When they say 'based on a true story' what they mean is that there was once a Korean narco trafficker in Suriname, and that is where all the similarities end. He did not front as a pastor, nor did he have a cult following of crazies.
So the story follows a man called In Gu who is down on his luck and has to support his family. His friend gives him an offer that is too good to be true: to set up a business in Suriname where they will export skate fish to Korea and thus become rich. In Gu takes him up on his offer, never once investigating the political situation in Suriname, nor checking the regulations for importing food into Korea. The two of course get into trouble with the local gangs who each want their cut of the revenue and In Gu ends up having to work with the National Intelligence Service to hunt down the local Korean kingpin, the notorious Pastor.
Everything feels incredibly naive with the story, where our main character happens to be a brilliant negotiator who is capable of pulling the wool over all the narco bosses' eyes and he manages to pit them against each other. The NIS officer who begs him for help is so laughable in how helpless he is in the whole situation, and his disguises are quite unconvincing.
The Korean production of this show obviously wanted a cut out of the 'narco trafficker' genre which is very popular now. However, it is obvious that they haven't done a bit of research on what made narco bosses so remarkable. Anyone who watched the Narcos series would realize that the leaders of these cartels were highly intelligent, despite not being educated, and they were very good judges of character. In Gu's deceit would have be discovered early on and he would have been killed the moment he even attempted to put them against each other. Only the most observant would stay on top, which is what made cartel leaders so intimidating.
Overall, this is a fun show, but it would have worked much better as a full on comedy that parodies the narcos genre - now that would have made it truly memorable.
So the story follows a man called In Gu who is down on his luck and has to support his family. His friend gives him an offer that is too good to be true: to set up a business in Suriname where they will export skate fish to Korea and thus become rich. In Gu takes him up on his offer, never once investigating the political situation in Suriname, nor checking the regulations for importing food into Korea. The two of course get into trouble with the local gangs who each want their cut of the revenue and In Gu ends up having to work with the National Intelligence Service to hunt down the local Korean kingpin, the notorious Pastor.
Everything feels incredibly naive with the story, where our main character happens to be a brilliant negotiator who is capable of pulling the wool over all the narco bosses' eyes and he manages to pit them against each other. The NIS officer who begs him for help is so laughable in how helpless he is in the whole situation, and his disguises are quite unconvincing.
The Korean production of this show obviously wanted a cut out of the 'narco trafficker' genre which is very popular now. However, it is obvious that they haven't done a bit of research on what made narco bosses so remarkable. Anyone who watched the Narcos series would realize that the leaders of these cartels were highly intelligent, despite not being educated, and they were very good judges of character. In Gu's deceit would have be discovered early on and he would have been killed the moment he even attempted to put them against each other. Only the most observant would stay on top, which is what made cartel leaders so intimidating.
Overall, this is a fun show, but it would have worked much better as a full on comedy that parodies the narcos genre - now that would have made it truly memorable.