While You Were Sleeping (2017)

Unique/interesting plot with a great supporting cast, addicting suspense, and a good OST.

OVERVIEW: While this drama didn't fully meet my expectations, I still recommend it to anyone who's looking for a good suspense/thriller/legal/rom-com-ish drama with a great supporting cast to watch. Though I did have some issues with the main characters/casting, and therefore felt like the drama didn't live up to its full potential as a result; all in all, it's a refreshingly unique and well-thought out drama with a good mix of suspense, romance, and comedy, and an interesting plot that will immediately hook you and make you want to binge-watch the whole thing as quickly as possible so that you can see how everything turns out in the end. For anyone who is on the fence as to whether or not they should watch it, I think this drama definitely deserves a chance.

STORY: I feel like the story is very clever and well-written. The plot is really unique and creative: a woman has dreams about bad things that happen to other people, and then other people magically develop the same ability and work together with her to help save each other and other people, and solve crimes. I initially thought the plot would be really dark and depressing and scary before I watched it, but it does a good job of keeping viewers on the edge of their seats while also having plenty of funny/heartwarming/light moments to balance out the dark and suspenseful moments in it.

I also love how everything in the story seems to come full circle by the end, which shows how clever the writing is. Almost nothing happens unnecessarily in this drama, everything has a purpose and happens for a reason, which is how story plots should be, but oftentimes aren't. Also, unlike a lot of other K-dramas, the writer for this drama did a good job of tying up most of the loose ends by the end of the show and giving viewers an ending that makes sense and that they can be satisfied with. While there were a few changes I wish the writer had made/minor things I wish had been clarified more by the end that could have improved the ending of the story, overall I feel like the story and dialogue were very smartly written.

ACTING/CAST: One of the main reasons I wanted to watch this drama was because of the cast and, sadly but ironically, one major drawbacks of this drama for me ended up being some of the characters/cast. Unlike some people, I actually think Suzy is a really great actress--her performances as Go Hye Mi in "Dream High" and No Eul in "Uncontrollably Fond" were incredibly strong and moving and are the reasons why she's my favorite idol-actress. And, it's because of her that I decided to watch this drama. However, for some reason, I found her performance in this drama to be somewhat lacking. It's hard to say how much of it's her fault or the writer's fault, but her acting just didn't engage me or convince me as much as her previous acting performances have, which detracted from the drama somewhat.

Not only that, but (and this is on the writer, not Suzy), I also hated how her character went from seeming like a strong, relatable, goofy, average woman to suddenly being seen as a sexy goddess once she decided to stop wearing glasses (that old cliche) and started wearing makeup and more feminine clothes. This is just such a old, tired, and annoying female character trope, and it was disappointing to see Suzy acting out such a character since I feel like she does strong-but-flawed/relatable female characters really well usually. I really liked the way her character (Hong Joo) started out in the drama: tomboyish, goofy, candid, (somewhat delusional), and not caring what other people think of her. That was the beauty of her character, and I felt like Suzy was able to portray a more realistic, relatable, and nuanced character in the beginning of the series when her character was like that.

However, once her character suddenly decides to care what society/the guy she likes thinks and becomes all girly/feminine and everyone magically goes from thinking she's ugly to thinking she's beautiful overnight, I felt like her character became less realistic/interesting/likable, and Suzy's performance also seemed less convincing/relatable as a result. Maybe the sudden change in Hong Joo's character made the character hard for Suzy to relate to, or maybe the fantasy aspect of the drama threw her off--who knows. Either way, though, it kind of ruined the drama a little bit for me, especially since I was expecting a much better performance from Suzy.

Moreover, I also had issues with the lack of chemistry between the main leads. I liked Lee Jong Suk's character and Suzy's character better when they weren't together than when they were together. Like, not just as a couple, but in general. In the beginning of the series, before they had feelings for one other, I enjoyed their interactions a lot. I enjoyed the witty/goofy dialogue and funny misunderstandings between them and how they sincerely wanted to help one another despite not really knowing each other. However, as soon as they started to develop serious feelings for one another, I felt like their characters became kind of annoying to watch whenever they were together and I didn't enjoy any of the "romantic" scenes between them. I just feel like they completely lacked chemistry and it was hard to relate to their feelings at all, which made watching the romantic scenes feel awkward/forced, rather than heartwarming and enjoyable. I feel like if a different actor had been chosen to play the role of Jung Jae Chan rather than LJS, the chemistry between the main leads may have been better and the drama overall may have been more convincing/realistic seeing as LJS wasn't a very good fit for the role of JJC in my opinion.

Lastly, maybe I'm the only one who felt this way, but I thought the two stand-out acting performances in this drama came from Jung Hae In (as Han Woo Tak) and Kim Won Hae (as Choi Dam Dong). Both of them did a PHENOMENAL job in this drama and by the end I was really wishing that THEY had been the main characters/actors because their performances/characters were just so heartwarming and moving. In general, I felt like I enjoyed the supporting characters and watching their performances more than I did watching the main characters/actors. I feel like too many dramas suffer from having poorly written supporting characters/an inadequate supporting cast, but this is a drama that has plenty of likeable, well-written, nuanced, funny, and relatable supporting characters that you may end up liking more than the main cast by the end.

MUSIC: I thought the music was pretty good in this drama. It definitely had some of the better K-drama OSTs out there.

REWATCH VALUE: I haven't rewatched this K-drama so far, but there are definitely parts--especially ones from the first few episodes--that I would like to rewatch again. Since the plot for this drama is really good, though, I feel like it's a drama that a lot of people would most likely rewatch at some point.

OVERALL: Despite my issues with the main cast/characters, I still enjoyed this drama overall, especially the plot. I think that this is still one of the better dramas out there and that it deserves a chance. If anything, just being able to watch Jung Hae In and Kim Won Hae's performances in this drama is more than enough reason to watch it.

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