If there is a silver lining to Hyde, Jekyll, Me, the drama writing is doing a damn good job of making me unable to find it, find the hope that it will somehow get its act together. The likelihood of something clicking so late in the game is slim, I know that, but for the love of Hyun Bin I’ve been holding onto that pipe dream this whole time. Episode 14 beat my pipe dream to death and then kicked it for good measure. The drama can go ahead and fill in the “Me” in Hyde, Jekyll, Me with the name Yoon Tae Joo, aka Lee Soo Hyun. Sung Joon is making up for his minimal screentime in the first half of the drama by taking over the second half thus far.

If my wish for less Ha Na means the drama becomes the Yoon Tae Joo story then I take it back, more Ha Na at least keeps the story on the Seo Jin/Robin’s DID. For a drama centered around the male lead’s DID, the last few episodes have been ALL about Tae Joo’s betrayal, revenge, and increasing obsession with Seo Jin regardless of whatever new information he gets that counters his so-called truth. Third personality Terry is basically a blip of a plot device, and even Seo Jin and Robin have nothing to do other than try and catch Soo Hyun while trading off time with Ha Na. The cops of this story continue to outdo their incompetence, this time letting Tae Joo escape right in front of them. I’m putting my money on Professor Kang to get re-re-kidnapped soon and turn this lame excuse of a drama into the theater of the absurd.

Episode 14 recap:

After three minutes of scenes from the end of the last episode, finally we get to the point as Seo Jin pretending to be Robin rings Tae Joo’s doorbell and is let inside. For a criminal mastermind who has endless tricks up his sleeve to elude capture, Tae Joo sure is easy to fool with the Seo Jin-Robin switcheroo.

Tae Joo sits Seo Jin down and goes to grab them a drink. Seo Jin looks around and takes note of a picture of Tae Joo posing with Professor Kang on the desk. Tae Joo returns with drinks and cuts straight to the chase to ask about Robin regaining memories of Seo Jin’s kidnapping. Seo Jin discusses the kidnapping as the reason for Robin being created but is something Seo Jin never discusses with him.

Tae Joo suggests Seo Jin doesn’t want to think about the painful memory despite never forgetting it. Tae Joo believes Seo Jin being kidnapped again could have triggered the memory and now Seo Jin is transferring the painful memory to Robin. Seo Jin smoothly brings up being unsure whether the memory is painful or not and Tae Joo bites, offering to hypnotize Robin to recover the full memory and understand it.

Tae Joo starts to hypnotize Seo Jin and believes he’s done so successfully. Tae Joo brings Seo Jin back to the day of the kidnapping and hears Seo Jin is waiting outside the Ghost House for his friend who asked to meet there. When Soo Hyun arrives, Seo Jin goes inside with him and they are subsequently kidnapped.

Tae Joo clucks at Seo Jin for remembering wrong – Seo Jin was grabbed while Soo Hyun tried to save him but was beaten up by the kidnapper. Tae Joo says the memories are already different starting from that point, and the reason he knows this is because he is Seo Jin’s friend Lee Soo Hyun. The cops listening in have the confirmation they need and proceed to rush to the apartment to apprehend Tae Joo.

Tae Joo continues that he wanted to see Seo Jin because he was so angry about what happened, and now he’s finally got the chance but why is he facing Robin, the one that Seo Jin always hides behind. Seo Jin suddenly says “Soo Hyun-ah” and opens his eyes, revealing that he’s not been hypnotized this whole time and is in fact Seo Jin and not Robin.

The cops rush up to the apartment and rings the doorbell. AHAHAHA, so much fail. Seo Jin tells Tae Joo that the cops are outside and this entire conversation has been listened in on. Tae Joo claims it’s not over yet but pauses at the sound of cops pounding on the door for him to open up. Seo Jin urges Tae Joo to give up now and use this last chance to talk with him. The cops outside realize the door ain’t opening and call 119 to summon more help to smash the door down. This is soooo beyond stupid.

Seo Jin says he is sincere to come here and face Tae Joo, but it’s not to apologize or accept and apologize. He is here so they can resolve things and finally understand the full truth and the reason why two boys lives were ruined that day. Seo Jin turns off his wiretap to privately talk with Tae Joo. He knows Tae Joo did not purposely summon him that day but he is certain that Tae Joo’s dad was an accomplice of the kidnapper.

Tae Joo refuses to believe that, or accept that Seo Jin is also a victim. Seo Jin ran away that day and didn’t lost anything because of what happened. Tae Joo claims his dad never abandoned him while Seo Jin’s dad abandoned him. Seo Jin insists they were just children abandoned by both their fathers and they need to accept that, and understand both survived into adulthood. They still have their lives ahead of them.

Tae Joo claims Seo Jin’s memory of the kidnapping is not trustworthy and he could have created this lie to avoid the truth that he abandoned Tae Joo. Seo Jin doesn’t know if his memory is true or not but he wants to confirm it now. Tae Joo hears more cops pounding on the door and tells Seo Jin that Professor Kang is here. Seo Jin runs into the hidden room to untie Professor Kang.

Tae Joo slams the front door open and all the cops outside fall like dominoes, allowing Tae Joo to escape. Tae Joo runs down the stairs with the cops chasing from all directions. Tae Joo gets into the elevator in a middle level and takes it all the way down to the garage. The elevator door opens and Tae Joo is surrounded by cops pointing a gun at him.

Tae Joo holds his hands up with his cellphone in hand and starts playing a song, the very song he used to hypnotize all the cops at the precinct earlier. He makes all the cops freeze and waltzes right past them, getting on his motorcycle and zooming away from the building. The cops are chastened to realize that they were hypnotized and couldn’t even move a hand to stop Tae Joo from escaping.

Ha Na rushes up to Tae Joo’s apartment and finds the paramedics wheeling Professor Kang out. Seo Jin walks up to her and gets the twenty one questions about his wellbeing. Seo Jin just pulls Ha Na in for a hug instead.

The detective runs in to deliver the bad news that Tae Joo escaped, but claims there is an APB out to capture him. Seung Yun also runs in just to get some screentime, blathering on about how he totally should have suspected that Yoon Tae Joo was Lee Soo Hyun.

Seo Jin sits with Professor Kang in the hospital where she feels really crappy about her misdiagnosis, thinking that Soo Hyun and Seo Jin could mutually heal each other. Professor Kang has confirmed that, like Seo Jin, Tae Joo has chosen to forget certain painful memories of the past. Those memories led to Seo Jin’s DID but with Tae Joo it turned him vengeful and angry. Professor Kang thinks it’s too late even if Tae Joo accepts the real truth since he’s already gone down the wrong path.

Professor Kang is worried that Tae Joo still has another avenue left to attack Seo Jin and he needs to prevent that from happening. Ha Na walks in to greet Professor Kang who thanks her for trying so hard to help find her. She also thanks Ha Na for being by Seo Jin’s side this whole time.

Chairman Goo is told that Professor Kang has been rescued and the real culprit is Professor Yoon Tae Joo, who is actually Lee Soo Hyun. He is also told that Seo Jin didn’t disappear and was lying to everyone about being Robin. Young Chan is super happy that Seo Jin didn’t disappear and urges Chairman Goo to not send Seo Jin overseas for treatment.

Seo Jin and Ha Na return home together and she stops to discuss what just happened. For once she actually understands how Seo Jin feels. She trusted Tae Joo this whole time and to learn that he was lying all along makes her feel like she can’t trust anyone. Yet Seo Jin had to deal with that betrayal from his own father, and his good friend, and also that friend’s dad. She compliments Seo Jin on doing well this whole time.

Seo Jin just smiles in his little way before pulling Ha Na behind him to head to the lair together. Ha Na wonders why he is hesitating to record a message to Robin but it’s just Seo Jin having a hard time coming around to one day having someone with him when he records a message to Robin. Seo Jin starts recording to tell Robin that he has confirmed Tae Joo is Lee Soo Hyun and rescued Professor Kang. He thanks Robin for everything he did to help.

Robin wakes up and goes to check on Ha Na. He knocks and hears no reply so walks into to find Ha Na passed out from exhaustion. Robin takes Ha Na’s hand and notices she seems distressed even in sleep. He pats her on the arm and keeps watch over her as she sleeps.

Tae Joo is brooding alone while replaying Seo Jin’s words that his own father was an accomplice to the kidnapper and both of them were abandoned by their fathers. He refuses to believe that he’s the same as Seo Jin.

The news is broadcasting a manhunt for the real Lee Soo Hyun. Woo Jung watches the news with her dad and both are so worried about Robin. Eun Chang takes the phone from Woo Jung and leaves a message for Robin to call back since everyone is worried about him.

The cops hold a meeting to analyze Tae Joo’s case file, finding that he was adopted overseas and became a psychiatry student under Professor Kang. It was there that he started plotting his revenge against Seo Jin. Over the years he’s been doing daily searches on Seo Jin’s life to keep tabs on him. Tae Joo doesn’t have any friends and the cops are keeping an eye on his residences. For now they need to keep Seo Jin and Ha Na safe as well as keep an eye on the kidnapper suspect who is in the hospital after getting beaten up in jail.

The cops guarding the kidnapping suspect get a call to be on the lookout for Tae Joo. We see Tae Joo walking into the hospital with just a face mask on. The cops question a medic coming to bring the kidnapper in for a CT scan and ask him to pull down his mask. The medic is not Tae Joo so the cops allow him to take the kidnapper away.

Tae Joo wheels the kidnapper out under a blanket claiming he was given a shot to rest. After the cops take the kidnapper away, we see that Tae Joo has stashed the real kidnapper inside and has successfully snatched him. Tae Joo tells the kidnapper that he may think he could spend his life in jail to atone but that’s not enough.

The cops are told that Tae Joo snatched the kidnapper from the hospital and think he’s been hypnotizing more people. They discuss whether they should quit their cop jobs for incompetence and decide to go all the way and capture Tae Joo rather than give up.

The cops call to inform Seo Jin that the kidnapper has been taken as well by Tae Joo. They want to assign a cop detail to protect Seo Jin but he declines since he has his own bodyguards. Talk turns to protecting Ha Na and Seo Jin reveals that she lives with him so is safely protected as well. Seo Jin promises to not leave the house for the time being until the danger is gone.

Seo Jin goes to see Ha Na and finds her sick as a dog in bed. He goes downstairs and asks Young Chan’s help in preparing some items for her. Seo Jin makes her a care tray with hot tea, porridge, and medicine and carries it up to her room where he finds her awake now.

Seo Jin sets the tray down and asks if she wants to see a doctor. Ha Na doesn’t want to see a doctor so Seo Jin feeds her some medicine and takes her temperature. He then wipes her face with a wet cloth before handing her a hot pack, reminding her that she did the same to take care of him before. Ha Na just silently stares at Seo Jin the whole time. Seo Jin apologizes for not realizing how tense she was yesterday and could likely get sick. He should have looked out for her more.

Ha Na’s phone rings from Eun Chang calling so Seo Jin answers instead. He tells Eun Chang that Ha Na can’t go to work for the next few days. Seo Jin explains to Ha Na that neither of them can go to work because Tae Joo has kidnapped the kidnapper so both of them are in even more danger. Seo Jin doesn’t mind as he wants to slowly, one by one, do all the things he’s been wanting to do all these years. Ha Na has a vague memory of last night when Robin came to take care of her but doesn’t say anything about it to Seo Jin.

Smarty pants Seo Jin goes down to the lair and watches the surveillance footage, clocking the time Robin spent inside Ha Na’s room last night. He realizes Robin spent the entire night inside Ha Na’s room but stops himself from getting upset, instead telling himself that he did well. Seo Jin then records a message to Robin that Ha Na is sick.

Robin watches the video message and rushes to Ha Na’s room to find her still curled up in bed. Ha Na tells Robin that Seo Jin got her medicine and porridge already but Robin thinks that’s not nearly enough. He calls Young Chan to bring him some more groceries.

Ha Na comes downstairs and finds Robin in the kitchen grabbing items from the fridge. She wonders if Seo Jin told Robin she was sick? Robin lays down the first rule between them, when Ha Na is with Robin she is not allowed to mention Seo Jin. The second rule is that the nighttime 12 hours belongs to Robin, so he doesn’t care if Ha Na sleeps less or makes up the sleep during the day, but he wants her to focus all her attention on him during their time together. What the fuck?

Finally the third rule is that Robin hasn’t agreed to what Ha Na wants (to take care of both guys), so she can’t just gloss over it. But he’ll wait to hear what her answer is when she has decided. Ha Na backhugs Robin to thank him for last night when he came to take care of her. She feels so exhausted since coming to Korea, with multiple brushes with death and so much drama. She thinks both of them need to get some much needed rest now.

Robin pulls Ha Na down to his room where they curl up on the couch to read comic books and unwind. Robin wonders if Ha Na is wearing perfume because she smells so nice. They smile at each other.

Abrupt cut to a dark warehouse where Tae Joo has the kidnapper tied up to interrogate him. The kidnapper remembers the fake Lee Soo Hyun beating him up in prison for saying his father was an accomplice. He gets so scared he lies to Tae Joo that his dad was not an accomplice. Tae Joo confirms multiple times that his dad was not an accomplice and not involved in the kidnapping. Tae Joo calls Seo Jin a bastard, believing that he’s lied yet again.

Tae Joo buys some first aid items to patch up the kidnapper, telling the guy not to be scared as Tae Joo isn’t going to kill him yet. They have more things to do still. Tae Joo’s movements are tracked by cops as he moves around the country headed South to Busan. The cops have sent a detective to Busan to check on the lead.

Seo Jin gets a call from Young Chan with an update that the cops believe Tae Joo has headed to Busan. He then finds the fridge packed with items and hears that Robin asked Young Chan to buy more groceries. Seo Jin goes to watch the surveillance video and sees Robin and Ha Na happily enjoying dinner. Seo Jin’s hand clenches when he sees Ha Na is smiling broadly at Robin. Young Chan gets in to his to drive over to Seo Jin’s place. He pauses to look in the backseat but finds nothing weird. Ha Na gets a text from Seo Jin inviting her to dine together.

Ha Na walks downstairs and finds Seo Jin sitting at the dining table already. Seo Jin invites Ha Na to sit down and she wonders if he’s doing this because Robin made her dinner last night. Seo Jin claims that’s not the reason, he just wanted to have dinner with her.

Seo Jin brings up how Ha Na felt like she was in a dream after hearing about Seo Jin’s condition. That’s what it feels like for Seo Jin, the time that he spends with Ha Na when he’s Robin is like a dream that Seo Jin can’t remember afterwards. But Ha Na knows, she knows what he did in that dream so he wants to know it as well. He wants to know what he says to her when he’s Robin, how he makes her smile and how he loves her.

Suddenly the lights in the entire house go dark and we see Young Chan’s car with the trunk open. Tae Joo walks right up behind Ha Na and Seo Jin’s eyes widen to see him. Tae Joo muffles Ha Na’s scream with his hands and asks Seo Jin “You and I, we still have a truth to uncover together, don’t we?”

Thoughts of Mine:

This drama is just wack. It’s as wack as crack is wack, but doesn’t even offer a temporary high to justify the later pain and suffering. As the events unfold onscreen, I watch in a state of complete confusion, like someone trying to say a foreign language really really slowly and thinking I would understand it. This is like no semblance of drama storytelling I’ve ever seen, even hot messes didn’t quite reach this level of everything going to hell in a Tae Joo handbasket. I actually like Tae Joo and his brand of bitter victimhood, but enough is enough with milking that angry cow because the milk is all sour now. His emotional anger is NOT the central premise of this drama but has become that, at the expense of Seo Jin’s DID. The entire drama revolves around his shenanigans in outwitting the stupidest cops since the squad from Naked Gun. At least the drama realizes it when the detectives actually talked about quitting due to failing this epically to catch one raging psychiatrist. Tae Joo’s criminal expertise simply has to be accepted to allow him to remain scot free so his story line can keep going forward.

The face-off scene between Seo Jin and Tae Joo in his apartment was fantastic because it was needed and important, too bad it came 4 episodes too late and ended with nothing much to show other than finally rescuing Professor Kang. She’s run her course for this story, done enough to try and cure Seo Jin and help counsel Tae Joo, it’s time she got to lay in a real bed. Hilariously enough, Ha Na also spent most of the episode in bed, running the duration of Robin to Seo Jin to Robin again. One wonders if Han Ji Min refused to get up to act so they just made Ha Na tired and then sick. Smart move. Maybe Tae Joo’s taking over the drama is also Hyun Bin saying suck it to the writer and she has to lean on the second male lead to carry the show because her two leads have sorta quit. So has the circus, gone completely with only Eun Chang around, and he’s now a café barista/lap dog to Woo Jung. So has the Wonder Land backdrop, or any tension with Seo Jin’s future in taking over Wonder Group with his current medical condition. Cousin Seung Yun actually had one scene that was for no purpose other than to give him a scene this episode.

Ha Na’s feelings for both Robin and Seo Jin continue to frustrate me, and ought to frustrate both men more. Robin is sorta annoyed but his approach is just to forbid Ha Na from bringing up Seo Jin in front of him. More avoidance tactics eh, Robin? Seo Jin is trying to hard in his own way, which is about the pace of a grumpy snail, and has as much sizzle as frying an eye on a cold sidewalk. Forget bemoaning the leading lady’s somnolent acting or lack of chemistry, the entire romance in this drama is the sad pits. Half eaten core that is Robin ordering Ha Na to be faithful to him when he really is borrowing Seo Jin’s body himself, and the center seed that is Seo Jin’s dry brittle interactions with Ha Na. He’s trying but she’s not responding in any meaningful way so far. If their dinner date was going to be a breakthrough, sadly not much is likely to happen with Tae Joo cockblocking again with his “ME ME ME, IT’S ALL ABOUT ME” rampage. Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine this drama is something entirely different and even what I make up sounds better than this professional hack job. One can only dread what’s forthcoming to resolve Seo Jin’s DID. Maybe the writer really will have Ha Na be shared by both guys forever. If this was a sitcom then that could be an interesting premise for laughs.

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