Sisyphus: The Myth

Synopsis

A series of unexplainable events introduces a famous engineer and physicist (Cho Seung-woo) to dangerous secrets and to a beautiful woman (Park Shin-hye) from the future who has come looking for him. Together they must break the time loop to prevent a nuclear war from happening.

Cast

Main

Cho Seung-woo as Han Tae-sul

Jung Hyeon-jun as young Han Tae-sul

A genius engineer, physicist, CEO and co-founder of the company Quantum and Time. Rude and arrogant at first, Tae-sul later becomes more understanding after meeting Kang Seo-hae. After saving the flight he was on from crashing, he learns of a conspiracy to start a war and realises his brother's apparent death might not have been true.

Park Shin-hye as Kang Seo-hae

Seo Yi-soo as young Kang Seo-hae

A mysterious and beautiful woman from the future intent on saving the war-ravaged world from destruction. Seo-hae is the daughter of Kang Dong-ki. She has lived in a bunker for eight years before coming out to explore and scavenge the war-torn Korea. A battle-hardened elite warrior, she travels to the past to save Tae-sul from death and prevent him from inventing the Uploader, a time machine capable of sending people and things to the past.

Supporting

Heo Joon-seok as Han Tae-san

Cha Sung-je as young Han Tae-san

Tae-sul's protective older brother who has supposedly died. Tae-san faked his own death to track down Sigma, an enigmatic figure whom he has found out to be Tae-sul's former classmate, an investor who contributed to the rise of Quantum and Time, and the mastermind behind the future war.

Chae Jong-hyeop as "Sun" / Choi Jae-sun

A former restaurant worker who becomes wealthy with Seo-hae's help. He hopes for romance with Seo-hae but, after being rejected, accepts friendship and treats her like a sister.

Tae In-ho as Eddie Kim / Kim Seung-bok

Co-CEO of Quantum and Time and Tae-sul's best friend, their friendship drifts apart due to Tae-sul's erratic behavior and Eddie's connection with the financiers taking over Quantum and Time.

Jung Hye-in as Kim Seo-jin / Kim Agnes

A psychiatrist and daughter of the chairman of Quantum and Time, Kim Han-yong. Seo-jin dated Han Tae-sul before becoming the fiancée of Eddie Kim. She and Eddie would later break up. Like her father, Seo-jin is in league with Sigma. A future version of her, named "Agnes", has crossed over to the present and operates an orphanage for children who came from the future. Agnes is part of the Advance Team.

Jeon Gook-hwan as Kim Han-yong

The chairman of Quantum and Time and Seo-jin's father, he aids Sigma in exchange for treatment for his wife, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Tae Won-seok as Yeo Bong-sun

Tae-sul's loyal assistant and bodyguard. Bong-sun was left in a vegetative state after the shooting at the Busan Expo. He awakes during the war and learns of Tae-sul's death. He tries to change the future when Seo-hae encounters him on her way to the Uploader.

Special appearances

Kim Byung-chun as a restaurateur

He is the owner of the Chinese restaurant where Jae-sun works and vows that he would not die of suicide. He is later killed by the Control Bureau, who makes it look like a suicide and causes Jae-sun to doubt the official report.

Hwang Dong-joo as the co-pilot (Ep. 1–2)

He is the co-pilot of the aircraft that Tae-sul saves, later tortured and killed by the Control Bureau for witnessing things that he is not supposed to know about.

Sung Byoung-sook as Jung Hyun-gi's mother (Ep. 4)

Jung Hyun-gi's mother who originally passes away from illness while Hyun-gi was imprisoned in the Control Bureau jail. Her death has been blamed on Seo-hae, giving the present Hyun-gi a reason to join the Control Bureau. Hyun-gi would later return from the future to be with her during her final hours.

Production

Development

In May 2016, Lee Je-in and Jeon Chan-ho signed a contract with Seoul Broadcasting System's Studio S to write a 20-episode television series which could not be broadcast on any other channel. Studio S provided them with a workplace, but the production was eventually cancelled due to the difficulties with finding directors and actors. In December 2018, the duo were put in charge of writing the remaining 16 episodes of Fates & Furies when the previous screenwriter left after 4 episodes. However, Studio S did not pay the ₩60 million writing fees due within 15 days after the conclusion of the series. The duo terminated their contract with Studio S afterward and turned to JTBC for the broadcast of Sisyphus: The Myth. Studio S filed a lawsuit which they lost in November 2020.

Casting

In late September 2019, JTBC confirmed that Cho Seung-woo and Park Shin-hye would star in Sisyphus: The Myth with Jin Hyuk directing.

Filming

Principal photography began in May 2020, with Cho Seung-woo joining after completing his role in the second season of Stranger. Filming was completed in early December. Production was temporarily halted in late November 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Original soundtrack

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Reception

The show scored 7.2 on IMDB. Pierce Conran, writing in the South China Morning Post, criticized the plot for being internally inconsistent, with different rules about time travel added only to be broken later, undermining other elements of the show.