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Awaken (2020) 낮과 밤
Directed by Kim Jung-hyun and Lee Soo-hyun, starring Namkoong Min as Do Jung-woo, Kim Seol-hyun as Gong Hye-won, Lee Chung-ah as Jamie Leighton, Yoon Sun-woo as Moon Jae-woong.
Watched 12 - 19 August 2025 — 16 episodes (VIKI PASS)
Beware of spoilers!!!!
*I sought out this mystery series for Namkoong Min. I had just seen Our Movie and don't particularly like him there, so I needed another series to fall in love with him again. And I do like him much better in this role as Do Jung-woo and he looks good with the scruff and clad in black all the time. (His choppy haircut on the top is not always attractive, though.)
*Namkoong Min is paired with two actresses, Kim Seol-hyun as Gong Hye-won and Lee Chung-ah as Jamie Leighton. At the beginning I thought — if there is going to be a romantic lead, it has to be Jamie. She's closer to his age and they shared more screen time at first. I also loooove Namkoong Min and Lee Chung-ah together, they have such great chemistry. Funny that Hye-won says to Jamie in episode 3 that they have the best chemistry (about Jamie and Jung-woo) and it's also funny how the two other cops in the team believe Jamie and Jung-woo are a love couple and their suggestive remarks about them are humorous. I like how Jamie and Jung-woo are playing along and let the others misunderstand their relationship. (By the way, I think Lee Chung-ah looks very beautiful.)
*Jamie and Jung-woo clearly have a past together. But then, after having seen episode 4, I read on a blog that Jamie and Jung-woo are "(...) beloved fraternal twins with superpowers (...)". So that killed any hope for a romance between them. Ah well ... I knew there wasn't going to be any real romance anyway, so they might as well be siblings. Besides, Hye-won has a crush on Jung-woo and he doesn't seem indifferent to her either (that long stare between them after the fire, and him choking on his lollipop when she says to him "you like me", because he was concerned about her being drunk). Also, Jamie Leighton seems more interested in the hacker Moon Jae-woong who turns out to have a split personality.
*Despite being suspenseful, the plot (with touches of sci-fi) moves a bit slow. At some point I had the feeling the police was playing catch-up and didn't know things the viewer already knew. Fortunately the plot isn't too difficult to follow and we see how the White Night Village incidents of 28 years ago are linked to the still ongoing experiments with the innocent children, being used as lab rats. The revelation of a secret lab and the search for eternal youth is not very original but I like how it all goes back to the surviving three children (Jung-woo, Jamie and Jae-woong) and how they are the center of the series. I like how Jung-woo as an 8-year old kid discovered the method for humans to live forever, how the third child was left behind and took his revenge, how the mummy scientist didn't age, and how Hye-won's father is involved.
*I was really happy with the open ending and that Jung-woo didn't die. Maybe a romance with Hye-won is in the cards, some time in the future, now she's all grown up, ha!
*Love the cop/hacker with the glasses (played by Choi Dae-chul, seen him in Undercover) and the Old Man. Also the reporter character is okay.
*The scenes with the children were eerie at times, even though they are cute. I also had a hard time keeping them apart.
*What's in Jamie's backpack???!!!! It was funny how she kept running around with it in the beginning (as if the content was most important) but then all of a sudden she had another dark bag when we see her with her luggage about to embark on her return journey. Love the goodbye scene with her and Hye-won!
*Overall a very enjoyable and thrilling watch. Now can someone please give Namkoong Min and Lee Chung-ah a drama where they can be the leads and have a nice romance, without one of them dying (like in One Dollar Lawyer)!!!!! And some heart-fluttering kissing scenes too, pretty please!!!!
(Collage made by me.)