It’s at all times good to see Kim Dong Wook again on the small display, and this time round, he’s paired with the superb Jin Ki Joo and one heck of an ideal script. “My Perfect Stranger” is a homicide thriller, a love letter to folks all over the place, and a sobering reminder that we don’t typically get the time we predict we have now. It explores the far-reaching implications of a sequence of murders in a small city and demonstrates that typically time can’t repair every part.
There’s a lot that was superb in regards to the preliminary duet of episodes, so with out additional ado, right here’s what we liked!
Spoilers for episodes 1-2 beneath.
Warning: mentions of suicide.
1. The chilly open
With a premise like time-travel and being caught in 1987, you’d assume the present must undergo an excessive amount of set-up to get us to purchase the plotline, however “My Perfect Stranger” launches us straight into the world in a way that feels impeccably plausible. Who wouldn’t begin a random deserted automobile that purports to be a time machine only for the sheer heck of it? And who wouldn’t be unnerved to seek out that they die in a yr as a result of a sequence of unsolved murders that befell far previously?
It’s a premise that feels just like the equally nice “Tomorrow With You,” a drama additionally anchored by a stable female and male lead, and this present feels no completely different. The pacing is incredible. The episodes fly by, Yoon Hae Jun’s (Kim Dong Wook’s) straightforward incorporation within the village feels natural, and we get an ideal really feel for the folks of 1987. Plus, with time at play right here, there are quite a few elements and potential easter eggs to be thought of. Who left Hae Jun the automobile in the suitable place on the proper time? Was it his future self? Someone else? It’s an ideal begin that bodes properly for the remainder of the present!
2. Hae Jun’s motives in fixing the 1987 Woo Jung Village thriller
Upon discovering that he’s to be the sufferer of the identical killer accountable for the 1987 Woo Jung Village murders, Hae Jun is aware of that he has no alternative however to discover a strategy to avert his homicide. Especially as he is aware of one thing that the 2021 police don’t: they don’t have the suitable killer.
Back in 1987, after the murders, a person named Min Soo (2021 self performed by Im Jong Yoon) was arrested and spent over 30 years behind bars regardless of protesting that he was harmless. Hae Jun believes him. Why? Because on the day earlier than Min Soo was to be launched, he takes his life in jail. An entire yr later, Hae Jun dies by the hands of the Won Jung village killer, clearly indicating that the police had the improper man.
Naturally, Min Soo thinks that Hae Jun is nuts when he involves him with a narrative of time-travel. But Hae Jun is a compelling speaker. As a news anchor, he is aware of that details communicate louder than phrases and convinces Min Soo by predicting the longer term, all the way down to Min Soo’s plans of suicide. This averts Min Soo’s suicide and permits the 2 to workforce up in 2021 to avert the 1987 murders with the objective of stopping Min Soo from each being arrested. Motive-wise, it’s a incredible driving power for Hae Jun’s fixation on 1987. Shows like “Tunnel” typically use the time-travel trope to avoid wasting a useless spouse or so forth, however right here the hero simply desires to avoid wasting himself. Fully onboard!
3. Yoon Young’s causes for wanting to remain in 1987
We spend extra time in Baek Yoon Young’s (Jin Ki Joo’s) 2021 life than we do with Hae Jun. We don’t know what anchors Hae Jun to the current, however we shortly discover out why Yoon Young has no use for her current. She’s the editor to a snooty creator Ko Mi Sook (2021 self performed by Kim Hye Eun), who appears to be on her final dregs of fame. Yoon Young spends her days having to suck as much as Mi Sook and accompany her on private errands, without having the time to spend together with her mom Lee Soon Ae (2021 self performed by Lee Ji Hyun).
The hassle is that Yoon Young doesn’t actually wish to hang around together with her mom. Her dad and mom have an sad marriage, together with her father consuming himself right into a stupor and inflicting untold injury to numerous shops and her mom patiently taking all of it. Yoon Young is bored with having to witness it and spends as a lot time as she will be able to from residence. Soon Ae appears to know that her daughter is considerably ashamed of her. It doesn’t assist when Yoon Young runs into Soon Ae on a procuring journey with Mi Sook, and Mi Sook appears down on her (with out realizing that she’s Yoon Young’s mom). Soon Ae makes the clever level to Yoon Young that she would by no means decide her or anybody by what they put on, however Yoon Young’s had a nasty day, and the 2 argue in basic mother-daughter style. It isn’t even a mean-spirited argument, and Yoon Young absolutely believes that she will be able to make up together with her mom. But it finally ends up being the final argument they’ve. That night time, Soon Ae’s physique is present in a river. Supposedly suicide.
And Yoon Young utterly breaks down. When her drunk father exhibits up, utterly out of it, she loses it and screams that she needs she may return in time to stop her dad and mom from assembly in order that her mom may have fulfilled her desires and lived sturdy and free, with no daughter who was ashamed of her and a wastrel husband. And when Yoon Young enters the identical tunnel that Hae Jun’s time-traveling automobile speeds by way of on the best way to 1987, one thing occurs that has by no means occurred in all Hae Jun’s previous journeys. He brings her with him to the very village her mom lived in 34 years in the past. And Yoon Young vows to guard her mom this time round.
Such an ideal motive!
4. Soon Ae’s ebook
1987’s Soon Ae (Seo Ji Hye) is a candy, shy woman, continually harassed by a quartet of bullies. Their chief? None apart from a younger Ko Mi Sook (Ji Hye Won). Mi Sook is rich and sees that as giving her the facility to do something to anybody with out concern of consequence. But she occurs to be relatively good about it. She’s cautious to not be caught redhanded, in contrast to her three buddies who’re relatively unsubtle with pushing Soon Ae right into a lake, realizing she will be able to’t swim.
Among these buddies is the the frankly disturbing Kim Hae Kyung (Kim Ye Ji). Hae Jun will get into the townsfolk’s good graces by saving six teenagers from a dying that Hae Kyung practically brought about. She’s the kind of bully that likes to goad folks into doing issues that hurt them after which watches the hurt in glee. In the unique timeline, she talks her buddies into getting excessive off paint and glue on a mountain of all locations and watches them tumble to their dying. It’s unclear as to what would have occurred if Hae Jun allowed these occasions to progress, however he doesn’t. So Hae Kyung stays round, to bully Soon Ae.
But Mi Sook appears to be the extra disturbing bully right here. In 2021, she’s often called a well-known creator largely due to her first and most well-known ebook, written in 1987. It’s the identical ebook that made Yoon Young a fan and why she turned an editor within the first place. But every part Mi Sook has tried to provide afterwards has been rubbish. Yoon Young would know—she retains having to show Mi Sook’s rubbish into one thing readable. So when Yoon Young sees the identical phrases that Mi Sook makes use of in her debut novel in her mom’s diary and notices younger Soon Ae’s love of studying, she shortly places all of the clues collectively and realizes a grave improper has been performed to her mom. And there’s just one strategy to shield her from what’s coming: by enrolling as a scholar in her mom’s highschool! It’s a reverse “Angry Mom”!
5. The homicide thriller tying every part collectively
The threads of the homicide thriller have solely began to unwind previously, however their results might be felt within the current. Min Soo has solely simply been launched from jail, Mi Sook lives within the lap of luxurious off Soon Ae’s work, Soon Ae doesn’t appear to even know that her ebook was stolen however appears to have been murdered by the identical killer from again then, and one thing terrible appears to have turned the devil-may-care would-be rocker Baek Hee Seob (Lee Won Jung) that Yoon Young meet in 1987 with the ineffective father (Lee Gyu Hoe) she is aware of in 2021. It all appears to focus on these murders.
Of notice are Mi Sook’s feedback at her ebook signing. When requested why she solely writes about feminine serial killers, she notes that girls might be killers too and that she solely writes what she’s accustomed to. A touch maybe? Then there’s Hae Jun’s ambivalent relationship with Woo Jung High School’s Principal Yoon Byung Gu (Kim Jong Soo). We don’t know a lot in any respect about Hae Jun personally, however there appears to be a household connection right here, and it’s doubtless that Hae Jun is Byung Gu’s grandson. But it seems that there’s unhealthy blood between them in 2021.
Finally there’s the truth that Hae Jun and Yoon Young aren’t really caught in 1987! The pacing right here stays impeccable. Because the crash that messes up the time-traveler automobile and leaves them briefly stranded in 1987 finally ends up being a fixable drawback (at the least, judging by the preview)! But having each of them capable of journey between previous and future provides an attention-grabbing spin to this as they’ll straight see the results of their interference.
Yoon Young tells Hae Jun that she desires to remain in 1987 however hasn’t advised him why but. Given that subsequent week exhibits him wearily introducing her as a scholar, it appears she may need confided her causes in him. But it will make one heck of a wild romance, if we have now one, as a result of to everybody else, they appear to be scholar and trainer! And they’re dwelling collectively too, oh boy.
We’re solely two episodes in, and there’s a lot to love about this present. Here’s hoping that it stays good till the top! This is one drama with the potential to be good!
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Shalini_A is an extended time Asian-drama addict. When not watching dramas, she works as a lawyer, fangirls over Ji Sung, and makes an attempt to write the best fantasy romance of all time. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and be at liberty to ask her something!
Currently Watching: “My Perfect Stranger,” “Tail of the Nine-Tailed,” “Stealer: The Treasure Keeper,” “Dr. Romantic 3”
Looking Forward to: “Black Knight,” “Gyeongseong Creature,” “Ask The Stars,” “The Girl Downstairs,” “The Worst Evil,” “Queen of Tears,” “Vigilante,” “Demon,” “Daily Dose of Sunshine,” and Ji Sung’s subsequent drama.
Content Source: www.soompi.com