"My Perfect Stranger" drama: Episode four of sixteen recap

 

 Air Dates: May 1st until June 20, 2023 on KBS 2, Monday and Tuesdays nights at 9:45 pm

Director: Kang Soo-Yeon, episodes are 65 minutes in length and subs done by iTs

Rating for this episode: 4.3%, not high ratings as KBS2 is a cable network which means the numbers are actually very respectable.

Main Cast: This drama was originally scheduled to air in the Autumn of 2022 but got pushed back twice. Have been looking forward to this series as it stars my second favorite Korean actress who is Jin Ki-Joo and hasn't seen her in any show for two years. Writing much of this up after viewing the first episode, there will be a lot of editing to the characters and more of them will be added in. This is a time travel drama, it began off in 2021 when the main male star Hae-Jun found a car that can travel in time either forwards or backwards! But think most of the drama will be set in 1987 and it could be nostalgic for any older K-drama fans who may visit here. 

**** When Yoon-Young was transported back to 1987 it was the evening of May 9th, dates will be important as a serial killer murders his first victim on May 14th.... or will he be stopped????

Kim Dong-Wook as Yoon Hae-Jun.... 32 year old KSBC anchor who one night happened to find this time travel car at the entrance to a tunnel! He believed in only facts but thought why not read the user manual to see if this car could travel in time... it could as Hae-Jun went to the year 3089! Shortly after returning to the year 2021 Hae-Jun took another trip and this time to 2037, what he found out is one of the main stories to this series. Hae-Jun discovered he was murdered in 2022 by a serial killer and went to visit this killer in prison upon returning to 2021. This man Go wasn't the true killer of many people way back in the year of 1987 but had been framed for the killings, Hae-Jun believed this man and to clear his name and also to save his own life Hae-Jun went back to the year 1987 to find out who the killer really was and to possibly stop the murders. The location will be the smallish country city of Woojung.

 Jin Ki-Joo as Baek Yoon-Young.... Editor in chief for a very popular woman author of murder novels though Yoon-Young seems to do most of the work. In the first episode she was fired by this author who was named Mi-Sook and it had to be a relief to be fired! Right around the time of Yoon-Young being fired her mother killed herself and she blames herself for the death, also her alcoholic father. A few days after her mother's death Yoon-Young was wandering near a tunnel when the time travel car driven by Hae-Jun came close to hitting her, at the time the machine was set to travel to 1987 which is where the pair ended up at. Of course Yoon-Young thought it was a dream but when she realized she had travelled back in time she was thrilled! The second main story will be of  Yoon-Young stopping her parents from meeting each other and getting married, if so what will happen to her???? Like Hae-Jun's story it will be set in the smallish city of Woojung. In the third episode Yoon-Young began to impersonate as a high school student to get closer to her mother. Yoon-Young is around thirty in age but claimed to Hae-Jun she could pass for being 22, she told everyone she had to stay back a few years because of family problems.

**** The above two are from the year 2021 but most of the action will take place in 1987, here are the main characters from that year. The location is a smallish city named Woojung-ri.

Seo Ji-Hye as Lee Soon-Ae.... In 1987 she was 18 in age and the top girl in her senior high school class. However she had no true friends and spent her time writing stories as she was such a fan of novels. Soon-Ae is actually Yoon-Young's mother and now that she somehow ended up in the year 1987 she's trying to prevent Soon-Ae getting married to Baek. So you have to wonder if Yoon-Young is successful would that mean she never existed?

 Lee Won-Jung as Baek Hee-Sub.... Yoon-Young's father though he too was only eighteen in 1987. He was a bit of an innocent lad and actually was quite nice back in 1987, Hee-Sub loved music but never began a band. He eventually became such an alcoholic and that was one of the reasons for Soon-Ae committing suicide in 2021. Hee-Sop is also a new transfer student at Woojung high school, he began on the same day Yoon-Young did.

Park Soo-Hyung as Hyung-Man.... Soon-Ae's father who owns a combination tea shop, general store and bus stop for travelling to and from Seoul.

Kim Jun-Young as Ok-Ja.... Soon-Ae's mother and has two other children.

Kim Ye-Ji as Kim Hae-Kyung.... Friend of Soon-Ae's, like Hae-Kyung the other girls Soon-Ae hangs out with none of them are 'true friends' and all love to party which at times has gotten Soon-Ae into trouble. On the left below is Hae-Kyung, the other two are her cronies Eun-Ha in glasses and Yu-Ri, all bully Soon-Ae.

Ji Hye-Won as Ko Mi-Sook.... Another 'friend' of Soon-Ae's who we met near the end of the second episode. She's the same woman who became a popular writer many years later and of all things Yoon-Young was her editor in chief! Mi-Sook's first novel was a huge hit but she had actually stolen the story from Soon-Ae who never said a word. Mi-Sook was such a creep back in 1987 and was even worse in 2021! Mi-Soon does come from a very wealthy family so her snobbery began on the day she was born!

Kim Yeon-Woo as Ko Min-Soo.... Mi-Sook's older brother and the same man Hae-Jun met in 2021. In that year Ko had just been released from prison after serving 34 years for murders he never committed. Though innocent for those crimes Ko is still such a creep who may have raped some girls back in 1987 and almost did so to Young-Yoon!

Choi Young-Woo as Dong-Sik.... Hee-Seop's tough uncle who is a detective. We learned in the third show Hee-Sop's parents are dead and he's now moved in with his uncle.

Joo Yeon-Woo as Yoo Bum-Ryong.... High school student who became Hee-Sub's first friend in Woojung and we didn't meet him until the third episode. Bit of an oddball who is on the suspect list of some upcoming murders!

Jung Ga-Hee as Lee Joo-Young.... We met her in the fourth episode, she's attending school at Seoul University. Joo-Yung arrived in Woojung on May 12th, that's her below on the right. She's going to be a student teacher at the high school working with Hae-Jun. He knows that on May 14th she'll be the first victim of the killer, can he possibly prevent it?

Kim Jong-Soo as Yoon Byung-Gu.... Principal of the Woojung high school, on the left above.

**** The below group of characters we met in the first episode who are from the year 2021, unsure if we'll be seeing much more of them as most of the drama takes place in 1987.

Lee Ji-Hyun as Lee Soon-Ae.... Yoon-Young's mother and the pair didn't get along so well, it was a reason for Soon-Ae committing suicide in the first episode.

Lee Kyu-Hoe as Baek Hee-Sop.... Yoon-Young's father who is such a waste as all he does is drink, him and his wife lived off what their daughter sent them in cash and he's the other main reason Soon-Ae killed herself.

Kim Hye-Eun as Go Mi-Sook.... Popular writer of murder mysteries, Yoon-Young was her editor who seemed to do most of the work until she was fired in the first show. Mi-Sook also lived back in Woojung in 1987 and had known Yoon-Young's mother, actually she stole the story for her first novel from her!

Im Jong-Yun as Ko Min-Soo.... Man who was accused of killing many people in the small city of Woojung back in 1987. However Go was innocent and after 34 years is about to be released from prison. No one had listened to Ko's pleas for all those years until Jae-Hun visited him the day before his release and has vowed to discover who the real killer was. 

 Whew, big cast and sure more characters will be introduced so that section above will be increasing for the first few shows and of course will also be updated.

Links to the previous recaps, may help to read a few of them and especially the first.

Episode one .... Episode two

Short promo video for the fourth episode.

   

 Did a lot more editing as in every show we're learning much more about the characters and the stories. Also added in one more character who was introduced this episode, it's the new teacher Lee. Not sure how long we'll be seeing her in this drama as she's supposed to be the first victim of this unknown killer, that crime is scheduled to take place on May 14, 1987 and when this episode ended it was the night of May 12th. Bit of a sluggish beginning to this episode but then again it did allow us viewers to learn a bit more about everyone, the last half hour was quite good. 

 Bit of a thrilling conclusion to the previous episode as Hae-Jun had to save Yoon-Young from being possibly sexually assaulted by the man in the second screenshot above. His name is Ko and is the same man Hae-Jun met in 2021 just prior to him being released from prison after serving 34 years. Ko had served that sentence because of the murderss that took place in the small city of Woojung back in 1987, Ko was innocent of the killings but was still charged and sentenced. He is a lowlife who may have attacked other women too but had never been caught, Ko could be sitting in that cell for a while which may be a blessing for him. The date in this episode is May12th, the first killing will take place two days later. Hae-Jun visited the station to give his account on what took place, he said a few words to Ko which of course went right over his head. Those words were talking about if Ko's in jail and there is a killing that will take him off the list of suspects and will never serve 34 years in prison, lot of the future could be changed. In that third screenshot above is a matchbox from a tea shop that was open in 1987. The name of the place was Bong-Bong and surprised Hae-Jun hasn't tried looking for that shop as it appears the killer leaving a matchbox was his calling card. He and Yoon-Young did visit a teashop named H and that's the owner above who is named Chung-A, am wondering if Bong-Bong couldn't be a nickname for the H shop?

 If you're reading this post sure you've read the others. So you know that the 18 year old  high school senior Soon-Ae is Yoon-Young's future mother, it just so happens her family lives right across the street from Hae-Jun where Yoon-Young is currently staying. Above are some of Soon-Ae's family, her father is Hyung-Man who you've heard about a few times up until now and he owns the Woojung General Store. He's above along with his son Oh-Bok who I know nothing about and the mother's name is Ok-Ja. Thought I'd mention them now for I don't think they'll be getting much screen time, not seen above is the other daughter Kyung-Ae who loves to party! It's Tuesday May 12th, instead of attending classes at the Woojung high school some senior classes are having a field day in the forest at a shrine. Yoon-Young went over to pick up Soon-Ae and if you recall they had a falling out at the end of the last episode. Think Soon-Ae thought things over and realized all Yoon-Young was doing was saving her from being used by Mi-Sook. Now it seems Soon-Ae likes her new friend and future daughter(!) more than ever, the pair travelled together to the outing but were a bit late. In the bottom screenshot above that's Yoon-Young saying 'Grandma' for of course Soon-Ae's parents will end up being her grandparents, no mention if they were still alive in 2021 when Soon-Ae killed herself. 

 The man in the uniform above is named Park, he won't be key to the story so didn't add him onto the cast list. But you may see him in some screenshots, he's also a teacher at Woojung high school and a bit of an inept one! He's the homeroom teacher for the girls but teaches the senior boy's class while Hae-Jun is the girl's teacher. Besides that creep Ko also on the list of suspects that could have done the 1987 killings were two males students, that's Hae-Jun checking them out above on the field trip. The first boy with glasses and a blue backpack is Bum-Ryong who brought a guitar on the trip but it's his father's and he doesn't know how to play it. Hae-Jun was checking for matchboxes from the Bong-Bong teahouse, Bum-Ryong had one and so didn't the other suspect. Who is the new boy in town Hee-Sub, Yoon-Young's future father. He too had a matchbox but then again so didn't most students, That's because the latest trend around school is to write a love note to your crush, put it in the matchbox and give it to that person. So that matchbox for now doesn't appear to be a clue to the killings, perhaps it's even making Hae-Jun's pursuit of the culprit even tougher!

Arriving late to the field trip were the duo of Yoon-Young and Soon-Ae. She noticed Hee-Sub, he has such a crush on her and seems she does too. Yoon-Young tried to prevent the pair from going off on their own to the shrine but was too bushed to make it up the very steep hill, she does have an excuse as her her true age is around thirty! But you can see a few screenshots above before Hee-Sub popped onto the scene and Yoon-Young is learning so much about her future mother Soon-Ae. Then again if her mission is successful it means Yoon-Young won't be born and Soon-Ae won't be her mother! Soon-Ae loves to read and write, that's one reason Mi-Sook has gotten closer to her in order to steal her ideas. The last two shows Yoon-Young has really been beating herself for never getting to know her mother better, she never knew about her dreams to be a writer nor that she was so talented. While it's true Hee-Sub played the biggest role in Soon-Ae killing herself in 2021 Yoon-Young also had a part in it, if she was closer to her mother she'd still be alive and Yoon-Young never would have gone back to 1987. Those are the two senior classes above, even on a trip they can't sit together so boys on one side and girls on the other.

 Though it was a class trip no activities were planned, the teacher Park suggested the students have some sort of talent show. Not the best of ideas as not one student wanted to go up and act like a fool in front of others singing, dancing or dong whatever. However Hee-Sub had overheard Soon-Ae saying she likes men that can sing well and that's above. Hee-Sub loves music, especially punk rock but has never played the guitar before. He grabbed the one Bum-Ryong had brought on the trip and just thought to myself now why did he bring it as Bum-Ryong can't play it either? But Hee-Sub has quickly become so smitten with Soon-Ae and wanted to impress her so badly, he strolled to the front of the group and strummed a tune which all joined in on. As mentioned Hee-Sub had never once played anything but an Air Guitar, during this song he played only one note but it was a catchy one and against all odds he was the hit of the field trip, will this make him pursue music a bit more? Perhaps not as above Yoon-Young did say she never knew her future father played a guitar and sang, in 2021 the only thing he was good at was consuming alcohol!

 Shortly after Hee-Sub's impromptu performance the school's principal arrived with a young woman, that's her in three of the above screenshots. Her name is Lee Joo-Young, don't know how many episodes she'll be in but will be very key to to this story. Joo-Young is a student at Seoul University and wants to become a teacher, for the next month she'll be a student teacher. She'll be in Hae-Jun's class and he had asked/told the principal later on to make sure she's assigned to work with him and why would that be? The current date is the afternoon of May 12th, coming from the future Hae-Jun knew that Joo-Young would be the first murder victim and that would be taking place on May 14th, just two days from now! Joo-Young did sing an unknown song to break the ice, none knew it save for Yoon-Young and seems most students like her. That is except for Hye-Hyung's trio of bullies who don't seem to like anyone, also not looking favorably upon Joo-Young is Mi-Sook and wonder why, sure it'll be revealed soon enough. In that third to last screenshot wondering why Joo-Young seems so familiar is Yoon-Young and she'll find out why right at the end of the show. Did mention that those Bong-Bong teahouse matchboxes were the current rage around town to slip a love note into and then give to your crush. That second to last screenshot shows Yoon-Young receiving one of those notes, wonder who could have sent it to her.... my money would be on Bum-Ryong.

 Knowing what would take place in two days Hae-Jun invited Joo-Young to stay with him but was turned down. That's not something you ask a woman after meeting her once but Hae-Jun couldn't reveal what will take place, may have worked if he mentioned that Yoon-Young was also living with him. Joo-Young did say she would be staying with some relatives which Hae-Jun knew was a lie so wonder how he plans on protecting her two days from then? Above you'll see a few screenshots of the second confrontation with Yoon-Young and Mi-Sook, it was a very mini scene. Mi-Sook knows her older brother Ko is in jail for kidnapping Yoon-Young which may have turned into a sexual assault case, how many others has Ko done that do in the past? I go the impression Mi-Sook was a bit pleased her brother was in jail, her family is quite wealthy and Ko seems to be their black sheep. But the brother Ko did warn Yoon-Young about his sister, once Mi-Sook knows your weakness you'll have no chance in a battle with her! And Yoon-Young's 'weakness' is her new friend and future mother Soon-Ae, Mi-Sook caught on quickly that Yoon-Young would do anything for the girl and the mini scene ended there. Yoon-Young still hasn't found out what kind of hold Mi-Sook may have over Soon-Ae.

 Getting close to the end as there's only a little over five minutes to go. As mentioned often while Yoon-Young stays in the year 1987 she'll be living with Hae-Jun, though a huge house she sleeps on the couch. That evening at home he received a phone call from the principal Byung-Gu, he's been trying to get in touch with the new teacher Joo-Young but there's been no response at her home. Hae-Jun is perplexed, it's two days before her murder should happen and did the killer somehow strike early for history has been slightly changed? Hae-Jun dashed away to Joo-Young's place and during that time is when Yoon-Young recalled who this new teacher is. In her bag Yoon-Young had the partial manuscript of a new story Mi-Soon was writing in 2021, Yoon-Young was her editor/assistant then until getting fired in the first episode. The story was about killings that took place in Woojung, one of the characters was so similar to the new teacher Joo-Young and the book would be titled "The People I Killed"! All of those events are above and Yoon-Young too dashed away from Hae-Jun's house looking for him, Mi-Sook or anyone for help as a murder may be taking place that evening. She found no one and neither did Hae-Jun as the pair ran into each other outside of the Woojung General Store, those are the bottom two screenshots above. Hae-Jun wanted to know how Yoon-Young ended up there and is it because that's where Joo-Young would be killed? Don't know that yet and as the episode ended Yoon-Young said it's finally time for both to come clean with each other as it may save a life! That wraps up this recap, bit of a slowish beginning but this turned out to another solid episode. Will be back in a week with the next pair of recaps and of course here's many more screenshots to help you follow the story a bit better.