Our fantasy tale of double identities and secret investigations has come to an end. It might have unfolded differently from what we had in mind. But it still had its good moments.
Giving us a belated happy ending and a parting message to cherish our youth, and not take it for granted, the show ends its run on a positive note that leaves us a bit satisfied yet wondering about what could have been if the show focused on what it did best and toned down one certain plot line that took much focus but was the least appealing.
- Main Leads: Choi Jin-hyuk | Jung Eun-ji | Lee Jung-eun
- Addictive Meter: 3 stars
- Overall Rating: 3 stars
- Rewatch Value: 3 stars
- K-Dramas of Similar Vibe: The Beauty Inside | Perfume | Behind Your Touch |
Bunny S. watches Miss Night and Day on Netflix
K-DRAMA FIRST LOOK: “Miss Night and Day” Charms With Dual Identity Dilemma Story
Miss Night and Day Series Quick Recap
Lee Mi-jin, a job seeker in her late twenties, suddenly finds herself trapped in the body of a middle-aged woman. That body swap is only during the day, though. As soon as the sun sets, Mi-jin returns to her original body. Luckily, Mi-jin’s extraordinary condition comes back with some perks, landing her a job at the prosecutors’ office where she gets to work closely with our male lead, Gye Ji-woong, a righteous prosecutor who hides his painful past behind a cold exterior.
Miss Night and Day Series Highlights and Musings
Diving into the show, I expected some hilarious antics and shenanigans revolving around our heroine’s body-swapping dilemma, The Beauty Inside, and Perfume style. Yet the drama we got felt more like Behind Your Touch (an investigative drama with a side of fantasy and some sprinkled comedy) yet with more focus on the serial murders plotline.
The mix of genres aside, the drama mostly leaned towards misdirection and red herrings while exploring the case. For instance, the premiere had us believing Ji-woong’s mother’s body was found only to learn later that she went missing, and no one knows if she is alive or not. That theme extended to the killer’s identity, too. We kept suspecting one certain person, only to learn later that not only are they innocent, but also they are another victim. Still, I won’t complain much about the killer’s identity since at least this revelation didn’t come out of the left field.
Likewise, I won’t nitpick over how reckless Mi-jin was, throwing caution into the wind and going by herself to see the killer. And I will just get behind that the killer stopped short of killing Mi-jin because they hallucinated about Mi-jin’s aunt, who they had already murdered 20 years ago. If the drama wants to convey that Mi-jin and her aunt shared a deep bond and even if after death Mi-jin’s aunt still protected her dear niece, I will just buy it. At least we got rid of the killer and can finally relish in the barely existing romance.
Before we can reach a happy ending for our leads, though, we have another hurdle to tackle, revealing to Ji-woong that Soon and Mi-jin are the same person. Wait a minute. He already knew it, but not because our prosecutor was observant enough to figure it out on his own, but because he watched Mi-jin transform into Soon in person.
Walking down the noble idiocy path, Mi-jin decides the best way to take responsibility for living under her aunt’s name and fooling Ji-woong is to break up with him. Way to go! As if waiting for as many as 12 episodes for the OTP to get together wasn’t enough, now we get hit by a separation and time skip.
Without giving us any proper answers, the body-swapping ends with Soon bidding farewell to Mi-jin and telling her not to waste her youth and do everything she wants to do. This is a great message and all, but this came a bit too late, or perhaps the heavy focus on the serial murders arc just eclipsed the other plotlines despite being the least appealing thing in the show.
With this, Soon disappears and Mi-jin returns to her normal life. Initially, it was Mi-jin’s mother who pushed her into becoming a civil servant. However, after working closely with Ji-woong and investigating cases together, Mi-jin figured out that this line of work was what she truly wanted to do. Six months later, Mi-jin passes the exam and gets a job at the prosecutors’ office. Yeah, the same one Ji-woong works at. And after a little push and pull and a lovely cameo by Park Yoon, our leads get back together, and off they are to their happily ever after.
All in all, Miss Night and Day wasn’t a bad show. It just tried to juggle up many things and couldn’t deliver on what it promised. Also, it might have been better to give the audience a heads-up about what kind of story it set out to tell. You can’t promise us a light rom-com and give us a serial killer on the run.
Serial killers rearing their ugly heads in romcoms is nothing new though I hope this trend will disappear forever. But while I appreciate how that plot line gave our leads a connection in terms of both having lost a dear family member, the immense time and focus allocated to it could have been better used for a better development of our leads’ relationship or Mi-jin’s character growth. But what can I say?
The one who stole this show for me was Lee Jung Eun. Actress-nim was killing it every time she was on screen. And her scenes with Go Won were far more interesting than Ji-woong and Mi-jin’s supposedly romantic moments. Also, despite having limited screen time, the secondary romance featuring Mi-jin’s best friend and the investigator shined and had us rooting for them. I am sorry Choi Jin-hyuk and Jung Eun-ji but if the story drags out misunderstandings and postpones the romance for too long, it will backfire.
Photos and Videos: JTBC Drama
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