The Light In Your Eyes is a whimsical reminder to live beautiful days.
It is a trip down memory lane that left its viewers in tears as they reminisce their own happy memories.
- Main Leads:bKim Hye Ja | Han Ji Min | Nam Joo Hyuk
- Addictive Meter:
- Overall Rating:
- Rewatch Value:
- Dramas of Similar Vibe: A Thousand Days Promise | Remember | Bubblegum | Oh My Geum Bi | Navillera |
The Light In Your Eyes Quick Recap
Hye Ja is an aspiring anchorwoman whose life gets derailed when she turns into an old woman. Her budding romance with Lee Joon Ha is cut short because of her transformation. Meanwhile, Joon Ha is dealing with his own frustrations with his dreams of being a reporter. He trudges through life lonely until he meets Hye Ja.
As an elderly woman, Hye Ja still looks after Joon Ha despite his annoyance at her. They both mourn the missed opportunity for a romance, but slowly develop a friendship as they bond with each other.
As she learns to deal with her transformation, her family and friends also learn to accept her for what she now is. Hye Ja and her family understand the importance of accepting one another’s shortcomings and differences.
The Light In Your Eyes Series Highlights
Loving every minute of the series does not happen, but it certainly lingers owing to the melancholia and uplifting nudge in realizing how life can be fleeting.
Aging Happens to Everyone
The Light In Your Eyes did not romanticize getting old. It was more of an in-your-face approach to the realities of getting advanced in years. Eventually, we all grow old and we should not have regrets by then. Hye Ja had so many “if onlys” because she felt that aging literally sneaked up on her.
That being said, it reminds viewers how time is fleeting, not for ourselves, but for our elderly family members. It opened up new insights as to how they might feel to be an inconvenience to others. I recall how Hye Ja felt that she was a burden to her younger friends and chose to be left behind at first. This underlines that acceptance and understanding go hand in hand with patience for our elderly parents.
Strong Story Line & Clever Plot Twist
The Light In Your Eyes did not rely on romantic cutesy moments for it to gain its high rating. In fact, those moments were quite few and far in between. Instead, it banked on a solid storyline and that clever plot twist near the end. It also highlighted the friendship that Hye Ja had with her two other friends.
How that twist caught the audience off guard! Never in a million years would we had suspected that plot twist. All along, Hye Ja was actually really old and almost the entire drama was based on her illness. Honestly, that was clever writing right there.
It added depth to the drama as well as provided new insights into previous scenes. Now I want to rewatch the drama just to see what actually happened in real life. But most of that would be for the drawbacks.
Lastly, the police officer’s angle of the story was very neatly incorporated into the plot. His fear of their doctor/Joon Ha must have stemmed from his guilt over what might have happened when Joon Ha was imprisoned.
Added to the watch thievery of course. But I’m glad that part of the story was explained well. Hye Ja granting him forgiveness was a touching and pivotal scene to her release of heartache over the watch all these years.
Superb Portrayals
Pitted against veteran actors, Nam Joo Hyuk did well and kept his acting at par with the rest. His scene with Han Ji Min when she visited him in jail literally broke my heart.
Nam had anguish written all over his face the whole time. He wore loneliness on his sleeve and made the viewers ache because of how lonely he was. He had so many shining moments in this drama where he struggled with despair. But he did it so beautifully and tastefully that the viewers’ hearts broke with his.
Kim Hye Ja had a light in her eyes. In my opinion, this drama was made for her. Her presence had such a healing feel to it that it’s no wonder the cast was all drawn to her during filming. She acted as both elderly and young Hye Ja perfectly.
She had a spring in her step and youthfulness in her mannerisms when she thought she was young Hye Ja. But at the end of the drama, she captured an ailing and near-death spirit so perfectly that I felt like weeping as I anticipated her loss.
The Light In Your Eyes Series Musings
Speaking of drawbacks, what we can faintly gripe about was that the plot twist failed to explain so many scenes. Maybe we’re nitpicking, but we need to know what really happened to Chanel. Was she also a patient in the hospital? What about her relationship with Joon Ha? How did that figure into reality since Joon Ha was actually their doctor?
And speaking of Joon Ha, what about his grandmother? Did she exist in the past too? What really happened during all those times they ate in the noodle house together? Did that actually happen? Or were those part of her happy memories that happened when they were young?
Next, what really happened to Joon Ha in prison? Did he die of pneumonia or was he killed by the police officer who stole the watch? I still have so many questions. Not that any of these is vital to the development of the story, these are just my musings. Whether or not they were answered is immaterial.
In the drama, Han Ji Min’s acting was just ok. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t stellar as well. Although she had the fewest scenes, she still had the most important moments in the drama. Her acting was something I’ve seen in her previous dramas – without the much-added depth of flavor to it.
If you’re looking for a romantic drama, then this isn’t for you. However, if you want to be healed and appreciate life for its ordinary and fleeting moments, I invite you to watch this.
It’s such a short drama, but it’s packed with shining moments and life lessons. The cast jived well together and produced a certified tearjerker interspersed with occasional comedy care of Young Soo and Hyun Joo.
The Light In Your Eyes is dazzling in its ordinariness. It shone a light on fleeting happy moments and has inspired us to do the same.
Photos: JTBC Drama
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