REVIEW: ‘The Judge From Hell’ Is Park Shin-Hye At Her Best

The Judge From Hell spotlights a different side of actress Park Shin-hye‘s range fans haven’t seen before. As demon-turned-human Kang Bit-na, she finds herself on the hunt to deliver evil souls to hell after committing a major faux pas. Shin-hye embraces a more confident, playful side with a dash of sinister energy underneath the surface. Through her performance, one can almost forgive how contrived some story developments are in the series. Almost.

The Judge From Hell starts with the original Kang Bit-na bleeding out into the snow. The gates of Hell open, ushering in her soul and bringing her face to face with the powerful demon judge, Justitia (Oh Na-ra). Justitia makes a fateful and, ultimately, incorrect decision when she condemns Bit-na as guilty of sin. This grave error alters the course of Justitia’s fate, with demon leader Bael (Shin Sung-rok) compelled to punish her gravely.

Now forced to take over Bit-na’s body, it’s a race against the clock for Justitia to finish her sentence or risk eternal death. With enough pride to make even Lucifer jealous, Justitia begrungingly accepts this hurdle in her path. From this point onward, I’ll refer to Justitia as Bit-na as she assumes that person’s identity for the remainder of The Judge From Hell.

With a nihilist view toward humanity, Bit-na believes she has things in the bag. However, her first court case involves Detective Han Da-on (Kim Jae-young), someone with a deep-rooted sense of justice and a temper to match. As a judge in his district, Da-on and Bit-na find themselves at opposite ends, with Bit-na’s agenda forcing her to be more lenient to those she will condemn to hell. This creates tension that cuts against the series’ humorous nightmare sequences.

The relationship between Bit-na and Da-on is transformative. Bit-na’s opinions regarding humanity are black and white, but she views them as little more than insects. Demons are superior to humans in The Judge From Hell despite their roles in the demon social hierarchy being as tightly policed and comparable to human social structure. But the more time Bit-na spends associating with Da-on, the more her opinions towards humanity change. Layers of grey are introduced into her worldview, transforming her into something more human.

Villainy isn’t everything, but the depth The Judge From Hell Brings to it is.

Bit-na’s transition from villain to love into a morally gray anti-hero is handled well, with the character’s depth providing Shin-hye with a welcome challenge. Throughout her career, Shin-hye has been typecast in ingenue, underdog roles. The Judge From Hell allows her to finally portray a character that doesn’t need to be saved. No, Shin-hye plays within the realms of confidence and strength, giving her a chance to have fun onscreen – and boy, does that show!

This carries over in Shin-hye’s interactions with others onscreen. Kim Jae-young more than proves his mettle opposite Shin-hye, with their chemistry and friction providing much of the tension onscreen. The transition is believable and seamless from allies to enemies to lovers due to how both approach their characters and each other. If there was more time in the series, developing the love between the two would have been welcome. As it stands, we can only be happy with what we got towards the end.

Reunited once again with actor Kim In-kwon, the power dynamics shift between him and Shin-hye. First introduced together in You Are So Beautiful, the two play master and servant, with In-kwon doing what he does best in the bumbling comedian category. Bit-na’s subordinates provide much of the comedy in The Judge From Hell, with In-kwon’s Koo Man-doo, Kim Ah-young‘s Lee A-rong, Lee Joong-ok‘s Kim Jae-hyun, and Ha Kyoung-min’s Moon Dong-joo providing the crazy antics to undercut the series’ seriousness.

And the series does dive into incredibly serious subject matter. With The Judge From Hell taking the crime-a-episode-or-two approach, Bit-na follows court cases that tackle triggering material. Ranging from domestic abuse to stalking to murder, the case is made for why Bit-na takes the souls she does. The embrace of dramatics to the nth degree and Bit-na’s penchant for sadomasochism when punishing sinners give a dose of unexpected campiness and level of “extra” that’s hard to look away from.

There are several points, though, where The Judge From Hell is doing too much. Some plot points are contrived, rendering key points unearned or hastily resolved. Part of this is due to an issue of pacing earlier in the series, with the focus initially on each case. By the time director Park Jin-pyo and writer Jo Yi-soo can right the ship, several storylines compete to be wrapped as the end becomes nigh.

But with so many storylines, does The Judge Form Hell stick the landing?

The matter of the J serial killer starts strong, with the mystery just being enough to keep viewers guessing whether Da-on and others will get closure. However, fusing the J serial killer storyline with the legendary Satan storyline muddies the waters, making everything too convenient for both Bit-na and the storyline. Having all culprits under one roof like this is a major writing sin – the irony! Had it been better executed or a different approach taken, it could be forgivable. Unfortunately, these merging plots prove too busy.

Given the weight of Satan’s legend set up in The Judge From Hell, its resolution is a disservice to the legend constructed by Yi-soo in the screenplay. Actor Park Ho-san’s appearance adds a particular layer of gravitas to the character’s legendary status. Still, that legend gets tossed outside the window when Bit-na’s plot armor comes into play. Her plot armor is also an issue in the finale, easily generating eye rolls when a certain angel’s interference kicks into play.

However, the work done setting up demons to become progressively more humanized helps sell the decision made early on in The Judge From Hell‘s finale. Is it cheesy as all get out? Yes. Is it annoyingly predictable? Also, yes. But, it is a plot shift that feels better earned than how previous plot points are handled. Regardless, despite its overdramatic flare and writing faux pas, The Judge From Hell rises from the depths with its performances and characters.

Plucking a demon from hell and throwing them into the human realm isn’t new terrain for Kdramas. But The Judge From Hell offers something new for Park Shin-hye to shake things up, giving the actress and fans something fun. While the series itself suffers from writing issues and over-the-top edits, Shin-hye steals the spotlight every step of the way, giving hope for a new direction in her career.

All The Judge From Hell episodes are now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.