It could be a cultural difference, it does feel like many comedies coming from South Korea and other countries in that part of the world rely more on gags and leading musical cues, instead of trusting in the personalities of well-developed characters to bring the humor. So when we end up seeing a comedy from that region that does trust in its characters, we really appreciate it. A new supernatural-themed series on Hulu is one of those kinds of shows.
Opening Shot: A woman sits in front of a panel of doctors and says, “I am a demon. I came from Hell.”
The Gist: This is the claim of Kang Bit-na (Park Shin-hye), a judge. Her story is that, after the Bit-na that used to exist was stabbed and died, her soul was mistakenly sent to Gehenna, or Murderer’s Hell; she was supposed to go to “Fake Hell”. She lands in the court of Justitia (Oh Na-ra), the judge who brands murderers who don’t have remorse and sends them to Gehenna. Even though her assistant says Bit-na isn’t a killer, Justitia brands her anyway.
This incurs the wrath of Bael (Shin Sung-rok), the director of Hell; he tells her she will go to the land of the living and kill 10 murderers who have no remorse. She has a year to do it, else she will be the one to die. Justitia is also ordered to possess the body of Judge Kang.
We see Bit-na released from the hospital with a PTSD diagnosis, because she tells everyone she’s a demon. She also has a cola addiction and a much more colorful and designer-oriented mode of dress. Her manner in court isn’t exactly full of decorum, as we see during a lawsuit trial against Han Da-on (Kim Jae-young), a detective in the Violent Crimes Unit 2 at Nobong Police Station. She finds for him in the suit, mainly because she scoffs at the prosecutor’s connections and the notion that the criminal he injured was truly suffering.
Bit-na has things to do, as we see when she speeds off in her red Porsche, handing her robe and other stuff to Da-on to give to her assistant (both here and in Hell), Gu Man-do (Kim In-kwon). She goes to a church — whose goodness blinds her — to talk to Cha Ming-jung (Park Jung-yeon), who was beaten within an inch of her life by her boyfriend Moon Jung-joon (Jang Do-ha). She is flummoxed that Ming-jun will enter a letter of non-guilt to support Jung-joon. Bit-na’s motivation is to hear the whole truth, but she’s also convinced that Jung-joon is a candidate to go to Gehenna.
An interesting twist: After being arrested for harassing Ming-jung, Bit-na finds out that Da-on is the lead investigator on the case. She’s not sure if that’s going to help or hurt. She scoffs at Jung-joon’s crocodile tears during his sentencing hearing, but the sentence she comes back with shocks everyone. But Bit-na has her reasons, which soon becomes apparent.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? A combination of Lucifer and The Good Fight, perhaps? It definitely has a similar sense of humor as What We Do In The Shadows.
Our Take: The best aspect of The Judge From Hell is that it’s a comedy, and one that finds the funny within its characters instead of using gags and “this is funny!” music cues.
Bit-na, when she’s speaking to the doctors at the hospital where she was treated, does leave open the notion that she is just lying to everyone about being a demon, and that the traumatic event left her forever changed. But the show’s producers make it pretty clear that the real Bit-na is dead and that Justicia is in her place.
We don’t know a whole lot about the old Bit-na, but it that Justitia has completely transformed her, to the point where her colleagues don’t recognize her. Of course, said colleagues are also sexist pigs who don’t like female judges wearing makeup, so maybe having a possessed Bit-na working there isn’t a bad thing from that perspective.
Bit-na’s goal is to look for people who potentially killed multiple people, so she can get back to Hell faster, at least according to her assistant Man-do’s math. Once she dispatches with her current “case,” it feels like it might she turn to Da-on, feeling he’s got something to hide. Either way, if the show continues to balance humor with the supernatural element, it’ll be fun to watch.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: In an epilogue, we see the real Bit-na get saved from an attacking lion-like creature somewhere in Hell. And the possessed Bit-na refuses to say why the real one ended up in Hell in the first place.
Sleeper Star: Kim Hye-hwa plays Kim So-young, the leader of Violent Crimes Unit 2, and Da-on’s mother. How Da-on got his mother as his boss is anyone’s guess.
Most Pilot-y Line: For some reason or another, Bit-na keeps her psychiatric diagnosis referral in her purse.
Our Call: STREAM IT. The Judge From Hell does not only have an intriguing premise and a fun lead performance, but it’s funny for all the right reasons.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.