Can I Be Someone Else (2023)

Love and Hate are two sides of the same coin

I had low expectations going into this. This is not a stereotypical light romantic KDrama. I would consider it an adult comedy, a story about what happens to a couple in the real world after the youth romantic stage of the relationship ends. It is a mature comedy about immature people. The ML and FL were college sweethearts who were together for more than 10 years before the ML supposedly commits the big I (Infidelity) word and they divorce. They end up working together in the same law firm specializing in divorce law. As expected, their testy working relationship is muddled with the emotional baggage of their divorce and how it all went down with his infidelity. At times they reluctantly work together because winning the case trumps their personal grievances, other times the FL is so stirred up for revenge; she takes the opposing side. To make matters even more questionable, the ML sets up his ex-wife on a blind date with his good friend with the intention she may marry and he can get out of paying alimony to her. Expect some comedy, adult like jokes, and conflicting messages between the ML and FL on where they stand with each other and with other romantic interests.

The ML character does not fit into the box of the typical KDrama romantic ML:

- At times he is weak, wimpy, emotionally conflicted, lacks direction and conviction in his life.
- He's no rich chaebol heir, his career is in the crap can, he's broke and desperate to the point it leaves you wondering if he'll join the Squid Game.
- He is a divorcee
- While he is slim and seems fit, he looks to be about middle age (there is nothing wrong with that). He doesn't look like a Kpop idol turned Kdrama star. No pale pink lips and airbrushed flawless youthful dewy skin. He's got bags under his eyes and he looks real for his part. In the episodes so far, don't expect scenes of him showing off his chest and six pack abs.

The FL is the opposite of the ML, she's the standard KDrama pretty FL and is at the ascent of her law career. She's a feisty strong willed woman who wants what she wants, so please get the hell out of her way. After two years, the FL is still stunted relationship wise by the divorce and seems to have more trouble getting over the ML compared to the ML with her.

The first episode was so-so, it really picks up by the second episode and I found myself drawn into the relationship of the characters and each divorce case they take on. There's a level of realism they add to the complexity of marriages and human beings, what leads up to their failure, and the aftermath that ensues for everyone involved. There are some pretty good dialog and moments such as the scene between the senior CEO female mentor who gives the FL advice when the FL throws a pity party for herself in her meeting with her mentor. While the story shows the selfishness and not so good sides of the main leads, they do humanize them and you develop a level of compassion for how they got to the point they did in their relationship. I felt conflicted; at times a small part of me wanted them to end up together again or at least want the ML to have some re-ignited passion for the FL instead of his nonchalant manner towards her. Other times I want to slam my fists on the table and shout DAMMIT you guys need to cut this crap out and get the hell out of each other's lives completely.

So far it has defied my expectations, I may update the rating as I watch more episodes.

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Strangers in the Dark

I have a theory about this show. While I never thought that I was watching a garden variety rom com, I laboured under the belief that belying all the absurd coincidences that this was a serious show that had serious things to say about marriage and divorce. Fast forward six weeks later, I question my own judgment wondering what I’d been privy to. I begin by trying to grapple with the question of why for 11.75 episodes nobody ever thinks to go for some kind of relationship counselling. Not a single soul. I wonder if it’s deliberate. Moreover while everyone is decent at diagnosing other people’s problem, they are terrible at perceiving their own hang-ups. Apparently the cult of experts don’t exist in this world where Eun-beom and Ha-ra, two supposed grown-ups stumble around avoiding answers. It may be that hardly anyone reads books anymore but in their world there’s not even an app or a website that people go to for advice. How odd. It’s straight to lawyers and courts we go. Learning takes place accidentally rather than purposefully. And the results speak for themselves.

The people behind this, it occurs to me, aren’t interested in any other solutions except divorce. Except that divorce itself is problematic — a convenient exit strategy for two people who haven’t learnt the art of communication or accommodation. And they never have to because there’s divorce to put an end to everything once things turn sour. A get-out-of-jail card as it were. Because they sidestep the fundamentals, the characters default to the same behaviour over and over again expecting a different result.

Realistic? Perhaps. It’s arguable how realistic the show is. But from the point of view of the audience, frustrating.

So I’m inclined to think that the entire project is a storytelling experiment. Whether in earnest or for laughs — I’m still puzzling over that one. The experiment starts with “what if”. What if we were to tell a story about two divorce lawyers who are divorced from one another working cases in the same firm? It would be a hoot, right? A couple of ex-spouses who haven’t been schooled in the art of relationship, who haven’t even learnt to communicate, handling relationships that have “inevitably” reached their endpoint. The result is sheer chaos. All the wisdom of the ages cast aside for this narcissistic introspective trial and error approach to the most foundational of relationships. As if the present generations will be the first to discover something the previous ones haven’t. Underpinning all of this is a materialistic, consumerist impulse as seen in an ex-wife who hops from lover to lover with impunity leaving her ex-husband lawyer to clean up her messes.

Therefore the entire project only makes sense when I think of it as satire. Again I can only speculate because divorced individuals here are mercilessly mocked. Or it’s just modern “love” marriages that’s under fire. So much heartache could be prevented if people actually opened their mouths and uttered coherent words. For a world of actions so dominated by feelings, the people in it are so poor in articulating them. I am left wondering if the moral of the story might be that a world where human agents are driven by emotions unchecked by discernment only leads to chaos. Feelings of goodwill towards another just aren’t enough for marriage. Indeed feelings aren’t substantial enough of a foundation to build any kind of future on.

As a reviewer of dramas there’s a part of me inclined to think of this entire project as a critique of the romantic comedy popularized by Hollywood first and whose mantle has been picked up by K dramas in the past decade. The genre is waning. Cynicism is on the rise. Building paradise on earth is no longer feasible when narcissism has a grip on the culture. No one is willing to change or feel the need to. That’s the troubling part in all the push and pull.

There’s no happily-ever-after her. For the leads that is. Just a tired cycle of withdrawal, miscommunication and conflict. There’s plenty of baggage. The ending seems to be a logical one amidst all the illogical antics that ends in sabotage. Yet one is left feeling dissatisfied because the two people at the centre of the story don’t really get it until it’s too late. Or do they? That’s left open to individual interpretation. But I repeat. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

There’s nothing progressive about that.

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Let's come up with who can write the worst script for a divorced couple !! *DRUM ROLE*

(JUST WATCH THE FIRST 5 EPISODES AND LEAVE IT, YOU'LL BE HAPPY, THE DRAMA ENDS )




SPOILERS AHEAD :





Imagine as a writer who was struggling you come up with a VOILA idea of a divorced couple! And then suddenly you don't know what to do after the initial start and you fking struggle to finish the story.

Welcome to strangers again!

It's a flawed script at the end of the day, ex meets ex and separates again ??
What's the logic, to f88k up with viewers' minds?
With zero sense?
And they had the audacity to showcase romance in the middle of it which ends up pretty much null and void at the end.
It's a joke.
I have plenty of US and brits series If I wanna watch something so sloppy.


Too bad the acting was so good, even the direction was amazing but the script and the plot development were sh8t and for nothing.

And the side characters were clearly forced, zero chemistry!
Oh god! As much as I liked the MC and FMC's acting, I disliked pretty much everything else in the drama.
Kang So Ra and Jang Seung Jo's acting potential was wasted, everything from the classy direction, the cinematography and the BGM, all for nothing.
I feel like sl99ping this writer right now but anyway !

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read this

trust me don't watch it if you don't want your heart broken it's one of the ending i can never like they were not together in the last i was sos so so infuriated just how huh just why it was going hjust fine just every thing could have been sorted out and people would have love d the ending of they had become together Orr may be even if they were not they should have had a proper good bye like okk why did they jsut split up liek that is there even going to be a season 2 and why did the female lead never ever got to know that hero heard her and it was not even about him it's about her dad no no no that was definitely not a good ending at alll nooo

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Love is messy

and sometimes it isn't enough. I appreciate what the writers were trying to tell with Hara and Eun Beom's story, but they missed the mark. Especially with how highly unlikable the main characters were even the secondary couple were annoying. It was hard rooting for any of the 4 characters. I found the two females even worse than the males. That's saying a lot with how unlikable EB was. Hara needed to grow up a lot so did BW, for being celebrated lawyers both were equally awful. I think that was one of the biggest mishaps in this drama aside from the plot holes. I get the trend of making realistic dramas with flawed characters, now a days, but with how awful the world is many of the times the audience doesn't want to watch these kinds of dramas. No matter how important or intriguing they may be. I did however, like how the divorce cases Hara and Eun Beom handled paralleled their relationship. Sometimes it propelled them forward and had them learn lessons right before they reverted to being unbearable once again. Eun Beum especially felt like he was going around in circles until the very end where it seems he finally learned that he needed help and to grow as a person.
I get that the writers wanted HR and EB to be human instead of cardboard cutouts of other dramas but still you got to move your characters forward or it becomes tiring for the viewer. Aside from this I did like how Eun Beom's trauma felt real, this happens in families when a tragedy happens, and I feel it's something that isn't shown or talked about a lot in society. People shut down and push everyone else away. Their defense mechanism is to run away which is what EB did. As for Oh Hara for her being a lawyer she had to be one of the nastiest, more immature fl I have seen lately. She never cared about what anyone else wanted but herself. I'll give her this tho: she finally matures in the last two episodes. For that, I was happy. And let's not talk about how nasty her best friend was, I don't even want to talk about what a waste of space this character was.
Anyways enough ranting about the characters. Now onto the plot I feel like this drama would have been better if it would have avoided the misunderstanding trope at every turn. Also, the plot moved forward only to backtrack from episode to episode. I think the writers lost the plot around ep 6. The story seemed to drag its feet from then on.
Although one tiny highlight was how the series showed that sometimes love isn't enough. No matter how much two people love each other if there's no communication or trust then it's not gonna work no matter how many times people try. If the couple is vastly different and want different things in life well then, that spells doom, sometimes it's better to let go than to hold on. And that was the root of HR and EB's story and I guess the lesson the writers wanted to leave the audience with.
The open ending fit the characters the best,honestly after eveything I can't see a happy ending for them. Maybe in the future but now? NOPE. So, I'm glad the writers went with the realistic ending and wrapped up the story fairly. For those who wanted them together, the hope is there.
Overall, I give this a 6.5and that's mostly for the acting and the OST not the writing.

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Recomendo para quem se interessar em assistir um drama sobre relações humanas

Não tinha muita expectativa quando comecei a assistir a este drama. Mas inesperadamente a história foi me envolvendo. O início do drama é mais puxado para a comédia por conta da reaproximação do casal e seus desentendimentos do passado, bem como a relação de amor e ódio da outra dupla de advogados do escritório, porém com o passar dos episódios vamos acompanhando além da história pessoal dos personagens principais, a história de seus clientes e cada uma dessas histórias propõe uma reflexão sobre os relacionamentos humanos e porque casamentos eventualmente chegam ao fim.

Com relação a maneira como termina o drama, li alguns comentários de espectadores desapontados com o final ou por ser considerado "final em aberto" ou "por ter sido muito raso". Na verdade, eu não achei o final raso. Estava evidente desde o início do drama que o Eun Beom carregava consigo algumas questões psicológicas que o impediam de seguir a vida, seja ao lado da Oh Ha Ra ou mesmo longe dela. Aceitar que sua condição psicológica precisa de cuidado profissional não é tão fácil. Muitas pessoas são resistentes a aceitar que precisam de ajuda profissional. E imagino que o preconceito social (especialmente na Coreia) é ainda muito forte sobre questões de saúde mental. Gostei que eles abordaram o tema, mesmo que apenas no último episódio, ele foi procurar ajuda.

No geral, gostei do drama. Recomendo para quem se interessar em assistir um drama sobre relações humanas. Não é um drama inesquecível, mas é interessante.

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I kinda guessed it by it's name

I wanted it to be a guilty pleasure, you know like not a classic 5 star meal but a greasy meaty cheesy burger, I wanted it to fill my head with adrenaline, I wanted my heart to pump hot boiling blood straight to my head, something that would make giggle uncontrollably to myself, But...
Well it's a big butt, I m talking about this drama, its a big expensive looking drama filled with mediocrity and dullness, especially the ML guy, what's his deal man, like FL is really nice and sweet, just have the babies and move on goddamn it,

The premise starts very promising but soon it's just bland scenes with some good romance here and there and after 7 or 8 episodes it looses even that, and just whole bunch of blandness is left and then it's a challenge for audience to finish rest of the episodes, I personally lost the challenge and skipped most of the scenes,

I don't recommend it to anybody who likes to be entertained but if you like needless challenges than have at it

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Not Good Enough

Korean Drama " Strangers Again " is a law romantic drama.

The series embends the divorce-family cases nicely with the main plot, though some of them weren't that interesting and got tiring to follow. The main plot, on the other hand, had some originality and the interactions of the two main leads were entertaining, as the couple's dynamics were spot on. The second couple was enjoyable as well.

However, the romance was boring and got into circles of dead end choices. The tropes that were used were boring and the drama ended up with a messy pace. The conclusion, at least, was more original compared to the rest of the love story.

The performances, finally, were all great by everyone in the cast.

So, overall, three out of ten.

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ML is an uncommunicative and insensitive asshole

I'm quoting a line from someone else's Reddit comment to describe why I dropped this drama and why it's not worth your time: "I never once felt that the ml even cared a bit about the fl. He gives strong narcissistic vibes without the writing taking us fully there." This is completely true because the ml is so freaking toxic to the fl. Whatever issues the FL has, she doesn't deserve the kind of damage ML inflicts on her self-esteem without even telling her why. I really like the male actor from "The Good Detective", which is why this drama was a huge shame because it could've done so much more with its cast.

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What the actual F!!!

Okay first i was such a fan of the casts and the refreshing storyline so obviously forced myself to watch it till the very end and oh my it was disappointing af. I mean the plotholes were too many to just ignore . The ending is the most disappointing thing ive ever watched this year. I mean them not getting back together is fine but just ending it without resolving anything is just shitty writing. I dont think the writer is aware that marriage is a joint effort that both have to give 100% and not just one giving into the other. Overall disappointing is an understandment. But the actors were solid tho. And the osts were good too.

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