Review by: Shamra

Synopsis

“While You Were Sleeping” (“Sleeping”) is a story about dreams.  Can your dreams predict your future?  For these characters, their dreams can tell them what will happen, but how can knowing the future help prevent or change the future, and at what cost?  Everyone is somehow connected to someone in this thrilling and romantic “butterfly effect” drama, where a single action makes major changes for our major players.

Valentine’s Day

It is Valentine’s Day and reporter Nam Hong Joo (Bae Suzy) has a date with her boyfriend, lawyer Lee Yoo Beom (Lee Sang Yeob).  Unfortunately, the night before, she dreamed about her mother's death and is feeling rather uneasy at dinner.  On the way to dinner, they run into Hong Joo’s new neighbor and Yoo Beom’s old classmate, Jung Jae Chan (Lee Jong Suk).  Hong Joo is not fond of Jae Chan, and Jae Chan is not fond of Yoo Beom.  During dinner Hong Joo is unable to get in touch with her mother and wants to leave dinner.  It is starting to snow and Yoo Beom insists on driving her home.  On the way home there is a huge accident and Yoo Beom hits and kills Police Officer Han Woo Tak (Jung Hae In).  The officer’s parents want to press charges.  Hong Joo goes into a coma and it is not until she wakes up that she finds out that she is charged with the murder, and that her mother has passed away.  Rookie prosecutor Jae Chan is assigned to Hong Joo’s case to hear the details and decide if it is right for trial or not.  Hong Joo insists she was not in the driver's seat – that it was Yoo Beom who was driving the day of the accident – but no one will believe her.  Feeling like she has nothing left in life, she goes to the hospital roof and decides to jump.  Suddenly, Jae Chan shows up and pleads with her to change her mind.  But he cannot prevent her from falling to her death, and she literally slips through his fingers!

Suddenly, Jae Chan wakes up covered in sweat, his hair a mess.  It was all a dream – his dream – and it is Valentine's Day 2016.  Jae Chan vows to find out the truth about what is going to happen and to not let Hong Joo die.  All day he cannot seem to shake his dream.  He meets Hong Joo at the bus stop and asks her if she knows Yoo Beom.  He tries to convince her not to go on her date.  He does not realize what he has seen, yet, but Hong Joo has had a dream of wrecking the car in the snow.  Night falls and Jae Chan runs into Hong Joo and Lawyer Yoo Beom, just like in his dream.  He begs Yoo Beom to take him to eat instead.  He cannot seem to shake the feeling that the accident is going to happen, so he waits outside the restaurant to see if they leave.  When they leave, Jae Chan notices that Yoo Beom takes the keys and drives, placing him in the driver's seat during the accident just as Hong Joo stated.  At the intersection where the accident is supposed to occur, Jae Chan crashes his brand-new car into Yoo Beom preventing him from hitting and killing Woo Tak.  Yoo Beom accuses Jae Chan of not accepting responsibility and calls him insane, but as he explains the aftermath of the details of the accident, Hong Joo believes him.  When Jae Chan says, “I did it to save you,” Hong Joo gives him a hug, thanking him. 

Jae Chan and Hong Joo realize that their dreams can allow them to change the future.  But Hong Joo states, “As though another water flow is created when one flow is stopped, we stopped what was supposed to happen originally. The time will flow in another direction, right?”  If the water flows in a different direction, in what direction does it flow?  What are the consequences of changing the course of the future?  Does the water flow in a better direction or a worse one?  Neither Jae Chan nor Hong Joo have changed the course of the future before, so they do not know the answers to these questions.  However, with this change, Officer Woo Tak is saved to live another day, and that helps Jae Chan and Hong Joo save more people in the future.

The Dreamers

There are three main dreamers in “Sleeping,” Hong Joo – who dreams about Jae Chan, Jae Chan – who dreams about Hong Joo, and Woo Tak – who dreams about Jae Chan.  Each episode goes through various instances where the three main players try to adjust different outcomes based on the premonitions in their dreams.  In the process of working together, Hong Joo and Jae Chan develop a relationship, only to realize that they first met when they were younger and did not realize it.  When Hong Joo was little, she had a dream that her dad, who was a bus driver, would die in a tragic accident with an AWOL soldier in a bus explosion.  She begged him not to drive the bus that day, and jumped on the bus with him instead of going to school.  When a soldier boarded her father’s bus, a news report comes through the radio about an AWOL soldier who killed a police officer and ran away.  Hong Joo’s dad, Nam Chul Doo (Choi Won Young) asked all of the passengers to get off the bus because of a “flat tire.”  Hong Joo’s dad asked the soldier to help him change the tire, but there was an explosion, killing Hong Joo’s father.  And we learn that it was Jae Chan’s father, Police Officer Jung Il Seung (Jang Hyun Sung) who was shot by the AWOL soldier before he boarded Hong Joo’s father’s bus.  Hong Joo and Jae Chan met for the first time at the funeral home, but Jae Chan mistook Hong Joo for a young boy because of her extremely short brown chestnut hair.  Jae Chan does not make the connection until much later in the story.  But Hong Joo is not the only person that Jae Chan does not recognize, at first…

Why does Jae Chan not like Yoo Beom?

Jae Chan does not like Yoo Beom.  He is less than thrilled to be working in the same office.  Yoo Beom is now a lawyer, but was once a former prosecutor.  As the rookie, Jae Chan is, of course, expected to show certain levels of respect to Yoo Beom, his senior.  But Yoo Beom seems to be lacking in some regard to his former classmates and earlier hires.  When Jae Chan and Yoo Beom were younger, Yoo Beom tutored Jae Chan to get better scores.  Class rank is extremely important in South Korea, so if students are ranked in the bottom 50%, many parents will find tutors for their son/daughter to increase their scores, thereby increasing their class rank.  Yoo Beom did not feel like Jae Chan was moving up the ranks fast enough, so Yoo Beom had the brilliant idea to cheat the ranking system by lying.  Jae Chan would appear to rise in the class ranks and Yoo Beom would receive the additional monetary benefits for the “improvement.”  This allowed Yoo Beom to “acquire” a motorbike (it was stolen) which he subsequently crashed into a store.  However, instead of accepting responsibility, Yoo Beom placed all the blame on Jae Chan – a recurring theme with Yoo Beom.  He always wants someone else to accept the fault for his mistakes.

But Jae Chan came clean to his father about everything, including the fake report cards.  Jae Chan’s father was the Chief of Police, so he was furious about Jae Chan’s grades, and threw away his report cards in shame.  As Jae Chan sat crying outside the police station, a young police officer came outside and offered him some advice.  “It would be nice if you could turn back time,” he said, “but what can you do? It’s water that has already spilled. There is a lot of time from now on. You can just slowly make up for it from now on…So only cry for a little while. Blame yourself only for a little while and in return don’t forget about it for a long time.”  Shortly after, Jae Chan and his father entered a convenience store where Jae Chan’s father noticed an AWOL soldier whom he had received a report on.  He told Jae Chan that he forgot something at home, and told him to go and get it for him.  Before he leaves, Jae Chan’s father tells him that a prosecutor would be a good career choice for him.  The truth was, getting his son out of the store was the most important thing to him, because it was his duty as a dad and as a cop, for this was the AWOL soldier who killed the police officer the day Hong Joo’s father was killed, and the police officer he killed was Jae Chan’s father.  Jae Chan later talks about this as a decision of justice or abandonment, and it hits deep. 

The Catalyst - Choi Dam Dong

The young police officer who shared the words of advice outside the police station with Jae Chan the day of his father’s death, was Choi Dam Dong (Kim Won Hae), who happened to be the older brother of the AWOL soldier.  Ashamed of his brother’s actions, Officer Choi attempted to end his own life by jumping into a lake, but Jae Chan and Hong Joo follow him and rescue him by pulling him out.  This incident was what set the whole series in motion with Hong Joo and Jae Chan dreaming about each other.  Now an old man, Choi Dam Dong assists Jae Chan – who is unaware of their connection – in the prosecutor’s office.  It is later revealed that Investigator Choi was also dreaming of Jae Chan, and sending money to Jae Chan and Jae Chan’s brother to make reparations for his own brother’s past mistakes.

Conclusion

In the end, Yoo Beom – true to his character – refuses to admit his faults.  Instead, he attempts to kill Hong Joo, and succeeds in killing Investigator Choi by deliberately hitting him with a car.  Yoo Beom is prosecuted by none other than Jae Chan, and is found guilty of his crimes.  During the trial, Officer Woo Tak reveals he is colorblind and resigns as a police officer, but begins studying to become a lawyer.  And the series ends with Hong Joo and Jae Chan happily married.

Final verdict: MUST WATCH  

“While You Were Sleeping” is a MUST WATCH!  This series has so many twists and turns that it makes it interesting to watch to see what is going to happen next.  Every episode has a bit of drama, a bit of romance, and even a bit of comedy.  Not to mention the OST is amazing.  Plus, viewers get to see a shirtless Officer Woo Tak – which does not disappoint – and a jealous Jae Chan, which is very comical.  This K-drama also contains several Korean tropes as well – falling in love in the first snowfall; a love triangle; a romantic trip to the beach; shocking reveals in the last few episodes; and most importantly, main characters who knew each other in their past.  It also has a stellar OST.  Suzy and Lee Jung Suk actually both sing two of the songs on the soundtrack.  One of my favorites is “I love You Boy,” by Suzy.  I also really like “Lucid Dream” by Monogram and “When Night Falls” by Eddy Kim.  The OST does an amazing job invoking the perfect emotions of romance, sadness, joy, and suspense in the right moments.  Oh!!  And did I mention that there is a scene with “Fantastic Baby” from BIGBANG?!  An attractive cast, an amazing story line, and a phenomenal OST…this K-drama has everything!  This K-drama also won several 2017 awards, including Best Couple Award for Bae Suzy and Jong Suk, Best Support Actor for Kim Won Hae, Best Actor and Best Actress with Lee Jong Suk and Bae Suzy, and Excellent Actor with Lee Sang Yeob.  What an amazing drama!

So there it is, our review of “While You Were Sleeping.”  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 soon!

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