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[Funcurve Review] "Hyde, Jekyll and I"

As someone who loves the idea of a drama based on the concept of multiple personality disorder, I expected quite a lot of dimensions and complexity from "Hyde, Jekyll and I". I was particularly looking forward to the great cast and what seemed like a promising story. Our hero Goo Seo-jin (Hyun Bin) is a rich CEO of a powerful group while heroine Jang Ha-na (Han Ji-min) is a circus director, who finds herself falling for Seo-jin's alter ego - Robin, and eventually Seo-jin too. It's an unusual premise that combines many elements such as romance, thriller, comedy, and a very complicated "love triangle".

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Numerous illogical scenes led to the early downfall of the drama.

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What I enjoyed the most is the awesome acting efforts by both the leads and the antagonist, which were entertaining to say the least. Hyun Bin and Han Ji-min have completely nailed it all the way through the drama by portraying their complex characters effortlessly. I also loved the fact that little details that gave a clean delineation between the way Seo-jin and his alter ego carried themselves are emphasized to build up Robin and Seo-jin's characters separately. Even more notably, the character details are not only limited to the protagonists but are extended to the supporting ones as well, which is a definite rarity in Korean dramas.

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But unfortunately the positive things I have to say about "Hyde, Jekyll and I" ends here as I found the entire script to be quite stagnant. I was thoroughly bored watching many episodes and encountered several dry moments difficult to power through. In particular, a number of scenes lacked logic and reason which, I believe is what led to the early downfall of "Hyde, Jekyll and I". There were so many little flaws throughout the drama that chipped away at my enthusiasm, little by little. Ultimately, the illogical sequences, repetitive scenes, and lack of focus on the hero in favor of the antagonist left a sour impression on me.

Episodes 1-5 Review

The concept of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or Multiple Personality Disorder is executed rather precisely through a surprisingly slow set of episodes. I really appreciated the "Hyde, Jekyll and I"'s attempt at accuracy in describing this complex medical concept and the actor's fantastic demonstration of it through their show-stealing acting performances.

I was spellbound by the abilities of both actors in bringing their characters to life.

We're quickly introduced to our main characters Seo-jin and Ha-na. They start off as rivals, but an uncanny turn of events leave them becoming closer than ever. Meanwhile, Robin manages to be making a cameo into Seo-jin's life again, which seems to be a problem for many people except Ha-na.

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I was spellbound by the abilities of both actors in bringing their characters to life. The best examples of this is when Hyun Bin enters his alter ego, Robin. I loved the way he showed subtle differences in the manner of speaking, walking, and even appearances between the two divergent personalities. Likewise, Han Ji-min does a great job of portraying how Ha-na gets hypnotized so she could recollect her lost memory regarding why she was nearly murdered. However, I must admit that I was a bit disappointed by the fact that the character development of these episodes revolved solely around Ha-na and Robin, as I craved to see more of Seo-jin as well.

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Despite the strong character build-ups, the drama layered on excessive repetition of many plot elements that I found difficult to sit through, such as the severity of the villain's crime, the necessity to protect Ha-na's life, and Seo-jin's mental illness. Another major letdown is that the revelation of the main villain at such an early stage killed the suspense of the plot.

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