My Perfect Stranger Season 1 Review – A perfectly bingeable mystery that doesn’t quite ascend to greatness

Episode Guide

Episode 1 – | Review Score – 4/5
Episode 2 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 3 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 4 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 5 – | Review Score – 4/5
Episode 6 – | Review Score – 4.5/5
Episode 7 – | Review Score – 3/5
Episode 8 – | Review Score – 3/5
Episode 9 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 10 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 11 – | Review Score – 4/5
Episode 12 – | Review Score – 4.5/5
Episode 13 – | Review Score – 4/5
Episode 14 – | Review Score – 4/5
Episode 15 – | Review Score – 3/5
Episode 16 – | Review Score – 3/5

K-dramas have had a rather rocky ride in 2023. From plot holes and abrupt endings, to cliffhangers and unsatisfying resolutions, there’s been a fair amount that have fallen by the wayside. However, there have been glimmers of hope. Good Bad Mother and The Glory Part 2 did a great job of finishing things on a high, while Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 somehow rose from the disappointing ashes of the first season to become a soaring phoenix.

My Perfect Stranger then is somewhat of an enigma in that respect, as it represents both the phoenix and the ashes. Despite a few stumbles near the end and a couple of disappointing plot contrivances, it does establish itself as one of the best K-dramas this year.

The story centers on a reporter called Hae-joon. One day, he discovers a time travelling car that can whisk the user backwards or forwards through time. After heading forward and finding himself murdered, Hae-joon decides to slip back to 1987, where a string of murders ensue that are directly linked to his own death. Infiltrating the timeline as a teacher and settling into life in the sleepy village of Woojung, Hae-joon sets out to find the murderer… except he’s not alone.

As fate would have it, Hae-joon happens to cross paths with a young, spunky woman called Yoon-young before he travels back, who has her own reasons for wanting to be in 1987. After her mother dies and her father’s life becomes even more ruinous than it was before, she decides to set out and prevent her parents from ever meeting, saving her mum from a life of misery, even if it means erasing herself from the timeline.

The episodes that follow then settle down into 1987, and as the chapters tick by, this K-drama does a fantastic job of building up its mystery and really slipping into the whodunit. In fact, some of what’s presented is top-tier murder mystery material. There’s a fantastic amount of intrigue around the different suspects, and there are a couple of lovely twists too that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat.

Unfortunately, there are also a few red herrings that go absolutely nowhere. You see, My Perfect Stranger is so enthusiastic in keeping the mystery going (we don’t find out who the killer is until episode 15!) that some of the scenes we see early on are rendered completely moot by the time the finale rolls round. Characters giving suspicious side-eyed glances or muttering under their breath is never mentioned again; a revealing scene in the present between three characters goes absolutely nowhere; the timeline never deviates despite a myriad of changes that Hae-joon and Yoon-young enact in 1987; and the killer’s explanation is a bit cliched and perfunctory.

Perhaps some of the fault here can be attributed to high expectations, as My Perfect Stranger has a string of about 5 or 6 episodes in this season that can do no wrong. You’ll be gripped by what’s happening and while it’s not a convoluted affair like something akin to Mouse, there’s a fair amount of guesswork required to figure out who the killer is.

Beyond that, My Perfect Stranger also half-heartedly throws in a romance between its two leads and it’s really not needed. Yes, that’s as per the course with K-dramas where our two main characters hook up, but I’d argue that it’s not needed. The mystery is solid enough as it is and the romance never feels natural between the pair, especially as their relationship feels more like friends or close siblings, than genuine lovers.

The editing is pretty good at times though and the acting across the board is great, but this one doesn’t quite hit the lofty heights it so easily could have done. That’s a real shame in all honesty, because My Perfect Stranger does a lot right. It may slip up at the final hurdle, but for the mystery alone, this one is unrivalled this year. The plot is well written (for the most part) and there’s some decent characterization too. It’s not perfect, but it is a decent K-drama, making for an enjoyable watch overall.

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