# The Good Detective (2020)

> An elite, emotionally guarded detective pursues a murder case against a network of cover-ups that reaches into powerful institutions.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/83609

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 32
- Episode runtime: 65 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama, mystery
- Created by: Cho Nam-guk, Choi Jin-won
- Network: JTBC
- Cast: Son Hyun-joo, Jang Seung-jo, Lee Elijah, Kim Hyo-jin, Jung Moon-sung, Cha Rae-hyung, Jung Soon-won, Ji Seung-hyun
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12504214/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: gritty, suspenseful, tense, melancholic

## What critics say

Viewers broadly praise the tight corruption-and-investigation plotting and the lead performances, with the second season rated higher than the first.

## Synopsis

The Good Detective (2020-2022) is a South Korean crime drama created by Cho Nam-guk and Choi Jin-won for JTBC, running two seasons of sixteen episodes each. Jang Seung-jo plays Oh Ji-hyeok, a nine-year veteran detective who keeps everyone at arm's length because of a painful childhood, and who refuses the money and influence of the uncle who left him a fortune. Son Hyun-joo plays Kang Do-chang, a figure whose loyalties pull against Oh's, while Lee Elijah and Kim Hyo-jin round out the principal cast as people drawn into the investigation. Each season is built around a contested murder case in which investigators and reporters race toward the truth while others work to bury it. The engine is the pressure of the cover-up: evidence goes missing, witnesses shift, and every step closer exposes someone more powerful. Set in contemporary Seoul, the show moves through police offices, courtrooms and newsrooms with a tense, procedural rhythm. Its tone is gritty and suspenseful, with melancholic undertones around loneliness and loyalty. Fans of Signal, The Wire and Chicago P.D. will find resonance in its portrait of institutional corruption and the lone investigator who will not look away.

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