2017/11/09
Detective Choi (played by Kim Won-hae) has up until now been a minor supporting character who I had been mentally classifying as the same tier of importance as Hyang-mi. Last episode's revelations that he, too, has apparently been receiving dream prophecies has greatly improved Detective Choi's relevance. Unfortunately, none of the actual main characters are clever enough to catch on to that essential dynamic of the case, so these revelations are mainly for our benefit.
My main problem with "While You Were Sleeping - 2017" at this point is that the leads have been slowly but steadily declining in competence ever since the domestic abuse case. It used to be their limits were intangible factors, like politics, or inexperience, or learned helplessness in the face of apparently unalterable dream prophecies. But now? Far from taking a step back and realizing they nearly burned to death in a fire save for Detective Choi's timely intervention, Jae-chan and Hong-joo still aren't taking this case seriously.
Hong-joo deciding to trust Yoo-beom is the main baffling decision. This is a man who, in an alternate timeline, framed Hong-joo for a traffic accident and indirectly murdered her mother. In the actual timeline Hong-joo has seen directly, Woo-seok simply petulantly acts in whatever manner is most antagonistic to Jae-chan's current goals. The only mitigating factor here is that Woo-seok's plan doesn't really make sense, but then strictly speaking it's not actually his plan.
My main frustration with "While You Were Sleeping - 2017" is the lack of proper set-up. Understanding Yoo-beom and Detective Choi's past history is essential to making sense of the plot twists here, far moreso than the incident where Jae-chan and Hong-joo worked together to save young Detective Choi's life. That serial killer case probably made Yoo-beom's entire career, which explains why Yoo-beom was so well-liked at Jae-chan's office when he was such an obvious slimeball.
But once again, those awful one-off cases in the middle completely killed the momentum of that early characterization, which is why so much of the cast feels so unrecognizable here. Hong-joo was actually a lot more proactive working in her mother's chicken restaurant than she is now as a full-fledged reporter. At the very least she was more cautious. And as for Woo-tak, I bring him up now mainly to emphasize that he barely does much of anything anymore. Or at least, his place in the story could easily be taken by a generic cop without changing much of substance.
Review by William Schwartz
"While You Were Sleeping - 2017" is directed by Oh Choong-hwan and Park Soo-jin-II, written by Park Hye-ryeon, and features Lee Jong-suk, Bae Suzy, Lee Sang-yeob, and Jung Hae-in.
Note : due to licensing, videos may not be available in your country
Staff writer. Has been writing articles for HanCinema since 2012, having lived in South Korea since 2011. Started out in Gyeongju, then to Daegu, then to Ansan, then to Yeongju, then to Seoul, lived on the road for HanCinema's travel diaries series in the summer of 2016, and is currently settled in Anyang. Has good tips for utilizing South Korea's public bus system. William Schwartz can be contacted via william@hancinema.net. He also has a substack at williamschwartz.substack.com where he discusses the South Korean film industry in broader terms and takes suggestions for future movies to review.
"[HanCinema's Drama Review] "While You Were Sleeping - 2017" Episodes 27-28"
by HanCinema is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Related movies/dramas
You're reading the news with potential spoilers, make them spoiler free, dismiss
[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Mad Dog" Episode 10
2017/11/09
It is plot twist o'clock in episode ten of "Mad Dog" and boy, is it sudden. I suppose this is the ,...More
[Videos] Added first teasers for the upcoming Korean drama "I'm Not a Robot"
2017/11/09 (Source)
Added first teasers for the upcoming Korean drama "I'm Not a Robot",...More
Lee Sun-bin in a black dress
2017/11/09 (Source)
The 37th Yeongpyeong Awards was held on the 9th. Lee Sun-bin hosted the even with actor Se,...More
Subscribe to HanCinema Pure to remove ads from the website (not for episode and movie videos) for US$0.99 monthly or US$7.99 yearly (you can cancel anytime).
The first step is to be a member, please click here : Sign up, then a subscribe button will show up.
HanCinema's Official Facebook group will keep you updated on the latest in Korean movies and dramas!
Today's Birthdays
2021/04/18