Stealer: The Treasure Keeper (2023)

After staying up to seven months without watching a TV series, I decided to break that yoke, and I gave Stealer: The Treasure Keeper a shot—and I am glad I did, even though I had to force myself to follow through the unconvincing first set of scenes.

Stealer: The Treasure Keeper is a Korean series centered on cultural assets, the value they hold, illegal possession of these assets, and, most importantly, the quest to safeguard them by retrieving them from those who possess them unlawfully. This responsibility falls on an unofficial group called Team Karma, which is made up of public officers from the Cultural Heritage Administration.

The formation of Team Karma is a clever one from the scriptwriter. Skunk, an unidentified treasure thief who masks himself and wears a suit packed with special features, was already into the act—stealing treasures and returning them to the government. Before long, Jang Tae-in, a senior officer of the administration, got an idea, introduced it to two of his subordinates, and they forwarded the request to Skunk to join forces with them in the treasure-retrieval mission. Skunk agreed, and that was how they ventured into fighting crime together.

Skunk is unknown because he wears a mask and appears “invincible,” so how did Team Karma get to Skunk? This is the most interesting part of the series as far as I am concerned. Skunk had been in their midst all along, but they did not know. To the extent that Skunk himself was begged by the team to help them meet… Skunk. I absolutely love the plot!

Joseph Coins: These ancient coins are the peak of the cultural assets. From Kim Young-Soo’s knowledge, finding these seven coins could grant one eternal life when used according to instructions in an ancient book. Kim Young-Soo, now in his 80s, does not want to die—he desires eternal life. Hence, his relentless quest to locate all seven coins and use them to his advantage. Meanwhile, Team Karma is determined not to let him succeed, turning the story into a battle of intelligence and power.

High Ratings: This series is heavily based on technology, and that aspect is efficiently and effectively portrayed. Starting from Skunk’s outfit, which has numerous technological features that can be controlled remotely, to the overall execution of tech-driven scenes, it was impressive. Ms. Lee, the private sponsor of Skunk who is technologically inclined, also did a great job. All the characters played their roles well—I honestly cannot rate any of them down.

Low Ratings: At certain points, the story became very predictable for me, especially in how everything played out concerning the search for the Joseon coins. The idea of past events involving parents being linked to a character’s present motivation was also quite predictable, and it eventually happened as expected. I also cannot ignore the common movie trope where main characters refuse to die, even after facing deadly attacks. I expected one or two team members to die, but none did—even after being badly stabbed with a knife.

Nevertheless, it is an interesting watch, and I am glad I did not waste my time on it. I would rate it 7/10

Thanks for reading.

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