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Directed by Kim Geun-hong and Shim Soo-yeon, starring Jung Ji-hoon (known as Rain) as Lee Jae-sang, Lim Ji-yeon as Ra Si-on, and Kwak Si-yang as Goo Dong-tae.
Watched 20 August - 21 September 2025 — 32 episodes (KOCOWA)
(Some spoilers ahead!)
*I love a good time-travel drama, and though this one doesn't even come close to the K-drama classic Signal, I enjoyed it well enough. The leads Jung Ji-hoon (as Lee Jae-sang) and Lim Ji-yeon (as Ra Si-on) are both actors I had never seen before but I like them (Lim Ji-yeon is really pretty) and they have good chemistry. The story premise is a familiar one, where being transported to another world means second chances. Here Jung Ji-hoon plays a selfish lawyer who finds himself in a parallel universe and wants to restart his life as a sincere man. He's also married (to Si-on) with a kid in the parallel world (very much the premise of the American film The Family Man with Nicolas Cage). I was surprised that the main character Jae-sang redeemed himself already at the end of episode 1 and wanted to cooperate with the police befóre he found himself in the parallel universe.
*Initially my biggest problem with this series was how the writers dealt with the two worlds. Jae-sang switched worlds twice. The first time from the real world to the alternate world, after the car accident; then switching back to the real world when Jae-sang and Si-on were in danger and she was about to have her head smashed in with a hammer. In the beginning I just forgot Jae-sang had switched worlds, because they didn't differentiate between them enough and it was sporadically shown that Jae-sang was aware of being in another world. You only see him adapting to family life. I also thought Jae-sang would use the knowledge he had gained in the real world in the alternate world. Fortunately the aspect of showing the two worlds as something intertwined rather than something separate improved.
*I can deal with moderate violence and blood in dramas, but I find it difficult when children are involved, even though I always look away when it gets too much. And the orphanage murders were really horrifying.
*You could predict that the villain Yoon Pil-woo (played by Shin Jae-ha, who also played the villain in the second season of Taxi Driver) was going to go after Si-on but fortunately the kidnapping didn't take up too much time. She was quickly found by her team and rescued. Kudos to Shin Jae-ha for portraying the villain as someone multidimensional. Having had a horrible childhood with abuse, his pain is palpable, and though his actions are brutal and reprehensible, Shin Jae-ha manages to elicit a sliver of compassion from the viewer.
*I think the writers handled the ending very well. In the same screen shot they show the main couple both in the real world and the parallel world. In the real world Si-on's pregnant and the couple is overjoyed. In the parallel universe we see Si-on in a wheelchair in the presence of Jae-sang and their daughter. I guess it means Si-on has survived the hammer attack in the parallel world. Love the ending for both worlds and love that the cute little daughter also gets to play her part in the real world.
*I was a bit confused because Jae-sang and Si-on were exes in the real world and broke up a decade ago. But after the second switch, from the parallel universe to the real world again, something seems to have shifted in their initial relationship and nothing really indicates that they have had a romantic relationship. I guess they are still exes but Jae-sang now has the experience as a family man from the alternate reality and Si-on notices the positive shift in his personality, thus developing feelings for each other again.
*I had a serious bout of second male lead syndrome because I really like Kwak Si-yang (seen him in Flex X Cop) as Goo Dong-tae, the detective who's in love with Si-on. I felt for him because Si-on obviously didn't reciprocate his feelings and he was, like she said, such a good person. He took his loss bravely, and I was happy to see how in the epilogue he rescues a pretty girl from a robbery. Hope someone nice can heal his broken heart.
*Love how the Chief prosecutor Oh Seok-joon and Bang Young-suk from the Special Investigation Team eventually find romance.
*Fave moment: the family strut into the kindergarten in episode 14!
*Was the other universe a dream???