Crazy "Train" Hit all the right notes except one

I'm a sucker for science fiction. Time travel. Parallel worlds. Alternate realities. I went into Train with just one hope- let it be better than King Eternal Monarch with the parallel world concept. My hope was fulfilled mostly. The writer crafted the science fiction part so well that it was simple. Train in the rain at 9:35 pm goes to the parallel world and it began with a simple choice to walk left or straight. The end. It didn't try to delve into the physics of it, it just was. That's what made it work for me for 11 episodes. The 12th episode get a bit muddy though and that was disappointing. The narrative was left up to the crazy woman and I didn't really get it. I *think* she was saying that there are multiple worlds and she came from another World, World C if you will, to try and fix things and the end result was always the same. Her son in World A was brain dead, World B he shot himself, other worlds we saw flashes of where he hanged himself and another he slit his wrists. So at least four worlds.

Another aspect that was well done was the explanation. We got bits and pieces of each story but by the end of the 11th episode you saw how both worlds, all characters led up to what they did and why culminating in the final 12th episode of one last showdown. I never was left wondering how something came to be or why until that 12th episode which I wish was a bit more clear. I'm becoming a big fan of these 12 episode shows though. They are tightly plotted with no filler and no time to waste. Not enough time for the 11-13 episode filler/breakups which are a waste when you know they will be endgame anyway. I also appreciated the post-production graphics to let you know it was switching worlds.

All the actors were new to me and I thought all of them worked well together. Yoon Si-Yoon especially impressed me. Will look for some of his other dramas.

Even though it wasn't a true romance drama, Do Won's love for Seo-Kyung was pure, even if in World A it was tainted by guilt and secrets for most of it, not allowing him to really fulfill it. I was hopeful that with World B Seo-Kyung he would be able to fulfill that long time love but that wasn't to be as it appeared he was transported to another world. But before then he was about to kill himself which is the only way he knew how to save her life. The realization that no matter what-they should never have met, their meeting would in any world set up a series of events that would always lead to her death is a heavy burden. That's the most tragic love story if I've ever heard one. In the final scene, Do Won had traveled to a third world, a world where he was alive and hiding from himself, who is now the World C chief of police. As fate would have it he ran into Seo-Kyung but it was Seo-Kyung from World B who had figured out how to get to the other worlds. He tried to ignore her but she didn't want any part of that and wanted to just live as best they could even though "things were a mess right now".

Were the culprits a complete shocker? Not really but they had a really unusual reason for their completely diabolical ways. The doctor just wanted his mother to stop him and he felt her brand of protection by allowing him to continue was really more about protecting herself. Twisted family.

So in the end while the ending isn't wrapped up neatly and you know the characters will be world hopping trying to avoid their repeated fates over and over, it still was a good show. One I looked forward to every week. I am a bit sad by the ending. I wanted a better fix for them but didn't get it.

I give it a 4/5. Really enjoyed it but that final episode was a bit of a sad to me with the characters outcomes for me and it cost the show a 5/5 rating.