Difference between revisions of "Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard"

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Drama: Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard (English title) / Good or Bad Dong-Jae (literal title)
Revised romanization: Jotgeona Nabbeun Dongjae
Hangul: 좋거나 나쁜 동재
Director: Park Gun-Ho
Writer: Hwang Ha-Jung, Kim Sang-Won
Network: TVING, tvN
Episodes: 10
Release Date: October 10 - November 7, 2024 (TVING) / October 14 - November 12, 2024 (tvN)
Runtime: Thursday 12:00 (TVING) / Monday & Tuesday 20:50 (tvN)
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Seo Dong-Jae (Lee Jun-Hyuk) is a prosecutor and works in the Cheongju District Prosecutors’ Office. He is ambitious and places a priority on his success as a prosecutor. Nevertheless, he is not completely cold hearted as a person. Due to the label given to him as a corrupt prosecutor, his future as a prosecutor is not bright at all. While mired in trouble over a redevelopment case, he takes on a female high school student murder case. He begins to walk a fine line between his intuition as a prosecutor and instinct as an opportunist.

Notes

"Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard" takes over tvN's Monday & Tuesday 20:50 time slot previously occupied by "No Gain No Love" and followed by "Parole Examiner Lee" on November 18, 2024.
Drama series "Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard" is a spin-off from the first two seasons of tvN drama series "Stranger."
Related titles (drama series):
1. Stranger | Bimilui Soop (tvN / 2017)
2. Stranger 2 | Bimilui Soop 2 (tvN / 2020)
3. Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard | Jotgeona Nabbeun Dongjae (tvN-TVING / 2024)

Cast

Lee Jun-Hyuk

Seo Dong-Jae

Ehong Construction



Park Sung-Woong	Jung Hee-Tae	Jang Joon-Hyun
Nam Wan-Sung	Joo Jung-Ki	Nam Wan-Sung's secretary

Cheongju District Prosecutors’ Office



Hyun Bong-Sik	Lee Hang-Na	Jung Woon-Sun	Baek Sun-Ho	Son Kang-Kuk
Jo Byeong-Gun	Jeon Mi-Ran	Kim Ji-Hee	Sung Si-Woon	Hong Joon-Woo



Ju-A	Shim Wan-Jun	Yoo In-Hyuk	Min Eung-Sik
Han Da-Young	Choi Kang-Min	Yang Jong-In	chief prosecutor

Cheongju Police Station



Lim Hyung-Guk	Han Kyu-Won	Lee Sung-Woo	Han Il-Kyu	Kim Hwa-Joong
Im Hyeong-Sik	Choi Han-Min	Kim Hyung-Woo	Park Geun-Jeong	forensic investigator

Choi Geum-Ho's Gang



Han Jae-Young	Heo Dong-Won	Bae Bo-Ram	Hwang Dae-Woong	Park Seung-Wan
Choi Geum-Ho	Park Chan-Hyeok	Choi Geum-Ho's wife	Choi Geum-Ho's subordinate	Kang Soo-Min



Lee Young-Joon	Choi Jun-Kyu	Byeon Jeong-Hyun
drug mule (ep.3)	drug mule (ep.3)	drug mule (ep.3)

Mr. Won's Gang



Yoo Jung-Ho	Oh Kyung-Min	Jung Myung-Kun
Mr. Won	Mr. Won's subordinate	Mr. Won's subordinate

Seo Dong-Jae's Family



Choi Hee-Seo	Lee Seung-Yeol	Ok Chan-Yu
Lee Yoo-An	Seo Min-Joon (ep.7)	Seo Kyeong-Joon (ep.7)

Jaheo Law Office



Park Sung-Geun	Yun Ki-Chang
Kang Won-Cheol	CEO Kim (ep.7-8)

Ministry of Justice - Supreme Prosecutors' Office



Park Joon-Sun	Kim Young-Min	Kang Duk-Jung	Park Sin-Un
deputy prosecutor (ep.7)	disciplinary committee (ep.7,10)	Kim Jong-Soo (ep.10)	prosecutor (ep.10)

Happiness Restaurant Case



Kim Sang-Ho	Yun Seo-Jeong	Kim Bong-Soo	Kim Jeong-Nam	Cha Young-Mi
Lee Kyeong-Hak	Lee Kyeong-Hak's wife (ep.2)	regular diner (ep.1-2)	regular diner (ep.1-2)	waitress (ep.2)

Nam Gyeo-Re & Im Yoo-Ri Case



Kim Su-Gyeom	Choi Joo-Eun	Park Myoung-Hoon	Min A-Ram	Kim Na Hyun
Nam Gyeo-Re	Im Yoo-Ri	Hong Tae-Ik	teacher (ep.4)	Ji-Hyun (ep.4)



Park Yu-Bom	Ki Hwan	Myung In-Ho	Shin Jeong-Won	Kim Kyung-Mi
Kim Ye-Jin (ep.4)	lawyer (ep.6)	lawyer (ep.6)	lawyer (ep.6)	bowling alley employee



Kim Kang-Min	Park Sung-Kyun
Han Sang-Sik (ep.6)	judge (ep.9)

Construction Site Case



Sung No-Jin	Jong-Ho	Son Woo-Jin	Na Ho-Won	Lee Moo-Nyoung
Park Jang-Woo	Lee Dong-Cheol	Jang Joon-Hwan	laborer (ep.7)	laborer (ep.8-9)



Lee Yoon-Sang	Lee Na-Hyun	Lee Dong-Yong	Kim Kwan-Jang	Kim Joo-Young
Cheongju mayor (ep.8)	reporter (ep.8)	supervisor (ep.9)	laborer (ep.9)	hired killer (ep.9)



Choi Nam-Wook	Moon Jung-Dae
engineer (ep.9)	judge (ep.10)

Others



Han Sang-Chul	Park Soo-Jin	Seo Eun-A	Eom Hyo-Seop	Lee Dong-Kyu
dine and dash man (ep.1)	fraud victim (ep.1)	curator (ep.1)	Park Moo-Sung (ep.1)	Reporter Shin (ep.2)



Kang Ji-Hoon	Seo Young-Sam	Park Jong-Bo	Jang Sung-Bum	Yang Gwon-Seok
reporter (ep.2)	real estate agent (ep.3)	criminal reporter (ep.5)	Park Kyung-Wan (ep.7)	hardware store owner (ep.8)

Park Boo-Gun

Kim Sang-Hoe (ep.9-10)

Additional Cast Members:

Kim Jin-Sub - Choi Geum-Ho's subordinate
Kang Myoung-Soo - prosecutors’ office investigator
Kim Han-Sang - garage employee (ep.1)
Kim Young-Pyo - police officer (ep.4)
Yang Ha-Yoon - reporter (ep.4)
Park Chul-Min - anchorman (ep.4)

Trailers

Comments

Belle Jul 14 2026 6:26 am I'm still waiting for this to be on Netflix. Haven't watched this yet

Lazyrinth Oct 14 2025 12:59 am I will always be in a love-hate relationship with Seo Dong Jae but I still believe that deep down he is just a normal human being who has his ambitions. Contrary to Si Mok who would always follow rules by the book, Dong Jae would not mind going the unconventional way which made him look like he is two-faced and would want to harm others. He is charismatic and very free spirited. He is the one who brings balance to Si Mok in Stranger. They are like Yin and Yang.

Loyalz May 04 2025 12:59 pm Watching this twice, and finally watching stranger. Just finished first season, on my track for the second season and then watching this again hahahah. I know I don't have job.

Claire Feb 14 2025 4:15 am Waiting for sequel!!

Dreamhigh Feb 10 2025 11:58 am I was know about Lee Jun Hyuk at 365: Repeat the year and I started to like him, but I missed all his dramas until love scout came out then I like him so much and I will watch all his dramas.

Miss C. Jan 19 2025 7:59 am I love the original show 'stranger' that's why I was happy when I heard that there will be a spin-off because I am a fan of Lee Jun Hyuk. I've been waiting for the s3 of stranger. But I think there will be no next season anymore. Because it was mentioned in this spin-off that Hwang Si Mok already retired. So that means there will be no season 3? ? I've been hoping for many years for season 3. I am so sad because I love the cast of the main drama. Thank you for this spin-off, it got focus on dongjae ❤

Sierra117 Jan 04 2025 4:37 am I'll give a more balanced and descriptive review.

Bottom line: it is worth your time. However, it doesn't have the same tone or feel of the original show.

So for more details, the show definitely is something from the Stranger universe, so it's not gonna disappoint. You get the same complicated plot (although not as much as the original show) and many characters, all intertwined in their own ways. The main difference is that it feels slightly rushed because there were a lot of sub-cases tying into the overall main-antagonist case. Due to this, every episode has moments where you kinda feel like "this should've been shown rather than flash-backed". A lot of details are shown in flash-back or by someone saying it instead of showing it. That's the one thing you should never do. Always show rather than tell. By show, one can say they did via flashback, but that's a copout, like a half-job. Anyway, basically if there were more episodes to spend time on the details, it would've been way way better. But it's not bad by any stretch. It just feels like you never really connect to the gravity of the moments. Which brings me to the next point -

The tone often shifts around too fast. Being a Dongjae show, it was of course going to be more light and fun and it definitely is and you will definitely enjoy it. The humour is well done, including some small fun things put in that you wouldn't notice (like the little heart on the boss's name on Prosecutor Jo's phone when she calls him). But things like someone's death or some discovery, they happen too fast and scenes of different tone switch around too fast for any one of them to resonate. This is something the original show did expertly. There was enough time spent on them and they were connected in such a way that you really felt them. The transitions, I mean. There was a flow in the show that's kinda halfway there in this show.

Related to that flow and details of this case, the rather fast pace kinda diminishes the overall sense of immersion. In the original show, you went with Hwang Simok through the evidence. A plethora of scenes where he is thinking, imagining, walking-through his ideas as he plays through the possibilities at a crime scene (remember the first season's first case, where he's imagining himself to be the killer? Stellar scene). As you go through the evidence, you ARE Simok, you begin to formulate your own ideas - who is it, how they did it, etc. But here's the thing, you know as much as the character and it's almost never shown beyond what the character can know - full immersion! That meant that as the plot twists happened, it really hit you and shocked you the same as the characters. But here in Dongjae's show, too much is revealed from a 3rd person view, so you already know who the bad guys are from the very beginning, whereas in the original show, you were questioning until the very last episodes if someone was truly the culprit or not.

Overall though, the show is solid, with good acting especially some of the banter between Jo and Dongjae. But I miss the minor character interactions; remember Simok's two assistants and their little gossip and interactions amongst eachother? That was so much fun. That's kinda missing in this show. So I'll have to blame a mismatch between the pacing, content and number of episodes. They don't quite align, so each suffer, making you wish for more. Perhaps because the show was given 10 episodes and the writers had content for a lot more and had to cut and trim in order to fit in. So I hope if it gets a season 2, they get more time to spread a story over. However, as much as I love Dongjae, I wanna see Simok back as well, so a main show would be great. The ending of this show does open up a great possibility of those two working together so I hope it happens! I just enjoy Simok's quiet, internal deliberation with no words a lot better. You get some of it in this show as Dongjae imagines things though so that was fun, and I'm glad it was Dongjae's own take of it rather than cut and paste.

The music is fantastic, especially the fun moments!

There's always product placement (this time by Hyundai) but it's not as in-your-face as many other shows, so that's good enough.

I'd give it maybe 7/10. Maybe 8/10 if I'm generous. The original Stranger, both seasons, get 10/10 from me. They're just so good and they are one of the handful of shows I have watched more than twice. The rewatchability and immersion of that show is outstanding, so I can't wait for more of that!

Ani Nov 19 2024 12:19 am Loved every episode!! I have loved Lee Joon-Hyuk ever since I saw him in the 1st season of Stranger. So happy they continued his character and this show didn’t disappoint. Fan of Park Sung-Woong as well and they meshed so well together. Great storyline, excellent cast, no boring episodes and even a few chuckles! There better be a second season!!

YumiSung Nov 14 2024 6:51 pm I miss secret forest after watch seo dong jae...and l love this drama as well, im looking forward for the 2nd season...this season not so enough...dong jae should be at least in more and more good luck and fortune after what he's been through ...i think...hehe...

wnnny Nov 09 2024 8:17 am I watch the drama Dong Jae: Good or Bad? from Ep 1 to 10. Brilliant, each episode's storyline progresses smoothly, not dragging on, and ends with a total of 10 eps only. Brilliant actors and actresses, scriptwriters, and directors.

Good bad Nov 09 2024 1:16 am Nice ending...calls for a sequel

April Nov 06 2024 9:37 am Lee Jun Hyuk is really good at acting. Continuing a character from 2020 as if it's just yesterday is crazy. So good!

Good bad Nov 01 2024 12:53 am Seo and Nam should be voted best couple unless they kill each other. Also wonderinf if some protagonist from the Stranger universe will make a cameo appearance to help Seo shine more in the end.

CH Oct 24 2024 5:07 pm if a famous actor shows in a very minor role, it is going to be very important later on. There is no way on Earth Park Myoung-Hoon is going to show just as the bowling alley guy. This happens often in kdramas and I wish they would cast not so famous actors for such kind of roles.

Lalalasummer Oct 22 2024 11:39 am Finally got appearance from stranger universe, won chul bujangnim..cant wait to see the others

Priyam Oct 20 2024 2:45 pm Was excited to see something from the Forest universe. Didn't disappoint.This show is fun~

yamm Oct 18 2024 4:42 pm I'm so glad that Lee Joon-Hyuk's character Seo Dong-Jae got his spin-off and I look forward to see how Dong-jae will deal with his cases, conflcted between hsi ambition and doing what's right! I enjoyed ep 1 which was full of suspense, plotwist and realistic as to how Dong-jae felt seeing promotions passing over and feeling less and less aknowledge for his work in the office.

soom Oct 15 2024 11:04 am Yay--good for LJH -- such a talent.

Looks like its streaming through TVing, which after several recent media mergers will become S Korea's largest streamer, directly competing against Netflix. Their webpage looks very primitive compared to NF. h-m-m-m

iLwannie Sep 22 2024 7:47 am I love Lee Joon Hyuk!

Yam Aug 17 2024 12:33 pm Yesss! I'm so glad he is getting a spin-off! I loved Stranger, I am curious to see the storyline here.

fan Jul 08 2024 6:18 pm I hope for some news soon. Autumn release would be perfect. And I can't wait for the confirmation if we will see a cameo from the cast of Stranger...

lunaloo Jun 10 2024 9:48 am Really hoping this doesn't go to Paramount and will find its way to Disney or Netflix.

Ani Jun 03 2024 8:45 pm Loved the first season of Stranger. The second season was just okay for me. I did however really enjoy Lee Joon-Hyuk’s character in both seasons. I also like Park Sung-Woong so looking forward to this!

Miss C. May 23 2024 9:40 pm I'm waiting for this for how many years already.. I am so happy for jun hyuk ? so excited for this drama

RD Castillo Mar 13 2024 7:17 pm Hoping at least Hwang Si Mok and Bae Doona will.cameo in the series! Now, I understand why the last event in the second season focused on him. The third is his. Well, we'll see if the events were after the second season or while during second season. :)

RD Castillo Mar 13 2024 7:15 pm I know that I like Cho Seung Woo so much in Stranger but if this will not be about another new cast but a story of Seo Dong Jae, I'm so fine with it!!! I'd definitely watch this new show and wait for it! Also, confirmation of Park Sung Woong? Lee Joon Hyuk really leveled up! He was the villain in Round Up: No Way Out and my gosh! He's so amazing! Hoping this spin off will have more than 16 eps!!! ??

Lee Joon Hyuk oppa ?

Wood Oct 29 2023 8:54 pm What!! Is this going to be Stranger 3 (or something in between)? Nonetheless, very excited it keeps going! Seo Dong-Jae was outstanding in Stranger 2. Looking to see how his story develops. Fighting!

Aimen Oct 23 2023 1:56 am Sooooooooooo excited for Lee JooHyuk, love him sm.....♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

#Stranger3_please Oct 22 2023 5:44 pm Omo omo omoooooo...... Hope Hwang SiMok and Han Yeojin will be appear as cameo in this series? can't waiiiiiittttttttt

Z Oct 14 2023 6:12 am Omg omg Omg….I want a stranger 3 but I’m so happy with this. This character and his story is so compelling

cameoong Sep 30 2023 4:32 pm Omg...

syska Sep 26 2023 6:22 pm wahhh... cant wait!! i luv his character.

Sierra117 Sep 19 2023 2:59 am Yes! Finally, can't wait for this!

Sun&Moon Sep 18 2023 11:53 am Finally story for Seo Dong Jae!!!

@@ Line 119: / Line 119: @@
 |6charactername=drug mule (ep.3)
 |7picture=File:Dongjae-The Good or The Bastard-Choi Jun-Kyu.jpg
-|7name=Choi Jun-Kyu (actor){{!}}Choi Jun-Kyu
+|7name=Choi Jun-Kyu (1999){{!}}Choi Jun-Kyu
 |7charactername=drug mule (ep.3)
 |8picture=File:Dongjae-The Good or The Bastard-Byeon Jeong-Hyun.jpg
@@ Line 264: / Line 264: @@
 |8charactername=supervisor (ep.9)
 |9picture=File:Dongjae-The Good or the Bastard-Kim Kwan-Jang1.jpg
-|9name=Kim Kwan-Jang (1990){{!}}Kim Kwan-Jang
+|9name=Kim Kwan-Jang (1980){{!}}Kim Kwan-Jang
 |9charactername=laborer (ep.9)
 |10picture=File:Dongjae the Good or the Bastard-Kim Joo-Young.jpg

Difference between revisions of "Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard"

Latest revision as of 07:12, 7 June 2026

Contents

User Rating

Profile

Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Notes

Cast

Ehong Construction

Cheongju District Prosecutors’ Office

Cheongju Police Station

Choi Geum-Ho's Gang

Mr. Won's Gang

Seo Dong-Jae's Family

Jaheo Law Office

Ministry of Justice - Supreme Prosecutors' Office

Happiness Restaurant Case

Nam Gyeo-Re & Im Yoo-Ri Case

Construction Site Case

Others

Trailers

Comments

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