The new ENA channel drama,
Unlike in the past, the prejudice against idols or television personalities becoming actors has significantly diminished. This is due to the growing number of cases where individuals successfully establish themselves as actors after thorough preparation, grueling practice, and passing auditions. However, Dex's performance in
The essence of acting lies in erasing oneself and breathing life fully into a character within the story. For a work to be truly immersive, the audience must follow the narrative and emotions of the character, not the actor's name. No matter how spectacular the action or powerful the dialogue, if the actor's own image lingers in the viewer's mind, it's difficult to call it a successful performance. Unfortunately, many viewers have pointed out this very issue while watching
The core of this controversy is that the powerful icon of 'Dex' overwhelms the character he plays, 'Jung-hyun.' The moment a scene is perceived as "Dex holding a gun" or "Dex delivering a line," the immersion is broken. The critique that even his gaze, which should convey the character's complex inner world, shows the eyes of Dex rather than Jung-hyun, is perhaps the biggest challenge he faces. Paradoxically, this acting controversy has helped to increase the drama's buzz.
If Dex was responsible for the initial hype, it is the protagonist, Won Jin-ah, who firmly anchors the drama and leads its narrative. The show, which was largely veiled in secrecy aside from information about Dex, finally unveiled the compelling story of its main character once it aired. The drama's title,
The drama is based on the completed Kakao Webtoon of the same name, built upon a solid, pre-existing story. As the title suggests, the characters share a common past of having been adopted as children. However, their adoptions were not ordinary. They were treated like custom-made products, 'selected' and 'provided' to meet the specific tastes and demanding requirements of their adoptive parents.
While the adoption process was meticulously planned, a ruthless system exists where children are mercilessly "refunded" if they fail to meet their parents' expectations or change in a way that displeases them as they grow up. Here, a "refund" means "elimination," placing the children in a horrific fate where their lives are threatened by their parents' change of heart. Through this extreme premise of commodifying children.
Actress Won Jin-ah delivers a powerful performance as 'Kim Ah-hyun,' a character who was targeted for one of these "refunds" and faced elimination. 'Woo Tae-sik' (played by Choi Young-joon), who was originally tasked with handling children like Kim Ah-hyun, is overcome with immense shock and guilt upon realizing his work was not a simple errand but the act of murder. He betrays the organization and secretly spirits the children away, protecting them in his own way.
However, Woo Tae-sik's good deed is discovered when one of the surviving children makes the mistake of calling their parents from a public phone. This act leads to his elimination by the organization, and the existence of the children he hid is brought to light. To track down the survivors, the organization appoints a new "refund" handler. This role is played by Dex's character, 'Jung-hyun,' who becomes a cold-blooded hunter pursuing the children in Woo Tae-sik's place.
The ultimate mastermind who designed and oversees this entire tragic system is 'Kim Se-hee' (played by Yum Jung-ah), the highly respected director of a medical foundation and an expert in child education. Behind a gentle and intelligent facade, she hides a cruel ambition, holding the fates of the children in her hands. Ultimately,
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