Experientially speaking, reading a mystery story is bound to be quite different from entering the mystery yourself. A similar difference exists between watching problems being solved and solving them yourself — and that’s the secret sauce behind whodunit reality shows and intellectually challenging programs that encourage spectators to actually become players.

The reality show Crime Scene Returns features an attorney who secured the position of head of the legal team in exchange for turning a blind eye to the massive corruption within Fungmu Group. Backed by the chairman’s unwavering trust, she quickly rose through the ranks, taking on high-profile cases tied to the conglomerate’s core business. Disguised as a public defender, she takes the stand in court — but in reality, she orchestrates a series of media tactics designed to sway public opinion against the defendant. The plan to keep the accused behind bars for as long as possible is moving along without a hitch — until the defendant discovers that their lawyer is not a court-appointed defender at all, but an operative of Fungmu Group. From that moment, the real battle begins, one fought not only in the courtroom but in the mind.

The opening of the show feels less like reality entertainment program and more like the tense beats of a crime drama. There’s a dramatized courtroom sequence, as well as on-set investigations carried out on an elaborate, life-size model set. The cast members’ immersion in their roles is aided by the scale and detail of the lifelike set. One of them, of course, is the culprit, which is what the detective — as well as the others suspects — are supposed to figure out. The rules of the game are reminiscent of the party game Mafia, where players pretend to be mafiosi and villagers, with the villagers determined to find the mafiosi before they’re all knocked off. After the investigation, a vote is held about who the killer is. If they guess right, the correct voters split the prize money. But if they’re wrong, the culprit takes the whole pot.

Rock, paper, scissors and jegichagi (game similar to hacky sack) are perennial elements of Korean reality shows. Viewers anticipate the outcome, but are also delighted by the dramatic contrast between rewards for the winners and penalties for the losers. But as audiences grew accustomed to these random contests — more focused on quick results than the inherent interest of the game — in such shows as 2 Days & 1 Night, producers cooked up more intellectually engaging reality television that would force contestants to really use their brains. The Genius, Great Escape and Crime Scene were among the brain teaser-type shows that soon cultivated a cult following. Crime Scene went on to have a second and third season, but was ultimately canceled in 2017 because of low viewership and high production costs. Seven years later, it was rebooted as Crime Scene Returns by local streaming service Tving (rather than the original producer JTBC).

For a show like Crime Scene Returns, which embodies the world of immersive reality television, streaming turned out to be the perfect platform. The program raised the ante by building an airplane set in the studio and replacing the stand-in dolls for corpses with more life-like dummies to support players’ deduction of the cause of death. The 10-episode series was split into five cases, with each case spanning two episodes. In contrast with previous seasons, the producers added an overarching story to connect the dots.
On terrestrial broadcasting, that level of detail would have limited the show’s appeal to a niche audience. But that’s not the case with streaming services where discerning viewers choose what to watch, and the meticulous attention to detail paid off. Word quickly spread about the show and each time a two-episode case was dropped, there was a buzz about the episode.

Viewer ratings are increasingly viewed as an artifact of the terrestrial television era amid the recent shift to consuming content on streaming services. The new streaming environment inevitably creates new demands for content. Terrestrial programming had to offer a universal appeal, but those types of shows tend to feel bland on streaming services. A simple game like rock, paper scissors will only bore game enthusiasts searching for reality shows on a streaming service. To succeed, shows need to be more immersive and tailored to niche audiences. So viewers have been tuning into whodunit shows like Crime Scene Returns, which turns spectators into players who must solve the case.

Clearly, there’s a balance to strike here. If puzzles are too tough, viewers will get lost; too easy, they’ll be bored. For that reason, Crime Scene Returns strives to hit an appropriate level of difficulty. But other reality shows boldly present their contestants with missions that seem well-nigh impossible. For example, Problematic Men: Math Edition can feel less like a reality show than a math lecture, not least because actual math lecturer Chung Seungje is on hand to help mathematically challenged contestants navigate the kind of calculus problems that appear on college entrance
exams. To be sure, the show features brainy contestants such as Suho (from K-Pop boy group EXO), known for his good grades; singer John Park, who aced the math section of the SAT, and Kim Gyumin, a certified math genius who was accepted by the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Seoul National University as a teenager. But viewers are more
interested in how participants like broadcasters Jun Hyunmoo and Bae Seongjae — who admit to getting a headache upon the mere sight of a test question — are supposed to navigate these truly challenging math prob- lems (with a little help from Chung Seungje). The problems may be daunting at first, but by the time the show is over, viewers will be solving the problems alongside the cast.

The niche-centric content served up by streaming services now needs to elevate viewers above the role of mere spectators, and that brings us to the era of participatory reality shows like Crime Scene Returns and Problematic Men: Math Edition. These programs offer a level of immersion only possible when viewers aren’t just spectators of the game, but are playing the game themselves. The message behind this new type of reality show is that doing something yourself is always more fun than watching somebody else do it — as long as it matches your interests, of course.

-Jung Dukhyun is a pop culture critic who sheds light on the value of popular culture through his writing, broadcasting appearances and lectures.

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Oh My Ghost Clients

No Mujin (Jung Kyungho) is
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Deep Dive Korea

This compelling travel docu- mentary series shines a light on Korea’s unique maritime culture through the lives
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Shark Tank Season 15

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as the “Sharks,” and real-life invest- ment deals are reached on the spot. After 15 seasons, this hit American reality show still delivers a thrilling, high-stakes look at tense business presentations.

Sapiens Studio: I’ll Read You Some History (YouTube)

If you’re curious about the bits of history that never made it into the textbooks, tune into this YouTube content. From fascinating deep dives into historical figures and events to key moments in classic and modern history, it makes learning fun.

Great Minds

This brilliant lecture series by Korea’s public broadcaster EBS features some of the world’s leading thinkers. Short, powerful talks on AI, the humanities, psychology and more offer profound insights from top experts. More than just a simple lesson, these talks are designed to offer new inspiration, change the way you see the world and deepen the way you think.

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