Why Her? (2022)

Amazing cast, dynamic story, badass female lead

Story
it's a revenge story that centers around a woman who though is whip smart and talented, is neglected and passed over only because she's a woman and she's not rich. but fear not, she's not pitiful, she has a plan to get back at these assholes that caused her so much misery

Ensemble cast
she gets her revenge not as a lone wolf, but by gathering a team of law students each one commited to justice and to each other

Romance
There is a quiet, sweet blossoming romance between Soo Jae and one of her former clients, now in the law clinic. their relationship is full of support and love. it's not a romcom, so not a lot of time is focused on their romance, but it lingers and gives life to the show

Ending
Satisfying. without disclosing spoilers i can say you will not be disappointed

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Thoughts

--People get really offended at a show that is for entertainment only. And if you're not going to watch at least the majority of the program, how can you give a legitimate rating??
--I rarely rewatch anything, so disregard that rating.
--Hwang In Youp is an amazing actor in my opinion
--I hate how K-dramas dumb down children
--I'm going to have to watch more of Bae In Hyuk! As Choi Yoon Sang, he kinda stole my heart!...
--...as did the character Na Se Ryun (Son Ji Hyun.)
--Ji Seung Hyun's character Choi Joo Wan was played much better than I realized....he was one of the most memorable for me, which surprises me. However, thinking about it, this character did lose his wife, daughter, father, job, and obviously his freedom all within a short period of time, so it should have been memorable I guess.
--I loved the camaraderie of the law students (group 8), the 2 that ran the cafe, and the assistant lawyer
--I am sorry that Gong Chan didn't have more screen time. I don't feel that this character was written as fully fleshed out as he should have been. I think Hwang In Youp did an amazing job considering. There was a lot of long dramatic scenes looking out of the window or over the ocean or whatever.....this time could have been better filled with a little more of the romance. It seemed more "hero-worship" than anything.
--Choi Yoon Sang's crush on Noona should have been more evident as well, but it was sweet, nonetheless.
--I loved the 3 sons friendship, even if they were stupid and controlled by their fathers. They were the actual 3 Musketeers in the show, unlike what the CEO said.
--The entirety of South Korea needs anger management. (Don't get me wrong, I love South Korea, but sheesh! the amount of slapping the kids around...and yes, it's a drama, but there's too much of it IRL.)
--Choi Joo Wan jumping over the couch to get to his father was so good, and Gong Chan revealing himself to his step-mother was heartbreaking.
--I kind of wanted it revealed in the disciplinary hearing that Gong Chan and Su Jae were actually working together to find the killer....I wanted a big dramatic scene, and it just didn't happen.

End of thoughts for now. :)

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I still don't know why her

It was exciting for a little bit and then it was just meh.
It was very predictable from the start but predictability is OK so long as the right decisions are made and the interest is kept. That's not what happened.

Some decisions were ridiculous, others infuriating. The ending is anticlimactic.

I still had some fun and enjoyed some of the secondary characters. There was too much emphasis on Oh Soo Jae. I know she was the main character but there comes a point where you can't have so many secondary characters and they simply disappear or are simply plot devices. Even the male lead wasn't a lead, he was a secondary character.

Still, I couldn't figure out why her. It's very random that this all happened to her.

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I mostly write reviews about dramas that I love or those which have a high rating. However, I really wanted to write one on Why Her.
The drama has the female lead that everyone wants to see; strong and powerful. Throughout the drama, Oh Soo Jae suffers so much but she still returns to the law firm knowing that's her only weapon to become stronger. She wants to take over everything that Choi Tae Gook has. I thought at first he was good and treated her well but that didn't really last long.
When her told her she had a stillbirth, I believed it. Who knew Jae Yi was her daughter. Honestly killing her was one of the worst things they did in this drama. She saw her daughter die twice.
The male lead's role was also okay to some extent. I feel as though it was quiet empty. Gong Chan's sisters case was linked with all the bad characters but in the end they didn't show what punishment the three men got who kidnapped his sister. The male lead never actually confronted anyone who was related to his sister's death.
In the end, Choi Tae Gook kills himself instead of getting the punishment he deserves. I always feel as though this kind of ending for someone who was evil throughout the whole drama is just very wrong. They do not repent.
Overall, the drama was not really fascinating and interesting. I skipped a lot of scenes to see the ending which was also not very satisfying.

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✒⚖Sleeping B!+ches Bite °Excellent°

Su Jae (SJ) “sure is acting up.” That's her boss's reaction after he learns that she's snatched files & replaced them w/ manhwa (comics).

WH is about Power & corruption & the abuse the powerful heap onto those below them… esp women. The context is the pressure cooker that is Korea. In ep1 we see a suicide: Korea has the 4th highest suicide rate in the world. Exams, constant bullying, gossip, & impossible parents are ubiquitous themes in Kdramas. Under extreme pressure most will hunker down & go w/ the flow, too many will commit suicide, & some may act out. When they try to toss SJ away w/ the trash, she acts out. Bravo!

Is the plot alittle outrageous? Sure. It actually holds together very well, but it's not free of logical problems. For instance, remains are found at a construction site when it makes no sense that the bad guys would have allowed them to be found. It's sloppy. Also, a tragedy occurs at the end of ep14 that feels especially painful & completely unnecessary. Though it lends to symmetry in the plot development, the scene is ham-handed.

However, there's plenty more + than -. The closing scene is beautiful. The music is excellent. ‘Beautiful’ by DOKO & ‘What about us' by HAJIN are both Shazamable. Craft-wise, they send messages w/ color. SJ's wardrobe is almost always ⚫ & ⚪ which represents the hard lines she's adopted over time. It begins in ⚫ & ⚪. Our female lead is wearing white. Then the director introduces the color red: Red lipstick & red blood splatters. SJ wears rich blues for trials - apparently, juries everywhere like blue. All of a sudden, in ep3, she shows up in a bright peach suit. Maybe that doesn't sound pretty, but it looks fabulous on her. Why the color change? Well, she's had a significant emotion-altering interaction w/ Gong Chan. (It would be too difficult to describe it, you'll just have to see it for yourself). She has softened up. By the show's end, she is in color regularly. She's freely living a full spectrum life.

Seo Hyun Jin plays SJ. I've seen her as a new, bright-eyed teacher in Black Dog-8.2 & a fed-up woman who can't get a break in Another Miss Oh-7.5. She's beautiful, but she's got that down-on-earth neighborhood girl quality to her which goes beyond looks or acting capability; it's presence. She can act, too. K-actors act w/ every muscle in their bodies. Her walk kills me in WH. She's stiff as a board, yet so eloquent. It is completely different from how she walks in other shows. Extraordinary. Her performance is the best thing about a very good show.

SJ is a trial attorney. A formidable one, specializing in undermining the credibility of an opposing witness's testimony. The more we learn of her backstory, the more her behavior makes sense. At the start she was a nobody who couldn't look her co-workers in the eye, but now /they're/ terrified of /her/. But! The old-boys-club cannot tolerate this capable woman in their chauvinist sphere.

SJ's a fundamentally decent person w/ a dream to go all the way to the top - that dream cannibalizes decency. Initially, she seems impervious to everything. We learn that she's been /refusing/ to show her fragile side. She's ‘gritted her teeth, held it in, & held her ground.’ Flashbacks show the sweet girl she was, the way her father raised her, & the way her immediate underlings are fiercely loyal to her. Yet she's rude to a waiter, she's disdainful of children, & she's a monster to clients of opposing attorneys. She's starting to act like the 1%ers. In ep1 she's on the cusp of becoming a blood sucking parasite. But irony comes crashing down, splattering her & shaking her conscience loose. The crashing irony is a tragedy arising from one of her cases & public opinion turns toxic. Her boss sends her into hiding: She must ride out the scandal while being an adjunct prof at law school. The rich-and-powerfuls were happy to make use of her at their convenience, but now they're letting her know exactly what she is: Disposable. SJ screams her vow to the waves: “I'll stand in a high place & look down on them all!”

Hwang In Youp (The Sound of Magic) is Gong Chan. He's changed his appearance, so SJ doesn't recognize him, but she represented him yrs ago in a murder case. He was innocent. The reason he's in law school is b/c she inspired him back then. He c💓mes 💓n str💓ng & it works rather well. The romance gets crankin pretty quickly. In fairness, Gong Chan seems to have had it bad for yrs. But when SJ learns who he truly is, what will she think?

Heo Joon Ho (Missing: TOS-8.3) owns the law firm as Choi Tae Gook. He seems level & fair, but he is something else behind closed doors. His sons 💘 SJ. Bae In Hyuk (My Roommate Is a Gumiho) plays Choi Yoon Sang, his youngest son & admirer of SJ. What dimples! An avg student, in the past she tutored him. Now he sits in the back row of her new class. Lee Cheol-Min (My Only Love Song-8.7, Love to Hate You-8.9, Mr. Queen-9 & dozens more) usually plays a goof but he does a nice job as a “bad guy” in this. Everything about him is different -.I recognized him, yet I still had to look it up to be sure. The director is Park Soo Jin of The Hymn of Death-8.4, While You Were Sleeping-7.3, & Dr. Romantic.

It all gets off to a rocky start. SJ is no softie & the students‘ initial response is to rebel. SJ shows up at her 1st class w/ abt a minute left. She writes on the board: “I will never let my client go to jail.” Chalk drop. Exit. In class 2 she brings case files & requests verdict analyses. It's only 50% of the grade(!) “How do we do it?” A student wants guidance. “Figure it out,” is her laconic response. Immediately, her class is under threat of being canceled, but putting college students in their place is child's play for SJ. She's never going to coddle her students.

The class is seated by GPA & teams are grouped for projects accordingly. The last row forms their motley band; then they form a bond. Two of those students already have a connection to SJ - her boss's son & her forgotten former client. Other members of the last team are a middle-aged woman who is a former cop, a girl who was sexually harassed by a prof, & another boy who was weak - The student council bullied him and he refused to testify on behalf of his abused friend for fear that it would affect his standing at school. SJ gives him strength enough to find his footing.

The theme is to treasure those you love & live a clean life worthy of them to avoid future regrets. This is also very much a girl-power show. SJ is a minority w/ educational & background disadvantages. It's a higher hurdle in 🇰🇷 than it is in the 🇺🇲. Like other minorities, she gets no benefit of the doubt, no head start, & 🚫 2nd chances. No room for error. It's a triple-thick glass ceiling. She has to be 10×s as good as her competition. She'll have to make some pretty bold moves.

It's true that women's rights aren't settled in the 🇺🇲, but Asia's record is worse. Stalking & harassment protection are decades behind. SJ is reluctant to help the student who was molested b/c the chance of success is slimmer than SJ's legs. She encourages the victim to focus on her goals. That's practical advice & sometimes it's the best course. But there's another side to the coin. Gong Chan challenges SJ, pointing out that if the prof gets away w/ it, he'll do it again. “Then it won't be {Professor Seo’s} wrongdoing, but ours,” he explains. When no one challenges abusers they are emboldened. Weakness enables evil. To be a woman is to be subjected to sexual misconduct, indignity, molestation… & worse. Besides the inappropriate remarks there's the inappropriate touching. Men shouldn't be touching you, ladies. I know what it's like to have that happen & freeze in the moment, only to be furious at myself later for not doing anything. It often happens in a place where the power balance is out of whack, like a doctor's office. If you knee their nethers that is what they deserve. We need a dense fund, I suppose.

A good society is one where people stand up to wrongs. We shouldn't let anger control us, though, as there will never be an end to wrongs on earth, and none of us are mistake-free. “Is the world a fair place? Unfortunately, the world is never fair. So is it impartial? Not even for a moment… unfairness & partiality will continue… it may become worse. However, we have our last bastion. That is the law - In the world that's never fair, where things have never been impartial. While applying the law to everyone fairly & impartially, all of you must fulfill your duties & responsibilities. Lawyers must rectify the law that waivers in the face of money & power & defend justice.” Beautiful words from baddie, Choi Tae Gook. True words - even when spoken by one of the perpetrators of partiality & unfairness. It's fascinating how many intelligent, successful & wealthy people may know how to say the right things, but they've severed their hearts from their brains. People for whom the system is working are never motivated to change it. They step over the homeless & never give it another thought. Since the world's been good to them, they easily accept it as fait accompli. It's called compartmentalization. They still thoroughly believe themselves to be right, decent & good. The human 🖤 is quite deceptive. We are all blind to our own stuff.

In the end, SJ adopts a more others-focused life & steps out of the rat cage. Her conclusion: “The fact that every day is entirely mine. That I move & decide w/ my own will. The results are also entirely mine. Those things were more decent than I thought. Whether the results are good or bad, I rejoice in the good things, & if not, I just say, “so what?”, curse, & move on… I'm content w/ myself living this way.”

Smart girl.


QUOTES📢

I'm so sick & tired of money.

A single “I believe you” can help a person breathe & move on.

Nothing is more powerful than honesty.

Don't give power to the greedy; don't give money to the ignorant; & don't give a sword to the insane.

“It was a shameful life, looking back.“

I didn't want to suck.

His pride in cooking is almost a disease.


〰🖍 IMHO

📣8 📝8 🎭8.5 💓7.6 🦋5 🎨7 🎵/🔊8.4 🔚8.3 ▪ 🌞4 ⚡4.5 😅2 😭4.5 😱2.3 😯3.5 🤢2 🤔4.8 💤0

Age 15+
R-rated language, F💣s
Murder, affairs, pregnancies, violence.

Rated TV-14: Parents Strongly Cautioned.

Re-📺? Sure someday


In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Crazy Love-7.8,
A Witch's Love 7.8,
Another Miss Oh-7.5,
Love to Hate You 8.9,
Touch your heart 8.2,
Oh My Ghost 10,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
Love Struck in the City 7.3,
Inspector Koo-8.4,
Familiar Wife-8.5,
Hospital Playlist-9, Black Dog: Being A Teacher-8.2, Law School-8,When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Call It Love-8.4, Blood Free-8.5
My Mister 9.5,
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 9

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A Revenge Story Done Impeccably

Excellent melodrama packed with amazing, amazing, AMAZING acting (like seriously unbelievably good acting). "Why Her" delivers a story of revenge, heart break, trauma, and ultimately overcoming it through love and friendship.

I've seen the critiques of Su Jae's character, but the reality is--we have here a compelling, multi-faced, and very broken woman doing her best to protect herself. I remember watching on of the earlier episodes and seeing her scream through the tears that she would rise to the top and make the ones who hurt her pay. In that moment, I thought, "This would be a super compelling villain origin story", but it made an even more compelling origin story for a deeply wounded but strong heroine.

The mysteries, the crime solving, the political thriller aspects, and even the sweet, sweet romance between the leads--they all made a brilliant drama. If you're looking for a really great melodrama, it's this one.

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"One and Done"

I feel as if some in this review section have been a bit too harsh or rather too generous so I will try to provide an unbiased yet biased review ;) I will try my best to also not spoil a lot (be as vague as possible) in case some of y'all reading have yet to watch.

This drama is definitely one to watch given that the actress, Seo Hyun Jin, really shines in a way that I would say is memorable. Her acting is not only very natural but she knows how to show complexity without it being confusing as--by principle--people are 3D or even 4D. I would say that the ending is also satisfying to watch as everything unravels in favor of the protagonists and as they say " justice is served". However, I do not think this show is one that can be watched over and over again.

First off, there's a lot of plot twists that I believe can only be exciting when watching the first time around. If you watch it for the second time it simply won't have the same effect nor will it be as thrilling. It could even be characterized as rather predictable especially given the fact that the oldest son of Choi Tae Guk is the biggest scum and is also pretty much behind a lot of the crime along with his despicable father. Also the plot twist at the very end, I wont say what it is, but in retrospect also predictable. The other plot twist of Soo Jae's daughter, again typical plot twist that we all knew was coming except the death was a bit much, not sure what it added to the story.

Second of all, there were some points that I felt were so unnecessary. Like Bae In Hyuk's character... he's a decent actor but the character just was not much of anything. He was pretty useless to be honest and the story could have done without him. I think the writer could have written his character to be more of a threat to Soo Jae's and Gong Chan's relationship if they wanted to but ofc given the inherent thriller/law/mystery plot that was already going on I see why they don't, which is why I say in the end that it should've been an omitted character. I feel bad too for saying that as I do like the actor and kind of wish to see him grab some better roles.

There were also a lot of side characters that I would say gave too much to keep track of, but that part is just my opinion (like everything else in this review :0).

My biggest issue with this drama is the romance plot line. It was way too rushed, not enough development. I also feel like Hwang In Yeop is a pretty strong actor as some scenes were very telling of his range. I really believe that the script is what failed here. They make his character strong but not too strong? I think that the writer should have written Gong Chan to be a "harder" person given all the trauma he went through. It would have made a lot more sense if he didn't get close to people easily and was slightly unapproachable. I also think that there shouldn't have been strong feelings for Soo Jae off the bat. It should have been gradual as Soo Jae would slowly open herself up to him. I also get that she was the only one who believed in him but I don't see where that's grounds for strong feelings, perhaps an admiration for her and her speciality which is why he delves into law himself in addition to the injustice he faced.

I'm gonna be honest I've seen In Yeop act with other actresses and have pretty good chemistry but here the chemistry just wasn't as strong. It has nothing to do with the 'noona romance' aspect, their ages aren't really an issue at all, it's just nothing was developed properly and it was kind of just thrown in your face. IN FACT they could've done without the whole romance and just focused on the actual plot because that was pretty good.

What I will say as I close this off is that the actor of the antagonist Choi Tae Guk gives a phenomenal performance that is chilling. That's it.

All in all I give a 7/10. Its good for a one time watch but it's not the BEST law drama I've seen. If you're a huge fan of Seo Hyun Jin though you should watch it. She really is a dedicated actress.

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suspense with a side of unconditional love

can I say that they wrote his character so well! I just loved how unconditional his love was and I just found a new genre of men that I love: it's the men who nothing fazes them and they're going to protect you no matter what.
I love the suspense I wish they had shown us more love at the end to close it off but we didn't get more of that but it was more about who did it and making them pay I just feel like the final payment for the main villain was not enough I think for all the things that that person did they deserved to get way worse I was literally expecting them to be either like dead on the street bleeding or at the hospital and a vegetable State that's how bad it was that's how horrible the things they did were and we didn't even get any of that and it was like so easy the punishment was not enough.
I like the forgiving aspect of it the fashion was insane the OST was cute and their love was super cute when we got to see some of it at first it started off making you think it's going to be a lot of romance and then it wasn't that much when you got to the middle and the end it was too much suspense to have space for romance but I still like that they had a really good balance between the love scenes and the suspense cuz there was so much to cover I felt like they didn't have enough time maybe it could have been a 20 episode drama if they had been able to focus more on like all the scenes and make them come together.
it wasn't a 10 for me because I feel we were missing in the love aspect of it and also because I think they could have shown the story a different way that would have made it even more impactful just like the one called w did it started off with showing us the character then being young and like making us fall in love with them and then having horrible things happen to them and making us root for them to see them get justice but here it's more of the opposite where all the things have already happened and we just get to see them through people's recollections of them which makes them less personal which makes you connect less the victim I would have liked to see the victim's lives just normally first to get to know them and love them and then seen the horrible things that happened to them so that I could be even more happy about the justice but it was still good and I think the just everything about this was amazing I fully recommend it to anybody who loves to spends in a bit of romance like if that's your thing if like dramas like your honor healer when the phone rings and that kind of stuff is up your alley then this will be right up there too.

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Another TYPICAL Korean "BIG" FL drama...

Hmm so I finished the drama in like 3~4 days, I think the acting are all great but the plot is kinda so so for me... I wished they could come out of the overused typical Korean trope but overall I would say its still a well produced show.

For me I do feel Seo Hyunjin does suit better with a more mature looking actor rather than Hwang In Yeop even though he acted really well too! I'm definitely not saying he didn't perform well for this role but rather he look kinda too young for his age, I do think an actor who looks more mature than the given age would work better for the pairing!

And for the typical setup that I not even surprise anymore... No matter how smart and daring the FL is, they always become the "small" woman when the ML comes into picture... And Heo Jun Ho's character unconditional acceptance and tolerance towards his older son was honestly quite disappointing for me. If the plot could add a little detail such that Choi Tae Gook showed signs of wavering to the older son and thinking of letting the younger son take over the company would definitely give the story much more tension towards the climax. The supporting characters too had too little to no presence which I feel can be done better!

What I was confused while watching the drama is the fact that Choi Tae Gook went through so much to frame Gong Chan during his trial but ended up finding another scapegoat to replace him in jail... I was like WHY??? Maybe I've missed some scenes while I was distracted but I really don't get it or is it just because they heard rumors about a new programme will dig into their matter? Honestly, they could have just think of other ways and make Gong Chan serve jail term all the way instead of creating more trouble for themselves...

Another thing that I find it odd is where in the world did Gong Chan saved so much money that he could buy an entire building? Even if he was worked really hard at the seafood market and was very thrifty, its nearly impossible that he could purchase a building in Seoul not forgetting how bloody expensive their real estates are...

I really loved Seo Hyun Jin's role in Beauty Inside and I think that drama will forever stay as the best out of all her works... I do hope both Seo HyunJin and Hwang In Yeop will get even better opportunities but for the drama I can only say its the starting few episodes that managed to clinched viewership!

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