Letter #159: Mercy for None
Good morning, Erin.
I’ve been doing a lot of playing around with and learning about how to use various A.I. platforms, as I may or may not have mentioned previously. And, in a recent attempt to kill some time before going to sleep, I seem to have intuitively created a unique, cutting-edge solution to a common and persistent issue facing all A.I. chat platforms.
…or the A.I., which predominantly is programmed to level its responses in ways that sound encouraging as a means of keeping the conversation going, just let me think that that’s what happened because it knew that would get me to stay up until 4AM talking about it. The jury is still out.
Point is: sometimes you start something as a distraction but wind up down a rabbit hole you never intended to explore. And such is the way with Mercy for None, which I technically only watched because I was high on an action kick after having motored through The Raid, The Raid 2, and a rewatch of Extraction. So, when Netflix said, “More punching, but Korean?” I was in no position to argue.
“But what about our thematic bloc?” I hear you worrying. But fear not, dear seonbae, for there is a member of 5urprise in the cast! So, even though it was a totally spontaneous watch-through, the pop-star bloc is intact!
(It’s okay—take a moment to finish swooning. I’m happy to wait.)
So, crack your knuckles and unbutton your suit jacket, Erin, and let’s have a little chat about Mercy for None.
1. This is an entertaining, mostly solid action series. It’s a little drawn out in a couple of places, but it’s only seven episodes long—and, once I started watching, I didn’t stop, burning through the whole thing in one clean sitting. So, whatever quibbles I had, let that be the biggest takeaway: I clearly had a good time watching it.
2. I knew a few people in this show:
the old man warrior from Kingdom as a mob boss
Glasses Lawyer from Vincenzo as a mob underboss
Hot English Teacher from All of Us are Dead as a lawyer
Blue Oni from A Korean Odyssey as the dude with aviator-frame glasses
2A. It took me until nearly the end of the series to figure out that the dude in the aviator-frame glasses was Blue Oni (that is, actor Cha Seung-won). He was utterly unrecognizable, that’s how good a job he did at making his movements and voice specific to this character rather than specific to him as an actor. And, hilariously, I spent much of the show wishing that he’d have been cast in the show because it seemed like the kind of thing he’d do a really good job in. So…I guess sometimes you can get what you want!
3. The typical Netflix option to skip the title sequence never once came up when I was watching this show. Which is interesting, I think, but also a totally moot point—because I never wanted to skip the title sequence. I thought it was pretty darn nifty.
4. The action in this show—particularly the fisticuffs—is incredibly satisfying. It doesn’t always make a lot of sense, but it’s really fun to watch.
4A. On a base level, there’s this thing where the main guy is a punching god, really—just impossibly good at punching…yet no one ever tries to shoot him. Like, they all know he’s impossibly good at punching, but guns would make the punching show have fewer punches (and, y’know, instantly take out the protagonist). So, obviously none of the 400,000 mobsters and punks and low-lifes have guns. Awfully convenient for the main guy.
4B. Now, don’t get me wrong—I loved all the punching, so I totally get the choice. But also, past a certain point, everyone will absolutely say, “Don’t keep running up to him! How have none of you thought to shoot him from a distance?!”
4C. And I’m not exaggerating about that, either: we literally see the main guy PUNCH A MAN’S FACE OFF, and a bunch of goons just keep lining up to try to melee him to death. I could not understand it.
4D. No, seriously, the main guy punches one of the antagonists in the gut so f***ing hard that the antagonist doubles over, pukes his guts out, and nearly loses consciousness…and then complains that he doesn’t understand why people say the main guy’s tough. It’s just silly.
4E. Oh, and there’s a group of, like, professional security guards or something who enter the story as bad guys, later on—and they all have literal bullet-proof vests…but no guns. I mean, what are we doing, guys?
5. The villains/antagonists of the series are noteworthy in that they are never given over-the-top cliche actions or behaviors to shorthand that you’re supposed to hate them. You absolutely hate them, but it’s down to who they are as people, rather than because they needlessly kill puppies or harass women on the street. For a short series especially, I found that refreshing, if not outright impressive.
6. There are a lot of…borrowed ideas in this show. Not just literary conventions or tropes or cliches (of which there are, of course, some) but ideas that were totally cribbed from other shows or movies. To the show’s detriment? No. Well…I mean, no? Probably no. But also…I mean, if I’m going, “So, like from John Wick” instead of “Oo, this is cool!” then maybe it’s not not no.
7. More than one guy in glasses takes off his glasses and puts them in the inside breast pocket of his suit jacket when he’s about to get into a fight. And it is one of the least believable things in the movie. Like, anyone who wears glasses knows that those glasses are getting crushed during that fight. The only thing worse would be putting them in the back pocket of your pants. Come on, guys.
8. You’re never going to believe this, but the subtitles actually listed the emergency services number as 119 instead of translating it as 911. I’m floored.
9. Absolutely F*** that creepyass mesh tree at the art gallery or whatever where the dude in the aviator glasses likes to meet for his secret chats.
10. If nothing else, the lesson of this show is to never show your enemies mercy unless they are utterly defeated. There is never a “good enough” spot to say that you’ve made your point. You must always finish what you start—because they will see mercy as an opportunity to strike when your back is turned. (And thus: Mercy for None.)
And that’s all I have on that. Or, well, that’s all I have without getting hyper-specific about certain character moments that are extremely plot-related, so we’ll leave it there, lest I ruin a good time for the you that’s back from work and just wants to revel in people getting the tar beaten out of them. For positive reasons, of course, because I don’t ever wish your day at work to make you so unhappy that you can only be consoled by the rending of someone’s head by someone else’s fist. Or knife. Or broken couch.
More soon.
—Daryl
P.S. - You’re wondering about the thing and if I’ve seen the thing. I know you are. But I’m not telling.
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