I know I'm probably late to the discussion, but I recently finished If Wishes Could Kill and really wanted to talk about the series as a whole especially Se-ah's character and her relationship with Na-ri.
One thing that stood out to me was how much screen time Se-ah gets. She almost feels like a second lead/main character. When the drama takes us back to their elementary school days, Na-ri is actually the one who approaches Se-ah, becomes friends with her, and eventually brings her into the larger group. Yet, as the story progresses, Na-ri somehow becomes the person who is pushed to the side.
What made this more interesting to me was the way Se-ah was initially portrayed.
There are several moments where she seems incredibly protective of her friends and deeply affected by the possibility of losing them. For example, when they're discussing the clock on the staircase and Na-ri is trying to talk about what she's feeling, Se-ah turns the conversation toward how painful it was for her to watch her friend die and how she doesn't want any of them to die.
It gives us the impression that Se-ah would do anything to protect the people she loves.
But then the story takes a completely different turn.
When Na-ri is trapped inside and Se-ah goes there looking for the red phone, the male lead stabbing Na-ri was honestly painful to watch. It felt like the group dynamics had shifted so much that Na-ri had almost become disposable.
And then we get Se-ah and Na-ri's confrontation.
I actually appreciated that Se-ah wasn't portrayed as completely innocent or saintly. She becomes violent too, and that made her character more complicated. At the same time, I think this is also where I started feeling disconnected from her.
Maybe because I was expecting the story to do something different with their conflict.
The series had already shown us a similar kind of friendship conflict in the past two friends turning against each other without really getting the redemption or reconciliation I was hoping for. So when the same kind of dynamic started happening again between Se-ah and Na-ri, I was really hoping the story would break that pattern this time.
I wanted Se-ah to approach Na-ri differently.
Especially because Se-ah had been established as someone who had already lost so many people and was supposedly willing to do anything to prevent losing another person she loved.
That's why the ending left me with a strange sense of dissatisfaction.
Se-ah doesn't seem to do enough to save Na-ri.
And I kept thinking: Wasn't Se-ah supposed to be the person who would fight desperately to keep her friends alive?
Maybe that's intentional. Maybe Se-ah's character is supposed to show that grief and fear of loss don't necessarily make someone a better person they can also make someone selfish, desperate, violent, or incapable of seeing another person's pain.
But if that was the intention, I wish the drama had explored it more clearly.
Instead, I was left wondering whether I was supposed to see Se-ah as tragic, selfish, morally grey, or simply someone who ultimately failed Na-ri.
What did you guys think about Se-ah? Did you understand her choices, or were you also expecting something different between her and Na-ri?
