As I watch a drama, there is always the rise and ebb of the plot’s pacing. Sometimes it’s all action and you are literally bursting with adrenaline while watching. Other episodes are plot development episodes where it fleshes out characters and creates the setup for future plot points. And then you have my least favorite part of a drama….the plateau. That spot where we seem to be going nowhere and just re-watching the same type of conflict happen over and over. I think that is where we currently are with While You Were Sleeping.

A new case

This week we start, yet again, with a truly horrible person going to Yoo Beom for advice on how to get away with murder. Are you starting to see a cycle here? This time the scum was a professor/author who used his TAs as personal gophers rather than future academics. When one of the students decides to do a slideshow presentation of this fact during a book release party, Author Moon becomes a tiny bit upset. To the point, he goes into a killing rage and “accidentally” almost kills the student to where he is in a coma and brain dead. As usual, he wants Yoo Beom to get help him skirt the law and get away with murder.

Jae Chan vs his nemesis

As usual, Jae Chan ends up as the prosecutor to the case and through Team Psychic’s dreams, must see that justice is done. It is a good thing that Hong Joo and Woo Tak are on his side since both have two visions of the case’s possible outcome. In Hong Joo’s dream, he chooses to do an autopsy on the brain dead victim. But choosing this version he is forced to keep the victim from donating his organs which results in seven people dying, including his co-worker’s son. If Jae Chan chooses to not perform the autopsy, he doesn’t have enough evidence to convict the professor, who gets off scot-free. In both scenarios, Jae Chan is so overcome with the guilt he chooses to quit his job. It sucks to be Jae Chan this week.

Forcing the Plot

I am kind of sad that I am not overly thrilled with Hong Joo’s mother.  I enjoyed her character so much in those initial episodes and then she just kind of languished in the background.  Then, when we finally get some more mom scenes, it is of her being uncharacteristically rude and unkind to poor Jae Chan.  And why is she doing this you might ask?  For the sole reason that Hong Joo was devastated when she couldn’t stop Jae Chan from being hurt.  Uhm…… does this mean you want Hong Joo to live alone and unloved, except by a horde of cats, because she might witness the death of someone she loves?  That is just stupid. Not to mention, this whole plot development seems really forced and makes me think that they have run out of real plot and need a tiny bit of filler.  Hopefully, Mom will return to her senses and give Hong Joo her ring back ASAP.

Tying up loose threads.

If our bad guy is not bad enough, he has to go the extra mile by finding the young kid who witnessed the murder and terrorize him. Am I the only one wondering what that kid was doing in the isolated part of the building alone in the first place? Regardless of the whys, our tiny youth witnessed the murder and ran away. Unfortunately for him, he left his school hat at the scene, which leads our bad guy straight to him. I am not sure if Author Moon was trying to kill the kid (although I am leaning towards yes, he was going to abduct and kill the kid) but just in time Woo Tak races in and saves the boy. At the same time, he arrests Author Moon for attempted abduction.

Can we just take a moment and marvel at how hot Woo Tak is while holding a kid. Makes a person want to have kids (or more kids, in my case) if they came with a cutie Woo Tak to help raise them.

Breaking my heart

Knowing that he has to make a hard decision, Jae Chan asks for a second opinion from his co-workers. One we are already familiar with–she’s the mother of a boy who would have received the kidney from the brain-dead victim. It broke my heart when she agreed that the autopsy must be done despite how that affects her personally. I know that I would not be able to make that kind of decision. I will be devastated if her boy dies.

Contemplating what is at stake for those seven people if he approves the autopsy, Jae Chan decides to get creative. Not only will they do the autopsy, but they will also perform the organ donor surgery at the same time, allowing the organs to go to those in need. Sure, this is a cheesy solve that means Jae Chan does not have to make a hard decision, but I will take it if that means that the bad guy goes to jail and the cute little kid lives. It’s a win-win.

My Thoughts:

From reading my recap you might be under the impression that I am disliking the drama. That isn’t the case. I have really enjoyed the steady story and likable characters. But that doesn’t mean I can’t wish that for once we were stepping away from the dream, court case, and justice achieved rotation that we seem to be stuck in. I guess with only two weeks to go we need to get past that last bit before our big finale. For me, I will carry on and hope that we see a little bit more creative oomph next week.

See you next week,

Kmuse

Dramas With a Side of Kimchi