Season 1 |
|
|
Episode Guide
Episode 1 -| Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 2 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 3 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 4 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 5 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 6 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 7 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 8 -| Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 9 -| Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 10 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 11 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 12 -| Review Score – 3/5
Dear Hyeri is the latest Shin Hye-sun K-drama and possibly the only one that may go down in K-drama history as one of her worst yet. It’s also perhaps the only K-drama to fall from being one of the year’s potential bests to one of the worst.
Since her appearance in the popular, fan-favorite Mr. Queen, where she donned the hat of a modern chef’s soul accidentally waking up in the body of a soon-to-be queen, to the beloved Welcome to Samdal-ri with her portrayal of Cho Sam-dal, a talented photographer forced to move back to the countryside amidst a scandal, Shin Hye-sun has become a household name—not only in her native country but globally. However, this time, many would argue that her recent K-drama, Dear Hyeri, is possibly her worst yet, through no fault of her own.
Dear Hyeri follows the journey of Joo Eun-ho, a struggling announcer who develops dissociative identity disorder after a traumatic breakup with her long-term partner of eight years, Jung Hun-oh, compounded by the persistent grief of losing her younger sister, Joo Hye-ri, on a graduation trip that Eun-ho had pressured her into attending.
Starting with the official poster, Dear Hyeri was clearly marketed as a healing K-drama that would focus on the relationship between Eun-ho’s two distinct and polar-opposite personalities. The introductory theme sequence at the beginning of each episode reinforces this healing genre, showcasing Joo Eun-ho’s black-and-white, monochromatic world transforming into a colorful one when she meets Hyeri, who brings her to the “other side”—the world of happiness.
Given this setup, fans naturally expected a heartwarming and healing journey, with Eun-ho making peace with her grief over her sister’s loss and merging her two identities to become whole again while walking the path of self-healing and personal growth. But this is where the show begins to go downhill. Instead of focusing on personal growth and healing, it devolves into a horrendous melodrama with a moral that encourages returning to a toxic relationship as a cure for years of psychological trauma, even defining it as the meaning of happiness in the penultimate episode.
When the Weather is Fine screenwriter Han Ga-ram, in an attempt to portray flawed characters for their eventual character growth, severely misjudged the character arcs, making them more unlikable and overly toxic. There is little to no real character growth for anyone, with whatever growth exists being used mainly as a plot device leading to a rushed and unsatisfactory ending where each obstacle is resolved miraculously.
To say that Dear Hyeri’s plot and characters are a massive disservice to a serious disorder is an understatement, as it tastelessly uses the disorder as a plot device—not for Eun-ho’s growth, but to fulfill her melodramatic, highly toxic relationship with Hyun-oh. Hyeri, who had initially been the show’s charm, appears way less than expected, clearly establishing her role as a plot device for Eun-ho’s relationship rather than a means to exploring the show’s deeper themes.
The cast is still a bright spot, with an excellent performance from Shin Hye-sun, as always—notably in the first half of the series, before the plot becomes tainted with patriarchal and romanticised toxic undertones. She beautifully portrays the grief and sadness Eun-ho endures, her troubled relationship with Hyun-oh, and her struggle with guilt over Hye-ri’s disappearance. The cinematography in the first half of the series is also worth noting, with meaningful shots and dialogues which ultimately fail to rescue the show from its dreadful writing particularly in the second half.
Although Dear Hyeri offers glimpses of heartwarming scenes packed with occasional emotional depth—mainly in the first half with Eun-ho and Hye-ri at its center—the sheer lack of a misbranded and bluntly offensive plot, poor characterizations, and terrible execution ultimately pull this Shin Hye-sun starrer down beyond recovery.
Feel Free To Check Out More Of Our TV Show Reviews Here!
-
Verdict - 5/10
5/10