The South Korean president, Jang Il-jun, delivers a chilling message to Prime Minister Park Dong-ho regarding the consequences of asking for help while immersed in quicksand. What he does not know is that he is about to suffer cardiac arrest and collapse in his office, leaving Dong-ho to take drastic measures. As the Deputy Prime Minister, Jung Soo-jin, schemes to assume power, Dong-ho attempts to cleanse the Blue House of its immoralities.
In The Whirlwind, Dong-ho becomes an unwilling and passive whistleblower in a world of illicit activities and corrupt dealings with Daejin Group, South Korea’s most prestigious and cunning conglomerate. Despite the Prime Minister’s investigations, Dong-ho is sinking slowly, consumed by politics and the growing depravity of South Koreans’ leadership.
After the assassination of his close personal friend and assemblyman Seo Gi-tae, who was investigating the Blue House’s illicit ties with the rich, Dong-ho embarks on a dark path. In an attempt to kill the president, he poisons him, hoping to become the Acting President with enough immunity to cleanse the Blue House of its immoralities. However, the corruption deeply embedded in The Blue House proves unwilling to go down without a fight, leading to a power struggle between Dong-ho and Soo-jin as they each try to use the President’s incapacitation to further their goals.
While The Whirlwind has a lot going for it – a first project for esteemed screenwriter Park Kyung-su in seven years, leading roles for acclaimed actors Sul Kyung-gu and Kim Hee-ae – it fails to deliver as a Netflix K-drama. Despite the show’s attempts to reflect on how far government corruption can go and the ethical dilemmas both leads find themselves in, it falls disappointingly short of its goals due to its tendency to impress with intellectual language and overwrought monologues.
Ultimately, while The Whirlwind offers a thrilling watch with twists that promise to keep viewers on the edge of their seat, it does little beyond that. Political dramas are nothing new in the K-drama space or on television in general, and this is a case of a series that still struggles to go beyond the melodramatics. The Whirlwind is available for streaming on Netflix
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