We follow Maria from the point of calling the phone number on the sticker, to getting picked up by Do-ki in his taxi, to giving a full record of her situation, and then agreeing to employ their revenge services.
It’s arguably one of the most heinous things you can do as a human, and Taxi Driver shows us the physical torture and sexual assault in a way that leaves no room for interpretation: these guys are straight-up evil. It turns out this woman is part of a disgusting food company that, while pretending to be humanitarian, actually abuses the mentally and physically disabled people that work for them. We meet a woman, KANG MARIA ( Jo In) who’s at the brink of jumping off a bridge, but she’s stopped by a “Deluxe Taxi” sticker that’s placed only where people who have reached their most desperate point would see. In our premiere week we get a close look at the team in action, as well. Together, they make up all the moving parts of any good vigilante operation. We’ve met our crew earlier, but now we see them in their true identities: JANG SUNG-CHUL ( Kim Eui-sung) the mastermind of revenge service, Go-eun the hacker, our two engineers, our favorite driver, Do-ki. When we get to the part of the reveal where we might see the luscious Batmobile, instead, propped on its dais, is… a deluxe taxi. Their HQ is much like the Batcave - only it’s almost a little bit cooler, just because it’s so banal. It’s not until we follow Go Eun from the regular taxi office, into a filing cabinet, which turns into a secret elevator, which leads to an underground tunnel, which leads to a secret lair, that we realize how deep their cover really is. Do-ki drops off his taxi, has an exchange with the mechanics, and goes on his merry way. The fun, then, is not really what’s revealed but how - and I really like how Taxi Driver does it.įirst, we see the yard of the taxi company, then we meet the girl that keeps the books - GO EUN ( Pyo Ye-jin) - and two of the main mechanics that work on the taxis: the hilarious and coiffed CHOI KYUNG-GOO ( Jang Hyuk-jin) and PARK JIN-UN ( Bae Yoo-ram). With some pretty impressive driving, and a particularly awesome tunnel scene where two cars change plates and transfer items while driving in tandem, we learn that there’s nothing average about Do-ki - or his skill set.īut we knew that, right? Taxi Driver is based on a webtoon about the Rainbow Taxi Company, and we already know from the get-go that behind the front of a fully-functioning taxi company, there’s an on-call revenge service. The criminal thinks he’s off scot-free, but our hero has other plans. But, as you might expect, the cab is not just a cab. Our hero is KIM DO-KI ( Lee Je-hoon) and we first meet him as a pretty standard taxi driver - he pulls up onto the scene just as a criminal is being released early from his lifelong sentence. The drama leads with its mood and style, even though we first meet our main characters in their cover stories, not their clandestine side missions.
If there’s one thing that stands out right away in the premiere week of Taxi Driver, it’s the richness of the world it creates. Note: This is an opening week review only. But, when it’s Lee Je-hoon that’s driving the revenge plot (pun intended), that might not matter so much, since he can easily convince me that the story is real, and the stakes are high. The drama excels in style, attitude, and world-building, but leaves a little to be desired when it comes to rich character development. Justice is delivered under cover of taxi cabs in SBS’s latest crime thriller Taxi Driver. Could Ishak be next on the list, or is he the man responsible? Tracking down his more ‘unsavoury’ allies, Serena is shocked to encounter a familiar face: that of her grieving ex-partner, former Malaysian ICD officer Megat Jamil (Bront Palarae).33 ApApTaxi Driver: Episodes 1-2 (Review) by missvictrix As Serena and Heri work together to catch the killer, their inquiries lead them to industrialist/kingpin Datuk Ishak Hassan (Wan Hanafi Su), whose prominent family and known associates all have some connection to the victims. Seeking answers, Heri finds a way to insert himself into the Malaysian investigation. Meanwhile, in Jakarta, for ICD Lieutenant Heriyanto Salim (Ario Bayu), the case turns personal when his brother is found murdered in similar circumstances. Called in to investigate, Singaporean International Crimes Division (ICD) officer Serena Teo (Rebecca Lim) takes charge of a case across the border where a family has been slaughtered aboard a luxury yacht in Johor.
A series of brutal murders, each sharing a signature MO, takes place across Malaysia and Indonesia.