Hot, deadly and very HOT!
A man who rents out his home gets an unexpected guest—a sexy woman and her child. But after she leaves, he finds a lot of blood in his house. Now he’s terrified that if this gets out, his business will be ruined, just like the nearby family who ran a hotel. They had a guest who turned out to be a serial killer, and after he brutally murdered a woman, their business never recovered. No one would stay there again. But this woman isn’t done with him yet. One year later, she knocks on his door again, flashing that big, sexy smile of death. She won’t leave him alone until she gets what she wants—the sleepy, creepy, perverted guy!
The Frog consists of eight episodes. The universe of The Frog is pretty small, focusing on a handful of characters whose paths are bound to cross.
Some people call The Frog a slow-burn series, but they clearly don’t know what they’re talking about. They must not have seen many TV series in their lives. Even Game of Thrones burns slower than The Frog. In fact, I felt it was in too much of a hurry since it only has eight episodes to tell the story about the crazy woman and the chaos she unleashes when her storm hits town. It builds up atmosphere and tension in a way that might seem slow, but the energy in those scenes is electric, and the payoffs are solid.
The first few episodes introduce the characters, and I was a bit disappointed that one of the most important ones—Lee Jeong-eun’s cop character—was left out for too long. The way she’s introduced makes you think she’ll have a bigger role, but she doesn’t really step into the spotlight until it’s time to wrap things up in the last episode.
The mysterious woman is hot and menacing, while the reserved man renting out his home tries to stay low-key, haunted by the fate of the nearby hotel owners. But it’s tough to mind your own business when you’re being harassed by a sexy, rich woman who won’t leave you alone. She loves playing games with him, keeping you guessing about her true agenda.
This is a well-acted series, with one of my favorite South Korean actors, Kim Yoon-seok, in the lead role. He’s a versatile actor, and if you know your stuff, you’ll recognize him from The Chaser and The Yellow Sea.
I hadn’t seen much of Go Min-si before watching The Frog, the actress who plays the seductive guest from hell. But she’s rock solid here, stealing the show with her charisma and crazy aura. And yes, she’s hot—because, let’s face it, I like them crazy!
I like The Frog, but it takes a nosedive after about five episodes. One episode in particular, focused on revenge, messes up the flow and direction of the series. By the end, it shifts into a full-on revenge story, and of course, they couldn’t resist throwing in some corruption in the final episode. Welcome to South Korea! I also had issues with how one of the character arcs wrapped up. It just wasn’t satisfying.
The Frog is at its best in the first five episodes, before it loses its mysterious edge and devolves into a typical revenge series. And don’t listen to people who say it’s a slow burn—it’s not. It could’ve used two more episodes to develop the central characters and give them more depth, especially the cop, who deserved more screen time.