Dare You to Death – Series Review & Episode Guide

Captain Jade is a police detective assigned to a new murder case. On his way to the crime scene, he gets irritated by a reckless driver. Jade pulls the car over to hand out a ticket. He doesn't realize that the driver is actually Kamin, the other investigator assigned to the same case. Kamin just returned from the United States and brings overseas experience with him. He isn't impressed with Jade because of that traffic incident earlier. Their partnership is already off to a rocky start.

The murder victim is Puifai, a senior university student. On orientation day, she attends a party with her friends. There are five guys in the group, including Jay, Time, Tar, Tor, and Champ. The three girls are Bell, Cherreen, and Puifai. All eight of them are engineering students who call themselves The Avengers. That night, they drink and take drugs. They play a game of truth or dare, where things get messy fast. After getting drunk and high together, they all pass out around the same time. When they wake up, panic sets in. Puifai is dead.

Jade and Kamin question the suspects one by one. Jade is stunned when he realizes that one of the party guests is Jay, his younger brother. Kamin immediately wonders if Jade should even be on this case, considering the conflict of interest. Jade pushes back. He insists he can stay professional and treat Jay like any other suspect. During the interrogation, Jay can barely remember what happened. He says that everyone dozed off one by one. Jay was the last person to fall asleep. When he woke up, Puifai was already dead.

Time, Tar, and Tor sit through questioning. They cooperate, but none of them offer anything that helps the case. During the interview, Kamin notices that Tar seems off. His body is jittery, like he's coming down from the effects of drugs. Tar denies it, but his body language says otherwise. Bell also reveals that they called an ambulance before contacting the police. Kamin finds that suspicious and asks why. Bell explains that they thought their friend might still be saved. At the time, they didn't realize Puifai was already dead.

Champ is the son of a famous politician, which makes his involvement especially delicate. Jade and Kamin have already been warned by their superiors to keep the case low profile because of him. No media circus allowed. Still, both investigators find Champ suspicious. He has been dating Puifai since their sophomore year, yet he barely shows any grief over her death. During questioning, he's uncooperative and asks to call his lawyer. When alone, Tor tells the police that, in his opinion, Champ is the most likely person to have killed Puifai.

Cherreen is the last to be questioned. She was close to Puifai and knew her friend well. During the interview, she reveals that Puifai often took sleeping pills because of her stomach ulcers. Cherreen wonders if mixing those pills with too much alcohol could have caused her death. The toxicity report tells a different story. The police find three separate substances in Puifai's blood, all injected in excessive amounts. In other words, Puifai didn't die by accident. She was murdered.

Dare You to Death has an exciting concept. A murder mystery plus a gay romance? Hell yeah! It's like combining my two favourite genres. I wanna solve crimes AND watch guys fall in love. The plot also seems promising. A girl dies under shady circumstances at a party. The only suspects? Her seven so-called besties. Okay, I'm intrigued! Plus, I appreciate that GMMTV took a creative risk instead of doing their usual school romances. It's one of their first attempts at a mystery BL series, and I like it when they try something new.

The story starts with one murder, but it quickly escalates into a whole killing spree. A serial killer is picking off the students one by one like it's a slasher film. The body count keeps rising, which makes our main characters look incompetent. Why aren't they protecting anyone!? Clearly, Jade and Kamin are out of their depth here. They can't handle the police work. And the deaths feel so meaningless. We barely know the victims before they get brutally murdered. They're just there to die and move the plot forward. It's hard to feel emotionally invested in the mystery when the victims are disposable background characters.

The investigation is a mess from day one. Why is Captain Jade allowed to work on this case when his brother is one of the suspects? That's the biggest conflict of interest ever! To make matters worse, both detectives end up living with the suspect. WTF!? Does the series know how inappropriate this is!? In a good mystery, you expect the writing to be smart and sophisticated. Instead, Dare You to Death is full of plot holes. Jade and Kamin stumble around like idiots while the serial killer runs circles around them. Everything about this series feels dumb or unrealistic.

Jade and Kamin develop feelings for each other, but their romance is annoying as hell. They're constantly flirting in the middle of a murder investigation. People are literally dying around you… Maybe focus on catching the killer instead of making googly eyes at each other? The leads treat this investigation way too casually. Why are they making a stupid bet about who can solve the murder first? Why are they giggling and taking pictures in a photobooth? These lighthearted BL moments feel completely tone-deaf, clashing with the seriousness of the mystery genre.

Both leads are seriously miscast. I don't believe them as police detectives for a second. They look like little kids who raided the dress-up box and found some cop costumes. Joong plays a more extroverted character than usual, while Dunk acts suave and serious. I appreciate them stepping out of their comfort zones and trying something different. Props for the effort! But they don't pull it off. Both seem unnatural in these roles. The one thing JoongDunk always nails? The romantic scenes, especially when making out. Their chemistry is solid after years of working together.

I figured out who the killer was. My method? Look at which actor shows up too early in the opening credits! The finale was kinda entertaining since the villains go full psycho mode. But I'm also annoyed because Jade and Kamin are the worst cops ever. Does the story hold them accountable? Nope! Instead, we get a happy ending where they flirt and kiss. Glad you two got your romance while multiple people died on your watch! Overall, Dare You to Death is such a poorly written drama. As someone who likes mystery shows, this whole story has been so unsatisfying.