Missing 9 (2017) ~ Missing is Better Than Dead

“Missing 9” is a Korean drama series released in 2017, has 16 episodes, and is categorized as Crime and Mystery. A private jet crashes and all passengers are reported dead instead of missing. It turns out that one passenger survived. If one survived, there may be more. Might be nine (9) of them who are missing; not dead.

♦ All Reported Dead But a Survivor is Found. There’s Hope!

In “Missing 9”, a young woman wakes up on a muddy beach. She’s filthy but still breathing and can walk. She sees a building in the distance with a Chinese flag waving in the breeze and walks toward it. Her situation will either get better or worse.

The scene switches and a man is talking on the phone telling someone that he’s almost certain everybody is dead. The man talking is the president of the entertainment company. He’s telling someone that the plane crashed, and the passengers died. MOVE ON!

Easy for him to say. But the person is asking questions because one of the passengers was their son. By contrast to the son, the president is alive and living large. He’s in a lavishly decorated room with a comfortable chair for him to sit as if he were a king on a throne. The casual way he speaks about the deaths of people makes you wonder if their deaths are a good thing for him.

Suddenly one of his employees rushes into the room telling him to listen to a news report on TV. Legend’s Entertainment private jet has one survivor, Ms. Ra Bong Hee, who is being questioned by the Chinese government about the plane crash. The president is in shock. OK. The shock is understandable. But why isn’t he also expressing joy? At least one person LIVED!!

People who heard the news about the survivor are now outside of the entertainment company protesting the way the search and rescue was handled. Or rather, mishandled. They are demanding that the government continue looking for survivors.

High schoolers are especially thrilled with this news because several of the passengers were members of popular K-pop bands: Dreamers and Blue Angels. Other citizens are also elated about the news. Ms. Ra will be returned to Korea when the Chinese have finished questioning her and they will also look into the plane crash.

Uumm? The Chinese are looking into something the Korean government has already looked into. Is it good that they will be investigating the plane crash? Probably not good because that means now the Korean government has to re-investigate what they should have properly investigated the first time.

The Korean government said everybody died and they couldn’t find the wreckage. Suppose the Chinese find people who survived AND the wreckage? Now Korea has to cooperate with the Chinese. Another set of eyes examining the disaster makes it difficult to hide things.

The scene switches again and this time a mysterious person is talking cryptically on the phone to a prosecutor Cho, telling him that he has “some work” for him to do. The person on the phone had just finished listening to the news report about Ms. Ra surviving the plane crash. She’s a survivor. That also means she’s a witness.

Something is suspicious about the crash of Legend Entertainment’s private jet. Suspicious like … ??? … it was probably intentional. But why and who?

• If the plane crash is re-investigated, and it is found that the crash was intentional, will it be covered up?
• If survivors are found, will they come back home or will the person behind the plane crash finish what they started, i.e. kill them?

Meanwhile, if people have survived … where are they, and what they are doing to stay alive??

Main Characters:

• Ra Bong-Hee (played by Baek Jin-Hee, “Jeon Woo-Chi”)
• Seo Joon-O (played by Jung Kyoung-Ho, “Crash Course in Romance”)
• Choi Tae-Ho (played by Choi Tae-Joon, “The Midnight Studio”, “Flex X Cop”)
• Ha Ji-A (played by Lee Sun-Bin, “Mission: Possible”)
• Lee Yeol (played by Chanyeol)
• Yoon So-Hee (played by Ryu Won)
• Jung Ki-Joon (played by Oh Jung-Se, “Death’s Game”, “Revenant”)
• Hwang Jae-Kook (played by Kim Sang-Ho, “Bad Prosecutor”, “Bring It On, Ghost!”)
• Tae Ho-Hang (played by Tae Hang-Ho, “A Bloody Lucky Day”).

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 6.9 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7.3 out of 10 stars
• KoreanDrama.org: 7.5 out fo 10 stars
• Public reviews shared via Google: 4.6 out of 5 stars
• Viki viewers rated this series: (No rating)

FUN ENTERTAINMENT TRIVIA:

• The airplane crash scene is the first ever done in Korea’s drama and film history.

Another first? This is my first time finding a movie or series on Viki.com and there was no rating. Viki viewers are very generous with their ratings and I often agree with them. But this time they left it up to me. LOL.

My personal rating is 9 out of 10 stars.

“Missing 9” was nominated in several categories and won in several categories at the 2017 MBC Drama Awards. Best Supporting Actor: Oh Jung-Se; Best New Actress: Lee Sun-Bin; Best Bad Character: Choi Tae-Joon; and Best Comedic Character: Jung Kyoung-Ho.

This series has some comedic moments. When you’re stranded on a deserted island and it looks like there is no chance of being rescued, you have to laugh every now and then, or the weight of depression and despair will crush you. But overall, it was a serious drama.

It’s frightening to think that someone may have deliberately planned a disaster to take your life. But if you are blessed to survive the disaster, along with others:

• Number 1: Be thankful.
• Number 2: Pray that you don’t get sick or eaten by animals (or cannibals).
• Number 3: Learn how to peacefully get along with each other!

You survived! This is not the time for separating yourselves by “perceived class differences”. You’re all on a deserted island. Basically … all of y’all are screwed! That makes all of y’all are EQUAL!

LINKS OF INTEREST:

• 7 Unpredictable K-Dramas That Will Have You Overwhelmed | Soompi (‘Missing 9’ is on this list.)
• Missing 9: The Beginning | Korean Special | KoreanDrama.org
• Jung Kyung Ho Promises Laughter In Hilarious New Teaser For “Missing 9” | What The Kpop
• Missing 9’s Ending Ruined the Whole Drama (a slight Korean drama review) | The OOC Channel
• Missing 9 K-drama Review: What in the World Did I Just Watch? | Kdrama Fighting!
• 15 Jung Kyung Ho KDramas to make you go weak in the knees: From Crash Course in Romance to Missing 9 | PINKVILLA: Korean

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

News, Drama. “MBC New Drama 【Missing 9】Trailer.” YouTube Video. YouTube, January 8, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6QPymGZ2fQ.‌