Signal Chat 5&6: A Rise Of Consequences

Gah! Episode 5 and 6? It might be because we love this show but when I type episode 6 I start to get a little worried that this show is going by too fast. Although sometimes less is better by the way of a tight story, right? I’ve seen it listed as 20 episodes one place and 16 on DramaFever. Ghost was 20 so it makes sense that Signal would be, but usually in the case of dramas, I cross my fingers for 16—as its best in the long run.

Let’s get into the episode!

Stephanie: Not gonna lie. I cried again. DAMN IT SHOW? Why do you hunt my tears?

Jacqueline: HOLY EPIC FLUFFY BUNNIES, BATMAN! This show legit got my tears on speed dial.. How in the hell is this drama sooooooo good? Because I swear to Yoda, the way these two episodes built up to the climax at episode 6…I mean TALK about a freakin’ masters degree in the art of the domino effect!

Stephanie: Yes, the theme of these two episodes really are (and they hammered this home again and again……and again) cause and effect? Or actions have consequences? Not just within the past and the present, but within each individual storyline. I was a little sad that we couldn’t just enjoy the whole magical walkie talkie thing a little before bringing on the gloom and doom, but it wouldn’t be Signal then, would it?

Jacqueline: I frickin’ frackin’ loved the motifs in this week’s batch of episodes. I know we probably disagree, but I don’t feel like they oversold it on the themes. Yeah, they make it obvious, with Past Cop being all, “It’s just a burglary case, what could happen?!” Personally, though, I feel like they were being obvious but more nuanced than other dramas have been. Or at least trying to be, which is probably why I’m cool with it. There’s actual EFFORT being put into this show.

Stephanie:With great power comes…. yeah, I thought it was a little heavy handed, but this show is heavy, so mostly I’m okay with it. And the show is excellent so it gets lots of passes. I was worried how they were going to make the jump from one case to another, since they ended the last episode with the serial killer case being completely over. But I loved that moment when they realized that for the past policeman years had past when in the present, only a week. It makes you wonder just how that walkie-talkie works.

Jacqueline: I didn’t realize it, but I think I’d been fretting as to whether or not this show could manage the story transition, and stupid Jacqueline was stupid BECAUSE HOLY SHIT THEY MANAGED IT AND THEN SOME! I loved how innocuous it started, that we went from a serial killer to a burglary case, and the drama just built from there outward. You just don’t expect the story to go there and then they WENT there. Though honestly, I also wish we could have explored more of the magical realism element to the walkie talkie. That is such a unique story element, in how specific it works. It can only be at 11:22 at night, the calls don’t always come, and even more cool is that it has to be 11:22 in the present, but not the past! I HAZ QUESTIONS AND NEEDS ANSWERS! Still, I got butt-loads of fun character moments this week, so I give it a pass. The small moments between the present day cops, the flashbacks of the female cop.  I love that we get little snippets of the personalities and small moments with this show, that just add a giant heaping of realism to the characters and the world!

Stephanie: Again, we get a brief flash of backstory, of humanization before they rip the rug out from under us. Last week we got to see the past detective cute with his crush then WHAMO: crush dead. This week, we get the lady detective at home with her unexpected family, being a cute aunt with her mom who wants to try and get her mom and sister trying planning on getting her married off as she hangs out all in pink and then WHAMO! She’s dead. But surprisingly? I didn’t cry at all at her death, it didn’t affect me at all because I know, I KNOW she has a bigger plan for this drama, and she will not stay dead for long. In my bones I tell you, MY BONES!

Jacqueline: God bless those awesome points, because YES! This drama does a damn fine job of establishing characters that is just gonna hurt in all the best ways. That whole story about the girl with the ex-con father was such GOOD writing and GOOD characters. Though, surprisingly, I also wasn’t crying when our police chick bit the dust, because you know this is gonna be the central driving conflict. Present Cop’s got a vested interest in changing the past to rescue dead female cop, and Past Cop has a vested interest in changing the past to rescue the dead young girl. I don’t know if they’ll succeed, because yeah, I could legit see this drama being like, “HAHA SUCKERS! YOU THOUGHT, BUT YOU THOUGHT WRONG!”

Stephanie: You know when I did cry? The bus scene. When the father had to watch his daughter die? So sad. And we’d had that beat with the show made us care about random soon to be dead girl. Mean show. I can understand why he spent so much time with revenge, especially once we realize he was framed by not only the actual perpetrator but then by the police themselves because of who the actual criminal was. I’d want revenge too.

Jacqueline: RIGHT?! There he was, standing literally right above her broken, mangled body, handcuffed to a freakin’ car and forced through circumstances and love to watch her die. Though, real talk, I’m a basketcase, because that scene got me emotional, but nope, no tears.. WHY AM I DEAD INSIDE? Sigh. But dude, the fact that I even cared at all shows this drama is top shelf, because they got me invested in a subplot and I NEVER get invested in a subplot with walk-on characters. This show rocks in getting you hella-fast invested in characters. I mean, that poor ex-con got screwed over TWICE and in a hella tragic way. There weren’t that many little things that happened over these two hours of episodes, because so much was build up and plot twist pay off. Granted, that’s one giant damn plot twist, but still; not a ton of other drama happenings, and ya know something? I find that to be a damn good thing. I like that this drama doesn’t feel the need to cram in a bajillion plot points. They really took their time to build to that twist. I love it because you really feel like the writer KNOWS where the story is headed.

Stephanie: I liked how they had to work together on the same person in the two time periods to get the truth of what happened. And when the Profiler told the father that he would have done the same exact thing, chosen his daughter over the other girl if it were him on the scene? This is true! I was thinking that as we watched, the other girls father wasn’t a bad guy. At no time during that accident did he try to throw his weight around as an influential person to save his daughter. I’m glad the show didn’t take that added step as it made for an even sadder situation.

Jacqueline: But didn’t he, though? It was such a brief moment, I know, but when he was yelling at the paramedic, “Are you going to take responsibility if my daughter dies?” I could have sworn I read that line with the threat of his status. Then again, even if he had intended that he’s not to blame. He wanted his daughter saved as much as the criminal wanted HIS daughter saved, so I really like the nuance the writer put to such a profound scene. I also really REALLY loved the way the drama gave us that moment the first time, at the end of episode 5. Our very first viewing experience of the accident was filmed and edited in such a haunting way, almost like a memory. Man, even the post production crew on this has their shit together!

Stephanie: Yeah, he did say that, but he didn’t say literally I AM AN IMPORTANT PERSON SO YOU’D BETTER EFFING DO WHAT I SAY OR I WILL MURDER YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. You know what the big Chaebols usually say. So I give him points for that. For a while there I was afraid that the detective from the past would just throw away the walkie-talkie. Do you think another one would just activate? Is it the walkie talkie itself that is the power? Or is it their connection that is important? Hmm….

Jacqueline: DUUUUDE! I wonder?! Is it that specific magical walkie talkie, or is it like, I don’t know, some deeper connection between those two men? God I hope so, that it’s not just the item of the walkie talkie itself, but something more moving and powerful. And, girl, I really hope when we get the final answer to WHAT THE WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THAT RADIO, I pray it’s not gonna be a let down. I don’t even know what I want to happen story wise with that, but I just need to actually be of interest.

Stephanie: Oooh! I almost forgot! We had a big turn on the plot which is what happened or what the police think happened to the past cop. I was disappointed that our lead police officer appears to be crooked as I had big hopes for an eventual turn around from him. But the fact that the past detective was framed for a crime also brings up more questions! Were they in the process of framing him before he disappeared? We could see that he was not well liked. Or did he disappear and then they decided to take advantage of the situation to get themselves out of a sticky situation?

Jacqueline: That whole corrupt police department has me all kinds of intrigued, how high does the corruption go? What is this seemingly big secret they all keep hinting about, or is it just the degree of how ineffective and ass-holey they are? I’m pretty damn sure those questions are gonna come back into play after the “trying to save dead policewoman” plot ramps up again. I feel like you’re right, though, in that there is definitely more to this frame job than what we’ve seen. We know he was still on the force when he got killed, so the cops had to be in the process of setting him up for a hard fall. Alas,  I so wanted our mid-level police boss to not suck and be more complex than what he first appeared. I suppose there’s the slight chance for more character development on the backend, but I don’t know. It just feels like he’s going down a dark path that has no end.

Stephanie: The corrupt police is the one eye roll-y thing for me because it does seem to be a familiar trope for any show involving the police, but I’m hoping that they will do some sort of interesting twist on it, an interesting twist worthy of this show.

Jacqueline: COME ON SHOW, WE BELIEVE IN YOU! GIVE US THE GOOD STUFF! And by good stuff, I mean more complex characters that turn tropes and expectations on their ear. Tilt-A-Whirl my ass, would ya?!

 

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