With a tight focus and impressive performances, Butterfly‘s basic spycraft story feels both elevated and entertaining.

Butterfly does a few things quite well. Its action scenes are consistently compelling, its six fast-paced episodes fly by, and the cast is solid from top to bottom. (It's great to see Kim front and center.)

“Butterfly” interjects a wee bit of dark humor that works and features some risky moves in its final episode. If it embraces that dark side more, it would give the series more edge and would give it more kick. As is, it’s a middling watch with a good performance from Kim.

The series, which is no worse and somewhat better than “perfectly fine,” certainly has its points, Kim and Hardesty not the least among them. Would I prefer to watch them in an episodic procedural as father-daughter investigators solving crimes from week to week, or doing spy stuff, or cooking together? Yes, I would like that very much.

Despite its efforts, Butterfly plays it too safe. The first half of the season is more of a fugitive series, while the second half is a proper spy thriller. Yet, even as it strives for some big twists, they're too easy to predict ahead of time.

“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.

In the end, “Butterfly” doesn’t amount to much. If audiences are solely looking to indulge in a stunning Korean backdrop and observe some splashy gadgets and showdowns, then the show has all of that in spades. However, very little else lurks beyond the surface.