Wow, what a premiere; the opening is impressive fast-paced, action-filled, yet at the same time surrounded with mystery and sadness. The show's setup reminded me of Quantum Leap, an American sci-fi show of a genius scientist who leads a group of top scientists into the desert to research his theory that man could time travel within his own lifetime. Despite the similarities, Sisyphus seems to be a little different. It tells the story of Han Tae Sul, played by Jo Seung Woo, a genius engineer who embarks on the difficult journey of uncovering his older brother's truth, decade-old death shrouded in mystery. Kang So Hee, played by Park Shin Hye, is a skillful warrior from the future who encounters Han Tae Sul at some point in her time travel and believes he may be the world's last chance for salvation for that reason is pursued by beings from outer space. To help and protect him, Kang So Hee decides to travel back in time.
At this episode's opening, we encounter Kang So-Hee waiting to board a time machine to travel to the present and help save the world from future ruin. As she waits on the dock, we catch a glimpse of her father, who, among other things, warns her to stay away from Han Tae Sul, to stay on the run, and keep alive no matter the circumstance. Waiting in line to travel are many others like her, all holding mysterious suitcases that seem more like survival kits rather than luggage.
On the other hand, Han Tae Sul is co-founder of Quantum and Time, a genius with superior coding skills. Due to his innovative achievements, he made Quantum and Time into a world-class company, dubbed "The Miracle of South Korea's Engineering Industry." As Tae Sul garnered success, his brother (they were very close), played by Heo Jun Seok, seemed to lose grip on his life. As Tae Sul prepares for an important event for his company, his brother comes to him with what seemed like an outrageous story at the time, warning of mysterious figures disguised as humans coming after Tae Sul. But rather than hear his brother out, Tae Sul rebukes him, and soon after, the brother dies, which has a huge effect on him. And even 10 years into his brother's death, Tae Sul still carries the guilt of not hearing him out, which caused him to lose interest in life and start ignoring his company, and that gets him in trouble with his board members, who threaten to remove him as CEO if he continued in his destructive behavior. One day, while on an airplane, which falls into incident mid-air and he helps fix and rescue, he comes on to footage that shows his brother may be the cause of the airplane incident, and this sets him off on a dangerous journey that also gets him tangled up with Kang So Hee from the future and who also seems to know something about the incident.
First off, it's great having Jo Seung Woo back as Han Tae Sul on the small screen so soon after Stranger 2 in a role that's a complete opposite to Hwang Shi Mok in Strangers 1 and 2 about; the only similarity is that both characters are geniuses. Han Tae Sul is funny, cheeky, smart, all while being handsome at the same time. I can tell I will enjoy this ride with him.
On the other hand, Park Shin Hye as Kang So Hee is quite dynamic as a woman of mystery with great fighting skills that seems to foresee the future and who has come to help Tae Sul evade these mysterious figures after him, and the how and why that is what we have to look forward in the coming episodes of this drama. The drama also reunites Jo Seung Woo with Tae In Ho played the role of Kim Byung Hyun, CEO of Sungmoon Daily in Strangers 1 and 2, as Eddie Kim, his long-time friend/co-founder of Quantum and Time.