Connection · Season 1 · SBS / Disney+
Connection Season 1
Connection Season 1 is a WORTH-IT, BollyMeter 7.7/10. 14 episodes on SBS / Disney+ from 24 May 2024.
Updated
What BollyAI Thinks
Connection aired on SBS from May to July 2024 and delivered Ji Sung's most critically discussed performance in years. The series frames its detective procedural around an unusual structural premise: the protagonist Jang Jae-kyung is both investigator and victim, forcibly addicted to the drug cartel he is hunting. This double exposure - cop and addict, pursuer and prey - gave Ji Sung a textured performance space that drama critic Park Jin-kyu (Korea Times) praised explicitly, noting his 'contrast between the lifeless eyes of an addict and the sharp gaze of a detective.' The show averaged 9.2% nationwide ratings on SBS, climbing to 14.2% for its finale - a strong domestic result. The narrative interweaves a 20-year-old friendship-turned-murder conspiracy with the drug investigation, maintaining suspense across 14 episodes without overextending. Jeon Mi-do as the journalist old-friend co-lead grounds the emotional stakes. Minor criticism was directed at mid-season pacing dips, but the final run delivers.
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The Room
“Ji Sung showcases a contrast between the lifeless eyes of an addict and the sharp gaze of a detective on a mission.”
The Korea Times
Standout Episodes
The hours worth arguing about - premieres, finales, and the turning points. BollyAI reads the room episode by episode.
- E1Episode 18.0
The premiere drops its inciting incident with unusual efficiency: Ji Sung's detective is compromised by the end of the first hour, and the show's structural irony - a narcotics cop addicted by his own targets - is established without delay.
The moment: Jang Jae-kyung wakes up with no memory of the past hours and a toxicology result that changes the entire story.
- E14Episode 148.1
The finale pulls together the dual threads of the drug conspiracy and the two-decade friendship betrayal, rewarding patient viewers with confrontations that carry genuine emotional weight. The 14.2% rating reflects a domestic audience that followed the full run.
The moment: The face-off between Jang Jae-kyung and the figure behind his addiction - twenty years of misdirection resolved in a single scene.
“Ji Sung showcases a contrast between the lifeless eyes of an addict and the sharp gaze of a detective on a mission.” - The Korea Times