Idol I Review & In-Depth Analysis

The first two episodes of Idol I achieved a rare feat: a 9.2 rating on fan-driven platforms, promising a gritty, empathetic look at the cost of fame. It felt like the successor to Lovely Runner, blending fan-girl whimsy with a sharp legal edge. But by the finale, the undefeated criminal lawyer was solving murders via Morse code and taking some indictment vacations at a mountain cabin. This an autopsy of how a show with peak casting and a “Top 10” premiere managed to completely lose its footing and its mind.

Synopsis: The Professional Who Was Actually a Typo

The story centers on Maeng Se-na (Choi Soo-young), a defense attorney with a reputation so ruthless she is dubbed a villain lawyer. Publicly, she is a titan of ethics-free litigation; privately, she is a ten-year devotee of the boy band Gold Boys, specifically their center, Do Ra-ik.

Things change when when Ra-ik (Kim Jae-young) is found in his apartment alongside the body of his bandmate, Woo-seong. Framed for murder and facing a life sentence, the isolated and tormented idol finds his only hope in Se-na.

This setup should have created legal fireworks and much debate. Instead, Se-na’s profession is decorative. It feels like a fan fiction device to justify her proximity to her crush. You could have swapped her law background for a barista apron, florist shears, or a dog-walking leash, and absolutely nothing in the plot would have changed. The script treats her career like a typo that slipped past casting. Watching her do anything legal is like staring into an empty room waiting for fireworks—nothing happens. There is no investigation she drives, no clever legal pivot—just nothing.

Themes: Brilliance Smothered by Nonsense

Despite the execution failures, Idol I occasionally stumbles into profound territory, only to retreat into safety.

1. The Reality of Parasocial Relationship Ugliness

The drama is at its best when it focuses on the grotesque side of fandom. The “Goldys” waving flags, the obsessive fans, and the parasocial relationship ugliness are depicted with flashes of real insight. It captures the constant pressure and the terrifying reality of how easily the system is willing to let an idol take the fall. It briefly explores toxic idol worship and the lack of individuality for artists, but apart from the acting, the storyline falls extremely short of expectation.

2. Justice as a Casual Hobby

The show’s approach to the legal system is an insult to anyone who knows how justice works. Obstruction of justice is treated as a casual hobby rather than a felony. The murder mystery is limp; toxic substances appear in blood tests and then vanish without explanation. Was it sloppy investigation? A cover-up? The show simply doesn’t care. Eleven episodes are spent circling the same evidence, pretending it counts as tension. No tension here just pure boredom.

3. Romance Over Logic

The romance is effective. The confessions, the letters, and the late-night hat deliveries are cute, impulsive, and human. But this lawyer-suspect tension should create danger and stress. Instead, it is just proximity used to justify romance. The chemistry does the emotional labor the story refuses to do.

Character Analysis: Actors Fighting the Vacuum

Maeng Se-na: The Decorative Attorney

Played by Choi Soo-young Sooyoung gives weight and emotional grounding to a character written with none. Se-na functions as the drama’s emotional anchor. She signs up for the case based on fan heart and spends the series staring at evidence rather than acting on it. Her fangirl moments at times absurd and ridiculous,work in the narrow context of fan energy. However, the script forces her to abandon logic, making her eventual victory feel unearned.

Do Ra-ik: The Prince Throwing a Tantrum

Played by Kim Jae-young For an idol facing jail time, Ra-ik acts less like a victim of systemic injustice and more like a prince throwing a tantrum left, right, and center. The sympathy built in the first few episodes quickly turns into frustration and annoyance. While Kim Jae-young captures the duality of the idol—the visual center versus the isolated man—the script fails him. He is deeply inconsistent; one episode he is in love, the next he is not. Watching him try to make sense is maddening.

Han Do-hee: Rage Without Consequence

Played by Han Do-hee As the ex-girlfriend, Han Do-hee acts bitter, brittle, and dangerous. She does good work, but not quite there. Her transition from accidental harm to premeditated murder is mechanical. We believe her rage and self-pity wrapped in cruelty, but the writing should have cared as much as her acting does.

Park Chung-jae: The Cardboard Target

Played by Kim Hyun-jin Park Chung-jae exists to pine and hand over evidence. It is infuriating watching the actor fight a script that cannot give him a single proper motivation. Side characters in this drama barely have motivations; cardboard targets have more interior life than this cast.

Cinematography & Visuals: The Only Consistent Element

Visually, the drama is competent. It utilizes visually appealing cinematography with stylish sets and music that complements the story. Se-na’s home is a highlight—filled with sunlight, wooden textures, and a small garden, it evokes a quiet childhood nostalgia that grounds the show’s cozy atmosphere. This setting becomes the emotional backbone of the show, reinforcing a gentle tone that the chaotic script often betrays. The contrast between this warm, safe space and the glossy, cold idol stages effectively highlights the ordinary becomes luxury theme.

Impact & Reception: A Vacuum of Logic

The reception of Idol I is defined by a massive schism. For some, it is a pure enjoyment watch where the chemistry builds beautifully. For others, it is a weird mix that fails both as a rom-com and a crime drama.

The mystery line went down the drain. The reveal that the death was an accident made the ending flatter; no one was actually evil, just broken. It felt like the writers rushed to close doors they had spent episodes carefully opening. The romance felt forced, more like a noona romance than the childhood connection it claimed to be. Ultimately, the show couldn’t carry the weight of its own narrative.

The “Deep Dive”: A Special Episode (Episodes 11 & 12) 🎬

If the series was a slow leak, the finale was a dam failure. The ending is such a waste.

🧩 The “Morse Code” Insult

In a twist that makes you laugh and groan at the same time, the breakthrough evidence is found via… Morse code in a song. This is absurd. It is ridiculous. The show asks us to believe that sophisticated legal work amounts to finding hidden beeps in a track. Even worse, when they tried to figure out the password to the cloud, they ignored Se-na’s tech guy friend who could have helped instantly. It was random and dragging.

🌲 The Cabin Retreat (The Death of Stakes)

Nothing summarizes the show’s failure better than the cabin sequence. Right after Ra-ik is indicted—officially charged with murder—they run away to a cabin. The show treats being charged with a capital crime as a signal to go on vacation. Cozy romantic fantasy replaces the stakes. It is a narrative choice that evaporates any remaining tension.

⚖️ The Footnote Father

Se-na’s father’s case was the entire reason she became a lawyer. It held immense emotional and thematic importance. Yet, it was shoved into a single episode, literally a five-second footnote. We never got to know his story properly. The show retrials his case in a blur, treating the protagonist’s core motivation as an afterthought to tack onto episode eleven.

🧪 The Vanishing Evidence

The investigation was inept. Why did nobody ask about the earring before?. Was there no DNA on it? Ra-ik accidentally seeing the earring and identifying the culprit in the finale is random and lazy. He could have easily saved us 9 episodes had they asked him about it earlier.

Conclusion: A Waste of Chemistry

Idol I flashes brilliance constantly and then immediately smothers it. Se-na could have been a powerhouse lawyer. Ra-ik’s suspense could have carried fire. The investigation could have delivered tension.

Instead, the show chooses fanfic logistics over stakes, romance over logic, and chemistry over plot. It teases you, riles you, makes you believe something might happen, and then refuses to be anything other than padded, sloppy, frustrating nonsense.

Final Verdict:

• Watch it only if: You are desperate for the visual chemistry of Sooyoung and Jae-young and can turn your brain off completely.
• Skip it if: You care about logic, legal procedure, character motivation, or satisfying endings.

It is maddening. It is furious. It is a one-time watch. But the chemistry is there to enjoy.

BONUS: The Timeline of the Collapse: Where Idol I Lost the Plot