Park Shin-hye is a demon with a heart in ‘The Judge from Hell’
The Korean drama “The Judge from Hell” resonates with viewers’ deep-rooted desire for justice. It spends as much time punishing perpetrators as it does featuring the suffering of the victims. It satiates the bloodthirst through every sound of bones breaking, geysers of blood from wounded flesh, and the cries for mercy of the evildoers. Justice has never been this entertaining.
Park Shin-hye stars in the titular role as a demon banished to Earth for a mistake she made in hell. But Park’s character is no ordinary demon—she is Justitia herself, the same figure from Greek mythology symbolized by the blindfolded statue holding a sword and scales. In hell, her task is clear: to deliver the final judgment to murderers.
She takes over the body of Kang Bit-na, the human judge she wrongly condemned on Earth to regain her position in the underworld. Her task is to personally punish murderers and deliver them to the gates of hell.
One might think this is an easy mission. She is a high-ranking demon, an heir to hell’s caretaker Bael (Shin Sung-rok), and Bit-na has her connections. But her and other demons’ powers are limited, and humans even have a chance at beating them. They must also not be discovered walking among them.
Justitia needs her assistants to complete her mission. Her lackey Mando (Kim In-kwon), who was banished with her, has the skill to copy voices. Her fangirl Arong/Venato (Kim Ah-young) can fight and has a network of demons she can tap. The cleaners Dong-joo (Ha Kyung-min) and Jae-hyun (Lee Jong-ok) can wipe a crime scene clean overnight. They offer comic relief but they also grow with her character.
She is nonchalant as Bit-na, and understandably so. Her stint on Earth is temporary and she finds human beings weak, petty, and beneath her. Who wouldn’t have this impression when Justitia only met the worst of humanity in her thousands of years in existence? Hence, she talks to people with constantly raised eyebrows and haughtiness.
Vanity
She enjoys the comforts the world has to offer, including canned colas and sticky rice treats. Her vanity acclimates quickly to sports cars and brand-name shoes and clothes even when she can’t afford them. She lives in an almost abandoned neighborhood because she maxed out her credit cards as a trade-off.
It is a lot of fun following her around as she hands out judgment strictly by human laws in court, but deals with a more satisfying punishment outside of it.
This is the brilliance of this fantasy comedy Disney+ series. It’s a vigilante show that doesn’t give you room to feel guilty about watching (and enjoying) a brutal scene because she is Lady Justice. It is her job and she delivers what you imagine as just punishment for bad people.
Complications arise when she starts developing human emotions because of her connection with Daon (Kim Jae-young). Daon is a detective she meets in the first episode, whom she intended to use for her selfish ends. But the man has his own set of principles that gets in the way of her mission.
She starts feeling empathy, sorrow, and even love—emotions that demons are not allowed to have. At around episode 7, the show has started deviating from punishing goons to chasing after a serial murderer that affects the humans around her. Justitia starts acting out of character, and more demons and an unlikely ally start popping out.
A lot of things happen at the same time that her main mission gets lost in the plot twists. This is eventually resolved but it feels abrupt, when it was built up beautifully in the first half of the show. The series ended with high ratings in South Korea after 14 episodes.
Park’s chemistry with Kim comes off as amicable. It was clear from the get-go that their link would be romantic, but it wasn’t fully developed until the last few episodes. Their tandem as a crime-fighting duo is likable. At this point in her career, Park can work with any leading man without romance being forced on her character. She has proven that she can carry a series as a strong woman.
“The Judge From Hell” is a very fun watch. Korean series have always given comeuppance to villains, but this one takes it to an extreme level, which makes viewers feel victorious and hopeful. Lady Justice will always get to the perpetrators.
