Train – Move Between Worlds, Catch Killers, Protect Victims

“Train” is a 2020 Korean drama series, with 12 episodes, and categorized as Fantasy, Romance, Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Time Travel, Parallel Universe, and Police Procedural.

SUMMARY: A police investigator discovers a train that allows him to navigate between parallel universes. This will help him solve crimes, catch killers, and protect victims.

♦ That Person Comes on a Train

In “Train”, Seo Do Won and Han Seo-Kyung experience tragedy on the same day. Seo Do Won found his father on the street, dead from a hit-and-run accident. Han Seo-Kyung walked into her home and found her father lying dead on the floor. According to the police report, he had been strangled to death with a gold necklace that belonged to her mother. When the people at the hospital gave Seo Do Won his father’s belongings, he found a bloodstained gold necklace. He believed his father had killed her father. For years he carried the heavy burden of guilt buried within his heart because he could not bring himself to tell her the truth. But was it the truth?

Twelve years passed. Seo Do Won is now a police detective and Han Seo-Kyung is a prosecutor. Because of their line of work, they often cross paths with each other. For twelve years, Han Seo-Kyung has been searching for her father’s murderer. Seo Do Won was investigating a case of rape and the perpetrator was allowed to go free. But since Seo Do Won saw in the police records that the perpetrator had DUI (drunk driving) cases that had been dismissed, he decided to surveil him because he knew the guy was a repeat offender. He waited for him to get drunk and get behind the wheel. The perpetrator walked out of a night club sloppy drunk, got into his car, and drove off.

Seo Do Won chased after him. He caught him at a train station and although he was not looking for it, he made a grizzly discovery. He accidentally found the skeletal remains of several bodies and the victims appeared to have been murdered by the same killer. An investigation was opened up. Han Seo-Kyung noted a similarity in the way the victims were killed and was certain that she had finally found her father’s killer.

Initially, the skeletal remains of four (4) victims were found. It was hard to identify them but they were able to identify fingerprints found on the suitcases the bodies were found in, which belonged to a man who was mentally disabled. Seo Do Won and Han Seo-Kyung believed they found the serial killer. But the evidence did not add up. Not only did the evidence not add up, the evidence didn’t make sense! It appears that the only witness who could point them to the real killer also didn’t make sense! What he kept saying over and over sounded like it didn’t make sense.

Seo Do Won was the first to piece together the “clues” that had been provided by the disabled man and realized there was a 5^th victim. He was also the the first to see the train. The disabled man kept mumbling something about a train. Seo Do Won had been seeing a doctor and taking medication to help with his mental state of mind. Carrying a burden of guilt for years can seriously affect your mental health. He asked the doctor if the drug could cause hallucinations. The doctor said it could happen. That was a relief!

Seo Do Won decided that the train he saw was a hallucination. But the clues he had put together did lead to the body of 5^th victim. The clues added up but NOT the train. There had been no train on those tracks for years. The station was closed down. Nobody went into that area; except that disabled guy, who was the one that buried the suitcases with the bodies. That’s why his fingerprints were found.

Han Seo-Kyung went to the police station because she wanted to question the disabled man. She believed that he killed those women and he killed her father. Only he mumbled something about “the person comes on the train”. WHAT? What train? He doesn’t make sense! However, she had also visited the evidence room and found some of her mother’s jewelry had been found on the victims.   That didn’t make sense either!

Even though the gibberish about the train didn’t make sense, she went back to the area where the bodies were found. Guess what? A train came out of the tunnel. Han eo-Kyung couldn’t believe her eyes. Someone on that train threw out a suitcase. She approached the suitcase to examine it but the killer stepped off the train and stood behind her. When she turned to see, he shot her!

Han Seo-Kyung and Seo Do Won had been following the clues and evidence separately. He was told that she had gone to the abandoned train station, so he went there to find her and found her dead body. Seo Do Won never told Han Seo-Kyung that he was in love with her. Now it was too late to say anything.

But it wasn’t too late for him to find her killer. His main lead? The killer always dumped the bodies in the area near that abandoned train station because the killer always came on the train. He wasn’t hallucinating. He did see a train.  The killer travels between parallel universes. Even more shocking? The woman he loves is alive and well in the other world.

Main Characters:

• Seo Do-Won (played by Yoon Si-Yoon, “Psychopath Diary”, “Nokdu Flower”, “Your Honor”, “Grand Prince”, “The Prime Minister and I”)
• Han Seo-Kyung (played by Kyung Soo-Jin, “Shadow Detective 1 and 2”, “Mouse”, “Joseon Survival” )

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 7.8 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 8.4 out of 10 stars
• Viki viewers rated this series 9.3 out of 10 stars
• Letterboxd: 3.5 out of 5 stars
• Google users shared a public rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars

My personal rating is the same as the Viki viewing audience.

“Train” has a twisted plot. I have seen similar storylines in other Korean dramas where a serial killer can travel back and forth between time periods or parallel universes. One reviewer on My Drama List said (and I agree): “A perfect example of Butterfly Effect. Our life choices are our own fate.” Honestly, no matter the reviews or ratings, I like this kind of plot! Two reasons.

1. I know a time-traveling or parallel-universe murderer will never happen in real life. Police can barely solve murders with clear evidence right up under their noses. In the city where I live, a convict who should have never been released from prison was released. He killed a few people after being let out of jail. Do you know how they caught him? THEY DIDN’T!! The guy turned himself in and told the police they better put him back in prison or he’ll keep on killing. Can you imagine IF police were tracking a killer who traveled through time? (O.o)

2. In these K-dramas, the killer usually gets caught. No spoilers but you can easily predict the ending. Duh! But I enjoy playing investigator and trying to guess which character the detectives are chasing after. It’s kind of like looking for Alfred Hitchcock in his movies. Hitchcock appeared in all of his movies, but you have to search for him. It’s like an Easter egg hunt! I never found him in most of his movies. But the movie was great and it was fun trying to find him. LOL.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

Train Korean Drama Review | Kdrama Kisses

Good Ol’ Review: Yoon Shi Yoon and Kyung Soo Jin Lead a Thrilling Ride on OCN’s “Train” | DryedMangoez.com

K-Drama Review: “Train” Traverses Exhilarating Triumph Of A Detective In Two Parallel Worlds | Hello KPop

Recap Review 2020: Looking Back on a Year of KDramas | DramaCurrent

TRAILER/TEASER:

Viki Global TV. “TRAIN – OFFICIAL TRAILER 2.” YouTube, Video, 10 July 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4U_fUfO50Q.

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