Based on the BOOM! Studios’ graphic novels by Arash Amel and Marguerite Bennett (illustrated by Antonio Fuso and Stefano Simeone), Prime Video’s “Butterfly” sees Daniel Dae Kim take on covert ops, father x daughter dynamics, and betrayal inspired by K-drama. But first, we get to watch him flex his karaoke muscles on The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” a song that proves he’s not afraid to crash your party. Here’s the intel: The Seoul division of a dark ops company called Caddis Private Intelligence is on a mission, and their motives are nothing nice. While the businessmen indulge in alcohol and noraebang (Korean private room karaoke), a clever assassin begins her work. This is Rebecca (Reina Hardesty), and she’s who DDK’s David is looking for when the series opens with, “I think I found her.” This one is personal because she is his daughter.
At the start, the series has the RPMs and sense of humor of a South Korean spy thriller blended with American-style cat and mouse thrills, all of it underscored by a K-pop / global pop soundtrack (hi, ABBA). I wish it kept that energy.
David has one shot to find Rebecca and convince her to leave Caddis or risk retribution, but one shot isn’t enough. It’s been 9 years since he’s seen his daughter, and he can’t walk away, making “Butterfly” a show about parents and their grown kids in a dirty, clandestine game. The first pair is David and Rebecca, the second is Juno (Piper Perabo) and her son Oliver (Louis Landau). Ironically, it isn’t David that either kid wants to please; it’s Juno. Perabo has a history with spy entertainment since her days as Annie on “Covert Affairs.” This new series has similar styling and feels a bit like the shows from that era of USA Network, but I wish it had the levels of charm as something like “Burn Notice” or the K-drama goodness it reaches for, like “The K2“ or a “Man-to-Man.“
Interestingly, most of the episodes are named after cities in South Korea: Daegu, Busan, Pohang, but the first is just called “Pilot” and the final is “Annyeong,” a term that could mean either “hi” or “bye” depending on the context. Living up to that title, “Butterfly” makes us wait until the last second to see if this is a beginning, an end, or something in between. In the meantime, Rebecca has unresolved feelings about being left at 14 years old, and she’s not sure she cares about David’s reasons. Spiraling emotions often lead to bad decisions, and we know what that means for a story like this. Things are about to get very ugly, very quickly.
While David and Rebecca have buddy cop vibes, they also flip the “Lone Wolf and Cub” paradigm, a trope that’s as reliable as “enemies to lovers”—it rarely fails. As buddy cops, David is the reserved and measured one, while Rebecca is wild and reckless, but because they are father and daughter, his lone wolf balances and protects her cub. Here’s where it flips: Rebecca is an older cub who has goals outside of those set by the elder wolf. She’s also capable of operating and problem-solving without him. So, rather than a Mandalorian and a Grogu, or a Leon and Matilda (“The Professional”) in pivotal scenes, we get a Batman and Robin who are more like Batman and Nightwing.
Their roles as a dynamic duo and their sincere moments together are magnetic. Like when the two drink “artisanal” makgeolli together instead of soju—tying into the new life David has built for himself and hopes to share with Rebecca. If they can get out of this mess. Or when she leaps in to defend him in a massive train station fight from Daegu to Busan. When it explores the tenderness or explodes into big action set pieces, that’s when “Butterfly” sparks. And yet, there’s an uneven chemistry between our two leads that doesn’t quite catalyze, and when you’re re-envisioning the Lone Wolf and Cub dynamic, you need ignition and escalation. So despite those highs between the father and daughter—an opposite for mother and son, Juno and Oliver—I wasn’t fully engaged while watching. If it sounds like I’m going back and forth on it, you caught me. Throughout the six-episode run, I kept questioning whether this series works or not. I’m still not sure. However, by bridging South Korean and American cultural cues, with the heritage of Korean craft, juxtaposed against the current world, “Butterfly” takes on more depth. The cities in the episode titles aren’t just important places, but a signal that the series wants to take the audience somewhere.
For K-drama fans, Kim Tae Hee (“My Princess,” “IRIS,” “Hi Bye, Mama”) shows up as David’s wife, Eunju, and there’s some steamy kissing. Sung Dong Il (“Hospital Playlist”) is here as Doo Tae, her father, but if that wasn’t flex enough, the entire family is an all-star roster, including mom (Lee Il Hwa of “My Love from Another Star”) and little brother (Sung Joon of “Madame Antoine”). On the sinister side, Kim Jihun, our beloved emperor from “The Haunted Place,” is now a ruthless assassin who makes eating persimmons feel like a death threat—because it is. He’s called Gun, and while that name might be too on the nose, it’s not a lie. This actor is disarmingly versatile, able to go from lovable to bad boy to vicious without any doubts about the veracity of his characters. And those are just a few faces you’ll recognize, including Park Hae Soo from “Squid Game.”
By the second half of the six-episode season, tensions rise as we meet the extended family, and the focus on the underground world we’re playing in sharpens. Former CIA agent Senator Dawson (Charles Parnell) has a larger role to play in unraveling multiple conspiracies; Big Appa— my nickname for David’s father-in-law— is a far bigger player than we realized, and Rebecca becomes the ball in play, batted back-and-forth between Juno and David.
Despite blending several tropes, genres, and sub-genres I love—including K-drama, spy-craft, intrigue, big action, and women with fully realized characters—“Butterfly” doesn’t quite catch fire. The chemistry isn’t there, even though the actors are strong. While the writing is mostly solid, it doesn’t have that special sauce I look for in an action or thriller series—that hook that pulls me through the story, whether for the journey, to see how it ends, or the need to understand the characters; sometimes because the action is just that good. “Butterfly” doesn’t exude the crackle of tension that compels us to keep watching. Although you could find me watching it on a sleepless night or a lazy Sunday. In the end, “Butterfly” looks good and never stops moving, but it doesn’t make my heart flutter. Then again, watch your step; that ending is deadly.
Whole series screened for review. Premieres on August 13th on Prime Video.