Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Well, after having to hunt and scratch and claw to find even the most rudimentary subtitles for the preview episode of Crime Scene Returns, thankfully Potato Squad has come to the rescue and provided high-quality subtitles for the show, and hopefully they’ll continue to do so. Sure, I’d find a way to watch it either way, but there’s no point in recapping it if I can’t enjoy it with other people.
======
======
Apparently they’re using a slightly different format this year, as the scale is bigger due to being on cable, and it’ll also come with more deliberate pacing.
“Moving to a streaming service has allowed us to have more financial freedom, so the scale of the set and the story have been enlarged,” Yun Hyun-joon, the creator and head producer of the show since its first season in 2014, said during a group interview with reporters on Wednesday. “As shown in the teaser for ‘Crime Scene Returns,’ the set of the first episode features a life-size airplane, and the story also matches in magnitude.”
Returning on a streaming platform — Tving — has allowed the show to expand and for the show to feature higher quality set pieces such as more realistic-looking props, Yun said.
“One of the signature traits of the ‘Crime Scene’ series was its deliberate tackiness when it came to the set and props, but with an enlarged budget and more creative freedom we could splurge on those elements,” Yun said.
Making “Crime Scene Returns” with the idea of releasing it on Tving also allowed the producer to stop worrying about whether the show was too fast-paced in showing the clues and evidence involved in the mystery case.
“When we were making the show for cable, we had to consider whether the pace was too fast for the audience and whether we should allot more time before showing hints that would be important later on,” Yun said. “But with the decision for ‘Crime Scene Returns’ to be shown on Tving, we could forgo those worries because the merits and advantage of a show being released on a streaming service is that viewers can always stop, rewind and replay the scenes whenever they want.”
To be fair, that’s how I always watched it.
——
Anyway, so on to the recap, right? Right.
To the point about bigger sets and what not, that was apparent almost immediately.
The debut episode case is that of a murdered woman while a plane was in the air. She was a sick passenger who went missing in the middle of the flight and is later found dead in a suitcase.
Three minutes in and Yujin will already never be the same. Truly impressive stuff.
In terms of the format of this post, what I figure I’ll do is basically watch it with everybody else instead of going ahead or whatever, otherwise that removes the fun. Thus, I’ll be trying to piece it together with all of you one episode at a time*.
*If you’ve seen the other available episodes, don’t spoil it in the comments.
The detective for this case is Park Ji Yoon, with her assistant being the hunky Lee Jin Woo from GHOST9.
Victim – Jin Yewon
- 29-year-old former Fungmu Airlines stewardess and current influencer with a ton of luxury items
- Murdered between 9:00 PM and 10:25 PM while in air, potentially in the bathroom and then moved to the cargo area
- Stab wound on right side of neck, laceration on left forehead, strangled by red rope
- Ate some tampered soup that made her ill and made her go to the bathroom
- Victim of stock manipulation scandal that put her in debt
- Outstanding loans of $300k and $200k
The way I see things is something like she was strangled from behind via the rope or whatever, hit her head falling after passing out or being thrown into the cargo hold, and the perpetrator stabbed her in the neck while she was unconscious to kill her.
Fiancé Key (SHINee’s Key)
- 34-year-old ballet instructor engaged to victim
- Works at cultural center and is Korean-Russian
- Met the victim while on a plane to start relationship, had a lot of airport dates
- Didn’t know about victim’s spending habits and debt
- Talked maliciously about victim through post-it notes in Russian
- Revealed to be Sergey, a spy and a member of the Russian mafia group Slam Mafia (SM, subtle)
- Carried a set of teas with him, of which an ominously-named Putin’s container was half empty
A bit meta, but this all seems a bit on the nose if he were to be the perpetrator. Foreigner, spy, mafia, Putin’s tea, and all that. Yeah, this makes him seem like a prime candidate, but the motive isn’t clear. Why go through all that trouble to setup a cover and trash it now?
Flight Ahn (IVE’s Yujin)
- 29-year-old stewardess for Fungmu Airlines
- Victim was former sunbae who she knew since high school
- Victim bullied her relentlessly, would get locked in plane’s chiller
- Victim gave her terrible performance reviews, was forced to buy luxury items for victim
- Made public complaints, found not true by company and pay cut in half
- Knew how to open locked lavatories, but showed how easy it was
- Relationship recently ended, seemed to be engaged
The obvious choice so far, she got the first vote from the detective, but it almost seems too overwhelming at the moment. The motive is so blatant, and what’s been revealed about her (like she admits to drugging the victim) seems like she was halfway to guilty already. Red herring.
When IVE comeback at the same time as aespa. #CrimeSceneReturns pic.twitter.com/pr18ltno60
— Asian Junkie (@asianjunkiecom) February 18, 2024
Fungmu Jang (Jang Dong Min)
- 60-year-old R&D team member of Fungmu Electronics, worked there for 30 years
- Flight was chartered by him to do chemtrails, claims it was ordered by company
- Initially claimed to know victim because she was a diligent worker, then evidence emerged of a close relationship, denied affair but said he sponsored her from orphanage time
- Pressured company auditor to rule in victim’s favor over Flight Ahn, claims he didn’t know about bullying
- Salary at company has been frozen for 20 years
- Patent was used by company to clean dog poop
- Had an expensive pocket watch that keeps getting brought up, allegedly talked about it with victim
Seems clear the whole story on him is not out yet, with the pocket watch playing some kind of role. Realistically there’s no real motive yet, though the combination of being a company executive, having his salary frozen, and sponsoring a younger woman immediately makes me suspicious.
Absolutely cursed. #CrimeSceneReturns pic.twitter.com/a6CaKAtpjy
— Asian Junkie (@asianjunkiecom) February 17, 2024
Luxury Jang (Jang Jin)
- 36-year-old and unemployed
- Revealed that he did the stock market manipulation that put the victim into debt
- Ran from consequences by letting people think he’s dead, thus the disguises
- Victim recognized him on plane
Another suspect that hasn’t had the whole story be revealed yet, which automatically makes me suspicious despite not a ton of reason to be yet.
Fanatic Joo (Joo Hyun Young)
- 33-year-old and unemployed
- A sasaeng fan of the victim, revealed to be stalking and victim has restraining order against her
- Victim living her ideal life, changed name to that of victim
- Carries around stuffed animal named Wilson, a potential molka device
- Messy room, survives off delivery, maybe alcoholic
- Was captured breaking and entering victim’s residence
Two new idol cast members? Well, a nice touch having a sasaeng immediately being one of the suspects, probably triggering some kind of self-defense mechanism for them.
Another one with an obvious motive, as they can act irrationally and it would fit the character anyway. Cases of admiring stalkers killing victims because they were rejected by them in some way are common, so an easy argument to make. For that reason though, it would also make it somewhat difficult to have it make sense in the scope of the show. The bombastic absurdity of it all seems like a red herring more than real motive.
Timeline
- 9:20 – Victim meets with Fungmu Jang in First Class
- 9:25 – Victim seen going back to her seats by Fanatic Joo
- 9:?? – Victim has peanut power trip on Flight Ahn
- 9:?? – Victim escorted to bathroom by Luxury Jang after she recognized him
- 9:40 – Victim served tampered meal by Flight Ahn
- 9:50 – Victim goes to bathroom after feeling sick, according to Fiancée Key
Votes
- Flight Ahn: 1 (Park Ji Yoon)
——
The vote for Flight Ahn makes logical sense based on what’s been revealed so far, but I still think it’s way too obvious. I’m on either Fungmu Jang or Luxury Jang, as there’s a lot that hasn’t been revealed yet about them.
Luxury Jang’s motive is easy, as silencing somebody that could land him in jail would make sense. This is written off too easily on the show as him saying she would be more likely to murder him in that case, but keeping her silent is as likely.
In particular, Fungmu Jang seems to be involved in some kind of shady relationship and business deal with the victim that could easily provide motive, and I feel like the watch has to be connected to something important between the two. He also had the most familiarity with the plane and what not, having chartered it, giving him plenty of opportunity and the means.
——
Other Stuff
- What are your thoughts on the necessity of the detective role? I feel like other than the two votes, they don’t do anything different than the other players, and especially when it’s somebody like Park Ji Yoon it takes away a potentially entertaining character.
- The newbies in Yujin, Key, and Joo Hyun Young have definitely done their part so far. They stay in character and don’t break unless it’s funny.
- Yujin in particular brought the refreshing new blood image, as evidenced by Jang Jin and Jang Dong Min:
- By comparison, I kind of expected Key and Joo Hyun Young to be fine, as Key did this in the first season and Joo Hyun Young does sketches for a living.
- Subtle PPL:
- Putting an idol in a fictional relationship and then trolling them? Classic.
======
Overall? So far, so good. I’m engaged, I’m entertained, I’m ready to get happy/mad. The cast is proving to be rock solid so far, and the scope is pretty clearly bigger than before, so that part is working out. Probably the only disappointment so far is the lack of a guest as a constant fresh face, which was something I looked forward to (and was a trial run for future cast like Key), but we’ll see if that matters in the end.
I do wonder if having so many episodes available at once will rob streaming viewers of the week-to-week experience aspect of it, but nothing much has changed so far for everybody here at least. My body is ready for the conclusion of this one.
Again, if you’ve seen the other available episodes, don’t spoil it in the comments.
