First Impression: Neighborhood Hero

"Neighborhood Hero" or "Local Hero" is an OCN crime drama starring Park Shi Hoo as Baek Shi Yoon, an ex-agent who buys a local bar called 'Neighborhood' whose regulars include police officers and other government agents. As our resident male lead, he's required to have some type of baggage with him and boy is he carrying a full load.

Right away we're shown Shi Yoon's past and the heavy load he is carrying, which is good since the only flashbacks we'll be getting will be the actual incident that turned his life around and minor ones like random conversations between him and his ex-colleagues. I prefer to get the back story earlier rather than later so all of the character's actions make sense to me and I won't have to go "Ahh! That's why he did...". So we know due to his background, Shi Yoon has an alternative reason for buying the Neighborhood Bar and President Hwang (Song Jae Ho) is aware of this from the start so much for trying to be secretive.
Along with owning the bar, Shi Yoon was required to keep Bae Jung Yeon (Girls' Generation's Yuri) on board as an employee since President Hwang treats her like family. So far, Jung Yeon has shown to not be helpless and she has a mind of her own..something I love in a female lead. Only time will tell if she will actually be a part of Shi Yoon's little crime fighting group, but she's smart enough and is willing to help those who need it.
Someone who does not work in the bar, but has somehow frequented it due to his part time job is Choi Chan Gyu (Lee Soo Hyuk), he manages to discover that Shi Yoon is the neighborhood "Shadow" someone who shows up at the right time and usually at night. Chan Gyu wants to be a police officer, but keeps failing the test and gets recruited for another job by veteran officer Im Tae Ho (Cho Seong Ha) to do surveillance work. Officer Im gets his orders from an older senior of his, Park Sun Hoo (Ahn Suk Hwan) who in turn has someone above him. In other words, Chan Gyu has no idea who he is working for nor why he's watching certain people which is where him training with Shi Yoon will come in handy.
Since this is a drama, there will be a love line between Shi Yoo and Jung Yeon, but we have yet to see anything since either have spent any time together nor do they really have a reason to other than work. When Shi Yoon puts together his little crime fighting team then we'll see their relationship start to bloom, but it also means he'll have to work out his issues from his ex, Seo An (Choi Yoon So) since I'm not exactly sure why they ever broke up, all he's said was that his feelings were resolved after their colleague died. Plus, he's not around for any romance so naturally he wouldn't see Jung Yeon in that way and she doesn't exactly trust him.
After 4 episodes, I can finally see the main plot coming together and we should have all of our main characters in one place, the Neighborhood Bar. Although it isn't difficult to keep up with, paying attention to every episode is a must since Shi Yoon may have some random flashback that explains his current feelings( I kid..). Is this show a must watch? Hmm maybe, but the plot can always go sideways with the introduction of the love line which starts in episode 5 with Chan Gyu wanting help in asking Jung Yeon out. Will we see Shi Yoon get jealous? Too early to tell, but it's gonna happen. As of now, I am enjoying him secretly beating people up and Chan Gyu being adorable.