While You Were Sleeping - Episode 1 & 2

*****THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS*****

“While You Were Sleeping” is a 2017 South Korean drama starring Bae Suzy of Miss A and Lee Jong Suk from dramas such as “Pinocchio” and “W – Two Worlds”. The premise of the drama follows a girl, Nam Hong Joo, and her ability to see the outcome of futuristic events based from her dreams.

​The very first episode begins with Hong Joo embracing Lee Jong Suk's character, Jung Jae Chan, on a wintry night, blood streaks both of their faces. From there, she wakes into reality. The pilot episode was pulling apart some metafiction material delving into the concept within the concept. I enjoy the idea of pushing the envelope of what is real and what is fiction.

In the short 30 minutes of the first episode, we already see how each of the main characters are developing. Jung Jae Chan is a bright, observant Prosecutor that wasn't always that way. Apparently, he was tutored by Lee Yoo Beom, a lawyer on the team, and he always got low grades. Even though he changed his grades to get a motorcycle, he was extremely honest and feared disappointing his father.

​Nam Hong Joo is a skeptical character that cares much for the people around her, especially those who she has dreamed about. Earlier in the episode, she remembers a guy that smokes as she dreamt about his violent death from an explosion due to his lighter.  

Into the second episode, the resolution of the car wreck is revealed but more so in a roundabout way. Essentially the entire thing was a dream all the way up to Hong Joo waking up in the hospital, being accused of killing a person and her committing suicide off the rooftop of the hospital. It was a dream of Jae Chan's. He works all day to try to stop the event from happening. He crashes his brand new car into her mom's car to stop Yoo Beom from hitting the person.

​The second episode reveals more conflict between characters. In the first episode, we found out that Jae Chan didn't like Yoo Beom, but the follow-up to the pilot episode, tells us that Yoo Beom is a sly criminal who puts the blame on others and gets away with it. We also see Hong Joo show a longing resentment towards Jae Chan. She wants to believe him but can't believe him.

The focus of the second episode is mainly on the car wreck but it was played out very well with some back and forth time sequences. So far the way the producers have outlined this drama is excellent and is similar to that of “Uncontrollably Fond”. I'm really excited to see where this drama goes. Look forward to my weekly updates for “While You Were Sleeping” because I plan on creating drama updates each week after the two episodes that air for that week. What are your thoughts about the drama so far? Let me know in the comment section. Thank you for reading this episode update. I'll see you next week.