We are going back to the question ‘are monsters being born or raised?’. There is no defined answer for this. However I would’ve liked to see more of the psychological aspect of the two criminals, Min and Lee Joon Young. At the end of the day I didn’t quite understood Min, was he raised or born with that instinct? Are we all born with it but the way and the environment we grow up can change things?
That’s a possibility but it doesn’t make it a fact however what we know is that everything has a trigger and for Min seeing his older brother shooting the criminal that killed their mother must’ve been the trigger of his craving for murder moreover being the only witness with a clear image of what happened at that time.
“All souls may not be evil”
Personally, I wanted to see the writer go further into Min’s mind so we could see inside the psychopath’s mind more than the surface of his trigger. The ending was wrapped up in a clean manner when it comes to Park Bo Gum’s character, his choice was clear but now I’m turning to question if he indeed understood the consequences of his past actions.
Clearly that can’t happen, even during the final episodes, when Ji An was trying to make him understand what he did was something that needed to pay a certain price however Min did not understood anything and was mostly concerned that he couldn’t have a happy ending with his brother, Lee Hyun. With this, it’s certain that neither Min nor Lee Joon Young realize their actions. Especially Lee Joon Young who continued to think of himself as a savior of abused children.
The details of this show were nicely explained and in a way I do appreciate that they did show why in the past the father of Hyun and Min thought of his older son as being a monster. Hyun shoot the criminal to protect his younger brother but the father missed one frame, Min remained the sole witness and didn’t think how that may have affected him so of course the man was seeing Hyun as the anomalous son.
I liked the silent ‘mental’ fight between the two criminals and the subtle conversation that was hiding more than some daily talk. Even though every move of all the characters were predictable, I wasn’t bothered by that, in fact I enjoyed the predictability of the story. On another side, the writing lacked a lot and I strongly believe that the actors played a big role into turning the characters to be more than the script said. For instance from a writing point of view, Min and Lee Joon Young weren’t that appealing, but Park Bo Gum and Choi Won Young turned the tables around and gave the two characters a higher value than they were supposed to have within the story.
Lee Hyun and Cha Ji An ended up falling behind in terms of character construction and development however I found their characters to be typical and their evolution seemed to follow a routine rather than being moved ahead. Although Lee Hyun has a certain presence in each episode, but that is thanks to Min and Joon Young, on the other hand Cha Ji An was left behind and in the last episode she turned out to be the story teller of what happened with the other 3.
I also wished to see the team being used more and not only for comical relief! Even so, I did enjoy their comical moments and it was a way to leave aside the heavy stuff while the two criminals weren’t around. But that was kind of all of their input for the story’s development.
All in all, what’s the most important thing for me when it comes to dramas is to entertain me and ‘I remember you’ succeeded. Probably I also needed something light since lately, most dramas (cop dramas) are rather dark(ish) and try too much to look bad ass. This drama got my attention and I waited every week for the next episodes even if the story was predictable, the separated parts were eventually glued together and I liked it!
Still, if I am to be blunt about the whole drama, it was worthy thanks to Park Bo Gum and Choi Won Young’s acting, the two kind of did everything; from capturing the viewers towards the character development. To put it simple, ‘I remember you’ didn’t get on my top dramas list, but it’s a good show for anyone who isn’t into flashy stories and searches for light, simple stories that aim to be pleasing for every viewer.
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i just read a review somewhere and they made the drama look like it was all about ji an as main chracter and so the plot was about her being Lee Hyeon memory regained and so they needed to fight against the enemy and find their disney ending. it was so bad it bothered me a lot, bc I like this drama for what you said, Choi WY and ParkBG (I watched this initially for Seo) but these two were the actual plot and what kept the drama interesting. Many really just wanted a rom com so they wouldn’t accept this drama wasn’t. KBS main poster promo for this drama was a big fail misleading one.
I just wish kdramas could fall out the typical dosis they have everyday and i wished the ending was more detailed from Mins perspective or LeeYJ, I mean, the investigation team (i am including ji an there too) were a comic relief and secondary, like other dramas such as (three days, triangle) isn’t bad to have all male leads starring it alongside a girl as secondary, this drama was that at least half the entire drama, if TvN would have produced this one we would have gotten 18 ep enough to finish all the themes they needed to show, I personally wished they showed us the 1 year gap instead of a rushed ending just to throw in some fanservice cliche scenes most likely no one really cared at that point. I am shocked a more rom com drama like producers (that actually fit for these kind of couple happy ever after scenes-) had a better ending on the cliches avoidance department and practically had n-o-n-e, and this crime thriller drama did, it was just so iffy to watch.
Since they didnt show much of the ending, I still believe Min turning himself in isn’t really what everyone thinks he’d do immediately , Lee Min is a new identity somehow, only Hyun and LJY know he is actually alive, lawyer JSH was ‘murdered’ by LJY, corpseless case and like you said I don’t buy the whole ‘I am cured now’ lines they tried to hint in the ep, a psychopath like these two would get life prison for all that matters lol. So I’ll remain skeptical on Min’s choice. anyhow, Min was def my fav character. The bromance bond was the most touching element in here too, so much they even have the main OST for them.
Min and LJY were my favorites and the two gave flavor to the drama to the point that I didn’t even care about the romance between the two main characters and it didn’t actually bothered me that Ji An was pushed aside. But I do agree with you, the poster and the plot was a little misleading for what actually happened in the drama. LJY’s ending was the most realistic one, it’s not like a psychopath could be cured in an instant so that open ending for Min was more to make each viewer choose its own path for Min.
Thanks for the comment and for reading. I enjoyed reading your point of view on the show~