Binge-worthy: The Killing Vote is a morally ambiguous K-thriller

The Killing Vote

Prime Video
4 stars

Now streaming on Prime Video with new episodes every Thursday, South Korean crime thriller The Killing Vote gets off to a strong start.

In its debut episode, a child pornography kingpin is released from jail after a brief prison stint, to much public rage. But soon after, citizens get sent a mysterious poll on their phone named The Killing Vote: Should he be executed – yes or no?

After a landslide vote in favour of execution, the man is found dead. A killer in a dog mask, known as Gae-tal, takes credit for the murder and declares he will hold a killing vote every two weeks. Detective Kim Moo-chan (Park Hae-jin) and cyber bureau cop Joo Hyun (Lim Ji-yeon) team up to catch the vigilante.

Here are three reasons to tune in to the 12-part series.

1 Thought-provoking premise

The central question of The Killing Vote is one with no good answers: What is justice?

As much as Gae-tal is unsettling in all his scenes, boasting about murders and torturing his victims, the K-drama also shows just how despicable his victims are.

Child pornography distributor Bae Gi-chul (Kim Min-sik) is clearly unrepentant. He starts up a new child pornography website the moment he is released from jail, and is violent and abusive towards his wife.

Another major character who questions what justice means is Kwon Seok-joo (Park Sung-woong), an inmate put away for murdering his daughter’s rapist, who rails against the short sentences some heinous criminals receive.

When the law fails to dole out appropriate punishment to criminals, is it justified for the public to take matters into their own hands? This is something the show leaves audiences to ponder over.

2 Amoral leading man

Cop characters are often portrayed as upstanding and righteous in K-dramas, but Moo-chan bucks the trend. He will not hesitate to plant evidence just to put those he deems to be bad guys behind bars and has no qualms about using extreme methods to extract confessions.

His ambiguous morality as a cop who abuses his power makes him an unorthodox protagonist who keeps audiences guessing about what he might do next. Park Hae-jin brings across the coldness and unscrupulous nature of Moo-chan well.

3 Post-The Glory Lim Ji-yeon

Another highlight is Lim. The 33-year-old actress broke out after the success of hit Netflix revenge drama The Glory (2022 to 2023), in which she showed off her acting chops as Yeon-jin, the ringleader of a clique of vicious school bullies.

It is fun seeing Lim shed her villainy to become a hot-tempered yet kind-hearted cop devoted to putting cyber criminals away. Yeon-jin’s outbursts of rage bordered on psychotic, but when Joo Hyun curses and yells at her boss for being a self-serving scumbag, it makes viewers root for her.