[mslee's thoughts] Another Oh Hae Young is Surprisingly Good and Compelling Drama

I find this new drama via tvN Another Oh Hae Young somewhat refreshing and at the same time compellingly good. The writer's plot of tangled lives and misunderstanding that connects the characters make the story appealing. The emotional struggles of each characters show the different level of pains they are currently dealing with and how they are trying to stay sane and live normally as best as they could.

Two Oh Hae Young, two opposite characters and physical attributes, two women whose names bring different reactions to people surrounding them, somehow became a part of Park Do Kyung's life. The beautiful and popular Oh Hae Young was the woman who jilted him on the day of their wedding while the other Oh Hae Young was the woman whom he incidentally and mistakenly ruined her wedding as a form of revenge. He thought the latter Oh Hae Young was the woman he loved who was going to marry another man. Without further knowing, Park Do Kyung ruined the man's business resulting to bankruptcy. Thus, to salvage ones pride, Han Tae Jin broke up with Oh Hae Young the day before their wedding, not telling her the reason behind the break up.

A case of mistaken identity.

The deed was done and it was too late to repair the damage. Park Do Kyung made a mistake.

I was not really expecting this drama to be this good. Surprisingly, as I watch each episode, the characters pulled me as their story unfolded. The interpretation of the drama and the emotions maybe somewhat comical in some scenes but I can feel the depth of each characters feelings and how they fight to stay alive in the midst of falling apart.

I love how the heroin and the second lead female seems to have reversed their typical characters. Usually the second lead is the one vindictive. I like how the lead character is tough, something that resulted from her name being the same with the second lead and going through all kinds of humiliation just because she is not the popular one. Years made her not so nice when it comes to the other Oh Hae Young because she was made to feel inferior and not important. Although it is nice to see that the second lead or the popular Oh Hae Young has a nice character and seems really kind despite her popularity. Between the two, the lead character Oh Hae Young was the one harboring not so nice thoughts towards the other Oh Hae Young. She finds it fulfilling to have the upper hand in a situation. Kinda vindictive. Something that made this drama not a typical one.

Now the anticipated truth may explode any moment just when Oh Hae Young [the lead] is falling for Do Kyung as she gets over her ex-boyfriend whom she has no idea is inside the prison and waiting for his trial. Then here is Do Kyung who suddenly gets visions of Oh Hae Young [lead] appearing in his head every time, and he has no way of stopping the emotions he feels towards her, whether pity or love. Their lives are now tangled. There was no chance of evading it. What makes the situation even more complicated was Oh Hae Young, the woman who left him is now back and ready to take off where they left off.

Kind of a mess, really for Park Do Kyung to experience.

I am also interested in another character, Do Kyung's noona, Park Soo Kyung. She is Oh Hae Young's boss in the company. Recently, the other Oh Hae Young joined them in the company as well which makes their world really small.

Soo Kyung seems to be arrogant and insane at the same time. Being drunk every night makes her a silly character in the drama, but then somewhere inside the depths of her heart, she is also struggling to fight the loneliness and the pains of a broken heart. Her story may not be that important in the development of the main leads story, but nevertheless, the glimpses of her past was enough to convey her sufferings and why she acts that way now.

The drama has funny sides which makes up for the silliness of a k-drama but the core of the story really captivates me. I love how the scenes were executed and interpreted. Very nice and full of emotions. I look forward to how the misunderstanding will be resolved and how Do Kyung would be able to distinguish with certainty his love for Oh Hae Young from his former girlfriend Oh Hae Young.

Would the reason why Oh Hae Young backed out from the wedding because of his mother be enough to understand and forgive her and perhaps give another chance?

Would Oh Hae Young whose boyfriend got imprisoned because of Do Kyung be able to forgive the latter and outweigh the misunderstanding in favor of her increasing emotional involvement with him?

Then I of course root for a one night stand between Park Soo Kyung and Do Kyung's BFF Lee Jin Sang whose chemistry is filling the screens every time they appear together. And of course, Park Hoon and Yoon An Na, the couple who can't seem to get enough of each other show how age does not matter as long as they can be happy together.

All in all, the drama is definitely a surprise for me. I can't wait for next episodes.

-mslee1107-

CAST

Profile

Drama: Another Miss Oh
Revised romanization: Ddo Ohhaeyoung
Hangul: 또 오해영
Director: Song Hyun-Wook
Writer: Park Hae-Young
Network: tvN
Episodes:
Release Date: May 2, 2016 --
Runtime: Mondays & Tuesdays 23:00
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot

Oh Hae-Young (Seo Hyun-Jin) is dumped by Han Tae-Jin (Lee Jae-Yoon) on the day before their wedding. She is unable to tell the truth about what happened and lies to others about what happened. She works as an assistant manager for a company's restaurant division. She pretends that nothing happened.

Meanwhile, Park Do-Kyung (Eric) is a popular sound engineer. One year ago, he was supposed to marry Oh Hae-Young (Jeon Hye-Bin), but she did not appear at their wedding. He became desperate. Later, he hears from his friend Lee Jin-Sang (Kim Ji-Suk) that Oh Hae-Young is about to marry Han Tae-Jin. Park Do-Kyung gets drunk and places her fiancé in a difficult predicament. Park Do-Kyung is unaware that the fiancé is about to marry another woman named Oh Hae-Young. The fiancé is soon imprisoned and right before his imprisonment he lies to Oh Hae-Young. He tells her that he does not love her anymore, but he also vows to take revenge on Park Do-Kyung. For his part, Park Do-Kyung soon has visions of a woman he has never met. He soon realizes the woman is another Oh Hae-Young.

Notes

"Another Miss Oh" takes over the tvN Mondays & Tuesdays 23:00 time slot previously occupied by "Pied Piper” and will be followed by "Let's Fight Ghost" July, 2016.
Kim A-Joong was first offered the lead female role, but declined.
First script reading took place March 13, 2016 at CJ E&M Center in Sangam-dong, Seoul, South Korea.