Initial thoughts
I was so excited to hear that there was going to be a sudden influx of ghostly dramas after the love that I gained for the movie
Spellbound. It was funny and scary and wonderful and I wanted to experience all of that wonderfulness again and here were two opportunities to do so! Unfortunately,
Who Are You was a little but of a disappointment.
That is not to say that I didn't enjoy any of it though. There were some sweet and funny moments and most of the actors did a very good job portraying their characters, but it wasn't as awesome as I thought it would be.
The storyline
At face value, the storyline of the drama sounds amazing. Our heroine witnesses the death of her detective boyfriend, but doesn't see who was the culprit, she is then attacked which puts her in a coma for six years. When she wakes up, she has the ability to see ghosts who are constantly coming to her because they need help relieving the grudges that they left when they died. She also is suffering from amnesia which I actually don't mind because had she been able to remember everything when she woke up, the story wouldn't have been as interesting.
When Si On comes out of her coma, she goes to work as the head of the lost and found department at a police station where she come in contact with Geon Woo who thinks that he is all that and a bag of chips. He doesn't believe in ghosts and he thinks that Si On is super unstable because she was in a coma for so long.
This causes him some conflict because she is his superior, but he doesn't want to be anywhere near her because weird things happen around her and she knows things that she shouldn't because the ghosts tell her.
As the story progresses, we meet Hyung Joon who is trying to protect Si On from the people that killed him and tried to kill her six years ago. He cannot speak to Si On, so he finds a shaman instead who is able to pass along information to Si On, the shaman is also half of the second OTP in the story.
All in all, I liked the general story line of the drama, but I feel like the writers didn't take that extra step in the writing. It was good, but it wasn't quite there and a lot of the plot devices were obvious and by the fifth or sixth episode, I think, all the ghost stories had completely disappeared, until we got one random ghost towards the end. I know that this drama was more centered around the mystery of what happened six years ago, but the story line that was marketed as a ghost drama, there was a severe lack of ghosts.
Skip the last paragraph if you don't want to know a little thing that happens at the end. It's not terribly important, but it is one of those fun things that writers do just because they can to build that one little extra thing of interest to their story.
I also have mixed feelings about the end. I thought it was kind of clever how the ended it, but what does it mean for Si On and Geon Woo? Can she see ghosts or can't she, and what about Geon Woo? Can he see ghosts now? Si On knows what it is like to see ghosts, and her ghost senses seemed to have tingled there at the end, but all that we saw was a shadow and Geon Woo seemed to have seen it as well. Are they going to have a lovely ghost filled relationship now, is there any way to ever get rid of the ghosts? What the heck writers?
The characters
Kim Jae Wook as Hyung Joon
This is Kim Jae Wook's first acting venture since returning from the army earlier this year and he looks good. He is much more mature looking than he was in
Coffee Prince, granted, that was five years ago, but that is all that I have seen him in. He short hair also looks really good and I hope to see him in a lot more dramas in the future. I also want to see him in a staring role because he was so good as Hyung Joon. He was very expressive, which is good because he could only talk to one person and you could really fell his anger and heartache as he watched everything unfold in front of him. I think that it is pretty safe to say that he was the best part of this drama.
So Lee Hyun as Yang Si On
This was the first drama that I have seen with So Lee Hyun and I did read that she was a wide eyed actor, and man was that person not lying. I accepted the wide eye thing in the beginning because she was seeing ghosts and that is scary. After the millionth time she did it to the same ghost though, I was so done. Yesm it;s a ghost, you know that they are there, move on.
Something that I did like about he character is that she wasn't a total incompetent. There were some times I wanted to smack her for taking unnecessary risks, or not learning from past mistakes, but she did get to kick some but a few times and I am all for that.
Ok Taecyeon as Cha Geon Woo
A part from
Dream High I had never seen Taec act before, but I did read something before this drama aired that people were not impressed with his acting, and I have to say that I agree. He was just so over the top that it made him come off as unauthentic, but after a few episodes I just came to accept that that was his characters concept and to leave it alone. He wasn't always bad, but I don't think that he was ever very good.
I also thought that it was funny that there was never a gratuitous shower scene or anything in that vein of "look at his muscles!" shots. I didn't go into the drama praying to see him shirtless, but come on, he's a member of 2PM and feel like those boys spend half of their lives greased up and flaunting their bodies.
Yellow Ranger Choi Woo Shik as Computer Hacker
I don't have a lot to say about Choi Woo Shik, but I was happy that he got a cameo in this drama because I think that he is adorable and he acts well.
The OTPs
Like any good drama there was a love triangle in this story, but this one was hardly your conventional love story. Si On had two men pulling at her heartstrings, Geon Woo her slightly younger but very handsome co worker, and her dead boyfriend Hyung Joon. Now if you haven't watched the drama you may be saying, well what's the problem? He's dead so obviously she should be paired with the living character right?
But the writers wrote up Hyung Joon and Si On's relationship so wonderfully though and all of the flashbacks just made you want to laugh and cry at the same time because they were so cute but could never be together! Their chemistry was just so wonderful and it is so wrong that the writers would do that to us!
When I wasn't battling with the distress that this couple brought me, I was watching the couple that the writers wanted us to ship and that was the couple of Si On and Geon Woo. The only problem was that I was just not feeling it from them! Si On was so wrapped up in seeing Hyung Joon and then the two of them were dealing with their unrequited emotions for each other that there was no room for Geon Woo and he knew that, and it was a little sad to watch.
In the end, with all of this lost love and murder mystery business, there really wasn't any room for another relationship and Geon Woo and Si On didn't really get any romantic time together until the end and even then, it was all in flashbacks. The writers did give us some scattered skinship, but I never really cared for it and I would actually get mad at my computer because I wanted her to be with Hyung Joon! I want a redo of the story where Si On either dies and they walk to the light together or Hyung Joon pulls an Arang and they could have been together.
Final thoughts
Overall, I didn't think that this was a bad drama, but it could have been so much better. I also was very unhappy at the end when the writers said "Hey guys, what has been hiding for six years?" and then they were like, "No, just kidding! We just wanted to rip your heart into a couple more pieces before the drama ended". Thanks for that, jerks.
I wouldn't tell people not to watch it, but I would let them know that it is not the best thing that has ever been done. Some of the actors did a good job, and some were less then stellar, but it was an easy watch that didn't take too much brain power.
What else am I watching?
The Master's Sun - Holy. Balls. No you did not Boys Over Flowers/Secret Garden/Little Mermaid me, Hong Sisters! This show is seriously going to be the death of me.
Tree With Deep Roots - I always feel so traumatized after watching the first few episodes of a sageuk, but this is turning out to be a good one!
~ Alora
