Is there a second chance for us when the ice breaks beneath our feet?
It might seem unusual to begin a review by sharing a deeply personal feeling. Yet, while watching Walking on Thin Ice (originally titled Eun-soo's Big Day), a strange sense of pain washed over me. It was something far heavier than mere sympathy.
Usually, I watch thrillers of this intensity with an excitement driven by
curiosity for the next plot twist. But this is precisely where the secret of
this series lies. Through its main characters, it brings the narrative so
close that we feel as if we are risking our own skin on screen.
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| Lee Young-ae & Kim Young-kwang in 'Walking on Thin Ice' — Credit: KBS2 / Amazon Prime Video |
Screenwriter Jeon Yeong-sin has already demonstrated a brilliant flair for writing emotionally intense stories in her previous works, such as Argon and The Lies Within. Her latest piece places a modest, hardworking mother at the very centre of the narrative. This woman finds herself in such a desperate situation that she can only pray for a miracle to save her.
Who would have thought that this miracle would arrive in the form of a bag full of drugs? Kang Eun-soo (played by Lee Young-ae) faces an immediate moral dilemma: should she hand the drugs over to the police, or keep them?
However, this choice is only a superficial one. Could she really choose
anything else when her husband's life is at stake against her own honesty?
Eun-soo’s forced path is crystal clear from the very first moment. What makes
the journey exciting is her adaptation to this new reality, alongside the
gradual transformation of her personality.
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| Lee Young-ae in 'Walking on Thin Ice' — Credit: KBS2 / Amazon Prime Video |
Our male protagonist is Lee Kyeong (played by Kim Young-kwang). We are first introduced to him as a genuinely nice art teacher. He is a favourite among his female students, but he is also much more than that. He truly cares about his pupils and treats them with deep humanity.
Therefore, it comes as a massive surprise when Eun-soo later encounters him as "James." In him, she hopes to find a partner to distribute her high-grade drugs within VIP circles. James is a professional who operates completely alone. In fact, he has survived in this lethal environment precisely because he never trusts anyone.
Right from his introduction, we learn that he cares very little about the drugs themselves. The profits are merely funding a much larger, personal plan. His ultimate goal and true motives are revealed only in tiny, calculated drops, weaving a dark revenge drama into the overarching plot. One thing is certain: James is far from a simple mobster.
The new type of drug in the woman's possession immediately sparks his
interest, leading to the birth of their alliance. Naturally, this partnership
becomes the source of all future trouble. It never bodes well when ordinary
people get tangled up in the underworld business of gangsters.
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| Kim Young-kwang in 'Walking on Thin Ice' — Credit: KBS2 / Amazon Prime Video |
Therefore, it is predictable from the very beginning that things will not go well. Yet, this certain knowledge does not diminish the suspense of the unfolding twists.
We are not watching a conventional crime story. This holds true even though a mafia-style syndicate called "The Phantom" is hunting for the lost drugs, while the police are hot on the trail of the entire network. The criminal plot is deeply coloured by individual human dramas. The family backgrounds of the major characters are gradually sketched out, giving a human face to even the most unsympathetic figures.
We encounter plenty of such characters. They are spouses, parents, children, and colleagues. At times they are petty, at times hypocritical, and at times striving for something better. This emotional saturation fills the drama, even though a romantic subplot is entirely missing.
Such a romance would not be very realistic anyway, given the age gap between Eun-soo and James. Interestingly, however, their "business" relationship still progresses through the typical stages of a romantic arc. It features an initial acquaintance phase, the building of trust, the bitter experience of jealousy and betrayal, a breakup crisis, and eventually a raw vulnerability, understanding, and acceptance. In the end, we witness a final endurance that borders on self-sacrifice—yet it remains strictly about the "work."
Even when certain scenes occasionally recall romantic dramas, they always
contain a twist. For instance, these moments often unfold in complete silence,
leaving the audience unaware of what the characters are actually saying to
each other.
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| Lee Young-ae & Kim Young-kwang in 'Walking on Thin Ice' — Credit: KBS2 / Amazon Prime Video |
Since this is not a simple story of a virtuous housewife versus a wicked drug dealer, the identity of the true main villain remains unclear until quite late in the narrative. Before this revelation, we receive a highly detailed portrait of how both The Phantom and the police operate. It genuinely becomes difficult to decide which organisation functions with greater transparency.
Among the recent works in Song Hyeon-wook’s diverse directorial career, we find series like The Golden Spoon and The Midnight Studio. However, his name also stands out in connection with dramas such as Brain or Comrades. He is equally powerful at portraying human relationships, suspenseful thrillers, and intense action sequences. He capitalises on these skills abundantly in Walking on Thin Ice.
His visuals are highly expressive, his scenes are rhythmic, and his camera remains deeply attentive to the slightest nuances of the actors' performances. He is a master of the art of deception, frequently leading us viewers onto thin ice by making us believe a certain illusion, only to correct it later by revealing the full picture.
Without spoiling the plot, I must highlight a remarkable camera angle that completely diverges from the established visual style of the drama. It seems to carry a profound, symbolic message at a crucial turning point in the story. It is well worth reflecting on everything this single image expresses, as it seems to hold time completely still for a brief moment:
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| Lee Young-ae & Kim Young-kwang in 'Walking on Thin Ice' — Credit: KBS2 / Amazon Prime Video |
The conclusion of the drama deserves special attention, as it is simultaneously definitive and open-ended. Everyone reaches the end of their personal story, experiencing success, failure, or penance. However, the question of "how to move forward" remains entirely uncertain.
The ultimate question of the drama is whether someone will fail a second time if fate offers a similar opportunity. If we closely observe how the protagonists answer this, we can catch a glimpse of what lies ahead for the rushing Eun-soo, and for Lee Kyeong as he balances on the very edge of the building's roof. Since this involves a major spoiler, I have placed my own interpretation of Lee Kyeong’s final scene at the very end of this piece, after the trailer. However, I strongly recommend reading it only after watching the series.
It is difficult to list every single actor whose superbly portrayed character accompanied and influenced our two leads along their journey. Nevertheless, I must highlight a few.
From Eun-soo’s circle, there is her husband, played by Bae Soo-bin and their daughter, Soo-ah, played by Kim Si-a. The schoolgirls are portrayed by Seo Eun-sol, and Lee Ju-yeon. Jo Yeon-hee shines as the arrogant mother, and Oh Yeon-ah is excellent as the deceitful friend.
Within the criminal underworld, we find the two tragically fated brothers,
played by Lee Kyu-sung and Son Bo-seung, alongside the ruthless boss, Won
Hyun-joon. In James’s circle, Do Sang-woo portrays the drug-addicted chaebol
heir, beautifully embodying the various stages of a life ruined by narcotics,
while Kim Dong-won delivers a strong performance as the brother. From the
police force, Kwon Ji-woo portrays an officer who can stand on her own feet
despite being disgraced, Park Yong-woo plays the hound who never lets go of
his targets, and Hwang Jae-yeol is excellent as the detective who grows
suspicious.
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| Bae Soo-bin in 'Walking on Thin Ice' — Credit: KBS2 / Amazon Prime Video |
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| Kim Si-a in 'Walking on Thin Ice' — Credit: KBS2 / Amazon Prime Video |
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| Park Yong-woo & Kwon Ji-woo in 'Walking on Thin Ice' — Credit: KBS2 / Amazon Prime Video |
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| Do Sang-woo in 'Walking on Thin Ice' — Credit: KBS2 / Amazon Prime Video |
The drama is punctuated by fierce and quite brutal action sequences. The fistfights are exceptionally well-executed. This is especially true for the clashes between the professionally trained chief detective and James, who is a complete amateur in hand-to-hand combat.
Despite the vastly different nature of their characters, there is a striking similarity in the performances of the two lead actors. Their acting feels remarkably grounded, realistic, and natural.
Lee Young-ae appears throughout as a seemingly unremarkable, grey mouse. Yet, it is her character's quiet internal strength that dominates, driving her to creative solutions and a boldness no one would expect from her. Lee Young-ae is incredibly powerful at capturing every single facet of temptation, the allure of sudden wealth, emotional desolation, and the ultimate return to her senses.
Meanwhile, Kim Young-kwang’s sheer aura makes him a dominant presence in every scene, much like in his recent roles in Evilive and Trigger. He executes a astonishing transition, gradually peeling away the masks of a big-time player to reveal the full face of a vulnerable human being underneath. This face is also the face of the actor himself. It is a performance that deserves careful study to decode how the slightest micro-expressions can betray emotions the character desperately wishes to hide.
Lee Kyeong was not just a misguided man chasing the wrong ideals; he was deeply and systematically misled by the very person whose expectations he desperately tried to meet. The final twist in his story is so shattering that we can detect a slight melodramatic tint to it. Yet, Kim Young-kwang never loses his sense of restraint, which is why watching his emotional collapse feels so profoundly painful.
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| Kim Young-kwang in 'Walking on Thin Ice' — Credit: KBS2 / Amazon Prime Video |
This brings us right back to the pain I mentioned in the introduction—a feeling that perhaps caught up with more viewers than just myself. Even if we do not experience the exact events that befell these characters, we can easily recognise the challenges of our own lives within their forced circumstances. Reflecting on these moments, it becomes difficult to decide whether we ourselves or external factors are to blame for the bad things that happen to us.
Both questions are painful: why do we make mistakes, and why do we deserve
such blows from fate? In any case, it is highly unusual to be left alone with
such heavy thoughts after watching a thriller.
SPOILER!
As promised
earlier, here is my interpretation of Lee Kyeong’s final scene:
Walking down the street in an almost trance-like state, a passerby snaps at him, asking, "Do you want to die?" A mysterious smile appears on Kyeong’s face, as if someone had just asked him about the one thing he desires most. After this, we only see him balancing on the roof of a building. He does it just like a child balancing on the edge of a pavement, careful not to step off.
Then, he turns towards the abyss. However, he gazes at the glowing city beneath him as if it were a brand-new, unexplored world waiting to be discovered. He looks down, reaches into his pocket, and pulls out the final two pills of the drug. He holds them out over the drop and lets them go, like someone for whom this no longer means anything at all.
He takes off his glasses and turns his gaze back into the distance. (It is a well-known phenomenon that many short-sighted people actually see better into the far distance without their glasses). For me, these visuals made it crystal clear that the old Kyeong spiritually "died" in what happened to him. At the same time, the second chance mentioned as a question in the film opened up for him.
Kyeong strives not to commit the same mistake again. He cuts ties with his past and stands facing the future with a liberated soul. In this future, finally freed from the crushing need to prove himself, he can finally start living his own life.
The ambient sounds of Eun-soo’s final scenes bleed into this sequence as well. This audio crossover reinforces the idea that although the thin ice broke beneath both of them, they somehow managed to scramble back to the safety of the shore.
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