The “helpful” police chief got Ko Jung-Woo a job in Seoul and told him to take his mother with him. The mother did not want to leave but encouraged her son to go and start a new life. Before he could even decide to leave, someone attempted to murder his mother. Job or no job, there was no way Ko Jung-Woo was going to leave Mucheon Village without searching for his mother’s attacker.

Everyone in the Village is a Suspect

Detective No Sang-Cheol was sent to Mucheon Village as a punishment for misbehaving. He had a habit of beating up suspects and his violence would not be tolerated. The idea was to send him to a small town where there isn’t very much crime to cool down. But once he got there he came across a most interesting case. In this case, everyone in the town was a suspect. Imagine trying to dig through all those people to find the MMO – motive, means, and opportunity. He found bits and pieces of information that suggested the investigation had not been conducted properly. He wanted to reopen the investigation. There was a lot of opposition because … a re-investigation might reveal that the initial investigation had not been handled correctly. The “helpful” police chief had been promoted because of Ko Jung-Woo’s case. Because he is an outsider, No Sang-Cheol sees things that others either don’t see or don’t want to see.

Not Everyone in the Village Believes Ko Jung-Woo is the Killer

Choi Na-Kyeom is a high school classmate. Ko Jung-Woo was never interested in her romantically, but she was almost obsessed with him. She even visited him in prison and was there the day he was released. She was wholeheartedly devoted to him and would do anything for him. In other words, she was stuck on him super glue. If you think about it, her rival for Ko Jung-Woo’s affection is one of the missing girls. But that girl’s no longer with us, so maybe she has a chance to win his heart. Ko Jung-Woo appreciates that his classmate has always been there for him. But it looks like he is still not interested in a relationship with her other than friendship.

Ha Seol, like the detective is also an outsider. She is a medical student but decided to take a break from her studies to do solo travel. When Ha Seol ended up in Mucheon, she took a part-time job, working at the restaurant where Ko Jung-Woo’s mother worked. She couldn’t help but notice how badly the people treated her. When Ko Jung-Woo returned to the village after serving his prison term, she began to understand why. Ha Seol had also befriended the son of the police chief, who was “mentally challenged”. The young man was physically close in age to Ko Jung-Woo, but not mentally.

Nevertheless, the police chief’s son grew up in that town and always liked Ko Jung-Woo. While interacting with the police chief’s son, Ha Seol came across some information that made her begin to think that the murder investigation may have overlooked something crucial. The testimony of the police chief’s son was not accepted at the time and was written off as “not credible”. But Ha Seol believed that he had possibly witnessed the murders. In other words, it was credible but they buried it. She spoke to Detective No Sang-Cheol to let him know her suspicions. Even though she wasn’t a police officer or had any type of position in law enforcement, she started digging into the case of the missing girls.

Ko Jung-Woo is independently investigating.  When he was a frightened high school student, he let them force him to confess. They told him he didn’t remember because he blacked out. But suppose he didn’t remember because he didn’t commit the murders. You would have no memory of an event if you didn’t do it! Ko Jung-Woo, Ha Seol, and No Sang-Cheol are trying to get to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. However, the rest of the townspeople appear to be satisfied with the “convenient truth” they were fed. They have believed it for 10 years. Surely they can’t all be wrong. Or can they?

Main Characters:

• Ko Jung-Woo (played by Byun Yo-Han, “Believer 2”, “The Book of Fish”, “Uncle Samsik”, “Mr. Sunshine”)
• Detective No Sang-Cheol (played by Ko Jun)
• Choi Na-Kyeom (played by Go Bo-Gyeol, “The Heavenly Idol”)
• Ha Seol (played by Kim Bo-Ra, “The Ghost Station”, “Finland Papa”, “My Only Love Song” )

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 6.4 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 8.3 out of 10 stars
• Dramabeans: 9.8 out of 10 stars

My personal rating is the same as Dramabeans.

Byun Yo-Han is an outstanding actor. He was very impressive in “Mr. Sunshinie” and I appreciate the diversity of roles he plays. From the son of a nobleman to a ruthless gangster to a humble fisherman, he is always so convincing. This time in “Black Out”, he is a man who served time as a murderer and upon release, tried to star life anew. He was as amazing as I expected him to be. This series brought out my “inner Sherlock Holmes”. With each episode I was piecing together what really happened the night of murders and who was the like killer. That’s why my rating is the same as Dramabeans. The K-drama was a most excellent WHODUNIT!

• The moral of this story is: When the police come up with a convenient explanation for what you did, why you did it, and when, you’re probably not guilty.

I know of a real-life story where a high school kid confessed to something he did not do. Fortunately for him, one of the detectives was unsatisfied with his confession and kept investigating. The real killer was found but the detective was baffled. He asked the boy why he confessed to something he did not do. The teenager said: “Well they kept saying they had all this evidence that proved I did. I figured it didn’t matter what I said they would send me to jail anyway!”

• The other moral of this story is: If you’re innocent, SAY SO!! No matter what.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

‘Black Out’ defies odds, nearly triples ratings despite slow start | The Chosun Daily

“Black Out” Soars To Its Highest Ratings Yet As “Good Partner” Hits Friday High | Soompi

New K-drama ‘Black Out’ explodes in popularity | allkpop

[Off the Pages] German bestseller gets new twist in ‘Snow White Must Die — Black Out’ | The Korea Herald

TRAILER/TEASER:

LoveBreak _Official. “Black out Official Trailer | Byun Yo Han | Go Jun | Kim Bo Ra | Go Bo Gyeol {ENG SUB}.” YouTube Video. YouTube, August 16, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QR0RgFWCbI.

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