Mental illness is the stuff of which drama, both serious and comedic, can be fashioned. This charming show, featuring a pair of highly skilled actors with terrific chemistry, makes the most of its stars and of their mental health challenges. At times laugh out loud and at times poignant, we see the intersection of a police officer suspended because of anger management issues and a successful woman brought low by her unability to trust anyone because of a disastrous failed relationship with a married man. Next door neighbors in a standard issue run down Seoul apartment building, they keep bumping into each other in a series of gently hilarious scenes. Ever so slowly, they form a fragile bond that allows them a measure of peace from their demons.
This is not a perfect piece of work, but it is very well written, constantly engaging and acted with subtlety by the two very appealing leads, Jung Woo and Oh Yeon-Seo. Both use a range of expressions to overcome the natural inclination of the audience to be frustrated at their antics.
If there is one criticism, it is the injection of melodrama rather than drama, with Jung Woo obsessed with capturing a pantomime villain of a drug dealer who has been protected by corrupt cops who are also responsible for his suspension and Oh dealing with a pantomime villain of an abusive ex. These characters are loathsome, but they are so over the top as to be somewhat annoying. Reviewers have also criticized the ending as rushed. I think it's not so much rushed as lacking the imagination and wit that suffuses the rest of the show.
Korean dramas about mental health, such as Extraordinary Attorney Woo, It's Okay To Not Be Okay and It's Okay, That's Love, often deal with the subject with more sensitivity than Korean society does. Mad For Each Other does the same - the numerous scenes when the two protagonists have sessions with their psychiatrist, winningly played by Lee Hye-ra, really help us and the characters understand themselves.
The supporting roles are stocked with capable Korean character actors and while their parts are sometimes played for slapstick, they never quite go overboard. Even the typical Korean mothers of the protagonists stay within reasonable bounds. Props especially to one of my favorites, the great Baek Ji-won (remember her as the senior partner of Hanbada, the law firm where Extraordinary Attorney Woo works), playing the nosy head of the apartment complex where Jung and Oh reside as neighbors. Also to Jung Seung-Gil who, like Baek, played a splendid supporting role in a personal favorite, Be Melodramatic, and here plays the exasperated police captain at Jung Woo's station. And a major shoutout to Su-hyun, already a long-established actress at 21 when she made this, a member of the KPop duo AKMU, here playing a student who works part-time at numerous jobs. When she finally opens her mouth to sing, it's a magic moment.
This is a good show, for once not too long (13 40 minute episodes instead of the usual 16 hour-long marathon), a little thought-provoking and a lot of fun.
This is not a perfect piece of work, but it is very well written, constantly engaging and acted with subtlety by the two very appealing leads, Jung Woo and Oh Yeon-Seo. Both use a range of expressions to overcome the natural inclination of the audience to be frustrated at their antics.
If there is one criticism, it is the injection of melodrama rather than drama, with Jung Woo obsessed with capturing a pantomime villain of a drug dealer who has been protected by corrupt cops who are also responsible for his suspension and Oh dealing with a pantomime villain of an abusive ex. These characters are loathsome, but they are so over the top as to be somewhat annoying. Reviewers have also criticized the ending as rushed. I think it's not so much rushed as lacking the imagination and wit that suffuses the rest of the show.
Korean dramas about mental health, such as Extraordinary Attorney Woo, It's Okay To Not Be Okay and It's Okay, That's Love, often deal with the subject with more sensitivity than Korean society does. Mad For Each Other does the same - the numerous scenes when the two protagonists have sessions with their psychiatrist, winningly played by Lee Hye-ra, really help us and the characters understand themselves.
The supporting roles are stocked with capable Korean character actors and while their parts are sometimes played for slapstick, they never quite go overboard. Even the typical Korean mothers of the protagonists stay within reasonable bounds. Props especially to one of my favorites, the great Baek Ji-won (remember her as the senior partner of Hanbada, the law firm where Extraordinary Attorney Woo works), playing the nosy head of the apartment complex where Jung and Oh reside as neighbors. Also to Jung Seung-Gil who, like Baek, played a splendid supporting role in a personal favorite, Be Melodramatic, and here plays the exasperated police captain at Jung Woo's station. And a major shoutout to Su-hyun, already a long-established actress at 21 when she made this, a member of the KPop duo AKMU, here playing a student who works part-time at numerous jobs. When she finally opens her mouth to sing, it's a magic moment.
This is a good show, for once not too long (13 40 minute episodes instead of the usual 16 hour-long marathon), a little thought-provoking and a lot of fun.