The Trolley Season 1 Review
The Trolley Problem is an interesting thought experiment in ethics that describes a fictional scenario in which you have the choice of letting a train kill more than one person, or intervene and pull the lever, diverting that carriage to kill only one. The Korean thriller Trolley takes this idea and pastes it into the world of a politically charged drama, with a series of ethical questions preventing our heroes from getting a happy ending.
On paper, the series has an impressive moral edge, and to boot, the show really relies on the mystery and drama surrounding it. The middle part of the episodes tends to meander a bit and lose their way before things pull back together for a relatively satisfying but somewhat contrived ending.
The story is about Hye-joo, a woman with a dark past who tries her best to live her best life. She works at the Book Restoration shop and stays out of politics, where her MP husband, Jong-do, is involved. When her son Ji-hoon is found dead with drugs in her pocket, and Ji-hoon’s girlfriend Soo-Bin storms her home, claiming to be carrying Ji-hoon’s child, Hye-joo has an interesting moral dilemma to deal with.
This choice is made even more difficult by Seung-hee, the sister of the deceased named Seung-ho, who is blamed for Hye-ju’s death. The circumstances surrounding this are slowly revealed over time, while Joong-don’s politics seep into Hye-joo’s life as he attempts to pass a new bill that could change the entire country’s view of certain crimes.
The aforementioned trolley problem takes several different forms throughout the 16 episodes. The first comes from Joong-do himself, who has the choice to put his wife in harm’s way to save a lot of people further down the line, or to preserve her but cause more misery for the general public in the future.
Towards the second half of the series, Hye-joo steps into the spotlight and ends up with a similar choice, though there are a few wildcards that definitely wreak havoc on her life.
When Trolley focuses on this central plot and the mystery surrounding Ji-hoon, it’s truly irresistible. The acting is excellent throughout and the story is full of intrigue and tension. Unfortunately, the drama also tends to devolve into subplots that don’t do much to advance the story.
Soo-bin has several different encounters throughout the season that don’t make sense until you figure out what happened by the end of the finale, while Hye-ju’s friend Yeo-jin has a lot of scenes involving Joong. do’s assistant Woo-jae feels dragged down and overplayed.
An ending can make or break a drama, and unfortunately Trolley stumbles in the end. While satisfying for some characters, a handful of supporting players and subplots feel rushed, or at worst, no ending at all.
All that being said, Trolley is a really good drama, but it falls short of greatness. All the elements are certainly here for a cracking political drama, but in the end it feels a little sloppy in its execution.