Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Seoul Busters’ On Hulu, A Korean Dramedy About An Inept Squad Of Detectives Who Work In An Abandoned Daycare Center

There are some shows that have a germ of a fun idea, but just don’t execute that idea well. This is what we were thinking when we watched a South Korean show about an inept group of police detectives banished to work out of a former daycare center, surrounded by toys for 6-year-olds. Good idea, right? But we’re just not sure about this show.

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Opening Shot: A man in uniform walks into the Korean National Police Agency headquarters.

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The Gist: Dongbang Yu-bin (Kim Dong-wook) is one of the force’s top agents, especially given his background, including becoming an honorary FBI agent. Which is why the commissioner wonders why he wants a field command instead of working to clean things up at HQ. He says he wants more experience out in the field.

At the same time, Violent Crime Team 2, based at the Songwong Police Station, is on a sting in a public park, about to snare a suspect trying to sell a stolen antiquity. However, the guy gets away after several accidents and mishaps, including a detective tasering himself. In fact, the squad hasn’t arrested anyone all year, and is the worst-performing unit in Seoul.

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After the failed sting in the park, their captain is banished to a South Sea island so remote that one detective says “you can see Japan from there.” Mu Jung-ryeok (Park Ji-hwan), a lieutenant and next in command, has been repeatedly passed over for promotions; Jeong Jeong-hwan (Seo Hyun-woo) is so desperate to make sure he stays employed in order to provide for his family, he’ll kiss up to anyone in command, including Mu. Seo Min-seo (Park Se-wan) is probably the most competent detective, but she’s also brutally honest; Jang Tan-sik (Lee Seung-woo) is the rookie in the squad, who makes a lot of mistakes but is enthusiastic.

The squad finds out that, due to renovations at the main station, they’ll be working out of a nearby building that used to be a daycare center. When they walk in, they’re surrounded by toys. The place was abandoned and none of the stuff was moved; kids still sometimes run through the place like it’s a playground.

They meet Dongbang Yu-bin at the scene of a presumed suicide, when the new captain comes out of the crowd of onlookers and expresses doubt at Mu’s quick determination that it’s suicide. Mu is already having a bad day, having gone to the wrong location when he and Jang were first called out to investigate the scene, and he threatens Dongbang before he finds out he’s the new boss.

Dongbang’s goal is to whip this group of inept detectives into shape, but will they follow his unorthodox methods?

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Seoul Busters reminds us of a recent Taiwanese cop dramedy, GG Precinct .

Our Take: Seoul Busters has a couple of fun things going for it. For one, the ineptitude of Team 2 is so over the top that we actually looked forward to seeing how badly they screw up a case. And the daycare setting is also funny, mainly because none of the cops make any attempt to clean up the toys and turn the place into a proper office. So you have physical humor like watching two of the detectives trying to pee in low urinals with ducks on them, or patrol officers going down a slide instead of taking the stairs.

Otherwise, the show is pretty much a standard dramedy from that part of the world, with goofy music cues telling you where the funny stuff is, and broadly-drawn characters that will take some time to settle into characters whose motivations and foibles become the source of humor. We see some evidence of that, especially with Jeong, because he’s constantly picking up toys to save for his kids and toadying to whoever is in charge.

As Dongbang gets the squad into shape, the characters may also round into shape. But for now, they’re really broad and not all that funny.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: The squad is invaded by a group of kids whose parents dropped them off at the old daycare center. Dongbang sees one kid through his office window and makes faces with him before closing the curtains.

Sleeper Star: We’ll give this to the set designers who found all the goofy toys for the daycare center. There’s one scene where Jang can’t seem to resist squeezing a rubber chicken that makes noise, sending Mu over the edge.

Most Pilot-y Line: “The deceased isn’t actually dead,” Jang tells Mu when they’re in the wrong apartment. “Wait… how can the deceased not be dead?” Mu replies. “He’s deceased because he’s dead.”

Our Call: SKIP IT. For the most part, Seoul Busters is broad and goofy, but not all that funny. It has potential to improve, but we’re not sure how long it’ll take to get there.

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.

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