Stranger (TV series)


Stranger is a South Korean crime thriller drama television series. Produced by Signal Entertainment and IOK Media, it was created by Studio Dragon writer Lee Soo-yeon and broadcast on tvN from June 10, 2017. The series stars Cho Seung-woo and Bae Doona as prosecutor and police lieutenant detectives teaming up to solve a mysterious murder case and uncovers a larger corruption scheme within the government on the way.
Stranger was nominated for various accolades, and on the Grand Prize for Television at the 54th Baeksang Arts Awards. The New York Times listed it their Tenth Best TV Show of 2017. The series was renewed for a second season, which is scheduled to air on August 15, 2020.

Plot

Hwang Si-mok is an exemplary prosecutor who suffered from hypersensitivity to certain frequencies of sound. After undergoing a corrective surgery, he lost his sense of empathy and lacks of social skills. While investigating a serial murder case, he meets police lieutenant Han Yeo-jin, who assists him in solving it. As they begin to unravel the mystery behind the murders, they also discover that their efforts are being continuously foiled as expounding them will also lead to unfold the secrets about a larger scheme of corruption between the government's Public Prosecutor's Office and a private conglomerate.
In the second season, an ethical dispute arises within the Prosecutor's Office and the National Police Agency, with the former wanting discretionary power over all investigative proceedings while the latter seeks for an autonomous authority. In the midst of their respective agencies' conflict, Shi-Mok and Yeo-jin team up to independently conduct their own investigation on a concealed case.

Cast and characters

Main

; Special investigations task force
;Western Seoul District Public Prosecutors Office
;Yongsan Police Station
; Others

Series overview

Season 1 (2017)

Season 2 (2020)

Production

Development

The entire series is written by Lee Soo-yeon who was inspired by the Korean adage "We cannot rule those who want nothing" to create the character of Si-mok. Ahn Gil-ho directed the majority of the first season with the assistance of Yoo Je-won, while Park Hyun-seok took over the filming duties for the second season. Unlike usual South Korean dramas, the series was developed as a potential multi-seasonal program, with most of the filming have already been pre-produced prior to its broadcast.

Casting

In January 2017, Cho Seung-woo and Bae Doona were offered the lead roles. Shin Hye-sun was added to the cast on that same month. It was the first television drama Cho Seung-woo had accepted since in 2014, after venturing into musical theatre for seven years. For the second season, cast members Cho Seung-woo, Bae Doona, Lee Joon-hyuk, and Yoon Se-ah, were all confirmed to reprise their roles. Jeon Hye-jin and Choi Moo-sung were also confirmed to join the lead cast in January 2020.

Filming

Filming of the first season commenced on April 2017, launched by the first script reading with the cast at the CJ E&M Center in Seoul. Script reading for the second season took place in January 2020, but filming had only successfully began to take place on June 2020.

Release

The pilot episode of Stranger aired on June 10, 2017 on tvN, replacing Chicago Typewriter. Netflix secured the worldwide streaming rights for the series for US$200,000 per episode, except in Korea and China, and released them in simultaneous broadcast with tvN as a Netflix original program. The Korea Times reported that Bae, who had previously appeared in the Netflix original series Sense8, proved to be crucial in the purchase of the drama. tvN affiliate tvN Asia also aired the program in selected Asian markets beginning on June 16, 2018. A second season has been commissioned by tvN, which is set to be released with Netflix on the same day. It is scheduled to be broadcast on August 16, 2020, replacing It's Okay to Not Be Okay.

Music

An accompanying soundtrack compilation to Stranger was released by Mog Communications and Kakao M on September 13, 2017, in South Korea. It was later reissued by Universal Music Group in overseas markets on May 11, 2018. A three-disc album, the latter two discs features music composed by Kim Jun-seok and Jung Sae-rin for the program. Ten songs were released from the soundtrack as singles in numbered parts from June to July 2017: "끝도없이 " by Richard Parkers, "먼지 " Everlua, "소나기 " by Oohyo, "괴물처럼 " by Tei, "웃어요 " by Han Hee Jung & Sorae, the titular track "비밀의 숲 " by Yoon Do-hyun, "사랑할 것 처럼 " by Kim Kookheon of Myteen, "물결 " by Yein of Lovelyz, "굿바이 잘가요 "/"Back in Time" by Peter Han, and "묻는다 " by Jung Won-bo of NeighBro & Jun Sang-geun. Of these, the songs "소나기 " and "사랑할 것 처럼 " have managed to enter the South Korean Gaon BGM Music Chart at numbers 80 and 79, respectively.
;비밀의 숲 OST Track listing

Reception

Ratings

According to data published by Nielsen Korea, the pilot episode of the series was seen by 3.041% of total nationwide viewers, in metropolitan Seoul, it earned 3.2% rating, which made it the highest-rated program of the day among non-terrestrial channel programs. The program achieved its highest rating on the first season finale, earning 6.568% rating and a 7.622% rating within Seoul-based viewers. On average, it was seen by 4.562% of total viewership. On the TNmS rating system, the series premiered with a 3.2% rating and ended its first season with a 7.1% rating.

Critical response

In an article by columnist Dena Daw for Screen Rant, Stranger was described as a "domestic and international success". Though ratings-wise, the program was not a "smash hit", pundits and audiences praised it as a "league of its own". Korean culture critic Ha Jae-geun described the character as a "fantasy that was borne out of a time of distrust". In her review for The Korea Times, columnist Park Jin-hai commended the writing as "finely intertwined", and wrote that audiences gave a strong response to this "drama for thinking people". The New York Times listed the series in tenth place as their The Best TV Shows of 2017.
At the 54th Baeksang Arts Awards, the series received eight nominations, including two considerations for Grand Prize for Television, winning one for the whole series. Cho Seung-woo and Lee Soo-yeon also won Best Television Actor and Best Television Screenplay, respectively. In a Gallup Korea poll, audiences aged 19 and above selected Stranger as their 12th favorite show on July 2017. While Google Korea listed the series as the ninth most-searched television program of 2017.

Accolades