| Gap-dong | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Crime Thriller Drama Mystery Action |
| Written by | Kwon Eum-mi |
| Directed by | Jo Soo-won |
| Starring | Yoon Sang-hyun Kim Min-jung Sung Dong-il Kim Ji-won Lee Joon |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language | Korean |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Bae Jong-byung Kim Hee-yeol |
| Producers | Kang Hee-jun Lee Young-ok |
| Production location | Korea |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company | Pan Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | tvN |
| Release | April 11 (2014-04-11) – June 21, 2014 (2014-06-21) |
Gap-dong (Korean: 갑동이; RR: Gapdongi) is a 2014 South Korean television series starring Yoon Sang-hyun, Kim Min-jung, Sung Dong-il, Kim Ji-won and Lee Joon. It aired on cable channel tvN from April 11 to June 14, 2014 on Fridays and Saturdays at 20:40 (KST) for 20 episodes.
The series is based on the real-life Hwaseong serial murders.
Synopsis
In 1986, the (fictional) city of Iltan in Gyeonggi Province: A young girl gets brutally murdered by an unknown person on a dark night. As the city is gripped by a succession of serial killings, a total of nine murders within a twelve-kilometer radius since 1993, the police conclude that a man they've nicknamed "Gap-dong" is behind the crimes. Detective Yang Cheol-gon is convinced that the actual killer is Ha Il-sik, a resident of the town who is intellectually challenged. His attempt to arrest the suspect fails as Ha commits suicide to prove his innocence. His death inspires his son Moo-yeom to become a police officer to clear his father's name and restore his honor.
Seventeen years later, Moo-yeom is a police detective who spends his career chasing dead ends and helping juvenile delinquents. After the statute of limitations on the case expires, Moo-yeom becomes resigned to the belief that Gap-dong is dead. But then a series of incidents occur in the town that bear an eerie resemblance to Gap-dong's crimes. Cheol-gon, now a well-decorated officer, has recently transferred back to Iltan, and to his dismay, Moo-yeom joins his investigation team to catch Gap-dong once and for all.
Cast
Main
- Yoon Sang-hyun as Ha Moo-yeom, a detective in Iltan Police Department's violent crimes unit. He vows to avenge his wrongly accused father.
- Kim Min-jung as Maria Oh, a psychiatrist with a mysterious double life and a suspicious curiosity for all things Gap-dong.
- Sung Dong-il as Yang Cheol-gon, a police inspector at the time of the original murders, and is now a well-decorated officer. Upon receiving his latest promotion, he surprises his superiors by requesting to be assigned back to Iltan, because he wants to end his career by capturing Gap-dong. Still convinced that Moo-yeom's father was the killer, he is extremely prejudiced against Moo-yeom, which makes for a combative working relationship. He also hiding grief of his daughter's death.
- Kim Ji-won as Ma Ji-wool, a 17-year-old high school student and webtoon artist with the pen name "Matilda". Ji-wool becomes pivotal to the case when her webtoon titled The Beast's Path ends up foretelling the crimes. When she becomes the killer's next target, it also serves as a set of clues to find him.
- Lee Joon as Ryu Tae-oh, an inmate of a prison psychiatric hospital, who becomes a barista after his release. With a genius IQ of 150, his excellent and detailed memory may prove valuable to cracking the case, but he also happens to have the disposition to be a dangerous psychopath, and considers Gap-dong his god and hero.
Supporting
- Jung In-gi as Cha Do-hyeok, the police section chief. He was in fact, the true culprit of the "Gap Dong" serial murders. He was sentenced to death nearing the end of the series
- Hyun Woo as young Cha Do-hyeok
- Kang Nam-gil as Han Sang-hoon, a profiler
- Jang Gwang as Jinjo, a monk
- Choo Soo-hyun as Oh Young-ae
- Lee Seung-ho as Kim Shin-yong
- Yoo Eun-ho as Yang Seon-joo, Cheol-gon's daughter
- Lee Go-eun as young Seon-joo
- Min Sung-wook as Nam Ki-ri
- Jung Won-joong as Park Joong-goo
- Jang Hee-soo as Kim Young-mi, Maria's mother
- Yoon Kyun-sang as the youngest detective
- Seo Cho-won as Supporting
- Hong In-young as Hong Sung-hee, a reporter
- Seo Joo-hee as Ji Hwa-ja, Ji-wool's mother
- Jo Ji-hwan as Lee Hyung-nyeon, Moo-yeom's partner and wife
Ratings
In this table, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share |
|---|---|---|
| AGB Nielsen | ||
| Nationwide | ||
| 1 | April 11, 2014 | 1.51% |
| 2 | April 12, 2014 | 1.98% |
| 3 | April 25, 2014 | 1.37% |
| 4 | April 26, 2014 | 1.64% |
| 5 | May 2, 2014 | 1.77% |
| 6 | May 3, 2014 | 1.76% |
| 7 | May 9, 2014 | 1.81% |
| 8 | May 10, 2014 | 2.32% |
| 9 | May 16, 2014 | 1.72% |
| 10 | May 17, 2014 | 2.00% |
| 11 | May 23, 2014 | 1.89% |
| 12 | May 24, 2014 | 2.08% |
| 13 | May 30, 2014 | 1.68% |
| 14 | May 31, 2014 | 1.91% |
| 15 | June 6, 2014 | 2.32% |
| 16 | June 7, 2014 | 2.23% |
| 17 | June 13, 2014 | 1.85% |
| 18 | June 14, 2014 | 2.17% |
| 19 | June 20, 2014 | 2.07% |
| 20 | June 21, 2014 | 2.13% |
| Average | 1.91% | |
- This drama airs on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 7th Korea Drama Awards | Best New Actor | Lee Joon | Nominated |
International broadcast
- It aired in Thailand on Workpoint TV beginning March 9, 2015.
- In Hong Kong, Macau, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, the drama began airing on tvN Asia with a variety of subtitles on 2016.
References
- Kim, Hee-eun (11 April 2014). "Drama based on murders familiar". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
- "Yoon Sang Hyun Gets Intense for Upcoming tvN Drama Gapdong". Soompi. 9 March 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
- Bae, Sun-young (4 February 2014). "MBLAQ Lee Joon to Turn into Barista in New Drama". TenAsia. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
- Kim, Hee-eun (20 March 2014). "Lee Joon joins new thriller". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
- Hong, Grace Danbi (11 April 2014). "Lee Joon Says MBLAQ Members Liked that He Was a Psychopath in Gapdong". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
- Jeon, Ah-ram (28 June 2014). "Interview: Lee Joon Shares on Acting as a Psychopath in Gapdong". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
- "Gap Dong กั๊บดง ถอดรหัสฆ่า / GabDong – ซีรีย์เกาหลี". korea.tlcthai.com. 2 September 2015. Thai: ภาษาไทย
External links
- Official website (in Korean)
- Gap-dong at HanCinema
- Gap-dong at IMDb
- Gap-dong webtoon (in Korean)