# The Devil Judge (2021)

> A corrupt chief judge who rules for crowd approval is challenged by a junior colleague who begins to doubt his motives.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/99498

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 75 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, mystery, crime
- Created by: Moon Yoo-seok
- Network: tvN
- Cast: Ji Sung, Kim Min-joung, Jinyoung, Park Gyu-young, Jang Young-nam, Kim Jae-kyung, Ahn Nae-sang, Cheon Young-min
- TMDB rating: 8.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14169770/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: brutal
- Tone: tense, morally ambiguous, intense, dystopian

## What critics say

Audiences broadly acclaim the series as a gripping, inventive Korean legal drama whose dystopian premise and moral questions set it apart, though some viewers find its treatment of punishment troubling.

## Synopsis

The Devil Judge (2021) is a South Korean legal drama series created by Moon Yoo-seok for tvN. Chief judge Kang Yo-han (Ji Sung) rules in ways designed to please a vocal public rather than to uncover what truly happened, and the courtroom is a stage for his calculated verdicts. Assistant judge Kim Ga-on (Jinyoung) begins to question his motives and sets out to find the truth behind each case. Across a single sixteen-episode season, each episode is built around a new trial in which the judges read people in the courtroom and weigh guilt against what the crowd demands. The atmosphere is tense and morally tangled, with a dystopian edge in a corrupted, old-fashioned court system that feels increasingly fragile. Rivalry, unrequited bonds and a hunger for vengeance run beneath the procedural surface, giving the drama an intense emotional pull. The series is a single-season limited run, a Korean prestige production with a rating of 8.2 out of 10, and it has the tone of a courtroom thriller. Fans of The Good Wife, Suits and Squid Game will find resonance in its blend of legal procedure, power politics and moral unease.

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