He is born to not kill.
A man without a spine loses his memory after he is hit by a cop car. Right before the accident, he witnessed a serial killer about to murder a man. The man without a spine ends up in possession of the serial killer’s diary, which details the murders. When he wakes up, he believes he’s the serial killer after reading the diary. The cop who hit him is a cute woman, and what he doesn’t know is that his boss is the real serial killer. This creates chaos for the spineless man, because he believes he’s a real psychopath, and the real serial killer loves to play games with the idiot.
Psychopath Diary is a crime comedy consisting of 16 episodes. I enjoyed the series, but it’s way too long. The pacing drags in the middle before picking up in the last five episodes, which are the best. Once the pacing improves, the series leans into its charm, especially since the protagonist is an idiot who always gets away because of his stupidity.
The spineless protagonist grows a spine when he believes he’s a serial killer. He starts standing up for himself, and somehow, that works—even though he remains an idiot. He’s also convinced he’ll kill again since he thinks he’s already murdered so many people. There are moments where he comes close to killing someone, but will he actually do it?
I wouldn’t call Psychopath Diary suspenseful because you know everything will turn out fine for the protagonist and his friends. There are a few scenes where the stakes feel high, including one where you’re unsure if the protagonist actually killed someone. But deep down, you know he’s not a killer. Still, that moment shifts how you see him for a while.
The actors are great and have excellent chemistry. Yoon Shi-yoon, who plays the protagonist, nails the goofball, lovable loser vibe.
Jung In-sun, who plays the cop, is cute and very petite, especially compared to the other actors—so it’s not entirely believable that she could take down bad guys and handcuff them. Fun fact: she’s the young girl from the final scene with the bike in Memories of Murder. It made me smile when, in the first episode, the protagonist is watching Memories of Murder. That was a cool little connection, you know.
My favorite, though, is the actor playing the serial killer, Park Sung-hoon. He’s outstanding, especially in scenes where he doesn’t speak. Just watch his eyes—he’s that good.
And there’s no romance here between the cute cop and the protagonist. You feel they become really good friends, but there’s nothing more than that, and that’s fine, especially after a particular incident that would make it difficult for them to become a couple. But hey, they could be perverts for all I know.
After watching a lot of South Korean series over the past half-year, I get why people say they tend to have too many episodes. This is another show that should have been 12 episodes, not 16. There’s too much focus on humor and misunderstandings. While some of the misunderstandings are funny, a lot of scenes—especially those with the protagonist’s colleagues—feel unnecessary. As I mentioned, this isn’t a suspenseful series, even though there are moments that try to build tension. But with such goofy characters and the police mostly on the protagonist’s side, you never really feel like he or the cute cop is in any real danger.