She's Different from Day to Night

Lee Jung-eun is indisputably the highlight of this show! She masterfully (and adorably) portrays a lady in her 50s acting like she's in her 20s. (She is known to international audiences for her roles in Bong Joon-ho's works like Parasite and Okja, which showcase the physicality in her acting. She boasts a prolific filmography and is wellknown to K-Drama fans for her supporting roles in Mr. Sunshine and When the Camellia Blooms.)

The show is a slice-of-life drama surrounding a prosecutor's office but, at its heart, is a slapstick comedy with a blend of romance and mystery. It explores themes of ageism, government bureaucracy, substance abuse, and social expectations.

The show shines with its lighthearted and humorous moments, but it features a darker storyline, the murder mystery, that has become quite common in K-drama comedies (e.g. Behind Your Touch). So, it's a whimsical blend of dichotomies and contrasts.

I couldn't help but be reminded of Kafka's Metamorphosis when considering the central premise of this show. The physical transformation provides an amusing but thoughtful commentary on ageism.

Don't watch this for realism. As with many K-Dramas, enjoy the rollercoaster ride filled with both humor and heart.

There are dozens of K shows on Netflix, maybe a couple of hundred, I am not sure. So out of that many, you really have to search for good ones, and that would be maybe 10% of the K shows out there. I would say this show is somewhere in the middle. It isn't horrible, but it is more mediocre than great.

Korean shows tend to have a lot of screaming in it. I don't know if that is a cultural thing as part of their comic sense, but I find that the more mediocre the show is, the more screaming is heard. In addition, there are a lot of flashbacks in Korean drama, A scene happens and then later on when a character thinks about that scene, you see that scene again, maybe 3 times. This show has more repetitive flashbacks than any other K show I have seen. This happens mostly because the conversations, romantic and otherwise, never get anywhere.

At first I thought that the mother in this was going to be abusive, I now particularly avoid the ones with abusive mothers which seem to be a theme in many of them. I saw some of that at the beginning of this show and it was a bit of a turn off but later on you see that the mom is ok. It isn't as bad as Something in the Rain (the worst K Drama writing that I have seen, so far).

Anyway, I don't like writing where the main characters make dumb choices, like in slasher movies. As crazy as it seems, at the beginning, all the young main character had to do was stand in front of her parents at dawn and they can watch what is happening to her, rather than all the avoidance nonsense. The main character as an almost thirty-something comes off as an idiot and even as a 50 year old, she often makes choices that are idiotic. Sometimes her thought processes and course of action makes you shake your head in frustration. Also, why is her older self constantly dancing around, can rock climb, and is so athletic...she doesn't seem to be like that in her youth. Her older self doesn't really seem like the same person as her younger self. A lot of it seems rather contrived and fake.

I found the early scenes with the prosecutor not very smart. When he calls her on the phone, why doesn't he just say that he is the guy that drove her to the police station, so the young lady doesn't think he is another scammer. That is typical in Korean drama, as an audience member, you scratch your head saying "Why doesn't he or she just tell her already!" The scene with the umbrella and the protesters was a bit much. What does the show want to be...slapstick, comedy, silly? The mix of silliness and the serious crime part is odd. I find the crime part much more interesting. This show is not an example of the great Korean series that are out there but it is not the worst either.

That being said, if you don't think too much and don't care that you are watching 16 episodes of people making dumb choices and watching tons of repetitive flashbacks, then it can also be very entertaining. Like most K shows, which can easily be accomplished in just 12 episodes, there is padding. The cat and mouse game goes on way too long. It is usually the last episodes when it starts to move along and head towards a happy ending.

This is supposed to be a rom com with a bit of supernatural and thriller thrown in. It ends up messy.

There are some funny bits but not enough to lift it. The idea of being one 50 year old in the day and then a 20 something at night just didnt work for me. Why she didnt tell her parents and get their support is strange.

The relationship was peculiar when and how did these two fall for each other was utterly confusing made worse by the disappearance at the end.

The cat ? What was that about? The killer being a woman was different but she was quite strong and determined and able to continue her spree for some time. Not feasible.

Yeah. Not sure about this one. If you want some easy mindless drama to watch and forget about when completed then this fits that category.

Miss Night and Day has some positives. First and foremost is Lee Jung-eun, who puts so much quirk and energy into playing the eldery version of the female lead-- Lee Mi-jin. The side characters have good chemistry with one another. Choi Jin-hyuk is decent as the male lead. The story contains plenty of hilarious double-life hijinks, wrapped up in a simple but engaging enough murder-mystery.

What ruins the show is the way Lee Mi-jin was written. While her character is meant to be a little air-headed, there were many times where she's stupid to the point of lunacy. The biggest example is her constant failures or refusals to reveal her double-life, even though doing so would basically solve all of her issues. But of course, that would means the end of the drama, so she constantly has to make the most illogical decisions to keep the secret going, despite it convoluting a ****serial killer investigation*** and almost getting her killed several times.

Jung Eun-ji's portrayal of Lee Mi-jin's younger self didn't help. She felt passionless and distant which really didn't match the energetic way Lee Jung-eun played her. Coupled with Choi Jin-hyuk, who's character is already written to be cold and distant, the two felt more like an estranged couple.

The premise is fun, I love a good fantasy K-Drama/Webtoon. The characters are all pretty well rounded and there's a couple of twists to keep things interesting.

However, the episodes are really hit and miss. One episode will be really gripping and the next will be mostly filler. I know 15/16 episodes seems to be K standard but it easily could've been made in 6-8 and been a tighter experience.

Big bane of mine: MISUNDERSTANDING TROPE

God, this series is so frustrating because of it. I can suspend my disbelief for a moment in order to create some interesting plot points but to have the characters continuously misinterpret each other and go back and fro all the time becomes very annoying by the end. Misunderstandings that could be sorted almost immediately turn into a three-episode affair.

This is the main reason I won't rate this higher. Because the main character (Sun) is absolutely amazing in this, the story is good (there's romance, fantasy, drama, crime and police stuff to keep you entertained), and the other characters are likeable. But otherwise it drags a lot in places.