A Bona Fide Killer S01 is an intriguing mix of crime thriller and domestic drama about the complex character of its main character Yoo Bo-na. During the day she is a loving wife and mother, juggling the demands of being a hardworking woman in the office. During nights, she becomes ‘Kingfisher,’ a deadly vigilante who hunts down criminals who go unpunished. Gong Hyo-jin is strong, embodying Bo-na’s determination, moral complexity and emotional burden of living a double life. The inner struggle between her duty to protect her loved ones and her quest for justice gives her emotional depth, and makes her a character viewers can’t help but cheer for.
Worse yet, when the return of Kingfisher coincides with Bo-na’s return from maternity leave, Kwon Tae-seong, a devout reporter, starts to suspect her secret identity. As Tae-seong’s love affair with his wife and his role as a Truth Reporter drive him mad, Jung Joon-won has managed to capture a subtle sense of his evolving suspicions and inner turmoil. The series also introduces Lee Sang-yi as Lee Dong-jin, a straight-laced detective who believes in justice with a legal approach but finds himself in the murky waters of Kingfisher’s vigilante activities. The different worlds collide and an atmosphere of tension and emotion arises, challenging the nature of justice.
Put altogether, the combination of action, suspense and emotional narratives in “A Bona Fide Killer” is superb. It raises questions about what is right, what is wrong and what justice is. The series leaves a lingering tension, this time a thrilling and a poignant one: a tension between the personal and the moral, between right and wrong, where the two can become confused in the quest for righteousness. A series that is thought provoking, intense and will stick with you long after the credits.
