Hangul 두뇌공조
Hanja 頭腦共助
Literal meaning Brain Cooperation
Revised Romanization Dunoegongjo
McCune–Reischauer Tunoegongjo
Genre Comedy Mystery
Written by Park Kyung-seon
Directed by Lee Jin-seo, Gu Seong-jun
Starring
Main
Jung Yong-hwa as Shin Ha-ru, a neuroscientist who has an “extraordinary brain”
Seo Woo-jin as young Shin Ha-ru
Cha Tae-hyun as Geum Myung-se, a detective who has an “altruistic brain”
Kwak Sun-young as Seol So-jung, a forensic hypnosis investigator who has an “anxious brain”
Ye Ji-won as Kim Mo-ran, Myung-se’s ex-wife who has a “sexual brain”
Supporting
People around Ha-ru
Jung Dong-hwan as Hwang Dong-woo, a murderer and a death row inmate who has a “psychopath brain”
Kim Soo-jin as Shin Ji-hyung, a neurosurgeon at Korea University Hospital who has a “middle-aged brain”
Lim Chul-hyung as Park Chi-guk, head of the Brain Hub Center, a brain science research institute affiliated with Korea University Hospital, who has a “political brain”
People around Myung-se
Woo Hyun as Kim Gil-joong, chief of the neuroscience team at the Seobu Police Station who has a “menopausal brain”
Kim Ah-song as Geum I-na, Myung-se’s daughter who has a “teenage brain”
Extended
Kim Kang-il as Kang Seong-ha, a murderer
Park Sang-hoon as Ho-young
Han Ji-wan as Han Yeon-hee
Lee Won-jung as Kim Joon-young
Oh Yoon-hong
Music by Park Se-joon
Country of origin South Korea
Original language Korean
No. of episodes 16
Production Executive producer Park Ki-ho (KBS)
Producers Ahn Je-hyeon, Shin Sang-yoon, Lee Seung-bum
Running time 75 minutes
Production company Samhwa Networks[5]
Network KBS2 Release January 2 – February 28, 2023
Brain Works is, first and foremost, a sitcom. So expect a certain amount of playfulness with the science, a certain amount of silliness. So if you sit down expecting a serious, scientifically-accurate drama, you might get annoyed.
But this is a Korean sitcom, which means that where the science is at times problematic, it never descends to the level of bat-science. You’ll learn a lot more valid neuropsychology and the physiology of brain functions than you ever learn from Oz or any of the other pop “doctors” on American television. And yes, behind the comedy is serious, deadly drama.
The story begins when a good-natured but somewhat bumbling detective, Geum Myung-se (Cha Tae-hyun) inadvertently uncovers some ethically-questionable activities by the renowned neuropsychologist Shin Ha-ru (Jung Yong-hwa). The neurophysicist is at risk of being dismissed outright by his scandalized institute, but Geum offers a compromise: Shin takes a leave of absence to do volunteer work with the police force’s new Neuroscience Division (referred to as the Brain Works). Which means Geum and Shin must work together. And while Geum is willing to help the doctor out, Shin detests Geum and wants to destroy him for the damage he did to Shin’s career.
This doesn’t turn into a buddy-cop police procedural, though. The characters are too vivid, too clearly delineated, for that to happen. There are a lot of external forces that ensure that for the most part, the two must cooperate for their mutual survival.
Shin describes himself as a psychopath, and the story of how he was horrifically emotionally scarred as a child emerges. It becomes clear fairly early on that he isn’t a psychopath as much as he is a high-functioning sociopath, in the mold of Sherlock Holmes, whose style was similar. Geum has “an altruistic brain” and is always upbeat and seemingly incorruptible. Their team captain is Seol So-jung (Kwak Sun-young), the forensic hypnosis investigator who is a timid mouse of a woman seemingly incapable of making eye contact and always bowing, scraping and apologizing. Her boss is Kim Gil-joong (Woo Hyun), a sexist bully and lecher.
Geum’s personal life intrudes in the form of an HVAC service engineer who does twice-a-year inspections of the stations heating system twice a week. She is Geum’s ex-wife. She is described somewhat delicately as having a “sexual brain,” but is in fact a completely out-of-control nymphomaniac, who wants desperately to get back with Geum and his tween-age daughter, Geum I-na. And I-na, who has a “teenage brain,” presents her own set of challenges.
The characters, unlike those in an American sit-com, evolve from those starting positions, some through truly startling transformations that are marginally credible, some through the usual avenues of behavior modifications.
The show has a dark, serious side in which the seemingly cartoonish characters become fully three dimensional. The dark force in the show is Hwang Dong-woo (a stellar performance by Woo Hyun), a prisoner on death row, a neurologist who murdered six patients for the sake of ‘research.’ He is a Hannibal Lector sort, only smiling, warm, avuncular, and thus even more terrifying than Antony Hopkins’ masterwork. He knows secrets about Shin’s past, secrets he hopes to use to manipulate Shin into annulling his death sentence.
The self-contained 16 part series combines wit, acumen and a strong sense of humanity, one in which your respect and liking of the characters steadily grows. It does end on a note that basically encapsulates the entire series: “Seriously goofy.” It isn’t entirely serious, it isn’t entirely goofy, but it combines the best of both.