Mr. Sunshine

Right now you can watch Mr. Sunshine in Australia on Netflix, and in the US on Netflix — and it holds up to as much attention as you give it. The 1-season run is exactly the right length for what it is doing. 187 people have weighed in on TMDB, and the verdict leans heavily positive. Lee Byung-hun anchors it with a performance that rewards close attention. Start it on Netflix whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

There is a reason Mr. Sunshine keeps coming up in conversation. Mr. Sunshine trusts its audience to sit with discomfort instead of resolving it too quickly. Set in the early 1900s, this drama tells the story of a young man from Korea who grows up in the United States. When he returns to Korea as a US Marine Corps officer, he meets and falls in love with a noblewoman who is fighting for Korean independence. Their romance is complicated by social class and political ideology. Lee Byung-hun and Kim Tae-ri lead a cast that treats the material with real seriousness. It was aired in 2018. What elevates Mr. Sunshine is a refusal to let any character off the hook too easily. It rarely drops the ball, and when it does, it recovers fast.

For anyone looking for storytelling that takes its characters seriously, Mr. Sunshine delivers. Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung is the obvious comparison, but Mr. Sunshine earns its own place alongside it. It is a manageable watch, easy to fit into a single week. Lee Byung-hun carries the material with a performance that rewards close attention. Worth starting sooner rather than later.

Mr. Sunshine wrapped up in 2018, created by Lee Eung-bok and Kim Eun-sook — and 1 season is available to watch from start to finish. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro's free voice app makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just say the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.