First Impression: Switch – Change the World

Chances of having a doppelgänger who also happens to be a genius and an almost-prosecutor? Hmm…never mind.

Main cast:

• Jang Geun-seuk (from The Royal Gambler) as Baek Joon-soo/ Sa Do-chan. Joon-soo is the strait laced prosecutor who fell into coma after an accident with The White Truck. Do-chan is his lookalike and even had almost passed the bar exam, except he’s a swindler (the Robin Hood type).
• Han Ye-ri as Oh Ha-ra. Joon-soo’s hoobae, a feisty prosecutor. She was the one who came up with the idea to use Do-chan to replace Joon-soo temporarily.

Synopsis:

We contrast between the 2 jobs of our lookalikes. Do-chan successfully pulled off another heist with his team members, Director Bong, In-tae and Eun-ji, by pretending to be a prosecutor (haha, foreshadowing) on a gambling den raid. (after the baddies run off,  the gang splits the money left behind by the gamblers)

Joon-soo on the other hand, is on his way to meet an informant, who could give him a big clue to nail down a mobster (Tae-woong, played by scarily nice Jung Woong-in). Enroute, he meets with a planned accident by Boss Tae-woong, and slips into coma.

On the run from those he swindled (also happens to be Boss Tae-woong), Do-chan is accosted by Boss Tae-woong’s underlings. Desperate, he tries to bluff it all the way to the Prosecutor office…to actually have Ha-ra “recognising” him as Sunbae Joon-soo. The underlings beat a hasty retreat, while Ha-ra…apprehends Do-chan.

She promises to release him if he helps her fake it as Joon-soo, in order to get the informant to talk. Do-chan agrees, and learns from the informant that an item which is hidden under an art statue in a Spanish exhibition is worth millions.

So Do-chan decides to play double headed snake. On the surface he pretends to go along with Ha-ra’s plan to obtain the item in question, but behind her back, he activates his team to steal it from under her nose…

Review:

sab: Switch is rather been-there-done-that. Except with the doppelgänger twist to the narrative. We have seen several heist-like Kdramas over the period of last year till now, until the genre is hardly surprising, or new.

Thus, what will make or break Switch is possibly the characters’ interactions, and also the amount of clever twists and red herrings it throws within the narrative. As of the debut, I’d say the latter is coming on strong. We are led to believe that Do-chan is ready to help Ha-ra, cos we do have strong hints that he is not the unscrupulous kind. In fact, Director Bong refers to him as a “softie” (he actually allows himself to be conned in order to “help” a struggling con artist…duh).

So it is with some raised eyebrows when he double crossed Ha-ra, and decides to get The Item for himself — not cos it will help persecute the Big Bad, but cos…it’s worth money. Loads of money.

kooriyuki: It looks promising so far, with a fair amount of humor inserted throughout the premiering episode. I’d advise to throw away all questions and ignore all loopholes to enjoy the ride, making this drama not unlike Mysterious Il-Seung. The chemistry between Han Ye-ri and Jang Geun-seok is great, and I like that their characters’ personalities compliment each other. I do hate the possiblity of her choosing between the two guys eventually, especially it seems now that she has a crush on Joon-soo. And I’m totally bracing myself for the big reveal of Joon-soo and Do-chan being related, even though Ha-ra mentioned some scientifically proven theory of everyone having 7 doppelgangers.

Nevertheless, Show seems like a fun drama to watch and I’m onboard.