Gap Dong - A CreepCap (covering ep 1,2&3)

If you haven't heard about it already, GapDong is a detective thriller drama from TvN about a 20 year old cold case mystery that suddenly becomes very warm. It stars second lead prosecutor from I Hear Your Voice, Na Jeong's Appa from Reply 1994 and Lee Joon, kpop idol (MBLAQ) and the creepiest mccreep creep I've ever seen on TV. (No lie, this guy will freak you out).
kakashi: bcook will use the word creepy a lot in this post. Just so you know. And she asked me to do creepy gifs. Which I have. The random creepy gifs will give you a better feel for the show.

Now tell me that smile doesn't give you chills?!
JoAnne: So proud of my pretty boy Joonie, looking so scary here!

Premise and Characters
 
It's 20 years since Serial Killer/Rapist Gap Dong terrorized Ilsan. The main suspect died but a lot of people still think Gap Dong is out there (that's because he is a ghoooooooooooost!). 1 year after the statute of limitations ends for his crimes, graffiti appears on the walls of a mental hospital/prison claiming that the real Gap Dong is still alive.
JoAnne: So we know right off the bat, disturbing smile notwithstanding, Joonie is NOT GapDong. But pretty much any over the age of say, 35, could be.

Creepy Smile number two

Na Jeong's appa (aka NJA) is a top ranked police detective but his only thought is to find Gap Dong, whose arrest has eluded him for 20 years. So he gives up a cushy job as presidential security guard (Shout out to 3 days!) and goes back to the town where it all begun. He has a hard on for Mad Monk's dad and is irrationally convinced that Mad Monk is Gap Dong II. He sees everything Mad Monk does as an admission of guilt and refuses to consider the fact that it might be somebody else. I don't like him in this drama and that makes me sad.
kakashi: Love this actor, even when he is a dick. And his voice!
JoAnne: Kakashi, I would like you to know that I removed 2 spaces after your exclamation there. And yes, Sung Dong Il is a great actor, and I'm enjoying watching him be an ENORMOUS dick.

The first of many confrontations

Second Lead Prosecutor (aka Mad Monk) is a policeman with a not so hidden past and a burning desire to find Gap Dong too. Turns out his father was the only viable suspect in the investigation 20 years ago. And by viable, I mean he was mentally disabled, had a tendancy to wear bloody jackets and kinda freaked the lead detective out (pure speculation on my part but explains the zeal with which he goes after the poor man). Mad Monk saw some of the abuse his father received (and burnt said bloody jacket in an attempt to save him) so wants to find Gap Dong so he can rub NJA's face in it. He's been investigating the murders in secret but kind of gave up after the statute of limitations ended. The fresh graffiti and the arrival of NJA get his fires burning. Of course he's not going to share his investigation so it's a given that he'll fall under suspicion. He's a bit crazy and gets stabbed trying to save the Witness's life.
JoAnne: Really stellar turn for Oska, here.

The Witness/psychologist/alter ego. There was a witness to this Gap Dong craziness. A little girl who the killer forced to play kai bai bo (rock paper scissors) with another little girl. Loser gets killed. Fun. She's fully convinced that Gap Dong is alive and well and hiding out in the mental hospital/prison. So the best way she can think of to find him is to become a psychologist and play creepy, slightly sexualised games with the inmates. (note: blogger thinks the british way of spelling sexualised is actually bisexual... freudian slip?). Mad Dog and her have some chemistry but it's slightly warped. Maybe it's me but I don't think volunteering to be psychoanalyzed is good foreplay.  She likes to dress up in a long orange wig on her days off.
JoAnne:  I'm way past Ep 3 and they have yet to explain that. I have my theories, though.

I call this the flirt creep. aka "Oh you're so sweet, I can't wait to cut you"

 
Minor (or not) character who is in love with Mad Monk. He sees her as his sister, she's madly in love with him and has already planned out their wedding. She draws webtoons and tragically meets Lee Joon's character and wants him to be her model. She might also be inspiring his crime methodology. Please don't make her his love interest because that'll just be creepy wrong.
JoAnne: With Joon as a serial killer, though, we all suddenly understand the meaning behind 'hurts so good.'

Profiler dude. He was the profiler in the Gap Dong investigations, now he's a professor and secretly helping Mad Monk with killer insights (heh. pun) and advice. He might become more important as the drama goes on. The Witness breaks into his office and takes pictures of his case files. NJA confronts him about sharing case details with Mad Monk and threatens to ruin his career if he continues to help him. There seems to be a connection between him and The Witness.
JoAnne: You are very astute. And I like this ahjussi actor, too.

Gap Dong/ Gap Dong II/ the hair and hands. Lee Joon's character (aka creepy mccreeper) tells a guy in a baking hat who ties his cake box ribbons in an intricate way that he knows ribbon guy is Gap Dong and he admires his work. Then smiles creepily. *shivers* All we get is some hair and hands. But, creepy mccreeper has a thing for cake boxes so ... Gap Dong might be the slightly less crazy looking guy with glasses in the hospital who shows up in episode 3...  or not.
JoAnne: We end up with so many choices, really, it's like 14 Days up in here.

Lee Joon/the creepy Idol/ Creepy Mccreeper. MAN! there's something about a cute guy with a creepy grin and crazy eyes. I don't know how Lee Joon is channeling this character but it's coming from a dark dark place (funny that most of his characters are like this. Lee Joon is a dark, dark, DARK person. Maybe). Creepy Mccreeper is feared by the other inmates in the hospital which says a lot. He's figured out who Gap Dong is and he has a crush on the Witness! He gets released right in the first episode and immediately starts profiling women walking alone at night with cake boxes. *sarcastic* He has some morals though, he won't do women in relationships or mothers.
JoAnne:  Joonie is interesting. He's an odd mix of smart and dumb, first of all, and he is hugely shy while also being called upon regularly to be very sexualized in his music career.  On variety programs, in interviews, and on Hello Baby, he's a hardworking, slightly dim, vaguely out of step with the world sweetheart who adores his mother and has a degree in contemporary dance. I totally love him, and watching him be super freaking scary (it gets so much worse) is a thrill because acting is what he wants to do, music is how he chose to get there - and I so wanted him to be good, and he IS. Between Rough Play and this, no one should ever refer to him as an 'idol actor' again.

So many ways to give you chills

He pretends to be hurt, gets picked up by a lone woman... who takes him to her isolated studio (I would like to pause here and say NEVER NEVER NEVER do this in real life. It's dumb. Don't do it with somebody you know and especially not with a stranger. Always let somebody know where you are going and how long you'll be. Be safe!) and then wants to play the 'zombie game' with her. He smiles creeply. Is the zombie game kinda like blindman's buff?
JoAnne: I think yes, if you mix it with a live-action version of Hangman.

Then he hits Mad Monk on the head with his helmet and brushes off the pieces of hay on his clothes. I'm creeped out already and it's just episode 3!

Is he Gap Dong v2? Let see... Creepy Mccreeper has daddy issues, lives in a really fancy apartment all by himself (where did he get the money?) and whistles the song that Gap Dong whistles. So. Yeah. I'd say chances are good that he's our copy cat. Did I mention how creepy he is?
JoAnne: I always wonder how does he know how to make his face look scary like that? Did he practice in the mirror? Did he make faces and have a friend take picture? Did they discuss each minor variation and make notes?

He'll never tell

Other suspicious peoples. The show is definitely trying to keep you confused and guessing.  There are two minor characters in the hospital. It turns out one of them is just worried about the poop he left at the scene of his crime. The other one is just watching people in a calm but creepy manner. So. Yeah.
JoAnne: I eventually begin to suspect a whole lot more than two people.

Final Thoughts: Watch it!! It's a great thriller drama. Don't expect to see awesome detective work (this is after all a kdrama police department) but the show does keep you guessing. It's very tightly written (thank goodness) and Lee Joon is doing an amazing job of scaring the bejeezes out of me. I wonder how his MBLAQ fandom feels about this role.
JoAnne:  They're probably pretty glad he's doing such a good job. It's not like he's part of that names group that starts with E and ends with o that I can't mention for fear of the crazy stalkers...
Aah you mean the one where you can't mention their name and "don't like" in the same sentence for fear of death threats? *note to self: make twitter account private*