The first two weeks of L.U.C.A.: The Beginning gave us a lot of propulsive action as a group of villainous super soldiers and their mysterious cult backers gave chase to an electrified superhuman and a tough-as-nails detective. There was plenty of pyrotechnics, a lot of breathless running around and the occasional double-cross.L.U.C.A.: The Beginning Season 1 Download.
Though not the most original set-up, these episodes were reasonably entertaining and rarely slowed the pace. This propulsive momentum has carried through to the middle of the series, but with it has come a growing sense of boredom as the showrunners remain mired in the same clichés.
A tense game of cat and mouse can make for edge-of-your-seat thrills, but action and fighting alone aren’t enough to keep a story tight. Most episodes of L.U.C.A. have both kicked off and closed with a confrontation between electro-powered Ji-o (Kim Rae-won) and Yi-son (Kim Sung-oh), the leader of the gang of mercenaries after Ji-o.
The choreography is decent, the fidgety lighting suitably moody and both Kims give it their all, but the stakes never change. After a brief brawl, Ji-o overpowers Yi-son with one of his electric charges,By the beginning of episode five, Yi-son has actually caught Ji-o and bundled him into his car, but not long into his evening drive, the latter’s eyes once again charge blue before he shoots an incandescent pulse through the vehicle and the chase resumes anew.
Of course the show isn’t all about one man’s fight for survival, as it does try to temper its action with pockets of drama, largely through Goo-reum (Lee Da-hee), the rogue detective who sides with Ji-o. They’re somehow connected through the disappearance of Goo-reum’s parents, and over time affection builds between them.Tempering action with drama is a necessity, especially over the course of a 12-hour narrative such as this one, but it’s only when the quiet moments work that the set pieces can really hit home. The motivations of Ji-o and Goo-reum are clear and easy to follow, but they’re never given much room to develop; what is shown on screen is too familiar to wring any true degree of emotion out of the audience.