7 Years Later, Netflix's Relentless Spy Thriller Is A Near-Perfect Binge Missing 1 Fix

Netflix has hardly ever had a true shortage of thrillers in its library, either through stunning originals like Beef and Bloodhounds, or through its many streaming licensing deals over the years. It's hard to deny just how addictive its offerings can be, and while much of Netflix's original content is designed as a second-screen experience for users distracted by their phones, other gems are far more rewarding when given undivided attention. Such is the case with one brilliant 2019 thriller broadcast on South Korea's SBS TV network, with Netflix handling the streaming rights.

The series in question, Vagabond, is a truly fascinating K-drama, blending the often dour, gritty trappings of a typical action-packed thriller, while loading it up with melodrama, a wonderfully engaging romance, and no small amount of product placement. Despite what sounds like a tonal mess on paper, Vagabond viewers can confirm it's an addictive journey as its star Cha Dal-geon (played by Lee Seung-gi), an underachieving stuntman and sole guardian of his orphaned young nephew Cha Hoon, before fate puts him on a warpath.

After sending Hoon on a trip to Morocco for his Taekwondo team, Dal-geon is horrified to learn that he and more than 200 other innocent civilians died following a catastrophic plane crash while in transit. Joining the bereaved families in Tangier, Morocco, Dal-geon consistently oversteps government investigation of the incident, feeling there was more to the crash than a mere accident, only to unveil layer-by-layer a conspiracy infecting the highest echelons of Korea's leadership. Despite some key resolutions, Vagabond infamously ended season 1 on a massive cliffhanger, with no season 2 in sight seven years later.

Few Spy Thrillers Are As Engaging As Netflix's 2019 Smash Hit

Produced by Celltrion Entertainment, responsible for excellent K-dramas even this year with Undercover Miss Hong, Vagabond had the simplest rebuttal to second-screen viewing: an engrossing narrative too enticing to ignore. During the course of Vagabond, Dal-geon meets Go Hae-ri (played by Bae Suzy) while on a trip along with bereaved families of the flight's lost passengers. Hae-ri, a novice Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) agent angling for a promotion, would soon find herself as the only one to trust Dal-geon as he quickly unearths the truth about his nephew's flight, Flight B357, that it was an orchestrated disaster.

Revealing more beyond this truth would be a disservice to a pretty solid 16-episode thriller detailing Dal-geon's feverish quest to expose the heinous perpetrators of B357's crash. Nearly every episode is loaded with key confrontations in which Dal-geon uncovers more of an unseemly network of defense contractors, mercenaries, and the corrupt government officials strung along the way. But even as one thread closes with certain deeds exposed, viewers will find the mysteries don't fully end with deeper, darker conspiracies recontextualizing events through even the final episode.

But Vagabond is far more than spectacular shootouts and daring stunts tearing through the streets abroad like in Tangier, Morocco, or domestically in Seoul, South Korea. At the center of the story, alongside the heartwrenching portrayals of the families of the lost, is a budding romance between Dal-geon and Hae-ri, their mutual trust helping them survive and even make massive strides in their investigation and personal advancement. In fact, there's plenty to enjoy about Vagabond even beyond its halfway point, where, despite resolution of the most explosive plotlines, a more sinister scheme is discovered, a massively reward to those paying attention.

The Devil's In The Details With Vagabond's K-Drama

Viewers would do well to observe key details as Vagabond cruises through a killer weekend binge of 16 hour-long episodes. Crucial elements such as insignias, suspicious shootout conclusions, and tattoos come into play, but no, not Dal-geon's "God of War" tattoo viciously mocked by Hae-ri. The adversaries of Vagabond feel like a hydra, where cutting off individual heads may not be enough, leaving more to emerge and feeling like an exercise in futility. But the final villain, a not wholly surprising twist, is satisfyingly foreshadowed many times over throughout the series, given an appropriately devilish codename.

It evokes the feeling of moments like the first Daredevil season's reveal of Wilson Fisk, or the shadowy Spectre organization from the Bond franchise, with the appropriate amount of buildup to make them seem all the more malicious yet brazenly public-facing. In fact, by episodes #15 and #16, one can argue that they've ostensibly won, with Dal-geon developing into a hardened warfighter, and Hae-ri into a ruthlessly competent agent, the former at best only thwarting their individual threats. But these episodes also do well to offset a strangely recurring detail from Netflix's Vagabond, a strangely aggressive product placement campaign.

K-dramas and product placement are practically a fact of life, at this point being an entertaining exercise in spotting which brand will heavily feature in the latest show. Cases like King the Land went particularly bougie featuring fashion by Thom Brown, Sauvage by Dior, and, of all things, Nespresso. Kopiko coffee candies were so effectively advertised by the likes of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha and recently in Phantom Lawyer. But with cases like Crash Landing on You and Vagabond in particular, Subway is rather well-known as everything but a de facto supporting character.

This is such an open secret in the fandom that a Last Week Tonight with John Oliver episode poked fun at their frequency in these shows, but even this doesn't address just how frequently Subway appears in Vagabond. It's a place for solitary work to be done, such as by Hae-ri's close friend at the NIS. It's a place of gathering for the bereaved families. It's even a product happily delivered to the gilded lairs of scheming villains, utterly undercutting their dastardly deeds as they raise those green cups for a sip, taking a big obnoxious bite out of their sandwiches, logos artfully not on full display, but just barely in view. Absolute cinema, no notes, eat fresh.

It almost feels like every episode features a Subway appearance, especially near the end, where it's turned into the scene of a potential bombing. While Dal-geon is persuaded away by the civilian deaths, it's fun to imagine he is trying to protect that poor Subway franchise location as well. While K-dramas are less frequently blatant with their product placement in more recent shows, this was a particularly feverish moment for the industry, which is a shame, as the series was easily positioned to continue its story in a post-Subway era.

Vagabond Set Itself Up For A Perfect Season 2 That Has Still Not Happened

Beyond rumors circulating about a Vagabond season 2 partially filming in the Philippines, co-produced by Chavit Singson as reported by multiple Filipino outlets, there's been no formal announcement of a second season. The series, through a chain of events too spoiler-laden to describe in full, separated Dal-geon and Hae-ri while nearly putting them on a collision course in the season 1 finale. But as Dal-geon makes his choice and protects her from afar, the show tragically ends on an infamous cliffhanger.

The final villain is still at large. Justice may be served for the victims of B357, but the story is certainly not over. The tone has been set for the series to take on its most badass, breathtaking levels as Dal-geon is able to infiltrate deadly mercenary cells and hold his own. Hae-ri is no longer the saccharine rookie she was throughout all 16 episodes before this point. But viewers know that, as long as they're both alive, their eventual reunion would be a loaded one, allowing their romantic chemistry to reach peak fulfillment, while addressing the devil still very much in the room. Vagabond absolutely needs to return for season 2, and it's impossible to deny it by this point.