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Hi everyone! 
I hope you enjoyed my episode 1-2 notes on My Sweet Mobster, as well as my episode 1-4 notes on The Tale of Rose.
Today I’m sharing my episode 1-2 notes on Miss Night and Day, because I am pleasantly surprised by how well I’m enjoying it, and I was wondering if you’d like to join me? 🤗
These are my episode 1-2 notes, exactly as they appear on Patreon, ie, without screenshots (I’m saving those for the actual review).
I hope you all enjoy, and I hope you’ll consider joining us over on Patreon, for the rest of the discussions! ❤️
Episode notes:
E1-2. My friends. I’m so surprised that, despite this show’s reputation for being kind of broad and slapsticky, I actually find myself enjoying it quite well.
I’d thought that with Dramaland apparently going through a OTT comedy phase, that I would be left sitting in the cold, since I don’t typically take to OTT comedy, yet here I am, adding yet another show that fits that description, to my current drama plate.
(I’m also thinking of Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale, and My Sweet Mobster, both of which I’m also currently covering on Patreon.)
I think part of the reason is that I’ve become a little more attuned to the appeal of broad comedy, but importantly, I think the main reason, is that in these shows that I’ve selected, the broad comedy isn’t that aggressive.
And so, I found myself chuckling quite a bit, through episode 1, and then feeling pretty upbeat about checking out episode 2.
This was a big surprise to me, because, before starting on this, I’d browsed some initial comments on MDL, and there were two main camps: folks loving the comedy, and folks who groaned at how slapsticky this was.
Since I knew that my tolerance for slapsticky has always been on the low side, I didn’t have high hopes of liking this.
But I do like this, my friends – even though it turns out that there is a side of serial killer to this story, which we find out, in episode 2.
That’s saying quite a lot, since it is a pet peeve of mine, when dramas insert a side of murder, in order to get some narrative tension in the mix.
To Show’s credit, it does look like the serial killer arc has a lot to do with both of our leads, where it looks like Mi Jin’s aunt had been a victim (though she’s only classified as missing), and Ji Ung’s mom had been a confirmed victim.
It’s still early days, but it does look like this investigation will continue to be a big part of our story, since the serial killer seems to still be active in the present, with that murder that happens at the end of episode 2.
So what’s keeping me watching?
Well, I like our characters, so far.
I’ve seen comments where folks expressed that they found Jung Eun Ji unlikable in the role of Mi Jin, and I have to say, I don’t feel that way at all.
In fact, I find her to be a very sympathetic character, and I feel sorry for everything that she’s been through. And, importantly, I do think that Jung Eun Ji communicates that very well, in the way she plays Mi Jin.
I think Show makes it pretty clear, that Mi Jin’s a sincere, earnest, goodhearted person, and that any “acting out” that we see, is due to extenuating circumstances.
Like when she yells at a bemused Ji Ung over the phone because she thinks that he’s yet another scammer trying to trick her out of money that she no longer has anyway, because she’s just been scammed.
I feel like anyone in her situation would have felt aggravated and even a little unhinged, after taking 8 years to pass her civil service exam, but then fails the all-important job interview because she’s now considered too old – only to fall victim to a scammer who preys on her desperation.
And yet, after all that, she is still kind and gentle to the stray cat that approaches her, and even gives the cat milk from the carton that she has in her bag.
I absolutely think that that says a lot about Mi Jin as a person, because I think it wouldn’t have been surprising for a lesser person to have taken out their frustration on the stray cat.
The fact that Mi Jin still has a gentle kindness to her, after all that she’s been through, really endears her to me. 🥲
And then later, the whole reason she falls down that well, is because she was tipsily trying to save the cat from falling down said well.
Again, her heart to care for another creature other than herself, given her down and out circumstances, really makes me want good things for her.
Speaking of the cat, it does seem like the cat is the magical element that enables the body transformation that forms the basis of this story, where Mi Jin turns into Lee Jung Eun during the day, and only looks like Jung Eun Ji at night.
I have to say, I find Lee Jung Eun absolutely adorable and endearing as Older Mi Jin.
I know some folks have remarked that Lee Jung Eun’s playing it too slapstick, but I am enjoying it very well, surprisingly.
I do feel that Lee Jung Eun’s channeling Jung Eun Ji very well, in that I can believe that we are simply witnessing Mi Jin in an older body, and not that a different person with a different personality has taken over Mi Jin.
To my eyes, Lee Jung Eun and Jung Eun Ji are giving off very similar vibes in terms of their facial expressions, body language, and manner of speaking, and I do get a bit of a thrill from that.
Also, Lee Jung Eun’s showing some fantastic physicality in the role, coz she has to talk and move like there’s a young person on the inside, and it delights and amuses me greatly.
Yes, it’s a little OTT that she even busts out a few dance moves here and there, in order to try to make her point, at the police station, that she was born in 1996, but I was happy to roll with it, just because Lee Jung Eun’s comic timing is so good.
On that note, I felt bad for Mi Jin, but also, couldn’t help chuckling along, when Mom and Dad assume that a crazy woman’s broken into their home, and call the police.
After the complete fiasco at the police station, where not a single person believes her when she tells them who she really is, it’s really quite understandable that Mi Jin doesn’t attempt to tell her parents the truth anymore, but resorts to sneaking around, while trying to figure things out for herself.
Of course, the logical corner of my mind protests that she could totally sit them down and just wait for the transformation to happen, so that they see it before their own eyes, and will therefore have no choice but to believe her, but I guess this is something that Show’s keeping for later in our story.
The thing that really grounds it all for me, is the emotion that we see expressed by both younger and older Mi Jin, at this predicament that she finds herself in.
The tears in Mi Jin’s eyes feel like a real expression of worry and fear, and my heart just goes out to her, because I feel for her.
I do kinda love the idea that Mi Jin decides to apply to a job as her older self, because she’s doing her best to make the best out of a perplexing and crappy situation.
And, I am suitably amused at how Mi Jin’s now the star applicant, because she’s so quick in her thinking, so fast on her feet, and so savvy with things, unlike the other applicants, who are truly older people on the inside.
Amazing what a switch in context can do, eh? 😁
But also, I found it very poignant, when we see Older Mi Jin cry tears of happiness and relief, when she sees that she’s been selected as a successful applicant.
It makes me think that sometimes success can look very different from what we envision, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t meaningful. 🥲
As for Choi Jin Hyuk, I feel like he’s a pretty great fit for the role of Ji Ung, so far.
Since Ji Ung is supposed to be a workaholic who’s hyper-focused on his work most of the time, we mostly get a lot of Choi Jin Hyuk’s deadpan side, and I’ve found that he’s pretty great at playing deadpan, like in Zombie Detective.
But then, there’s a softer, kinder, more marshmallow side that he shows, when he’s not at work, and I find that that’s working well, so far.
Like, we see him look out for Mi Jin a number of times, these episodes, both when she’s Young Mi Jin, and when she’s Older Mi Jin.
And, when he gets cussed out by Mi Jin and blocked, he’s more perplexed and bemused, than actually angry, and I think that tells us quite a bit about him.
I do like the mirroring effect that we get, with both Ji Ung and Mi Jin having dual layers to them, but in kinda opposite ways.
Ji Ung may look the same all the time, but sometimes he’s very stern and then sometimes, he’s much more approachable.
On the other hand, Mi Jin might look very different in her two skins, but she’s always the same person.
I thought that was a neat little detail.
Of course Ji Ung and Mi Jin would find themselves working in the same office, because drama worlds are small, and how else would we get our leads’ orbits to intersect, right?
Importantly, I like that it makes narrative sense.
Clearly, the reason Ji Ung asks for a transfer to Seohan, is to enable his investigation to find the serial killer who’d been responsible for his mother’s death.
And, since Mi Jin’s assigned there as a senior intern (well, senior citizen intern?), it makes total sense to me, that their paths would cross regularly.
So far, I’m ticked by the fact that Ji Ung’s already saving Mi Jin regularly, upon his arrival in Seohan.
First, he saves Mi Jin from falling right into that cactus plant, and the next day, he saves her from that spray of falling acid, with his iconic umbrella move. It’s no wonder she kinda gets stars in her eyes right after. 😁
I also like that Ji Ung seeks out Mi Jin at her house, in an attempt to get back his documents, which is how he encounters Younger Mi Jin.
Honestly, I like that even though he’s clearly rather perplexed by Mi Jin, he’s still kind of friendly to her, in his own way, like how he moves that stack of books out of her way, because he’d seen her tripping over a similar stack a few minutes prior.
I thought that was pretty helpful and thoughtful of him.
As we get into the last stretch of episode 2, I started getting Beyond Evil vibes, with the scenes of the serial killer going after his victim, but weirdly, I did not feel like I’d accidentally wandered into a different story world.
It’s all very tense, as Ji Ung races towards Mi Jin, because he’s convinced that the killer is headed her way, and even though the way we see the papers fly out of her hands, thus implying that the killer had run her over with his car, I’m confident that Mi Jin’s going to be ok – coz we’ve barely got our story started, and she is our female lead, after all.
Overall, I found these episodes much more engaging and enjoyable than I’d expected, and I’m glad for it, because this way, I get more Lee Jung Eun and Jung Eun Ji on my screen. Oh, and Choi Jin Hyuk ain’t bad too. 😁
*This show is being covered on the VIP Early Access (US$15) Tier on Patreon*
To view episode 1-2 notes in Patreon, along with everyone’s comments, you can go here!
You can find my Patreon page here, and for all future episode notes for this show you can click here. Currently, notes for episodes 1 through 4 are available.
Episodes 5-6 notes will be out soon! I hope you’ll consider joining us!
It’ll be a way to have fun, and support me at the same time? 🥲❤️
PS: For more information on what the Patreon experience is like, you might like to check out my Patreon update post for July, which you can find here!
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