Idol I is a mystery romance about a star lawyer (Sooyoung) who ends up defending her favorite idol (Kim Jae Young) when he becomes a murder suspect.
Sooyoung plays Maeng Se Na who is a talented lawyer that is all business at work, but she has a side hobby where she is a devoted fan of the band Gold Boys. But when her favorite idol is accused of murder, she takes the case to find the truth.
Kim Jae Young is Do La Ik who is the main vocalist of the band Gold Boys. His life is thrown into disarray when he becomes a murder suspect and no one believes him. Help comes from a surprising source though when he meets Se Na.
Then we have Kim Hyun Jin as Park Jung Hae. He has worked for Se Na for many years and has grown close with her over that time.
Finally, there is Jung Jae Kwang as Kwak Byeong Gyun who is the prosecutor that is handling La Ik’s case. In trying to become more successful, he’s willing to do whatever it takes by any means necessary.
Idol I was a solid and enjoyable drama. It has a couple of compelling characters with a decent whodunnit mystery at its center. It’s pretty basic, but it does everything well. Overall, it’s paced really good with consistent plot developments that further the story.
With only 12 episodes, it did well at focusing on our main story and our main characters without putting in a lot of unnecessary side plots. Much of the story focuses on who committed the murder that La Ik is charged with as well as his and Se Na’s journeys both individually and as a pair. It also addresses issues within the entertainment industry and toxic fan culture.
I do think it could have supported more episodes so that we could have fleshed out some of our supporting characters a bit more. We just didn’t get a chance to go as deeply as I would have liked with the backstories of characters like Jung Hae as well La Ik’s ex-girlfriend, Hye Joo (Choi Hee Jin) and how that all affects the present day happenings.
The romance is pretty slow burn here. We have to deal with the natural barrier they face as an attorney and a client and eventually as an idol and a fan, but we do get to see some relationship developments between our couple as they grow closer throughout the case.
They also have their own individual journeys that they need to go on which seem to take a bit of precedence, but it was good to see them grow as individuals. It’s quite late in the drama before we really see that romance angle develop, but overall, I did enjoy their relationship as a whole.
All in all, Idol I was a really good watch. It’s a solid mystery with good pacing which kept it engaging. Then we had heart and emotion with the exploration of Se Na and La Ik as individuals and as a couple. It didn’t try to do too much which resulted in it doing what it did do very well.
My Rating: 7.5/10
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