Synopsis

“Beauty Inside” or “The Beauty Inside” (“Beauty”), is the story of two people who find love, despite suffering from unconventional medical conditions.  Han Se Gye (Seo Hyun Jin) is a successful actor who transforms into another person once a month.  Seo Do Jae (Lee Min Ki) is the Director of his grandfather’s company who suffers from prosopagnosia, or “face blindness,” a rare neurological condition that prohibits him from recognizing faces.  When Seo Do Jae witnesses Han Se Gye’s transformation, her team fears that he will expose the truth.  When rumors surface that the two are dating, Han Se Gye’s team confirms the relationship as their defense strategy, hoping that tying Seo Do Jae to her will give him a stake in keeping her secret.  But while their relationship starts out as a professional one, they develop a romantic relationship when they learn the truth about their respective conditions.  Their conditions – as well as their high-profile careers – make a relationship challenging.  When Han Se Gye discovers that she is the cause of Seo Do Jae’s condition, she breaks up with him, afraid that having her by his side will only bring him more suffering.  Devastated, Seo Do Jae opts to undergo a risky surgery to cure his prosopagnosia, and returns to Han Se Gye a year later, fully cured.  The couple reunites, stronger than ever.  As Han Se Gye comes to the realization that her unique condition has allowed her to help others, her transformations begin to occur less frequently.  The series ends with the two happily planning their future together. 

Lead Couple

When Han Se Gye is 20, she begins inexplicable transforming.  Once a month, for about seven days, she lives as another person.  Her race, age, and gender can all change.  She tries everything to stop the changes – praying at houses of worship of every faith, even having exorcisms – but she continues to change.  The transformations interfere with her life as an A-list actor, sparking rumors as men and children are photographed leaving her home, requiring her to take a week off from work every month, and giving her a reputation of running away when her transformations occur ahead of schedule.   While it is poetic for an actor to assume someone else’s face – as it is the job of an actor to embody different characters and sometimes undergoing extreme physical changes in so doing – her biggest fear is that, one day, her true face will not come back.  If that were to occur, “Han Se Gye” would cease to exist. 

Seo Do Jae is the team leader of the Strategic Planning Department at T-Road/T-Way (Author’s note: both appear throughout the K-drama).  He is the grandson of the airline owner.  Ten years ago, he suffered a brain injury when saving a woman’s life.  The brain injury caused prosopagnosia, a rare neurological condition which results in difficulty recognizing familiar faces.  He cannot even recognize himself in the mirror or in pictures.  To compensate, he uses other cues to identify people, including their clothing choices, hairstyle, voice, and the way they walk.  Unable to recognize his mother when she changes her hair, Seo Do Jae is surprisingly able to recognize Han Se Gye, even when she transforms.  “To me, in my eyes,” he tells her, “You have always been you.” 

But the defining moment in their relationship occurs when Han Se Gye transforms into an elderly man and does not transform back after a week. Seo Do Jae has to ask himself many big questions. “Will I be able to love her forever? Can I not care what other people think? Can I not judge myself? Can I spend a whole life with her?”  Seo Do Jae makes drawings of Han Se Gye in her various faces.  When his assistant Jung Joo Hwan (Lee Tae Ri) comes to him and asks why all of the drawings of people of varying genders and ages are all labeled “Han Se Gye,” Seo Do Gye answers suddenly - and definitively – that “It means they are all Han Se Gye.”  Jung Joo Hwan is confused, unaware of Han Se Gye’s transformations, but for Seo Do Jae, this is the defining moment in their relationship.  He realizes that he loves Han Se Gye unconditionally - regardless of her physical appearance.  It is Seo Do Jae’s confession to Han Se Gye of his willingness to give up everything in his life – his family and work – to be with her, whatever her situation – that sparks her transformation back into her own body and face.

Using the common Korean trope of giving the Lead Couple an unexpected connection from the past, we learn that the woman that Seo Do Jae saved the day of the accident was Han Se Gye, who had transformed for the very first time.  Han Se Gye is devastated by the realization.  She feels that she ruined Seo Do Jae’s past, present, and future, and is undeserving of his love.  She hates herself so much for the pain that she has caused him that she breaks up with him, unable to be by his side and cause him more suffering.  Han Se Gye’s rationalization is severely flawed.  She assumes Seo Do Jae will not suffer – or at least, suffer less – if she leaves.  In actuality, Seo Do Jae is so heartbroken that he opts to undergo an extremely risky surgery in an attempt to cure his prosopagnosia.  When the two are reunited, one year later, Han Se Gye has come to the realization that Seo Do Jae would have saved anyone in that situation and that it is time for her to love – both herself and Seo Do Jae, who loves her so unconditionally.

Transformations

Because of who she is, Han Se Gye is unable to live a life as freely as she would like.  She lives in the public eye, so it is easy for misunderstandings to occur and rumors to start.  One of the worst situations involving her transformation happens when her mother is the hospital dying.  Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, her mother, Han Sook Hee (Kim Hee Jung), is given a short amount of time left to live.  Sadly, it is at this time that Han Se Gye transforms into an older woman.  Because Han Se Gye has not been honest with her mother, she cannot appear before her as her daughter, since she is in the body of another person.  She wants to be there for her mother during her final days but she cannot, and this devastates her.  When she receives a call that her death is imminent, Han Se Gye rushes to her mother’s side.  Her mother, despite Han Se Gye’s transformation, recognizes her as her daughter.  The moment is bittersweet, as Han Se Gye is finally able to reveal herself to her mother and receive the recognition she desires, but she misses out on valuable time with her mother during her last days. 

But Han Se Gye’s transformations also brings unexpected blessings.  Before she admits to her illness, Han Sook Hee pays her daughter an unannounced visit.  Unfortunately, Han Se Gye has transformed into the body of a 10-year-old boy.  Han Se Gye’s best friend and manager, Yoo Umi (Moon Ji In), tells Han Sook Hee that Han Se Gye is away filming a movie and that the young boy is her nephew.  Han Sook Hee offers to take charge of the boy for a few days so that Umi can return to the filming location at assist Han Se Gye.  Because of this, Han Se Gye is able to spend some unexpected one-on-one time with her mother.  The two share meals and even cuddle together at night, like they did when Han Se Gye was a child.  This experience is invaluable as it is not long after that Han Se Gye learns of her mother’s cancer and she passes away. 

Han Se Gye’s transformations also allow her to help many people.  There is a running theme throughout “Beauty” of men taking advantage of women and treating them as lesser beings.  Han Se Gye is able to help a high school girl, Ju Ga Young (Oh Se Young), when she transforms into a high school boy.  Han Se Gye, as a high school boy, overhears a group of boys insulting Ju Ga Young and decides to help her out.  “He” shows up at Ju Ga Young’s school with a bundle of flowers and proclaims “his” love for her in front of a crowd of students that includes the group of boys from earlier that day.  The group of boys decide to attack “him” and they all wind up in the police station.  Han Se Gye gives the officers Seo Do Jae’s name as “his” guardian and he arrives to help sort everything out.  The parents of the other boys are exceedingly rude, until they realize who Seo Do Jae is, and back down in intimidation of his incredible power and influence. 

When she transforms into the body of a 9/10-year-old boy, Han Se Gye is also able to help bring closure to a mother whose son has passed away.  The mother is deep in the clutches of depression and Han Se Gye learns that her son’s heart was donated to another child.  Han Se Gye wants to connect the woman to the heart’s recipient, but learns that he died during the transplant surgery.  Han Se Gye goes to the mother as a 9/10-year-old boy and tells her that “he” was the recipient of her son’s heart, even allowing her to listen to “his” heart beating strongly.  Han Se Gye promises the mother that “he” will live a good life “with” her son.  In so doing, Han Se Gye gives the mother a reason to live again. 

Not Alone

Because of their conditions, both Han Se Gye and Seo Do Jae have always felt alone.  But as “Beauty” progresses, they realize that that is not the case.  When her mom passes away, Han Se Gye realizes she has always had her best friends, Umi and Ryu Eun Ho (Ahn Jae Hyeon) by her side.  Umi and Eun Ho know about her transformations and have always stood by her side as her constant friends and support.  But now she also has Seo Do Jae by her side, as he rushes back from a business trip to comfort her and stand by her side during the memorial service.  And loving Seo Do Jae means she also has his family for support, too.  His stepsister, – and my favorite character of the K-drama – Kang Sa Ra (Lee Da Hee), also comes to the memorial service to express her sincere condolences.  Sa Ra offers true words of comfort to Han Se Gye based on her experience of losing her own mother at a young age, and gives Eun Ho sincere advice about the coming days of grief for Han Se Gye. 

Inspired by Han Se Gye and the love and support she receives from her friends, Seo Do Jae decides to put his faith in his family and tells them the truth about his prosopagnosia. While his mother and stepsister already know, his grandfather and stepfather do not.  His business-hardened grandfather cries sincere tears as he blames himself for Seo Do Jae suffering alone, and he apologizes for all of the harsh things he has said and done without knowing.  It is a beautiful moment as the family truly comes together as a real family for the first time in the series, helping and protecting each other like family should.

At the start of this K-drama, Seo Do Jae’s mother, Vice Chairman Im Jung Yeon (Na Young Hee), is a real piece of work with ridiculous reactions.  She is the Korean archetype of an overbearing mother who thinks her rich son is too good for Han Se Gye. She insultingly tries to pay Han Se Gye to break up with Seo Do Jae.  She also literally faints and has to be hospitalized – which is beyond ridiculous – when she finds Seo Do Jae in bed with Han Se Gye, who has transformed overnight into a young male.  Unable to explain the situation without exposing Han Se Gye’s secret, Seo Do Jae simply states that the situation is not what she thinks, but I appreciate that he calls his mother out on her prejudice.  Unmoved, the Vice Chairman erroneously blames herself for opposing Seo Do Jae’s relationship with Han Se Gye, and she apologizes to her for her behavior.     

Seo Do Jae’s mother is a mother, though, and we realize how much she suffers when her children suffer.  The vice chairman finds her redemption as a character when Han Se Gye’s mother passes away.  Im Jung Yeon comes to see her son, and tells him that she has stopped the reporters, because being harassed by reporters is the last thing that Han Se Gye needs during this difficult time.  But what I admire even more about Im Jung Yeon is that, when she asks Seo Do Jae if he loves Han Se Gye and he says “yes,” she pushes him to go to Han Se Gye and “take care of her in every way.”  To Seo Do Jae she says, “Don’t hold back. Don’t wait for your turn. Don’t be logical either.”  It is excellent and loving advice; a stark contrast from her earlier behavior.  And when Seo Do Jae unexpectedly arrives at Han Se Gye’s doorstep, they both realize that, in fact, she is not okay and she needs his love and support.

But my favorite familial relationship in “Beauty” is the relationship arc between Seo Do Jae and his step sister Sa Ra. They go from being competitors – both within the dynamic of their blended family and within the world of business – to true oppa (older brother) and yeodongsaeng (younger sister). When we first see them interact, they both attempt to one-up one another in public and in front of their grandfather, both attempting to prove that they are the most capable and most deserving of inheriting the family business.  But the relationship begins to change when Seo Do Jae finds out that Sa Ra is mistreated by a group of businessmen at a highly-coveted, invite-only business breakfast.  He shows up and defends her (without her knowing), warning the men never to invite her or speak down to her again.  When Sa Ra finds out about Seo Do Jae’s sickness, she is mortified to think that she misunderstood all of the times she felt ignored by him, when really – at least some of the times – he genuinely did not recognize her.  As the K-drama progresses, Seo Do Jae really steps up in his role as Sa Ra’s oppa, questioning her when he discovers that she has feelings for someone, and physically intimidating both her jerk of a former fiancé, President Choi, and her saint-like new boyfriend, Eun Ho.

Cinderella

“Beauty” has a recurring Cinderella-theme.  Han Se Gye’s nickname is Cinderella, which she has earned by running away.  In the first episode, she runs away from an award ceremony when she begins to transform on stage.  She even loses one of her shoes when running down the front steps of the venue.  Seo Do Jae’s enemy at work, Director Kim Hong Woo (Lee Cheol Min), accuses him of liking Cinderella too much when he proposes upgrading economy class seats to first-class seats to counter a competing airlines promotion.  And when Seo Do Jae’s mom returns Han Se Gye’s lost shoe to her, she exclaims, “I want my Cinderella back!”

But my favorite reference to Cinderella is when “Beauty” flips the concept upside down with the Secondary Couple of Sa Ra and Eun Ho.  Eun Ho is the only son of a middle-class family, and he works multiple part-time jobs as he saves to attend Theology School to become a priest.  In contrast, Sa Ra is the only daughter of a wealthy family who works in the cutthroat world of business.  Eun Ho is intrinsically good and gives to others, while Sa Ra shamelessly pursues what she wants.  And while Eun Ho is soft and warm, Sa Ra is strong, but cold.  It is Eun Ho’s love that softens Sa Ra, and it is Sa Ra who promises to make Eun Ho’s dreams come true. This couple and their innocent and atypical relationship was a breath of fresh air.

Final verdict: WATCH  

“Beauty Inside” has great acting, a storyline that keeps you guessing just enough that you cannot turn it off, and delivers several amazing messages.  One obvious message from the title is that beauty comes from inside, as Seo Do Jae falls in love with Han Se Gye, regardless of her outward appearance.  “Beauty” also sends the message that it is okay to change your dream.  “It is you who dreams the dream. It does not dream you,” Han Se Gye says to Eun Ho when his dream changes after he develops feelings for Sa Ra.  The ending feels a bit hurried and anticlimactic, with Seo Do Jae’s condition receiving resolution following surgery, but Han Se Gye’s condition remaining in limbo with a few statements about her transformations happening irregularly and that how sometimes things resolve suddenly on their own.  But other than that, “Beauty” should definitely be on your WATCH list!

So there it is, our review of “Beauty Inside.”  What did you think?!  Thank you for joining us on this journey. 

Have a favorite K-drama you think we should review, comment down below!!  We look forward to seeing you back again next week!

Up next, “Doom at Your Service”