"the beauty inside" drama review

One of the first Korean movies I watched was "The Beauty Inside" with Han Hyo Joo and the many guest stars that at the time I didn't know who any of them were. I enjoyed it even if it made me a bit sad. I knew this drama was similar obviously but I didn't realize really how similar it would be; however there were some very distinct differences that allowed it to be an extended drama.

First, Seo Hyun Jin is an amazing actress and just might be my favorite one out there. She has this ability to truly make you feel all the emotions she's trying to convey and she's an excellent crier. She's also beautiful and carries herself so well that any clothes they put on her she just wears them well. She also has so much chemistry with all the acting partners she has. Romantic or not. I feel like Moon Ga Young is a younger version of her not necessarily in looks but in style and charisma.

Lee Min Ki from what I can see in my limited time in kdramaland gets a bad rap for being monotone and unemotional in his acting. The two roles I have seen in him required him to be that way. Is he typecast? I don't know. We shall see when "Oh Master" comes out with Nana who is another chemistry factory. What I do like about Lee Min Ki is he has this beautiful smile when the script allows and can be quite charming with a great laugh. He also sells every single kissing scene.

Se Gye and Do Jae are both really emotionally messed up with good reason to be. Se Gye is a famous actress that depends on her face for her career but that face changes for seven days out of each month. It started with no warning and she has grown to live with it but she closed herself off with just her good friends surrounding her. Do Jae comes in and starts wrecking that wall down even with his own issues abounding all over the place. When they first revealed he had face blindness, I kinda groaned but to give the writer credit, they dealt with it the best I've ever seen of any script.They explained way, showed how he deals, how he compensates and how he struggles with it daily. Of course there's the tropey twist on their true meeting but I overlooked that one with one eye roll and that was that.

I liked the reversal of the sexes versus the movie, I like that she only changed once a month vs. every time she went to sleep. As with the movie, I wanted a miracle for her. When the old man face lasted longer than normal and Do Jae's confession that he didn't care what she looked like he would be willing to give up everything for her, I was hoping that was the magic response she needed to not ever change again but we didn't get that. And with Do Jae getting his ability back, two miracles seemed greedy. And Se Gye had to learn to love all the faces just like Do Jae had to learn to love them. Maybe though there is some hope since in the final episode her change cycle was sporadic?

I wasn't that enthralled with the second couple. I didn't really feel their romance, I wasn't engaged in their story and I found Ahn Jae Hyun to be kinda blah. Lee Da Hee is as always stunning. I did love the relationship the three friends had and how they slowly incorporated the boyfriend into the group. The mom and Se Gye's heart wrenching story line mad me cry buckets and I was rooting for the family and Do Jae to reconcile.

The guest stars that played her faces were just perfect for the emotions that face needed to have. Kim Min Seok. Moon Woo Jin (the little boy), Ra Mi Ran (Se Gye when her mom was ill), Jeon Young Woon (older man).

And I can't forget the absolutely cute dog! And I laughed at the "Another Oh Hae Young" OST playing in the background in a cafe scene in episode 16.

Overall, it was an engaging drama and it will be the first one I rate with my new system. I give it an B+. It gave me chemistry between the actors, made me feel (and cry), made me laugh, and I finished it within a week. It might have gotten an A- if the second couple was written better.