Mouse (TV series)
Mouse (Korean: 마우스; RR: Mauseu) is a thriller South Korean television series starring Lee Seung-gi, Lee Hee-joon, Park Ju-hyun and Kyung Soo-jin.[1] The series, directed by Choi Joon-bae and Kang Cheol-woo and written by Choi Ran, follows the confrontation of police officer Jeong Ba-reum (Lee Seung-gi) with a serial killer. It premiered on tvN on March 3, 2021 and airs every Wednesday and Thursday at 22:30 KST.[2] It is also available for streaming on MyTV SUPER in Hong kong and Viu and IQiyi in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines , Myanmar and Malaysia.[3]
It achieves the highest viewership rating among all tvN Wed-thur dramas during the last two years.
Background[edit]
The scriptwriter is inspired by the Incheon Elementary School Murder case in 2017. [4]
"I want the defendant to know how precious our youngest child was..." In 2017, at the Incheon Elementary School murder trial, this is what the mother of the child victim said. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
When the victim’s mother asked the defendant what was the hardest thing right now, the defendant's answer was not sorry or guilt. Instead, the defendant said, "The weather is nice, but it's the hardest for me not to see cherry blossoms.“ What made it hard for the defendant was not being able to see the cherry blossoms, and nothing about the victim.
The whole nation was shocked and furious at the defendant's response. Perhaps it is natural for the defendant to give such an answer. After all, the defendant was born with a different gene from ours, the "Psychopathic Gene". Psychopath has the same brain as ordinary human beings, but without a mirror neuron. She does not feel the pain of others at all. Neither can they perceive other feelings such as guilt, sympathy, compassion, or regret. Therefore, we cannot expect repentance or atonement from the defendant. That's why the defendant could not understand that the child she brutally murdered is, in fact, precious to his parents.
Victims' families can only spend their entire lives in pain while the perpetrators spent the rest of their lives trying to kill. They have the genes that enable them to turn a blind eye to what they have done and live comfortably, without feeling even 1% of the remorse or guilt that they should have felt and that gives rise to unbearable rage. The scriptwriter planned the drama in this backdrop. The psychopaths are the ones who believe in what they have done. As the scriptwriter wanted to see psychopath murderers feel the pain, reflect on their actions, and atone. Even if there’s only a slight chance that they will feel empathy, they should understand their sins sincerely and feel remorse. That would be the best punishment and salvation for the psychopathic murderers.[5]
Synopsis[edit]
Mouse follows Jeong Ba-reum (Lee Seung-gi), a steadfast police officer, whose life changes when he encounters a psychopathic serial killer. This drives him and his partner ko Moo-chi (Lee Hee-joon) to unearth the truth behind psychopathic behaviours. This also raises the questions, whether it is possible to scan a psychopath in the mother's womb using fetal genetic testing? And if the child in the womb is a psychopath, will it be wise to have that child?
Cast[edit]
Main[edit]
- Lee Seung-gi[6] as Jeong Ba-reum, a police officer whose life changes after the confrontation with a psychopathic killer. He stopped school violence perpetrators and won the Citizen Hero Award in high school. He is a new police officer at the Dongbu Police Station. He frequently visits senior citizens living alone in the neighborhood, and helps them with their laundry, repairing the boilers, buying the groceries and many more. He also feeds stray cats on a daily basis and even once rescued a bird by stopping a car with his body. He is such a nice guy that one would wonder whether a man like Ba-reum actually exists in the world. His life, however, changes completely after his confrontation with a psychopathic killer.[7]
- Lee Hee-joon[8] as Go Moo-chi, a detective who does not care about the rules and is willing to resort to any method to catch criminals
- Just like his name, "Go" Moo-chi the legendary gangster detective, standing alongside the unsub, will make you feel confused as to who is the detective and who is the criminal. Because of his hot temper, he ends up assaulting suspects, doing expediency and illegal investigation. Therefore, the arrest rate of Go Moo-chi is the highest among other public figures, but he is not interested in promotion or performance. He became a detective to get revenge on the murderer who killed his parents. His only goal is to enter the detention center where the murderer is and kill him. He has visited a lot of psychopaths and attempted to kill them but failed to do so. Then, a psychopath, the Predator, has captured his attention. He is willing to be a monster to catch it and is willing to provoke and chase him. Something unexpected happened and he is thrown into another whirlwind of fate...[9]
- Park Ju-hyun[10] as Oh Bong-yi, a tough-looking high school senior who lives with her grandmother and is an expert in martial arts. Though she doesn't excel much at school, she is confident and tough, and always straightforward. However, she is a character with a deep past. After the incident ten years ago, she realized that she was the only one in the world who could protect or save herself. Bong-yi has learned the basics of "self-defense" to protect herself. In her backpack, instead of books, she always has her boxing gloves and sports bands. She is a 10-tier martial arts girl who is excellent in boxing and jiujitsu, as she visits the martial arts gym every day.[11]
- Kyung Soo-jin[12] as Choi Hong-ju, a talented production director known as "Sherlock Hong-ju"
- She is a producer of the Current Affairs and Culture Department of OBN, and nicknamed "Sherlock Hongju." She is proud of herself and if she wants to, she would throw herself to broadcast the incident somehow. Even fire and water cannot stop her passion. And Hong-ju's instinct is never wrong. At a young age, she won the Celestial Arts Award, various journalists' awards, and special awards, making her one of the most talented reporters in the station. She seems to be in and out of the police station as if it was her own home to obtain information for her broadcast. Then the murder that caught Hong-ju's radar! But somehow, the closer they get to the case, the harder the truth is to be found. For 25 years, she is about to open a huge Pandora's box, which she has lived with in her heart all her life...[13]
People around Jeong Ba-reum[edit]
Ba-reum's friends[edit]
- Lee Seo-jun as Na Chi-guk, a prison guard at Mujin Detention Center
- He is a high school friend of Ba-reum. Of course, the first place to be assigned after his graduation is Mujin Detention Center, where all the felons from all over the country are gathered. When he sees death row inmates who enjoy prison like a hotel, he is disillusioned by them who have no remorse. Along with Ba-reum, he is so righteous that he received the "Citizen Hero Award" for saving victims of school violence in high school and he always gives his credit to Ba-reum.
- Ba-reum's high school friend and neighborhood friend. He was in the same class with Ba-reum and Chi-guk at a private academy to get prepared for the civil servant examination, but unlike his friends, he has a bitter taste of being eliminated. Since then, he has given up on the exam and said that he would become a movie director, which was his dream for a long time. He is an aspiring talker, but in reality, he is living a jobless life at home. After a series of incidents, he has become a prison guard and a strong ally of Ba-reum.
People around Go Moo-chi[edit]
- Kim Young-jae as Go Moo-won, Moo-chi's elder brother
- He is a priest temporarily housed in the basement of a church. When he was young, he was miraculously saved from being killed by a rare killer, but he became disabled since then. He is Ba-reum's counsellor and a close brother of his. However, he was isolated from his younger brother Go Moo-chi. Seeing Moo-chi who destroys life with vengeance, he is heartbroken and always prays for his younger brother.
People around Oh Bong-yi[16][edit]
- Kim Young-ok as Grandmother who lives with Oh Bong-yi
- Bong-yi’s grandmother always urges Bong-yi to marry Ba-reum, whom she considered a good bachelor in the neighborhood because she thinks it would be safe for her granddaughter to marry a police officer. Ten years ago, she thought that Bong-yi was the target of the crime because of herself, and she has lived with guilt. But she always appears to be energetic in front of her granddaughter.
Police Station[17][edit]
- The precious late-born only son. The only thing that wraps around him is the brand-new luxury brands! Although he became a police officer with his own ability, he is teased to be a “parachute” by Moo-chi because his father is a president candidate. Even though Moo-chi has been creating trouble, Shin Sang respects him a lot.
- Ahn Nae-sang as Bak Du-seok, Head of Evidence Storage Team at the Military Manpower Administration.
- He was a successful homicide detective, but a word he said to the killer headhunter during the 1995 "headhunter serial murder" dropped his life into the abyss. Afterwards, he stepped down to take care of his sick wife, and was appointed as the team leader of the first new evidence storage team in Korea, forming a team with Moo-chi thereafter.
- He has been suffering from stress and hair loss due to Moo-chi, who brings him trouble every day. As Du-seok's junior, the "headhunter serial murder" was his first case in 1995 as a freshman. He is the person who knows the pain and suffering of Du-seok better than anyone else and comforts him.
- A late cop. Moo-chi is the reason for him to join the police force, and he is elder than Moo-chi. Although they used to be colleagues who could not survive without each other, he wanted Moo-chi to quit the police officer more than anyone else after an incident. However, in his heart, he cherishes Moo-chi more than anyone else and wishes for his happiness.
- Detective Lee Min-soo
- To put it in a good word, he is a cool guy, but he is actually rude. He keeps an appropriate distance from everyone and never gets close with anybody. When he was in high school, he was in an unrequited love with a girlfriend who was later killed by a murderer. He then became a police officer with determination.
Others[19][edit]
- Ahn Jae-wook as Dr. Han Seo-joon, a genius neurosurgeon doctor at Guryong Hospital.
- He is an all-round handsome man with excellent speech, manners, and a good sense of humor. He is always the first to be invited in TV broadcast and lectures with a lot of followers. When a woman he loved was killed by a robber during his study in England, he returned to Korea and met Ji-eun while concentrating on his work. He married Ji-eun and had a child, and he was looking forward to the birth of "Blessings." There were so many things that he wanted to do and dreamed of when "Blessings" was born. But with the Headhunter serial murder, his dream plan with "Blessings" was shattered...
- Kim Jung-nan as Sung Ji-eun, Dr. Han's wife.
- Although she was a flower-loving florist, she is taking a break from work and concentrating on prenatal education due to Seo-joon, who is worried about her late pregnancy. She wanted to have a child who looked exactly like her husband, and eventually the child whom the two had hoped so much for came as a "Blessing". She always thought that her family of three would be happy, but a few days before the expected delivery of "Blessing", something tragic happened, and the happiness she dreamed of was shattered...
- Kwon Hwa-woon as Sung Yo-han[20], an emergency medical resident at Mujin Hospital.
- He is the youngest doctor in Korea to pass the state examination. He is also a genius doctor with an unprecedented success in a brain tumor surgery when he was still an intern. However, he is too quiet and always treats his patients coldly. Everyone around him often avoids him, but it does not matter. He is always comfortable alone. He has his own reasons. What happened to him as a child, is haunting him for the rest of his life...
- Jo Jae-yoon as Daniel Lee, a doctor of genetics and a criminologist [21]
- He is a nominee for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He is a Korean-British man who was adopted to the United Kingdom as a child and was raised by British parents. Han Seo-joon, who discovered Daniel's genius at Cambridge University Hospital where Daniel was working as a cleaner, gave him the opportunity to study in college and work at a genetic research institute. Since then, Seo-joon and he have been like brothers and made friendship. They conducted successful research to identify fetal psychopathic genes, getting on a highly secretive flight to Korea...
- Jung Eun-pyo as Kang Deok-soo, a child sex offender
- Song Jae-hee as Woo Hyung-chul, Jae-pil's son and a lawyer
- Shin Ha-young as Song Soo-jung
- Kim Kang-hoon as Jae-hoon
- Seo Woo-jin as Young Jae-hoon
- Kang Mal-geum
- Jin Seo-yeon
- Ma Dong-seok
- Woo Ji-hyun
Production[edit]
In April 2020, Lee Seung-gi and Choi Jin-hyuk were offered to star in the series.[22] In June Lee Seung-gi was confirmed to play a rookie police officer.[23] 935 Entertainment reported on August 4 that Park Ju-hyun was considering positively to appear in the drama.[24] YG Entertainment announced on October 21, that Kyung Soo-jin is positively reviewing the joining of cast of the drama.[25]
On October 29, reports revealed P.O will be starring in the new tvN drama, after he was spotted attending the script reading, and a rep from the network confirmed, "It's true that P.O will be starring in the new drama 'Mouse'."[26]
Original soundtrack[edit]
|Mouse OST|
|Soundtrack album by|
|Released|
|Genre||Soundtrack|
|Language|
|Label|
- 2021
- VLENDING
- Snow Entertainment
Part 1[edit]
|No.||Title||Lyrics||Music||Artist||Length|
|1.||"It's Okay" (괜찮아)||Sojung (Ladies' Code)||3:26|
|2.||"It's Okay" (inst.)||3:26|
|Total length:||6:52|
- bigguyrobin
- KT Snow
- bigguyrobin
- KT Snow
- bigguyrobin
- KT Snow
Part 2[edit]
|No.||Title||Lyrics||Music||Artist||Length|
|1.||"Too Late"||Seol Ki-tae||Horim||2:57|
|2.||"Too Late" (inst.)||Seol Ki-tae||2:57|
|Total length:||5:54|
- Jung Bom
- Seol Ki-tae
Part 3[edit]
|No.||Title||Lyrics||Music||Artist||Length|
|1.||"A Rat In The Trap" (독 안에 든 쥐)||Giriboy||Giriboy||3:42|
|2.||"A Rat In The Trap" (inst.)||3:42|
|Total length:||7:24|
- Giriboy
- Minit
- vibin
- Giriboy
- Minit
- vibin
Viewership[edit]
|Season||Episode number||Average|
|1||2||3||4||5||6||7||8||9||10||11||12||13||14||15||16||17||18||19||20|
|1||1.115||1.047||1.452||1.530||1.483||1.596||1.476||1.637||1.362||TBD||TBD||TBD||TBD||TBD||TBD||TBD||TBD||TBD||TBD||TBD||TBD|
- In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
- This drama airs on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).
Feedback[edit]
Hot Searches in Korea[edit]
|Week||Ranking||Percentage|
|1st week of March||2||16.19%|
|2nd week of March||2||18.3%|
|3rd week of March||2||18.9%|
|4th week of March||3||10.6%|
Ranking of actors
|Week||Ranking|
|Lee Seung-gi||Ahn Jae-wook||Kim Kang-hoon||P.O||Kyung Soo-jin|
|1st week of March||7||6||4||-||-|
|2nd week of March||1||7||8||-||-|
|3rd week of March||1||-||-||8||-|
|4th week of March||2||-||-||-||8|
Ranking of keyword searches
|Week||Keyword||Ranking|
|1st week of March||Mouse characters||3|
|2nd week of March||Mouse characters||3|
|Mouse characters relationship||8|
|3rd week of March||Mouse characters||4|
|4th week of March||Mouse characters||5|
Buzzworthy ranking in Korea[edit]
|Week||Ranking||Percentage|
|1st week of March||4||5.42%|
|2nd week of March||5||5.83%|
|3rd week of March||4||6.43%|
|4th week of March||5||4.34%|
Ranking of actors
|Week||Ranking|
|Lee Seung-gi|
|1st week of March||-|
|2nd week of March||-|
|3rd week of March||9|
|4th week of March||8|
References[edit]
- ^ Jieun, Kim (November 27, 2020). "이승기·이희준, tvN '마우스' 주연…내년 상반기 방송" [Lee Seung-gi and Lee Hee-joon lead tvN'Mouse'… Broadcast in the first half of next year]. Newsis. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- ^ Cho Hye-jin (February 3, 2021). "착한 순경 이승기X불량 형사 이희준, '마우스' 메인 포스터" [Good cop Lee Seung-gi x bad detective Lee Hee-jun, main poster of'Mouse']. Exsports News (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
- ^ "Mouse". IQiyi. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
- ^ "Incheon court gives teen 20 years in grisly murder case". Korean Joongang Daily. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ "Mouse". tving. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ Song, Eun-kyung (June 2, 2020). "이승기, tvN '마우스' 캐스팅…내년 상반기 방송" [Lee Seung-gi, tvN 'Mouse' cast... Broadcast in the first half of next year]. Yonhap News (in Korean). Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- ^ "마우스-인물 소개-정바름". tving. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ Kim, Ji-eun (November 27, 2020). "이승기·이희준, tvN '마우스' 주연…내년 상반기 방송" [Lee Seung-gi and Lee Hee-joon lead tvN'Mouse'… Broadcast in the first half of next year]. Newsis (in Korean).
- ^ "마우스-인물 소개-고무치". tving. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ Moon, Ji-yeon (August 4, 2020). "[단독] '괴물신예' 박주현, tvN '마우스' 주인공 꿰찼다" [[Exclusive]'Monster God' Park Joo-hyun, tvN's 'Mouse' protagonist]. Sports Chosun. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- ^ "마우스-인물 소개-오봉이". tving. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ "경수진 측 "'마우스' 출연 긍정검토중" 이승기 만날까(공식입장)" [Will Kyung Soo-jin meet Lee Seung-gi, “under affirmative review for appearing in 'mouse'” (official position)]. Newsen. October 21, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- ^ "마우스-인물 소개-최홍주". tving. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ "마우스-인물 소개-정바름". tving. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ "마우스-인물 소개-고무치". tving. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ "마우스-인물 소개-오봉이". tving. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ "마우스-인물 소개-경찰서 사람들". tving. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ Shin, Young-eun (October 30, 2020). "피오 출연확정…'마우스'서 이승기·이희준과 호흡" [P.O. appearance confirmed... Breathing with Seunggi Lee and Heejun Lee in'Mouse']. Daily Economy Star Today (in Korean). Maekyung. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- ^ "마우스-인물 소개-그 외 사람들". tving. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ "[권화운] 마우스의 요한이 누구야?". m.post.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved March 30, 2021.
- ^ Moon, Ji-yeon (December 9, 2020). "[공식] 조재윤 '마우스' 출연 확정..이승기·이희준과 호흡" [[Official] Cho Jae-yoon confirmed to appear in'Mouse'.. Breathing with Lee Seung-gi and Lee Hee-jun]. Sports Chosun (in Korean). Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- ^ Kim, Seonghyun (April 2, 2020). "이승기·최진혁 tvN '마우스' 투톱? 양측 "제안받고 논의 중"" [Lee Seung-gi and Choi Jin-hyuk tvN 'mouse' two-top? Both sides“ receiving proposals and discussing”]. YTN. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- ^ Daehan Kim (June 2, 2020). "'마우스' 이승기, '바른 청년' 신입 순경 역으로 캐스팅 확정 [공식]" [Mouse' Lee Seung-ki confirmed to be cast as a new cop in 'The Right Young Man' [Official]]. Sports World. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- ^ Son Bong-seok (August 4, 2020). "신예 박주현, "'마우스' 출연, 긍정적으로 검토 중"" [Rookie Park Joo-hyun “'Mouse' appearance, positively under review”]. Sports Khan. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- ^ Krishkim (October 21, 2020). "Kyung Soo Jin in Talks to Join Lee Seung Gi in New tvN drama 'Mouse'". Zapzee. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- ^ Shin, Young-eun (October 30, 2020). "피오 출연확정…'마우스'서 이승기·이희준과 호흡" [P.O. appearance confirmed... Breathing with Seunggi Lee and Heejun Lee in'Mouse']. Daily Economy Star Today (in Korean). Maekyung. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- ^ "마우스 OST Part.1" [Mouse OST Part.1]. Melon. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
- ^ "마우스 OST Part.2" [Mouse OST Part.2]. Melon. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
- ^ a b "Nielsen Korea". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- ^ "마우스: 시청률" [Mouse: ratings]. Naver. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- ^ "gooddata굿데이터". mygooddata. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
- ^ "gooddata굿데이터". mygooddata. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
External links[edit]
- TVN (South Korean TV channel) television dramas
- 2020s South Korean television series
- 2021 South Korean television series debuts
- Korean-language television shows
- South Korean drama television series
- Television productions postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- South Korean thriller television series