Early Access: My Perfect Stranger E1, E2 (Patreon)

E1. Well. I'm much more engaged and interested in this one, than I'd expected to be. I'm all sucked in, just one episode in, and ready for more. What a pleasant surprise this has turned out to be. 😁

To be fair, I'm engaged to varying degrees, when it comes to the arcs of our two lead characters, as in, I'm currently more emotionally invested in Yoon Young's arc than Hae Joon's.

But, I do expect that that is likely to even out, once Show gives a little more time to fill in the context around Hae Joon's story.

First, though, I must say I'm quite tickled by this Back to the Future sort of device, where our characters time travel via an old beat-up car.

That alone already gives me Back to the Future vibes - and then when we add on the fact that Yoon Young's personal mission in 1987, has to do with her parents' relationship, and that just amplifies the Back to the Future feels even more.

To be clear, I consider this a very good thing, because I loved the Back to the Future movies, back in the day.

We don't get any explanation for why the time-travel car is right there waiting for Hae Joon, and with an instruction manual, to boot, but I'm not fussed about that because it just feels like part of our fantasy set-up.

And who knows, perhaps this is something that Future Hae Joon had left for him, if that's how things work in this drama world? We'll see if Show goes there, but I think I'd be fine with it, even if Show never explains why the time-travel car was there waiting for him.

What I like is, we jump right into time travel, in this story; there's no waiting around, waiting for the magic to happen.

This makes it feel like we're getting into the meat of the story right away, and that definitely feels nicely grabby. 😁

At first, I was wondering what Hae Joon was up to, going back to 1987 on the regular, and doing good deeds to save people from dying (based on information from old news articles), and even getting a job and a house there.

But, Show is pretty quick to reveal the truth, that Hae Joon's basically there to catch the real killer in a murder case - so that said real murderer won't end up killing him, in the future.

That does seem like a pretty compelling reason to be doing all the things that Hae Joon's doing, for sure.

Which means that he's not saving people to be altruistic; he's getting involved because he thinks that this is how he'll save himself, eventually.

And yet, that's relatable, because I feel like anyone in his position would do whatever they could, to prevent themselves from getting murdered, yes?

My heart does go out to the guy who'd been wrongfully convicted of the murders; it must be such a nightmare to be thrown in jail for a murder you didn't commit, but to have no way to prove your innocence.

How wronged he must have felt, to have wanted to kill himself on the night before his release from prison, in order to make the point that he'd been wronged.

I'm so glad that he changes his mind, after meeting with Hae Joon.

It does bring me to the thought, though, of whether Show is going to explore the butterfly effect of Hae Joon's actions.

After all, he saves quite a few people. Besides the guy who's been wrongfully convicted of murder, whose life he saves in 2021, he also saves a number of people from Woojung-Ri, in 1987.

It'd be interesting to explore, if Show chooses to go there.

This episode, I have to admit that my heart is completely gripped by the arc around Yoon Young and her mother.

I feel so much, for both mother and daughter.

I feel for Mom, because she's clearly so isolated and lonely, and trying to find her joy in the memories of when Yoon Young had been little.

But in the present, Yoon Young's preoccupied with work, and often too busy and tired to give Mom the time and attention she needs.

And sadly, when she's busy and tired, she gets impatient with Mom, which makes Mom sad. 😔

There's also that layer of snobbery, where the people Yoon Young works with - like that writer - express disdain for people just like Mom, and Yoon Young feels pressured to adopt a similar attitude, in order to fit in.

I saw some viewers comment that they don't find Yoon Young a likable character.

For me, personally, I guess you could say that while I don't actively like Yoon Young, I don't dislike her either. I find her understandable, and therefore, I do have sympathy for her.

What a horrible thing to experience, to have snapped at your mom, and then to have that be the last memory of her, because Mom ends up committing suicide soon after? 😭

I can only imagine the kind of guilt that Yoon Young must feel, for having snapped at Mom like that, and for not treating her more preciously.

And yet, isn't that so very understandable, that something like that might happen? I'm sure there are many of us who feel regret over not having said something nicer to someone, whom we then never got to see again. 💔

I'm sure that mixed in with that guilt, is a lot of anger; anger at herself, for not doing better, and anger at her father, for making Mom's life as miserable as it was.

I'm sure that anger and that guilt, is together driving Yoon Young's desire to prevent her parents from ever getting together, in 1987.

If she succeeds, Mom would live, and she - as punishment, I believe - would never be born.

Oof. There's so much emotion driving this desire, that I find it impossible not to get invested.

It occurs to me that while Hae Joon appears to be so selfless and helpful to the 1987 small town folks, while Yoon Young appears to be the more selfish and self-absorbed one between them, given the way we see her ignore her mom, by the end of the episode, it's kind of flipped?

Like, Hae Joon's there because he wants to find a way to preserve his own life, but Yoon Young is there because she wants to protect her mom from her dad - even if it means that she would therefore never be born.

I thought that was an interesting juxtaposition.

As a side note, we do see Yoon Young pick up that matchbox in the river where Mom died, which, hrmmm. Coz that matchbox is supposedly the signature of the killer?

And writer Go Mi Sook certainly seems to be on the suspicious side of things, with the way she says that she went to Woojung-Ri to take care of something. Did she perhaps kill Mom and make it look like a suicide..? 🤔

As we close out the episode, both Hae Joon and Yoon Young appear to be stuck in 1987, since the time machine seems to have died.

Which means that Hae Joon's on his own now, in trying to solve the murder, unless he can convince the wrongly accused, to help him, in 1987?

I have to confess, I'm way more interested at the moment, in how Yoon Young plans to use this opportunity to make sure her parents never meet.

E2. Ooh. Show's turning out to be quite surprising, sometimes, and I am loving that element of my watch experience very much. It keeps things fresh, while it keeps me on my toes. Both very good things. 😁

Well, some things are actual "surprise" surprises, especially if you've been watching dramas for a while, coz you can kind of guess the direction in which certain things might go, but I still found them fun.

Like the fact that Yoon Young's dad turns out to be that wide-eyed young dude who seems a little clumsy coz he keeps bumping into people, but who also seems really innocent and good-hearted, from how he's so concerned that his shoulders are so strong that they're making people's foreheads bleed, ha.

It's actually quite poignant to contrast 1987 Dad with 2021 Dad, because they are nothing alike.

2021 Dad is a hopeless drunk who seems to either ignore his wife or give her a hard time, while 1987 Dad is so full of wonder and hope, and is so smitten with 1987 Mom, on sight.

It really makes you think, doesn't it? At least, it makes me think of myself and what Past Me was like, versus Present Me. And, it also makes me think of the people around me, like what my own mom was like, in her youth, and in the present.

Although our own stories might not have such starkly contrasting past and present versions of ourselves like in Dad's case, it still works out to be a rather poignant and wistful exercise, I feel.

This episode, we are still in set-up, with Show giving us a proper introduction to our 1987 characters, often contrasting them with the 2021 versions of them, if we've already met them.

I like how Show has 1987 Soon Ae very much like 2021 Soon Ae, in terms of her gentle spirit and modest restraint, but also demonstrates that 1987 Soon Ae is wide-eyed and hopeful, while 2021 Soon Ae had been more tired and jaded, in comparison.

The more we see of Soon Ae's situation with her friends, the clearer it becomes, that she's being treated mostly like an outcast, and is often manipulated and borderline (and sometimes not so borderline) bullied into doing things that she doesn't actually want to do.

How very poignant, when she tells Yoon Young, later in the episode, that she has to think of it all as a joke, because that's the only way she can continue to be friends with these people - and they're the only ones who'll be her friends.

That's so sad, because, really, with friends like these, who needs enemies, right?

And yet, at that age, having friends feels like the absolute most important thing in the world, so I can understand Soon Ae putting up with it, in order to be accepted.

I love the idea of Yoon Young staying right by Mom's side, to protect her from her so-called friends.

Speaking of whom, I was possibly most surprised by the fact that the head bully girl didn't turn out to be Mi Sook.

Seriously, right when I was coming to the conclusion that Head Bully just HAD to be Mi Sook, from the way she was so belligerent, and from the way she'd wanted Soon Ae to lie about losing something, Show threw me for a loop, by introducing the real Mi Sook.

Who, we learn this episode, basically stole Soon Ae's book and published it as her own.

Gah. I'd had a sneaking suspicion about that, given the way 2021 Mi Sook had been soooo touchy about people talking about her first book, and how Yoon Young had had to edit Mi Sook's writing so heavily, before they could actually cleared for publishing.

But dang. What a horrible thing to do to a "friend," and how much Soon Ae must have been pained by that theft.

Also - this means that Soon Ae could've been that bright, popular author, instead of Mi Sook, who'd risen to popularity by stealing Soon Ae's work.

Soon Ae could've lived a completely different life. Dang.

This makes me root for Yoon Young to succeed in protecting Soon Ae, and helping her to live a better life.

And now that Yoon Young knows that that book was actually written by Soon Ae, perhaps Yoon Young will be able to help her achieve her dream of becoming an author - hopefully without having to negate her own existence.

But.. that would mean Soon Ae actually getting married to Hee Seop, and I'm not sure how I feel about that, having seen what 2021 Hee Seop is like. 😝

Backing up a bit, I found Yoon Young's first face-to-face encounter with 1987 Soon Ae very poignant.

Logically, it makes no sense that Yoon Young address her as "Mom," because Soon Ae would just think she's crazy, right, but also, how could Yoon Young address her as anything else, really, especially since Yoon Young's still in shock at Mom's passing, in 2021, and is wracked with guilt over it?

Her words are all rushing out from a very vulnerable, emotional place, and I can feel that everything she says, is all heart. She has no capacity to actually realize that 1987 Soon Ae will not be able to actually understand or appreciate anything that she's saying.

I really do value the emotional honesty in this scene, because I feel that it really helps us to understand Yoon Young better, as a character.

I'm sooo on board with Yoon Young's mission in 1987, to protect Soon Ae, and make her life better.

I'm less invested right now, in Hae Joon's mission, but it's starting to look like his mission is intertwined with Yoon Young's mission, isn't it, especially with that matchbox being found at the site of Soon Ae's death, in 2021.

So far, this makes Mi Sook seem like a prime suspect, but it's also possible that this is Show messing with our perspectives, and giving us a red herring.

I do like the idea of Hae Joon being the teacher to our high school characters, because this means that with Yoon Young determined to stay by Soon Ae's side, he'll be Yoon Young's teacher too, yes?

Somehow, the idea of this tickles me greatly. There's going to so much room for hijinks, isn't there? 😁

Also, I hadn't really expected Hae Joon to manage to fix the time machine this quickly, especially since he'd been so clueless about it (after boasting that he's sooo good and handy with things, ha).

Going forward, I'm looking forward to more things making sense, since the various fragments of information that we hear Hae Joon musing about, still don't quite mean anything to us just yet.

And, I'm definitely looking forward to following Yoon Young, on her mission to give Soon Ae the best life that she never had.

Next episode notes will be out on: Tuesday, 6 June 2023!

* This show will be covered on the Early Access Plus (US$10) tier *