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This review may contain spoilers
Well Intended Series Sets Up a Very Dangerous Precedent!
Perhaps one of the most delusional ideas that people have about themselves is that there is something that needs to be fixed. There are many things in this world that can cause suffering, such as guilt, shame, and the belief that reparations are necessary for happiness to exist.
It’s sad that 1 in 3 women in South Korea will undergo some form of plastic surgery to “fix” what they believe is broken; “fix” something that isn’t quite good enough. This series endeavors to demonstrate that true beauty exists within, which is correct. However, in its attempt to showcase this, the series sets up a dangerous precedent: that there is something wrong with you that needs to be fixed.
We have two very unique characters. Seo Do Jae is a director with a major airline company. He’s a bit cold, aloof, and seemingly uninterested in people. We quickly discover that he suffers from prosopagnosia, aka face blindness, in which he is unable to recognize people. This is a real condition, and it’s so pervasive that he’s also unable to even recognize himself. Therefore, he has to train himself to recognize characteristics, both physical as well as personality, dress, and other things that are familiar. Only his mother and personal assistant are aware of his condition, which was caused by being struck by a car ten years ago.
Next, we have Han Se Gye, a famous actress and model who has a bad reputation for constantly running away unexpectedly from film sets, award ceremonies, and other situations because once a month, she literally changes into someone else for about a week. Her changes are not limited, as she can become either gender, any age, and even any race. No one knows why she suddenly undergoes these changes, and only her agent and friend, Yoo Woo Mi, and her other close friend, Ryu Eun Ho are aware of it. Her two friends do their best to cover for her, but unfortunately, each change seems to bring about more questions and suspicions.
Han Se Gye is hired to be a model for Seo Do Jae’s company. Of course, they don’t hit it off very well as she finds him rude and annoying, which, despite his condition, is actually true. Seo Do Jae seems to lack any social skills, often blurting out inappropriate statements and requests, which would make anyone cringe. However, he has one distinctive ability: to recognize Han Se Gye no matter what current guise she’s in.
After a bumpy and rough beginning, the two strike up an unlikely friendship, and it doesn’t take Han Se Gye long to realize Seo Do Jae’s condition. Before long, the friendship turns into romance, which appears a bit one-sided at first. Han Se Gye is thrilled that there is someone who accepts her for who she is. However, just as she feels that Seo Do Jae isn’t romantically interested in her, he confesses that ever since he was diagnosed with his condition, he’s never had a moment’s peace, nor has he ever loved himself. It was only by seeing that someone else loves him that he’s finally able to accept who he is. What you have are two very unhappy people who choose to define themselves by their conditions, rather than find a way to look beyond them. The series would have worked beautifully if they had found a way to do this, but they never do. Instead, they firmly believe that they need to be fixed in order to be loved, which is a tragic and destructive way of thinking.
Of course, as with so many series, just when things are running smoothly, an unexpected curveball is thrown at the couple. After asking Seo Do Jae how long he’s had his condition, and what caused it, Seo Do Jae tells Han Se Gye that he saved an elderly woman from being hit by a car. Han Se Gye is devastated upon realizing that she was the elderly woman! Overwhelmed by guilt, and believing that everything bad that has happened to Seo Do Jae, including her rude comments toward him when she first met him, causes her to break up with him and run. The irony about people who run away is that they don’t stop. This was easy to see coming. As soon as Seo Do Jae shared the details, I said, “Now, she’s going to break up with him and run away. It’s what she does.”
Now, I was a bit frustrated with Seo Do Jae, at first. Instead of trying to appease her, he takes several days to try and deal with what he’s just heard. My whole premise was that if he loved her, then that wouldn’t change anything, and if the situation occurred again, he wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing again. The most frustrating trait of Seo Do Jae is that he’s really bad at speaking up. By the time he does tell Han Se Gye, it’s too late. She’s been given far too much time to blame herself, and by the time Seo Do Jae comes around, her mind is made up to leave him, feeling that his being around her will be a constant reminder of how much he’s suffered over the last ten years. Forget the fact that Seo Do Jae doesn’t see it that way, nor does he blame her for anything.
Rather than talking things out, and perhaps Han Se Gye coming to terms with the fact that Seo Do Jae is fine with how things are, they end up apart for a year with Seo Do Jae deciding to undertake an extremely risky surgical procedure to cure him of his condition. This is all done without Han Se Gye’s knowledge, and the doctor warns Seo Do Jae that there’s a strong possibility that he might die. What’s disturbing is that Seo Do Jae isn’t undergoing the procedure to help himself as much as he’s doing it for Han Se Gye. In other words, he firmly believes that he has to fix himself in order to salvage the relationship. Instead of Han Se Gye coming to terms with the past, and realizing that it was all in the past, that there isn’t anything to be guilty about, and that she should simply accept Seo Do Jae as he is, we get the unlikely and reckless notion that Seo Do Jae should put his life on the line to fix himself. Never mind that, somehow, and somewhat miraculously, he’s cured as if someone waved a magic wand, thus taking away any chance that these two people can somehow look deeper and beyond their conditions to demonstrate that true love transcends such things!
When they reunited, there’s not even a deep, meaningful discussion regarding what had created the rift in the first place. Everything is quickly and magically healed! Oh, if only life worked out so easily, eh? Instead, the only realization we get is that these two really haven’t learned anything. Certainly not about true love that lies within and surpasses all things physical
Performances are very good throughout the series. In fact, I found the relationship between Rye Eun Ho and Kang Sa Ra much more intriguing than our superficial, star-crossed lovers! For once, we get the rich woman, although lonely and unhappy, finding love in a very pleasant but poor young man who works multiple part-time jobs. He has real charm, and it’s sad when he’s berated by Han Se Gye and Yoo Woo Mi for “smiling too much,” thus proving that the women in this series are superficial and insecure.
It's sad that the writer chose the easy, superficial route, rather than sticking to their guns about how true beauty really is on the inside! Now, that would have made a compelling and uplifting story, which fell well short here!
It’s sad that 1 in 3 women in South Korea will undergo some form of plastic surgery to “fix” what they believe is broken; “fix” something that isn’t quite good enough. This series endeavors to demonstrate that true beauty exists within, which is correct. However, in its attempt to showcase this, the series sets up a dangerous precedent: that there is something wrong with you that needs to be fixed.
We have two very unique characters. Seo Do Jae is a director with a major airline company. He’s a bit cold, aloof, and seemingly uninterested in people. We quickly discover that he suffers from prosopagnosia, aka face blindness, in which he is unable to recognize people. This is a real condition, and it’s so pervasive that he’s also unable to even recognize himself. Therefore, he has to train himself to recognize characteristics, both physical as well as personality, dress, and other things that are familiar. Only his mother and personal assistant are aware of his condition, which was caused by being struck by a car ten years ago.
Next, we have Han Se Gye, a famous actress and model who has a bad reputation for constantly running away unexpectedly from film sets, award ceremonies, and other situations because once a month, she literally changes into someone else for about a week. Her changes are not limited, as she can become either gender, any age, and even any race. No one knows why she suddenly undergoes these changes, and only her agent and friend, Yoo Woo Mi, and her other close friend, Ryu Eun Ho are aware of it. Her two friends do their best to cover for her, but unfortunately, each change seems to bring about more questions and suspicions.
Han Se Gye is hired to be a model for Seo Do Jae’s company. Of course, they don’t hit it off very well as she finds him rude and annoying, which, despite his condition, is actually true. Seo Do Jae seems to lack any social skills, often blurting out inappropriate statements and requests, which would make anyone cringe. However, he has one distinctive ability: to recognize Han Se Gye no matter what current guise she’s in.
After a bumpy and rough beginning, the two strike up an unlikely friendship, and it doesn’t take Han Se Gye long to realize Seo Do Jae’s condition. Before long, the friendship turns into romance, which appears a bit one-sided at first. Han Se Gye is thrilled that there is someone who accepts her for who she is. However, just as she feels that Seo Do Jae isn’t romantically interested in her, he confesses that ever since he was diagnosed with his condition, he’s never had a moment’s peace, nor has he ever loved himself. It was only by seeing that someone else loves him that he’s finally able to accept who he is. What you have are two very unhappy people who choose to define themselves by their conditions, rather than find a way to look beyond them. The series would have worked beautifully if they had found a way to do this, but they never do. Instead, they firmly believe that they need to be fixed in order to be loved, which is a tragic and destructive way of thinking.
Of course, as with so many series, just when things are running smoothly, an unexpected curveball is thrown at the couple. After asking Seo Do Jae how long he’s had his condition, and what caused it, Seo Do Jae tells Han Se Gye that he saved an elderly woman from being hit by a car. Han Se Gye is devastated upon realizing that she was the elderly woman! Overwhelmed by guilt, and believing that everything bad that has happened to Seo Do Jae, including her rude comments toward him when she first met him, causes her to break up with him and run. The irony about people who run away is that they don’t stop. This was easy to see coming. As soon as Seo Do Jae shared the details, I said, “Now, she’s going to break up with him and run away. It’s what she does.”
Now, I was a bit frustrated with Seo Do Jae, at first. Instead of trying to appease her, he takes several days to try and deal with what he’s just heard. My whole premise was that if he loved her, then that wouldn’t change anything, and if the situation occurred again, he wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing again. The most frustrating trait of Seo Do Jae is that he’s really bad at speaking up. By the time he does tell Han Se Gye, it’s too late. She’s been given far too much time to blame herself, and by the time Seo Do Jae comes around, her mind is made up to leave him, feeling that his being around her will be a constant reminder of how much he’s suffered over the last ten years. Forget the fact that Seo Do Jae doesn’t see it that way, nor does he blame her for anything.
Rather than talking things out, and perhaps Han Se Gye coming to terms with the fact that Seo Do Jae is fine with how things are, they end up apart for a year with Seo Do Jae deciding to undertake an extremely risky surgical procedure to cure him of his condition. This is all done without Han Se Gye’s knowledge, and the doctor warns Seo Do Jae that there’s a strong possibility that he might die. What’s disturbing is that Seo Do Jae isn’t undergoing the procedure to help himself as much as he’s doing it for Han Se Gye. In other words, he firmly believes that he has to fix himself in order to salvage the relationship. Instead of Han Se Gye coming to terms with the past, and realizing that it was all in the past, that there isn’t anything to be guilty about, and that she should simply accept Seo Do Jae as he is, we get the unlikely and reckless notion that Seo Do Jae should put his life on the line to fix himself. Never mind that, somehow, and somewhat miraculously, he’s cured as if someone waved a magic wand, thus taking away any chance that these two people can somehow look deeper and beyond their conditions to demonstrate that true love transcends such things!
When they reunited, there’s not even a deep, meaningful discussion regarding what had created the rift in the first place. Everything is quickly and magically healed! Oh, if only life worked out so easily, eh? Instead, the only realization we get is that these two really haven’t learned anything. Certainly not about true love that lies within and surpasses all things physical
Performances are very good throughout the series. In fact, I found the relationship between Rye Eun Ho and Kang Sa Ra much more intriguing than our superficial, star-crossed lovers! For once, we get the rich woman, although lonely and unhappy, finding love in a very pleasant but poor young man who works multiple part-time jobs. He has real charm, and it’s sad when he’s berated by Han Se Gye and Yoo Woo Mi for “smiling too much,” thus proving that the women in this series are superficial and insecure.
It's sad that the writer chose the easy, superficial route, rather than sticking to their guns about how true beauty really is on the inside! Now, that would have made a compelling and uplifting story, which fell well short here!
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