#I don't like presenting my interpretation of any media because I just feel dumb as fuck

[dwarvencraftsdirectfromorzammar]

okay, fuck it. I made this post while ago and i haven't been able to stop thinking about it. i am going to be coherent in any way? Not really, some of them feel very deliberate, while some of them dont make much sense to me, maybe im reaching with this but what fun is in being normal about a show??? also i poses no brain cells so dont expect some deep shit from me (expect some shitty screenshot tho)

So we start with this:

"monster" hanging above the city, nice neutral backround as we just got introduced to the story and the characters, we have very little information overall but it hangs above menacingly ready to land on our first candidate.

We find our first monster (expectedly) in Lee Dongsik

Epiodes 2,3 and 4 greet us with these (very pretty) title cards and of course its Lee Dongsik. Playing the role of monster for us and also for Han Juwon (and rest of manyang) is essential to his character and the story. He was the one the say "If you want to get the monster, you should become one." On subsequent rewatch these feel somehow flippant, like a part of the play he keeps up. He welcomes the label, he often meets it head on like he is aware it's there. They also feel very different to another title card we get with Dongsik.

Episode 7 flashes the title across Dongsik with the sound of gunshot, and it feels very accusatory, like the show itself pointing it's finger at him "see? he is a monster after all, look at what he does." This isn't part of the play, this is just him exposed and vulnerable. Then we get the scene where he smashes that guys head on the pavement. This is also last time he is branded as such.

As we go further along and we uncover (at least partial) truth we get another monster branded.

Episode 6 gives us this duh! kinda moment you can see from miles away but nonetheless its very satisfing to see it. True monster is finally exposed and identified. But then we get episode 8 and it kinda boggles my mind.

Feeling like for sure i have been thinking too much into the whole thing, because this doesnt make much sense. Han Juwon is next to be marked as a monster as he's leaving right after arresting Kang Jin Mook. Looking back at Dongsik who is kneeling in front of body of Kang Min Jung quoting his earlier words "No one is going to die from today." And maybe this is a brand he puts on himself, maybe he thinks of Lee Geum Hwa and maybe he thinks about how he treated Dongsik, maybe its a reminder for the audience that he is not without fault here.

Nontheless the killer is found, the case is closed, we can start with a clean slate:

Title card for episode 9 and 11 is the same and they kinda represent the lull in the investigation, no new leads, no new characters to be accused, starting from zero so to say. What's interesting to me that in between these, in episode 8 we get this:

This is actually my favourite, it feels like a callback to the whole "if you want to catch a monster you have to become one". Han Juwon just had THAT conversation with Kwon Hyeok about how he, a sheltered boy can never catch Lee Dongsik. His response - "i have to be reborn". I have to become someone like him, i have to play by his rules.

Episodes 12, 13 and 16 are pretty straigtforward, as we learn more, we get more suspects. I really like that mother of Park Jung Je is in that frame with him, holding him. That last episode really driving it home for me that these have meaning.

on the other hand there are episodes 14 and 15. Mother of Han Juwon being dragged away, Han Kihwan saying "now our lives will be perfect" and little Han Juwon standing on the balcony watching the whole thing.

and again Han Juwon walking away after listening to the whole confession of his father, what he is capable of sacrificing for perfection, what he already destroyed in his pursuit of perfection.

If i had to reach and i probably was this whole time, i think that in every instance Han Juwon puts that label on himself. Eveytime we see that word flash across him he bears it with guilt. It feels like his internal struggle with things he considers he did wrong made visible. He never bears it like other characters, its thing of shame and sin. He never meets it head on, even in that instance when he wants to be reborn, because thats just not who he is. He can never use it as just a label that can have its own uses, not like Lee Dongsik did.

Also i really like that in case of Han Kihwan, Lee Chang Jin and Kang Jin Mook, our "true" monsters, just as they are branded we get to look them in the eyes. It feels very matter of fact, they know it and they dont care. There is no regret, no remorse. (In the very begging Lee Dongsik also looks us in the eyes, he bacame what he had to, to do what he has to.)

Overall, its interesting how the show uses it, its like this multipurpose tool for the characters, the show itself and the audience.

#Please be gentle I don't like doing this kinda of post because Im not smart and I can't articulate anything for shit #I don't like presenting my interpretation of any media because I just feel dumb as fuck #But I really like beyond evil and I keep thinking about it so I want to share my thoughts #Beyond evil #han juwon #lee dongsik #han joowon #Lee Chang Jin #Han kihwan #Kang Jin Mook #Also sorry it's little bit long