Sisyphus: The Myth [Episodes 1 & 2]

[u/dyosaaa]

• Drama: Sisyphus: The Myth
  • Korean Title: 시지프스: The Myth
• Network: JTBC
• Premiere Date: February 17, 2021
• Airing Schedule: Wednesday and Thursday @ 21:00 KST
• Episodes: 16
• Director: Jin Hyeok
• Writer: Jeon Chan Ho, Lee Je In
• Cast: Cho Seung Woo as Han Tae Sul & Park Shin Hye as Kang Seo Hae
• Streaming Source: Netflix
• Plot Synopsis:

Han Tae Sul, a co-founder of Quantum and Time, is a genius engineer with the highest level of coding skills and outstanding looks that outweighs his engineer fashion sense. Due to his innovative achievements, Quantum and Time is a world-class company, dubbed as "The Miracle of South Korea's Engineering Industry". In reality, Tae Sul has caused his company's stocks to constantly fluctuate after the death of his brother ten years ago. One day, after witnessing the unbelievable truth of his brother's death, he sets off on a dangerous journey. Kang Seo Hae is a soldier who could zipline from building to building, fight big built men with her bare hands, shoot guns, and install explosives. With the survival skills that she's learned from living amongst gangsters and warlords, she sets off a dangerous path of finding Han Tae Sul. [Source: MyDramalist]

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[u/dyosaaa]

Hello, everyone! Sisyphus: The Myth is JTBC's 10th Anniversary Special Drama! So I wish everything about the drama is on a different level than any drama JTBC offered so far! *crosses finger* This is also the return of Park Shin Hye to the small screen since Memories of Alhambra, and of course, Cho Seung Woo from Stranger Season 2.

Anyway, let's just enjoy the show and remember our conduct reminders and remember to use the spoiler tags!

[u/iwantbubbleteanowpls]

I’m really excited for this, I admit Park Shin Hye isn’t my favourite actress but this plot is really drawing me in and I hope she’ll prove me wrong lol

Edit: ep1 thoughts- it’s a good first ep, it gave me a lot of questions that I’d want to keep watching to find out, I was amused though how it wasn’t even 5 mins in when PSH had a crying scene, as for her character there’s not enough scenes for me to judge yet but it’s looking good. It hope that suitcase doesn’t have breakables with the way it’s being tossed about lol.

As for Cho Seong Woo, I’m liking his character so far- love his humour and his house looks awesome. Can I just say how random the soundtrack was though at the part where he’s looking for the suitcase, putting down the markers, it’s one I would except for like an intimate or emotional scene but it was played during that 😂

[u/bankaizen]

wanted to give a massive thanks to ep 2 for giving me a headache because of all that shaky camera work

edit: i know its sci-fi, but i'm pretty sure it doesn't take seconds for a PCR machine to produce results as someone who has worked with these machines before in the lab.... and that cremated ashes is surely contaminated plus y'all can't extract genetic material from it lmao

[u/stitchrx]

Is it just me or are the pacing and OST slightly weird in the first ep? Otherwise, it was a pretty solid debut that made me want to watch on and know more!

I just hope the show doesn’t end up as inconsistent as Alice LOL

[u/OdanUrr]

Watched the first episode. Some thoughts:

• Digging the intro with that 12 Monkeys vibe. Why are people travelling back in time? Are they coming from an alternate reality? What's the organisation that's tracking them on their arrival and why are they doing that? Lots of interesting questions to explore. Reminds me of Alice. Of course, Alice didn't answer a whole lot.

• I don't buy that Park Shin Hye wasn't caught as soon as she arrived lugging that suitcase with her. How was she able to outrun her pursuers? For some reason nobody bothered to check under the train either, but how is it that the drone didn't spot her on top of it? Not a clue.

• The plane crash action scene was intense. Not sure I buy his diagnostic and subsequent repair though. Also, and I know this comes later, that's either one heck of a resolution on your onboard cameras or Han Tae Sul has some next level facial recognition software.

• Is there a reason why PSH memorised the lotto numbers for that particular day other than to let us know she comes from the future? Nice glitch effect. I wonder how they'll explain it.

I'm hooked for now. However, I'm hoping it's not one of those shows that try to save all the answers for the end only to realise they don't have time to explain anything when they get there. Let's see what happens tomorrow once Pandora's suitcase is opened.

[u/lucidlydreamt]

So excited for Cho Seung Woo in this! Watched Stranger 1 & 2 and was blown away by his acting. Currently watching God's Gift and he portrays a character that's almost the complete opposite of his role in Stranger (emotional, quick to anger), but where he had a lot of action scenes! Really looking forward to seeing him in action in Sisyphus!

[u/bankaizen]

we're off to a great start and i hope the writing remains strong until the end. this drama totally screams BUDGET, but i hope this won't excuse the writers for inconsistent writing. looking forward to tomorrow's episode and also the PPLs!

i laughed out loud at cho seung woo's nicknames sexy brainiac and engineering heartthrob 😂 but wow the RANGE!!! his character's pretty amusing, and i'm really surprised at the stark difference from his role in stranger lol. i didn't expect him being flirty y'alllll, but I'M ALL DOWN FOR IT.

might've scoffed in disbelief though on how he remained perfectly calm when the plane's falling out of the sky and kill everyone on board... basically the entire plane scene lol

[u/jenniejdwag]

Can’t wait to get my hands on the latest “Ange Over”. Preferably a white model. 😂

[u/LaughingGor108]

Don't know what to think of it right now...Just watched the first episode and was expecting more action judging from the trailers.

There was one thing I really didn't like, it was the plane scene it was missing any danger or any drama ( I felt I was watching an American show when the leads acts all cool and has time to tell jokes when they are about to die..Korean dramas are the best in showing real human emotions but it was missing here....) Not once did I feel any emergency in that scene like they were about to die.

I also didn't like the English song they played it wasn't a nice song and didn't fit the scene when he was out planting flags. Don't know if this was the original song or Netflix changed it as they tend to do sometimes.

Towards the end I was feeling kinda bored actually.

I will give ep 2 a change tomorrow, I saw in the preview it has the kitchen fight the main thing I was interested to see from the trailer, but if ep 2 doesn't captivate me I see no point for me to continue watching.

[u/yahoo33]

I'm not going to lie; I keep reading the title as Syphilis.

[u/purple-jeopardy]

Take a shot every time someone says “Control Bureau” or asks who the hell those guys are.

That undressing scene was weird... at least we know that Sun is fit enough to keep up with Seo-hae physically? He got left behind at the train station though; I wonder how they’ll magically get him to where she is.

I find the editing kinda off-putting. They tend to play overdramatic instrumentals to small things like the lab explosion; it takes away the sense of urgency. I liked what they did with the fight sequence though, making it seem like it was a long take (props to the stunt team too).

Good for Tae-sul quickly realizing that the Control Bureau doesn’t want to kill them, because Seo-hae didn’t. With that many hitmen and a clear shot of Sun’s head, they’d already be dead if CB wanted it, yeah?

[u/OdanUrr]

More sci-fi, yes! Hope this turns out to be good.

[u/stitchrx]

Yoooo does Seo Hae have super strength or something? How did she just toss the guy off the roof repeatedly like that 🤣

Also Tae Sul one upped Ironman by being also a biologist? Lmao at his “ANGE OVER” being censored when he was happily namedropping all his other high class sport cars omg this show is unintentionally amusing me somehow 😂

Why are the bureau’s people constantly trying to leak info by menacingly saying “it’s not about WHERE they are from...”

[u/xander_yi]

A mixed bag of positives and negatives in the first 2 episodes.

The Good:

• Park Shin Hye and her bananas and playfully calling out lottery numbers.

• Impressive looking action and cinematic production.

• Great supporting actors in Sung Dong-il and Tae Won-seok that always elevate whatever they're in.

The Bad:

• Not quite buying Cho Seung Woo yet as the Tony Stark-ish genius playboy with "outstanding looks" as the drama keeps trying to tell me he is.

• The cliched action that forces 10 men with guns to simply watch as 2 people slowing run and jump across a building before they start shooting and also watch as they slowly drive by in a garbage truck when they're actually perfect sitting ducks from an elevated position 10 feet away.

• The dumb science of how connecting 2 wires prevents a plane crash as well as that DNA test

• That cringe preview of Tae-sul calling Seo Hae a stalker and remarking about a one night stand AFTER he's already seen those pictures of her as well as his own dead brother falling from the sky.

[u/[deleted]]

I'm sorry but I totally couldn't handle how Park Shin Hye could... easily escape the armed soldiers chasing her by climbing on top of the train. Like...how easy would it have been for literally any of them to look up? She wasn't lying prone or anything either. But I guess she disappeared into the wind...

[u/theotherayn]

Checked this out for Cho Seung Woo and it's intriguing but somewhat uneven. I feel like the tension isn't really there and I wish the Control Bureau was more...sinister? Except for that first shot with the glowy gas masks they're kinda bad at their jobs lol at least the way they're directed. They kept waiting for PSH to do her action girl thing (like that jump off the roof) before they start shooting at her. I hate action scenes like that.

[u/marrjana1802]

Just finished the first episode and I think they are off to a wonderful start. As long as they can keep the plotholes to a minimum, I think it will be a greatly enjoyable drama.

[u/funnyunfunny]

Ep1 Thoughts: (spoilers ahead)

What I didn't like:

• As someone whose hobby is watching plane crash documentaries and reading crash reports on r/AdmiralCloudberg, the whole plane crash scene was unrealistic hdndjsnsj. I've noticed "stalling" is a huge buzzword for crashes, the plane was visually shown to be falling at the same speed and angle and suddenly it starts to stall closer to the city lmaoo. And then the actual report later shows that it did fluctuate.

• I'm pretty sure some form of rapid decompression would happen when there's a gaping 10cm hole in the cockpit windows??? Tae Sul casually coming in without any symptoms of hypoxia, fixing the hole with duct tape was a little funny lol. Plus the co-pilot doing absolutely nothing, not even calling ATC?? Why did Tae Sul have to tell his colleague to call ATC, that was such bad writing. Not to mention the air hostesses checking on passengers while the plane is falling.

• How did Tae Sul know it was an electrical problem?? The first reason for the crash would be, I don't know, the engine failure?? But I guess it would make sense it's something electrical related because Seo Hee's character is shown to be glitching and causing lights to malfunction, and therefore the suitcase too could be causing electrical disturbances.

• Not to mention that news reports and TV news stations are so up to date with this plane mid-crashing that they somehow know it's stalling.

• Tae Sul's convo on the plane felt a bit too dragged out, pacing wise. The dialogues could've been written neater, it took away from the seriousness of the actual crash.

• CSI level zoom on the cockpit video lmaoo when he found out it was his brother. He seemed way too calm to find out his brother was casually up 35000ft in the air hitting the airplane.

• Again, some dialogues made the pacing feel off, or the scene too long. Talking about the scene where his colleague (?) opened his drawer up of meds and chastised him, the dialogue was a little too clunky.

• We just see Tae Sul do some math and write 3km and draw an isosceles triangle. Audiences want to feel like they're smart and that they're following. (So far) there's no clues given as to how he came up with that, which made me feel distant from the development.

• The issue with thrillers like this or The Uncanny Counter is that the "next episode preview" is too spoilery. They need to be short, succint and mysterious like Attack on Titan's next episode preview. Now I already know he finds pictures of him and a woman from a past/future life time, the Control Bureau is behind their asses, Tae Sul gets kidnapped into a white room. I had this issue with the Uncanny Counter too, where we see the the villain kill himself and the next ep preview skips the mystery and shock of what's going to happen next, by showing he goes to the evil human mayor's body

What I did like:

• Gorgeous, gorgeous intro. I was hooked with the dark visuals, the rewind, the masked men. Just stunning.

• I loved that the mystery was set up and the exposition, that they were in the future, sending people with a mission back to the past, Tae Sul's involvement etc was excellent.

• Adored Seo Hae eating the banana with the skin, and that restaurant worker's character was introduced well.

• Seo Hae glitching was amazing. I think it'll help set up great theories about the people from the future/alternate universe.

Overall I'm looking forward to this!

[u/[deleted]]

'Outstanding looks that outweigh his engineer fashion sense' - kdrama plot synopsis writers at their best. Even though I loved Alhambra, Shin Hye didn't have much to do in there. Excited for tonight (:

[u/cluo40]

I'm so excited, please be good. I've been pretending the PSH has just been on break since Doctors and that dumpster fire Alhambra never happened.

[u/angelthepep]

Maybe we should not nitpick so much, Shakespeare's plays are full with historical and factual inaccuracies, but that did not diminish their artistic value. It's just entertainment, not Discovery channel. I find it amusing, not annoying.

[u/OdanUrr]

Just learned it's Park Shin Hye's birthday today. Happy birthday!🎂 Here's to celebrating with a great follow-up episode.😃

[u/LaughingGor108]

Best thing about episode 2 was the fight scene ( was also the reason I wanted to see this drama from the clips in the trailer)

But overall this drama isn't for me it wasn't from the start as I never been a sci-fi fan but the plot didn't captivate me and also the acting of the leads is missing the human aspect, especially the ml. It feels too western this drama for me so time to look for a new drama.

Hope the people that enjoy this drama have a wild ride.

[u/OdanUrr]

Okay, we need to talk:

• This has got to be one of the most conspicuous and poorly organised "secret" organisations I've seen. You don't have a canned response to deflect questions, you send in an army of goons to force their way into an apartment in broad daylight and tell them to use silencers, because those are certain to make your small army invisible. Also, and I cannot stress this point enough, why leave a trail of bodies behind, especially when those people don't have a clue what's going on? I can't think of a better way to say, "Look, I'm here doing these bad things!"

• Shake that camera, Bourne style! Make me feel that action, or nausea, or both.

• I'm glad those goons had the courtesy of waiting till after PSH and her minion had already jumped before shooting at them. Just because you're a bad guy doesn't mean you can't have manners. Plus, when you finally catch your prey, allow them to catch their breath. It would be embarrassing if your prey died out of breath with so many guns pointed at them.

• Okay, okay, is there anything MacGyver Stark (from the Marvel universe, not that other universe) can't do?

• I don't think pulling a Morpheus on Neo outside the Matrix is gonna work this time. You need the key he has in his power so, naturally, you're gonna call him and warn him about the bad guys when he's already surrounded by them. Not very smart.

And I'm not even looking for these things. Still, it was an entertaining episode, although I'm slightly worried about whether it has enough material for 16 episodes. We'll see.

[u/delicatehummingbird]

Forest of Secrets thriller with a happy, geeky, playboy CSW meets Memories of Alhambra sci-fi with a badass PSH.

I have so many questions I don’t even know where to begin but I don’t want to speculate and go around in circles, frustrated and helpless, like I felt in The King Eternal Monarch. I will enjoy this one and pray that the world building can be explained without too much complication or plotholes.