Mawang
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God may predetermine a man's destiny, but man has the power to change it. |
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Mawang (The Devil) is a 2007 South Korean Drama totalling twenty episodes.
When Detective Kang Oh Soo (Uhm Tae Woong) receives a mysterious package in the mail consisting of a tarot card and an anonymous letter, he has little idea of the dark events that are about to ensue. Soon a matching tarot card has shown up -- at the scene of a murder. During the course of the investigation, Oh Soo enlists the help of Seo Hae In (Shin Min Ah), who possesses the psychometric ability to see visions connected to objects she has touched. Meanwhile, the defense lawyer Oh Seung Ha (Joo Ji Hoon) also becomes involved in the case. As both the tarot cards and corpses pile up, it becomes apparent that there is an unseen mastermind manipulating the events in revenge for a wrong committed many years ago, a wrong directly connected to Oh Soo's past which has come back to haunt him.
- Atonement Detective: Oh Soo.
- Blackmail: Sun Ki starts to demand money after finding out about Secretary Na's affair in order to keep it a secret.
- Cannot Spit It Out
- Color Coded for Your Convenience: The envelopes in the packages sent to the characters. Red envelopes mean danger, yellow is caution, and blue is a simple (and peaceful) notification.
- The Cutie: Hae In.
- Dead Person Impersonation
- Downer Ending
- Dude, She's Like, in a Coma: In episode 10, Seung Ha eyes Hae In's lips and reaches out to touch her face after she faints in the library for trying to focus too much on an afterimage...but soon retracts his hand.
- Mr. Fanservice: Both male leads, of course.
- Follow That Car!: Occurs in the first episode with hilarious results.
- Glasses Pull: In episode 10, Joon Pyo's interrogation about his article in the paper defending Oh Soo's school twelve years prior causes the school's principal to do this at one point.
- Grey and Gray Morality/Morality Kitchen Sink: Hae In's mother, Seung Ha's surrogate brother and Oh Soo's partners in the police force are white, some of the gangsters are black, and everyone else is varying shades of grey
- Ill Girl: Seung Ha's sister.
- Intrepid Reporter: Joon Pyo.
- Karma Houdini: Kim Young Chul, and the assailant who fatally stabs Seung Ha.
- Leitmotif: Seung Ha has a theme that plays anytime he is alone. In some instances it plays in music box form.
- Love Triangle: Oh Soo --> Hae In <--> Seung Ha
- Ominous Music Box Tune / Nostalgic Music Box: The music box version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" manages to be both creepy and nostalgic.
- One-Woman Wail: Featured one of the show's tracks that is often played near the end of an episode once a reveal is made.
- Pinky Swear: The most jarring case of this being used as Sora pinky-swears with Yeong Chul to pretend that she has never met him to ward off the detectives.
- Psychic Powers: Hae In's psychometry.
- Psychotic Smirk
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Seung Ha, since he is a lawyer.
- Shower of Angst: Occurs in episode 11.
- Sitting on the Roof: Occurs a lot between scenes, usually with Seung Ha.
- Shout-Out/Genius Bonus: To Greek mythology, Dante, and Rodin's Gates of Hell, for starters.
- Stalker with a Crush: Best example would be Seung Ha in episode 10 creeping behind the bookcases to fawn at Hae In.
- Tarot Motifs
- That One Case
- What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic
- Xanatos Roulette: Oh Seung Ha's plans rely a great deal on luck and on the target's own immorality.
- Your Cheating Heart: Secretary Na's affair with Hee Soo's wife.
- Umbrella of Togetherness