I'm thoroughly enjoying Yeo Jin Goo as Joo Won in this drama; he's fantastic, but Shin Ha Kyun is phenomenal in his role as Dong Shik; what a great pairing. I'm deeply invested in both of them. I can see why they dislike each other so intently; they're so much alike in their approach yet so different in how they relate with the people around them. That they're both good at their job is very clear, but Joo Won's fixation on Dong Shik as the one and the only suspect belies his inexperience.
Manyang is a town tormented with secrets, but more so with the injustice, they inflicted on Dong Shik, and that's the one thing Joo Won doesn't seem to comprehend. And as twisted as it was for Dong Shik to try and put Joo Won in the frame for Kang Min Jung's (Kang Min Ah) murder, I completely understood why he did even if I didn't agree with it. He wanted to give Jo Won a taste of his own medicine. Maybe now JW would understand how it feels to be wrongly accused, or maybe not. Interestingly, as clever as JW is, he easily accepted things. I'm surprised he believed things were as simple as they seemed to him.
As been said before, time and time again, the worst betrayals come from those we trust the most, Park Jung Je may not be the killer, but as Dong Shik's best friend, he's betrayed him at least once before and would do it again given a chance, no doubt. But the worse is Park's mother, Congresswoman Do Hae Won (Kil Hae Yeon), and Joo Won's father, Han Ki Hwan (Choi Jin Ho), for suspecting their children and putting their interests first in front of their kids and turning them into the people they've become. They are the true monsters. And now we have a new player to add to the mix of suspects Lee Chang-Jin (Heo Sung Tae), JL Constructions in charge of the town's redevelopment, and seems like Oh Ji Hwa's (Kim Shin Rok) ex-husband. It also looks like he may connect to both Park's mother and Joo Won's father. The plot thickens indeed.
As smart as Joo Won thinks he is, he is nothing compared to Dong Shik; now he is twisted. Everything he's has done so far is to lure and bait Joo Won; I think DS found Min Jung's cut off fingers laid out at his place and moved them to the stoop in front of her place for Joo Won to find and start this crazy cat and mouse game not just with Joo Won (whom he knows isn't the killer) but with the killer as well. The brilliance of the script, the acting, and directing is unprecedented.