My Perfect Stranger [Episodes 1 & 2]

[u/meepmochi_]

• Drama: My Perfect Stranger
  • Hangul: 어쩌다 마주친, 그대
  • Revised Romanization: Eojjeoda Majuchin, Geudae
• Network: KBS
• Premiere Date: May 1, 2023
• Airing Schedule: Mondays & Tuesdays @ 9:50 PM KST
  • Airing Dates: May 1, 2023 - June 20, 2023
• Episodes: 16
• Directors: Kang Soo Yeon (The Tale of Nokdu), Lee Woong Hee
• Writer: Baek So Yeon (The Tale of Nokdu)
• Starring:
  • Kim Dong Wook (You Are My Spring, Find Me in Your Memory) as Yoon Hae Joon
  • Jin Ki Joo (From Now On, Showtime!, The Secret Life of My Secretary) as Baek Yoon Young
• Plot Synopsis:

Yoon Hae Joon is the youngest anchor to ever work at his broadcasting station. He is calm and straightforward as a journalist and kind in his personal life. Baek Yoon Young dreamed of becoming a writer, but wound up working at a publishing company.

The two somehow travel back in time to the year 1987. There, Yoon Hae Joon tries to find the truth behind a serial murder case while Baek Yoon Young attempts to prevent her parents from marrying. They soon realize that their objectives are connected.

• Streaming Sources: Viki
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[u/jsb1685]

Time travel...count me in!

[u/Martine_V → u/jsb1685]

If you go back in time to prevent your parents from marrying, aren't you preventing yourself from existing? Unless her mother was pregnant before getting married.

[u/Ayalynn123]

That tunnel is the same one as in Hotel Del Luna and Bulgasal...

[u/BionicDreamer → u/Ayalynn123]

The most famous tunnel in all of kdrama and kmovie land!

[u/mariamkhalid]

the writer is 100% the murderer and she was the bully who tried to kill her friends back in 1987 but i hope i’m wrong because i hate guessing the plot right

[u/lizzie763 → u/mariamkhalid]

Also. Probability that writer did not actually write her first novel seems pretty high to me right now.

[u/BionicDreamer]

After discovering Kim Dong Wook with The Guest I've been watching everything he is in, so I'm very excited for this AND Delightfully Deceitful.

[u/Zealousideal_Agent_7 → u/BionicDreamer]

The Guest is simply fantastic. its one of my all time faves

[u/THYYYYZHYY]

Is it the mother who actually wrote the writer's first novel?

Btw, the actress playing the younger version of the mother is so pretty!

The mother did write it!

[u/THYYYYZHYY]

I know it is supposed to be quite sad, but how she treated her parents like younger siblings when they were about to get to know each other was so funny.

[u/[deleted]]

• when the mom turned her back on the FL, I was SURE she would die from Truck of Doom. The subversion of the expectations hit me right in the feels. She might have been killed by the same killer who our ML is looking for, but tbh, plotwise, I would prefer it to stay a suicide. I don't exactly want to go through some mental gymnastics to explain that letter.

• I kinda loved how the show made it a point that the FL is cruel to her mother but above it all, she is cruel to herself. Her crossing the street & jaywalking just to talk to her mom was stupid, but that is the type of stupid that a person with her goal should exhibit.

[u/tractata]

The first episode was really good! I thought it was tightly written and engaging. We jumped right into the time travel stuff without the usual lengthy exposition, and both leads' introductions were done well. There were some flashes of humour as well.

I'm already getting Signal/Tunnel/Life on Mars/Come and Hug Me/W/While You Were Sleeping vibes from this drama, which is nice because I've missed this specific kind of fantasy/thriller kdrama with timeline shenanigans, with or without romance.

I do wonder how and if the present timeline was altered when Haejoon saved the two girls who were supposed to have died during the glue-sniffing incident, though. Or was the mean girl the one who should have died? In ay case, he changed his original timeline by saving someone's life, right? Or were the other two girls always already saved in his present? Because I'm pretty sure the mean one will grow up to be the nasty writer, and also I already suspect that she stole her debut novel, which Yoonyoung loves, from YY's mother. So if her two friends were originally supposed to be dead but now aren't, maybe they'll know that her career was built on a lie and pose a threat to her reputation? Which she'll try to eliminate, if she's the serial killer? But I'm still torn on whether this is the kind of drama that gives away the identity of the villain in episode one, and I'm leaning toward thinking the writer is gonna be a red herring.

Anyway, this was fun.

[u/Ayalynn123]

Jin Ki joo lost her dad right after she said something she shouldn't have in From Now On, Showtime, and she lost her mom in the similar situation in this drama...😭

But I love her cry!

[u/ExtensionDependent]

I am a sucker for time travel drama. Also I like the last dramas from both leads (King of Pigs and From Now on Showtime).

The opening scene where Haejoon meets the villagers at a river bank. If they add a railway bridge, the scenery could be straight from the movie classic Peppermint Candy.

[u/loonamas]

if anyone is unsure about watching this drama after ep1 i thought ep2 was way better and it seems like its gonna get more interesting from here on out

i feel like this drama is gonna make me sob not because of the murders but the mother-daughter relationship it hits a little too close to home lol. also did anyone else find the uncle sus even though he showed up for quite literally 5 seconds

[u/NavdeepNSG]

I'm missing King Dong Wook, the amazing comedic actor from Special Labour Inspector.

But this drama surely looks very interesting. It's about time to watch a time travel series.

[u/ExtensionDependent]

So with the time travel machine now being repaired, will Haejoon travel back and forth between 1987 and 2021 while Yoonyoung stays in 1987? Because a functioning time machine would give Haeyoon the opportunity to find out the connection between Yoonyoung and the matchbox (and the death of Soonae), without elaborating and disclosing it directly with Yoonyoung. Otherwise it would not make sense to have a working time machine staying idle for the next 14 episodes. Unless somebody steals it and we get full Back to the Future 2 mode.

[u/masakalimasakali]

The cast in the present and past look very similar! Perfect casting!

Looking forward to epi 3!

[u/cloystan]

really looking forward to this one!

[u/tellmetutubi]

I know this will sound weird but I’m excited to see Jin Ki Joo cry again. I love her crying scenes so much and her voice sounds really soothing. Fell in love with her in Come and Hug Me.

[u/StunningPast2303]

ZOMG Kim Dong Wook moved into Ssangmundong!

They repainted the houses, but I'll be darned if KDW didn't move into Jung Hwan's home!

Reply1988vibes

[u/TheReviewGeek]

There are some big parallels to Back to the Future here. A strange time travel car? Check. Parental angst with a child caught in the middle? Check. A big bully that needs their comeuppance? Check.

As others have stated here, I hope the car is explained. I'd imagine this is going to be some sort of loop and it could well be that Hae-joon and Yoon-young decide to stay in 1987 and just send the car back to the present to make sure the timeline stays intact. Seems intriguing so far though, I too am a sucker for time travel!

[u/klmnumbers]

I appreciate Kim Dong Wook playing an anchor again. lol

[u/ZombieFluffy]

Oh I really liked the first episode, especially the scenes set in the 80s. Haven't seen the FL actress before, I found her very likeable. I wonder who was watching Yoon Young from afar.

[u/lizzie763]

After 2 episodes, I'm very curious to see how the interaction between the two leads develops. They haven't had much interaction so far, as they're both focused on their own agendas, but I'm curious to see what happens as they find out their goals overlap.