Room No. 9 (2018)

I consider the acting performance in "Room No. 9" as it´s true highlight

Another KDrama about revenge? Not quite. Ok, it´s about injustice done in the past. Yet, it´s rather about the desire for official recognition of innocence, let alone the unjust verdict - as reconciliation with fate. Revenge is secondary. I would say, that is good news. The protagonist is more concerned with her own peace of mind than primarily with new suffering that she in turn has to inflict on her perpetrator. She doesn't want to keep turning the wheel of fate, she wants to stop it.

Yet once again, being stuck in the past is a driving force: in this case, the protagonist sits in prison awaiting execution - for decades. ----- SIDE NOTE: South Korea has in practice stopped using the death penalty, but all legislative initiatives to officially abolish the death penalty (most recently in 2019) have so far failed.

Dramaturgic maneuver with magical components: a body swap. The motif is not new to KDrama. Although the personalities in the body are now different, the bodies themselves still have their cellular memories plus the environment inevitably remembers the person originally owning this body. So there is lots of room for funny situations - although they are always solved humorously, they are not slipping into farce. The story is serious and touching, but also playfully told. Laughter is allowed. A teardrop here and there, too.

I consider the acting performance in "Room No. 9" as it´s true highlight: Kim Hee-sun and Kim Hae-sook manage brilliantly to unite the characteristic aura of the other and thus perfectly embody the switch. They are marvelous to watch. And it's a pleasure to see the experience in the body of the other person has a transforming effect becoming a new (cellular) memory...

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This isn’t a captivating sweet romance, it’s rather dark thriller, but it is worth watching because of an incredibly good and amazing acting. The main thought of the “Room no 9” is betrayal and it’s an original approach to the revenge drama theme.

We read in the synopsis that the heroines change their bodies. This idea doesn’t immediately have to inspire our trust, but really there is nothing cheesy here. This is the only beginning of discovering secrets and facing the truth. A greatly played and constructed thriller for all who like good written characters and an absorbing, unexpected story.

On the one hand, we have a thriller with a motive of betrayal and revenge and on the other, some lighter humorous scenes (with assistants), and even a completely unexpected announcement of a romance. The plot is entangled, the story turns back every moment, and the script doesn’t give any hint to what will happen next, really not a clue! And, of course, our hearts are broken many times of the betrayal. And Hae Yi says: All people dream of “always”, but only shards of memory exist in each moment. In regards to love there is no “always”.

An original scenario requires extraordinary skills from actors, and everyone did great job here. So we watch famous actors in unconventional roles. The two main actresses must both play cold witch Eulji Hae Yi and passive and naive Jang Hwa Sa. Kim Young Kwang (as fiancee) and Oh Dae Hwan (as detective) have probably never played such serious and mature characters before. This was a great opportunity to show their skills and also charm. And I have to say that I even prefer charming detective.
Even Lee Kyoung Young, who always plays morally corrupt chairman, here as Ki San is multidimensional and deep and he is fascinating!, his love to his son (played by Jung Jae Won) touches my heart.

Maybe there is no great song in the drama, but an instrumental music is really good.

It is a great adventure for everyone who loves thrillers, revenge drama with a bit funny moments. Sometimes a dark, criminal drama has no hope for humor, romance, warm and friendly relationship but not this one. We can be surprised and frightened of the story, but also consoled by the warm friendship and love.
Maybe someone doesn’t like the complicated plot or the idea of body changing – but still it has to be said: actors play very well and it is pleasure to watch their characters. Drama is strong and captivating from the start to the end. If you want to watch something good – try this, you will be not disappointed.

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All i have to say is that this is now my favorite kdrama. I can't recommend it enough.

You'll have characters that you'll love from the beginning, some that you'll hate and some that you'll have a love-hate relationship with.
I love how the characters develop through the entire drama. I have to admit i hated the female lead a little at the beginning, but the way she changed till the last episode fascinated me. I also love the relationship that bloomed between some characters and it is honestly better than any romantic relationship.

About the end, some characters had a happy end, some not so much. But i couldn't be happier with the ending that they gave us. I think everyone got the ending that they deserved. Of course there are some characters that deserved a little better but it was to be expected and given the circumstances, they couldn't get a better ending.

It's a great drama that will make you go through a lot of emotions in the shortest time possible. It's mysterious and captivating and i promise you, you won't regret watching it.

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Interesting premise. Stellar acting. Uneven writing.

From the start, the core mystery reels you in. You root for justice to be served and for the bad guys to get their comeuppance. The cast is great so that even when the story gets questionable at times, they’ll make you want to stick through til the end.

And there are certain parts where the writing is quite insightful, making the scenes exceptionally memorable and poignant. One example is in an early episode, when Jang Hwa Sa is trying all the food that are available on the menu.

Maybe if this were a slightly shorter drama (say, 12 or 14 episodes?) the writing would have been tighter.

My main complaint is there were several moments where I feel that the characters weren’t written solidly and they reacted to some situations in ways that don’t match how they were supposed to be. There were also plot developments that could have been avoided if the characters didn’t make frustratingly illogical decisions (like not moving out of the apartment!).

As for the romance, I think this is my first Kim Hee Sun drama where I don’t care for her leading man (the doctor) and was actively shipping her with someone else (the detective). A huge part of this is probably due to the way the doctor’s character was written. But I suspect that the inherent charm of Oh Dae Ewan (the actor playing the detective) contributed too.

Overall, I don’t regret watching this but I agree that there was a missing something and could have been better.

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Only Issue is the Female Lead

I really enjoyed this drama but I do have one complaint. It's obvious how we're meant to feel about Eulji Hae Yi (Kim Hee Sun) in the beginning, but even later on when we're supposed to believe that she's changed and grown as a person, I feel like she really has not. There were definitely times where I was almost praying that she would be stuck in that body, in prison for agessss.

I also don't feel like she's worthy of the male lead, by any stretch of the imagination. He was so nice and the only nice thing I can say about her is that AT BEST, she got a little less selfish.

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I saw a Korean movie that had similarities of people accidentally switching bodies and it was OK. Korean movies are usually OK in my opinion. I seen about three and it was like a meh for me which is why I prefer the 16+ series instead of a two hour movie.

I liked this one. I almost gave it a pass because the first episode dragged a bit for me but luckily it picked up throughout the rest. It held a steady pace and that's what made it work.

I just have to digress for a moment. Even though I never stepped foot outside the US-Canada and Ensenada Mexico don't count-I have to remember if I ever get a chance to visit Korea to not ever get hurt where I would end up in one of their hospitals. Their security is horrible.

Now back to the series. I always cringe with female Korean actors but I didn't with this series. All of the females portrayed in this series was strong and played their characters well. Even if they were a**holes I still loved the talent they added to the series.

There were a lot of scenarios in this series but a few didn't give the closure I was looking for. In all of the scenarios three were just left dangling in the air and I wanted closure on those.

I liked the aspect of how this was written. It opened my eyes a bit. I'm all for revenge but sometimes if you kill a person with kindness the results will tend to be better than being truly evil.

Again I rely on full closures at the end of the last episode and I will say I gave it a 80% satisfactory rate. This is a lot more than what I usually give last episodes of series I've watched.

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Enjoy the show

Would never thought this drama is good but they are some scenes arent important and boring or too dragging part scenes overall the drama is good to watch and you enjoy it?
There are some scenes and its impossible in real situations in cleaning his own car in his house in his own garage its a funny thing he cant afford to go in some car garage shop or cleaning shop car garage or he doesnt have private assistant to clean of his own car and the son of owner whle he's escaping scene jump of the police cars
in reality you cant jump motorcycle in that situations if you do that in real life and you cant survive that crash motorcycle in jumping of the police cars and your life will be 50/50 or worst case scenario death?
Lastly, while he lie down in bed in the hospital by being paralyzed you cant shout as nothing happens cause your blood pressure high and could be dangerous to your health & body and one thing your in the private hospital not in public place!!!

Wish there will be another season of this drama?
or another chapter and new challenge and new villains where she is married now, pregnant or raise a baby or child she will switch back again to another person body or return to her body back again in the finale!!!

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