Netflix's "Sisyphus: The Myth"

Beginning in the mid-2000s, there was a particular species of TV show that emerged on American networks: pilot episode full of intriguing mysteries, with subsequent episodes adding layers of complexity, answering one question but asking more. "Lost" (ABC 2004-10) was Patient Zero of this trend, and the prime example. The hallmark of this kind of show was that it was completely addicting even as you wondered if there really was a master story behind everything, or if the writers were making stuff up as they went along.

Almost always, it was the latter. "Lost," "FlashForward" (ABC 2009-10), even "Battlestar Galactica" (SyFy 2004-09) were all this kind of show.

Apparently, non-American shows are not immune from this syndrome. We recently added Netflix in our household, and the first series I checked out was the South Korean time travel/thriller "Sisyphus: The Myth" (Netflix 2021). It's a variation on "The Terminator," where someone in our present day (in this case, an arrogant genius) creates something that is of immense importance in the future, and time travelers from the future come back to mess with the timeline (or preserve it). The main future warrior is a 25-year-old woman named Gang Seo-Hae, and the genius is 38-year-old Han Tae-Sul.

Like the aforementioned American shows, the pilot episode is packed full of intriguing questions and daring set-pieces, and ends on anxious cliffhanger. Episode 2 deepens the mystery, and even as subsequent episodes answered a few questions, they raised even more. Unfortunately, as compelling as each episode was, the whole show started to collapse from the weight of its own mysteries. The time travel rules didn't seem consistent, and in the end, none of the plot really made any sense at all. It's too bad, because the production values were quite good (the dystopian scenes of South Korea in 2035 where fantastic), and the acting was solid. I guess it just goes to show that this "make things up as you go along" style of story-telling isn't unique to Hollywood.