User Reviews

Very interesting premise and the lead actor is a joy to watch! Is Multiple Personality Disorder really a disease that needs curing or are the split personalities all sentient beings deserving of a continued existence? What happens if two very different personalities embodying the same physical male body, fall in love with the same woman? Who has the right to love and to live? These are some of the questions raised by this drama. A very enjoyable tale until about the last few episodes, where it becomes a bit anticlimactic due to one of the relationships being left a little too late to develop. The chemistry between the leads is also not quite where it should be but overall definitely worth a watch just to see Hyun Bin in action as both Jekyll and Hyde!

6/10 is my rating. This is a 2015 South Korean Romantic comedy drama with 20, 60 minute episodes

Being a chaebol with a dissociative identify disorder (multiple personality disorder) Gu Seo-jin (Hyun Bin), leads a very complex day to day life where he focuses on his health to an obsessive degree. He tenaciously holds onto his inherited wealth and position by keeping careful control of his alternate personality, Robin, who is his polar opposite. Where Seo-jin is cold and ruthless, Robin is warm hearted and giving. Robin emerges whenver Seo-jin's heart rate exceeds 150 so this adds to Seo-jin's determination not to do anything that would accelerate his heart rate. He sees Robin as a weak character and an embarrassment to his family which would form an obstacle to his ambitions. Jang Ha-na (Han Ji-min), is the daughter of one of Wonderland's fomer employees who was the ring master of the park's circus. As the owner of the park, Seo-jin would like to get rid of that component as it has not earned sufficient ticket sales and interest to make it profitible. However, Ha-na just returned from many years in the United States where she worked with Cirque du Soleil to learn new ways to bring fresh esntertainment for a dying industry and want her chance to lead it to success. Her first challenge is to convince, or coerce if she must, Seo-jin to renew his contract with the circus. Interestingly, after years of keeping his alternate supressed, Ha-na has a way of spawning events that accelerate Seo-jins heart rate and bring Robin out. Ha-na has an immediate dislike for Seo-jin but develops romantic feelings for Robin.

Spoiler altert. What was most suprisiing to me about this one was that many people really liked it. There were those, like me, that did not like it but there were a surpising number of people that liked it enough to rate it a 9 or even a 10. I liked the basic premise. Having someone with dissosiative identity disorder that really only had 1 alternative personality is very unique. Especially when the alternate personality is good but the main personality is somewhat cold and heartless (evil). I thought Hyun Bin did an amazing job of acting like two totally different characters. It was amazing because they really did look and act so totally different it was easy to buy others thinking they were different people. I loved the secretary, he was so supportive of the male lead regardless of whether he was Seo-jin or Robin. He was just a really nice character. There was a cute secondary romance. I liked, early on, when Robin and Ha-na were almost super hero like in their acrobatics and I thought that would be a component of the story. But it was only a weird aside because it was only an episode or so where they were being very energetic and acrobatic. Later she would be trapped in places and I would wonder why she didn't just use her circus skills. They also set up about how she was going to change the show and it was going to be new and spectacular but we only saw a snippet. And Robin's character also underwent a dramatic change from this hero like savior to just the nice guy once he and the main girl started having their romance. In the beginning Ha Na thought that Robin was Seo-jin's brother but when she knew that he was an alternate personality she still treated him like he was completely separate. When Seo-jin started to get better she was adamant that she only liked Robin to the extent that Robin did not integrate and Seo-jin willingly remained mentally ill so that she would have Robin. It was obvious she also liked Seo-jin but she would be such teenage girl like fixation with Robin that she was actually cruel to Seo-jin in her insistence that she only loved Robin. I thought it became very annoying how she continued to treat Robin as a completely separate person and even did things to solidify that additional personality. I hoped she would accompany Seo-jin as he was developing that other side of himself and realize that he really was also Robin as well. In the end she did but it would have been better, in my opinion, if she had watched the movies with him and observed that evolution. There were parts where the plot seemed to drag, particularly after all the major conflicts had resolved and it was just about her relationship with the male lead. I found it hard to like her when I felt like she was almost Munchausen with him and his mental illness. It was very selfish for her to insist that Robin stay and that she was only in love with him. If you can imagine sometime when you had no recollection of an event, such as black out drunk, and how distressing it is to wonder what you did during that time. For DID patients that is a common occurance. So for her to encourage and insist on the alternate personality was cruel to Seo-jin who had to experience those blank time periods. I also felt it was stretched to 20 episodes, like there was only content for about 16 episodes but it was stretched to 20. It ended well with her together with Seo-in and he was cured. I recommend this series to those that like mental health shows. It has a different take on certain aspects of the disorder than "Kill Me, Heal Me." Very unique concept in there being only 2, essentially, personalities, and the main one is the "evil" personality.

So after being disappointed with "Crash Landing on You" , I was looking for the Webtoon version of this series and wasn't able to find the whole thing online. So instead, I used good ol Netflix instead and while watching the rest, I didn't realise Hyun Bin was also on this and he killed it man with his changing personas. Now my only complaint is that the 20 episodes was long winded and wanted to finish it in one go (finished at 6am, stupid I know). However it was an addicting series to binge like both Hyun Bin and Han Ji Min were just very cute together, I think also Han Sang Jin played the wacky mischievous villian pretty darn good, I loved how in the near end he made Bins character draw in front of a serious conference like wtf with that scene man xD

It's pretty good but again the episodes were long winded even if it was a binge to watch!

Nowhere near as on-point as Kill Me, Heal Me - in fact, this one leaves gaping holes both in the narrative and living with DID, Still, it provides an interesting glimpse into the alter's reality and how s/he might feel/react to no longer being relevant. If you're into fluffy implausibility, this one will do just fine - the first few episodes are particularly engaging. If you're looking for the usual, thought-provoking Hyun bin fare, you should probably give this one a pass, though.

Hyde, Jekyll, Me was an interesting show, but ultimately fell short in my opinion. Ironically, Kill Me, Heal Me (with the exact same premise) aired at the same time as this drama, and so I couldn't help but compare the two, even though I watched them separately months apart. Hyde, Jekyll, Me was definitely the more realistic (I use this term loosely, of course) of the two, with doctors that made more logical decisions, and personalities that were more grounded and normal. The bad guy wasn't over the top and had a legitimate reason for his actions. The FL was naturally conflicted and showed genuine emotions and reactions.

That being said, Kill Me, Heal Me was absolutely the superior watch. This show often felt a bit slow to me, while KM,HM was full of action and interesting subplots. I enjoyed KM,HM far more, and wouldn't really recommend this unless someone really was a big fan of one of the lead actors.

I also felt that they did Seo-Jin's character SO dirty!! Yes, Robin was the warmer, more emotive personality, but I honestly felt like Seo-Jin was way more interesting. And how awful that everyone loved Robin so much that they were weeping at the thought of him disappearing, and Seo-Jin was treated like the unfortunate leftovers. I was pretty disgusted at this plot choice, and while the ending was happy, it kind of felt like everyone only accepted Seo-Jin because of the attributes that Robin left behind. The one redeeming character who was always looking out for Seo-Jin and Robin and loved them both was Secretary Kwon, who was the MVP of the series.

Ultimately this ending left me rather annoyed and unsatisfied, and because of it I feel the whole show was just okay.

Not the best drama ever. But I'll rank with my heart and guts.

Cons.

First episodes were really awkward. A lot of overacting, bad (I mean BAD) special effects) unrealistic interactions between the characters. For instance, Ha-na falling for a Joker-like grin, some kind of creepy contraction of Robin's face. An d how they flirt, so fake. I felt like dropping the whole thing right away, but after watching so many K-dramas, I knew better. And I was handsomely rewarded.

Pros.

Not many side stories. I hate it when side stories take over.

I liked all the characters, even the villains, one of them acting like he belonged to a mental facility, the other one actually being a victim.

The show adresses a lot of serious matters such as what it means to be human, what it means to be alive, how it feels to witness one's own memory/identity fade away along with the right to end one's own life to preserve one's dignity.

The love story.

Well, I'm still confused. I guess it's just how one should feel when faced with such a situation. I finished watching yesterday, but I spent a lot of time thinking about it today. Throughout the whole show, I kept thinking of ways for Robin to survive. I could foresee quite acurately how the story would end. Still, I didn't want to believe it. I prayed for some miracle to happen, something like growing a clone so Robin could have his own body. Crazy, right?

I liked that Hana only loved one man. Or allowed herserlf to love only one man (let's just remember that Seo Jin was the one she confessed to, and Seo Jin was the one to propose...) At some point she does suggest she should be allowed to love them both.

I liked that Hana helped Robin get a life of his own, so he could die a man, instead of disappearing like an illusion. I liked that he left traces behind, just like any of us try to. She gave him a real life.

I felt for Robin when he started to lose his few, precious memories. This is when I cried like crazy. You know all thoses movies where a nice AI/robot's memory is deleted by some villain? Doesn't that always bring tears?

Did Robin die, or did he survive? I have no idea. Come to think of it, a person is but a set of memories and abilities. So, Robin survived? Then again, isn't self consciousness a part of being a human too? Is Robin trapped inside someone else's body? Did he leave his memories with Seo Jin and flee? He does wonder about having a soul, and there is this missing memory about the marriage...

Still. There was that final kiss. I don't know if it was meant like that, but it was way more realistic, heartfelt, deep and passionate than the other ones. Seo Jin was eager of course, he had been waiting for so long. But it felt like a conclusion that everything Robin was after all shallow and incomplete, since he was only a fragment of a person. If I were him watching, I would have felt jealous, of course, but not only that. I would have felt insignificant. If I were by his side at that very moment, I think I would have said that neither him nor SeoJin were complete before the cure. In the end, I want to think that they really merged, like in The Dark Cristal.

This was very poorly plotted. If the pathetic doctor Kang had said who had kidnapped her, which she had plenty of time to do, the series would have been wrapped up early.

I enjoyed this series and highly recommend it. Mr Dimples (Hyun Bin) plays the lead male role very well, but sometimes i was confused who was who. I'd say not wearing glasses when he was one personality was a dead giveaway on who he was, and in saying that why did he not need them?

The story could have ended at multiple points in the show, but just when you thought you'd get to a conclusion something else happened starting the storyline on a whole different tangent. The whole cast was brilliant, but the cousin very annoying at times as he was a bit too comical at times and not evil.

A little heart-wrenching in the end and the girl went through so much and not lose her own mind, but in the end the dimples appeared more often as the smile on Hyun Bin returned which made me very happy!