Premiere Watch: The WONDERfools
by stroopwafel
Time slot: Friday (single drop)
Broadcaster: Netflix
Genre: Comedy, fantasy, period
Episode count: 8
Reasons to watch: Netflix is putting a Y2K spin on its new fantasy comedy, The WONDERfools. Starring Park Eun-bin and Cha Eun-woo as reluctant superheroes, they’re joined by Kim Hae-sook, Choi Dae-hoon and Im Sung-jae. Playing opposite our heroes, we have Sohn Hyun-joo and Bae Nara. (For eagle-eyed fans wondering where Cha is, he was unable to attend the press conference due to his military service.)
Set in a fictional city in Korea, the title is a play on the word “wonderful,” with “wonderfool” being a nod to one neighborhood’s oddballs: Park Eun-bin, Choi Dae-hoon, and Im Sung-jae. They’re a little goofy but totally normal until a strange incident results in them suddenly gaining superpowers. As they try to figure out their strengths–and limitations–a series of disappearances make the news and catches their attention. The authorities can’t seem to get a handle on the missing, so when an uptight civil servant, Cha Eun-woo, comes along trying to solve the case, the hero trio becomes a quartet. Whatever the future may hold, they’re determined to stop whatever is harming the residents of their city.
That “what” is really a matter of who: Sohn Hyun-joo and Bae Nara. Sohn has dark, grand ambitions of amassing a cult-like minion army, and his already-indoctrinated adoptive son, Bae, is ready to do his bidding. With millenial doomsday fears spreading fast, and Sohn gaining followers by the day, the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
Whether you remember the real-life panic around Y2K, or if you’ve only heard tell of it through dramas and movies, The WONDERfools has a strong ensemble as well as a fun setup that makes full use of iits historical setting to add emotional weight to a classic good versus evil story. After all, if the world is about to end, what wouldn’t you do to save your loved ones from that destruction?
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