Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
‘Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee’
Park Bo-Gum plays a Muhammad Ali quoting Gold Olympic winning boxer, who fights like the Punisher and heals like wolverine in the Korean-action comedy ‘Good Boy’.
Directed by Shim Na-yeon (The Good Bad Mother, Beyond Evil), the sixteen-episode series follows a group of Olympic medalists that joins the police force through a special recruitment program, only to find themselves mocked, sidelined, and stuck with bottom-rung duties. So when they get a shot at forming a special team led by Man-sik (Heo Sung-tae), it’s all about shedding blood, sweat, and tears to catch some big criminal sharks. It’s Park Bo-gum as the young, restless Yoon Dong-ju, the titular ‘Good Boy’, who is always pushing the team to take down the bad guys and clean up the corrupt city of Insung.
The show seesaws between fun, fury, and full-blown chaos, with fun first few episodes. The primary conflict revolves around the death of a customs officer in a hit-and-run case. Unfortunately for the killer, Yoon Dong-ju happens to witness the crime, so he is hellbent on nabbing those responsible. All clues point to senior customs officer Min Joo-yeong (Oh Jung-se), a seemingly ordinary government official who is, in reality, a nefarious crime boss with deep-rooted connections throughout the city’s power structures.
At its core, ‘Good Boy’ is a celebration of the underestimated, the underdogs. The athlete-cops, though exceptional in strength and spirit, are looked down upon by the rest of the Insung police force. From botched operations and comic mishaps to brutal street brawls and shocking betrayals, these underdogs earn their stripes, one busted ring at a time. The series is peppered with flashbacks to each of the primary character’s glory days as an Olympian and the cinematography is great in these scenes. Dong-ju’s boxing, Jong-hyeon’s fencing, and Han-na’s near celebrity status as the country’s best shooter are displayed with flair.
When not beating up criminals, Dong-ju is busy wooing colleague Han-na (Kim So-hyun), an ace shooter, but he faces competition from her ex-boyfriend Jong-hyeon. This love triangle is silly, sweet and offers romantic breaks in the otherwise violent laden tale. Kim So-hyun’s Han-na is a no-nonsense ace shooter with a sharp edge and a softer heart. While the romantic chemistry with Bo-gum isn’t sizzling, her character’s resolve and action sequences, especially in some of the later episodes of ‘Good Boy’, where she gets to rescue the men with her killer shooting, pack a punch.
Park Bo-gum carries the show with unmatched charisma, and emerges as the ‘Wolverine oppa’ in the show, always getting brutally beaten, but healing the next day like nothing happened. Whether he’s beaming like a golden retriever in a cop uniform or unleashing fury on the bad guys, Park Bo-gum as Dong-ju is endearing, intense, and thoroughly watchable. Lee Sang-yi as Jong-hyeon, the stoic ex-fencer, offers an entertaining foil to the cheery, sometimes childish Dong-ju. The fencer is grounded, mature, and consistently compelling. The bromance that slowly develops between them, full of respect and rivalry, ends up being one of the most fun dynamics in ‘Good Boy’.
Oh Jung-se as the villainous Min Joo-yeong is a chilling ‘bad boy’ of the series, giving this action-comedy a devious edge with his performance. Joo-yeong makes being evil seem effortless, bashing people to death like swatting flied, without flinching. His character also serves as a major source of suspense in ‘Good Boy’, making viewers wonder how does an ‘ordinary’ government employee become an unhinged, maniac crime-boss that isn’t afraid of any kind of consequences. His snide grins and sinister calm make him one of K-drama’s most memorable recent villains, even if the show doesn’t flesh out his backstory as much as it should’ve.
Lee Ho-jung plays ‘Drug Demon’, who works for Joo-yeong and is behind a new psychedelic drug simply called ‘candy’ spreading through the city’s streets. She is intriguingly wicked in the part, a lot more interesting than the perpetually ‘bored’ looking Han-na, although ‘Drug Demon’ doesn’t get enough screen time. Jeong Man-Sik plays another minor antagonist Oh Jong-gu, the former coach of Dong-ju. He is arrogant, corrupt, scheming, and one of the few characters in this action K-drama who can take on the gold-medalist boxer.
Heo Sung-tae, as team leader Man-sik, is the chaotic comic relief, though his character’s humor gets overused toward the end. Tae Won-Seok plays Jae-Hong, a former discuss player, whose part was the least entertaining and could’ve been trimmed down to give other sub-plots more space. For instance, viewers never get a clear understanding over why Han-na and Jong-hyeon break up and are made to fill up the blanks by themselves.
‘Good Boy’ starts strong but struggles with pacing in the second half. The core plot, a corrupt system being dismantled by a group of misfit heroes, is solid, and actions are served a generous dose of punches, bloodshed, car chases, and showdowns. But 16 episodes feel excessive, and the narrative begins to wobble under the weight of repetition: Dong-ju fights dozens of goons to near death, heals like Wolverine, returns for another beatdown. Rinse, repeat. Meanwhile, the evil Joo-Yeong always manages to give them the slip.
The action scenes, while exciting early on, lose their freshness. The final episodes feature long, drawn-out confrontations that echo earlier sequences, and the action choreography becomes predictable. The same can be said for the show’s emotional beats: Dong-ju’s health decline arc starts off powerful but is dragged too long, and is completely unrealistic. There’s also a tendency to over-glorify Dong-ju. Yes, he’s the titular ‘Good Boy’, but the constant halo-effect undermines the contributions of the rest of the team. Characters like Man-sik or even the brilliant Jong-hyeon often feel short-changed.
What Good Boy does get right, and keeps hammering home, is the central theme: perseverance in the face of institutional rot. The Insung police department is riddled with corruption, from commissioners to field agents, all puppeteered by Joo-yeong and his political cronies. The athlete squad, despite being mocked, isolated, and literally battered, refuses to back down. And every time they are successful in busting an illegal operation, the police commissioner (Kim Eung-soo in an amusing cameo) comically takes credit in the media for all the work, rarely giving them their due.
The comedy mostly works, especially in the earlier episodes. Heo Sung-tae’s Man-sik is hilarious as the perpetually grumbling boss who indulges in funny antics. Even Dong-ju’s over-the-top optimism adds levity. But later, the humor feels forced, especially when juxtaposed with darker turns like brutal beatings, murders, and systemic collapse.
The final showdown between Dong-ju and Joo-yeong delivers on action and closure, albeit with some overindulgence. The constant glorification of Dong-ju and the decision to stretch tension over multiple false climaxes slightly undercut the impact. Still, the villain’s fall, the team’s vindication, and the city’s awakening to police corruption wrap the story with a satisfying full circle.
And yes, seeing Park Bo-gum flash that million-dollar smile in his cop uniform one last time? Worth it. If you’re looking for a K-drama that blends vigilante heroism, found-family feels, action-packed confrontations, and a solid redemption arc, ‘Good Boy’ makes for a fun, if uneven, binge.
Rating: 7 on 10. Watch ‘Good Boy’ on Prime Video.
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