3
Zogitt
Australia
This review may contain spoilers
It’s not ok to be just ok
I'm just going to say it up front. Dear Hyeri is not good. Watchable but it could be so much better. It starts well but the middle was muddled, and the ending was sweet but uninspired. It is not quite bait and switch but at times, it comes close.
Let's take a step back. Mental health as the main focus of a k-dramas is rare. There are several good examples but it is mostly used as a plot device to provide the pro/antagonist with an excuse.
In this case, our FL's Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) was front and centre and forms a very compelling narrative. It allows Shin Hye-sun to showcase her acting abilities. While the first few episodes were, to be honest, confusing and counterintuitive, it is engaging and draws us into a troubled and fascinating world.
The odd thing is that once the FL addresses her condition, the show begins to falter. In part, this is due to the focus shifting from the FL towards the 2 male leads. Don’t get me wrong. Both actors are handsome, and the older ML has the acting credential. The problem lies with the script. Both characters are flawed, especially the 1ML. He dated the FL for 8 years and then dumped her 4 years ago. The excuse was vague and unsubstantiated. He loves the FL and yet hurt her deeply and is a key reason why she developed DID. He is totally clueless about her feelings. It makes him looks like a self centred tool.
In the mean time, the 2ML fells in love with the split personality of the FL. That is all well and good but how he behaves after the FL came out with the DID diagnosis is harder to accept. Both ML’s have their redemption arc but it felt contrived and self serving.
In fact, the script completely changed its tone at around the 2/3 mark. Effectively, we have the first 1/3 being very focused on the mental state of the FL. The second 1/3 has some kind of self-discovery plus flash backs to the start of several key events which path the way to the here and now. The last 1/3 seems to belong to a different show. Eh?
Yes, the revelations and expositions along the way did clear up some of the misunderstanding, but it also highlights how bad the 1ML was. Yet, as soon as they are back together (literally within 1 scene), everything was forgiven and forgotten which I find jarring. They behave like teenagers in love from then on. The show inserted more flashbacks to their happier times and it only reinforced how much the FL loves the ML and how heartless/clueless he was.
Even now, I don’t fully understand his rationale for the break-up. We are told that he doesn’t want to hurt the FL and decides to carry the burden all by himself. Is he talking about his found family? That is BS because the dysfunctional family we were shown doesn’t match up with the present day one. Since the breakup, the horrible grannies become loveable eccentrics. In fact, the FL handled them with easy and they welcomed her into their fold with nary a complain. So, what is this burden the ML is talking about? He also said that he will never marry but he proposed. What gives? This is a gap of 4 years, not 40.
If you watch the last 2 eps separately, it is a very sweet and swoon-y rom-com but when you combine it with the rest, it becomes a confusing mess. This series has potential to be original and groundbreaking but took the easy path in the end.
I suppose the writer-nim wanted to end the show with a conventional HEA ending, but it made the earlier plot largely superfluous. Thought provoking ideas about mental health, love and lost are pushed aside by the stampede of unicorns or reduced to greeting card trite in the end.
It would have been a brave choice to allow the DID plot to run its course. The ending might be unpredictable but I'd take that over the pedestrian and overly sweet one we got. The only other show in recent memory that has a similar course change was Love in Contract with PMY. In that series, the change saved the show. I’m not so sure this time around.
Finally, while the production value is good and the OST decent, the support cast is an odd mix. There are many good-looking actors involved but most of their roles are either shallow, weird and/or unlikeable. I honestly think that one or two of them needs psychiatric help more than the FL. Peace.
Let's take a step back. Mental health as the main focus of a k-dramas is rare. There are several good examples but it is mostly used as a plot device to provide the pro/antagonist with an excuse.
In this case, our FL's Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) was front and centre and forms a very compelling narrative. It allows Shin Hye-sun to showcase her acting abilities. While the first few episodes were, to be honest, confusing and counterintuitive, it is engaging and draws us into a troubled and fascinating world.
The odd thing is that once the FL addresses her condition, the show begins to falter. In part, this is due to the focus shifting from the FL towards the 2 male leads. Don’t get me wrong. Both actors are handsome, and the older ML has the acting credential. The problem lies with the script. Both characters are flawed, especially the 1ML. He dated the FL for 8 years and then dumped her 4 years ago. The excuse was vague and unsubstantiated. He loves the FL and yet hurt her deeply and is a key reason why she developed DID. He is totally clueless about her feelings. It makes him looks like a self centred tool.
In the mean time, the 2ML fells in love with the split personality of the FL. That is all well and good but how he behaves after the FL came out with the DID diagnosis is harder to accept. Both ML’s have their redemption arc but it felt contrived and self serving.
In fact, the script completely changed its tone at around the 2/3 mark. Effectively, we have the first 1/3 being very focused on the mental state of the FL. The second 1/3 has some kind of self-discovery plus flash backs to the start of several key events which path the way to the here and now. The last 1/3 seems to belong to a different show. Eh?
Yes, the revelations and expositions along the way did clear up some of the misunderstanding, but it also highlights how bad the 1ML was. Yet, as soon as they are back together (literally within 1 scene), everything was forgiven and forgotten which I find jarring. They behave like teenagers in love from then on. The show inserted more flashbacks to their happier times and it only reinforced how much the FL loves the ML and how heartless/clueless he was.
Even now, I don’t fully understand his rationale for the break-up. We are told that he doesn’t want to hurt the FL and decides to carry the burden all by himself. Is he talking about his found family? That is BS because the dysfunctional family we were shown doesn’t match up with the present day one. Since the breakup, the horrible grannies become loveable eccentrics. In fact, the FL handled them with easy and they welcomed her into their fold with nary a complain. So, what is this burden the ML is talking about? He also said that he will never marry but he proposed. What gives? This is a gap of 4 years, not 40.
If you watch the last 2 eps separately, it is a very sweet and swoon-y rom-com but when you combine it with the rest, it becomes a confusing mess. This series has potential to be original and groundbreaking but took the easy path in the end.
I suppose the writer-nim wanted to end the show with a conventional HEA ending, but it made the earlier plot largely superfluous. Thought provoking ideas about mental health, love and lost are pushed aside by the stampede of unicorns or reduced to greeting card trite in the end.
It would have been a brave choice to allow the DID plot to run its course. The ending might be unpredictable but I'd take that over the pedestrian and overly sweet one we got. The only other show in recent memory that has a similar course change was Love in Contract with PMY. In that series, the change saved the show. I’m not so sure this time around.
Finally, while the production value is good and the OST decent, the support cast is an odd mix. There are many good-looking actors involved but most of their roles are either shallow, weird and/or unlikeable. I honestly think that one or two of them needs psychiatric help more than the FL. Peace.
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