Chimera raises some compelling issues relevant to our world today. Everything from the workings of the criminal justice system: who polices the police to the validity of crime and punishment to retributive justice, to name a few. That has me wondering if this person(s) who has taken up Chimera again is entangled because of an injustice done to them or their loved ones. I can totally understand the idea of getting angry and wanting to hurt the people who have wronged them, especially when it's the justice system that was supposed to protect, right the wrongs, and deter wrongdoing. Not only does the system fail to do that, but it also committed the injustice and is still doing so.
But to go to the lengths they have to behave so sadistically makes me wonder if the person (s) have gone beyond the need for justice to find pleasure in these grisly revenge plans. The meticulous planning they've put into these overkills, and I mean years of planning, seems excessive. I'm not saying the police chief, the captain, and whoever else involved don't deserve to be punished. They do, what they did was unconscionable, but when retributive justice exceeds the crime, is it really justice? It's so true when they say, when reason fails, the devil helps.
Covering up one incident is complicity, three is a conspiracy. This is the whole criminal justice system, the media, and probably other agencies, not only the police, got together to cover up forcibly attempting to make an innocent man confess to a crime he didn't commit, killing him in the process, and worse framing him despite knowing he was innocent, especially since there were two more similar incidents, if not more after his arrest in 1984. They have no body but themselves to blame. They are responsible for the Chimera of the present. All the deaths are on them.
I understand why Jae Hyun would go after Joong Yeop. Following a gut instinct is critical to an investigator, but so is the chain of evidence. He's let his personal involved with the police captain cloud his judgment. I am almost sure Joong Yeop is the falsely accused man's son, which makes him the perfect culprit, but I highly doubt it's him. I'm not sure how Jae Hyun connects, but wouldn't be surprised if his father was one of the men who died in an explosion 35 years ago. Eugene, I am not sure how she connects, but that she does is unmistakable. Then there is Reporter Kim, something about her bothers me a lot. Her interest in Chimera seems personal.
It seems like no one from the present time lines knew about these incidents, whether from the police or the media, except for those who covered it up and the person(s) recreating them 35 years later. Only someone (I think it's more than one person) higher up has the power to cover up these incidents, but also make them look like they never happened. It makes me start to question how far this conspiracy goes, and how much of it has Joong Yeop uncovered; does he know who they are; so many questions. He is right, the question the police should ask is why would anyone recreate the Chimera incidents, and not simply try to find out who it is, because the why will definitely lead to the who.
From its first episode, it was fairly clear that Chimera is a heavily layered mystery, where even basic motives are nearly impossible to clearly ascertain. All we know is that all the characters are equally capable of both laying their own traps, but also falling into subtle ones they hadn't foreseen. And I guess that is what I like about this drama. It's fast paced, but not hurried, and what's even more intriguing is that the story is shaping up to be a battle of the minds between Jae Hyun, Eugene, and Joong Yeoop. Lee Hee Joon is a pleasure to watch as Joong Yeoop. He is a breathtaking actor. I am so glad he is in this drama and in the role he is in, he is indeed magnetic. And so is Park Hee Soo. Watch episodes 3 & 4 here.