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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Hello Monster" Episode 7

The first two mysteries in "Hello Monster" didn't have much of an emotional catharsis, but that's not an option this time. As Hyeon himself admits in narration, his involvement in this case isn't a matter of curiousity or justice. Hyeon sees himself as the accused murderer, and is completely unwilling to acknowledge the prospect that biology is destiny. It's for this reason that Hyeon keeps making missteps. His deductive mind is as powerful as ever, but Hyeon wants a specific conclusion. And more importantly, he's admitted that to himself.

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It's a fascinating turnabout for Hyeon's character. I can't quite recall the last time I saw a procedural mystery-of-the-week format tie in so well and so directly to actual character development. Hyeon is constantly uncooperative so these are the stakes that are needed to get him to open up about himself. In a more traditional format, the romance with Ji-an would get Hyeon to open up- but mutual attraction isn't strong enough to overcome his personality.

The hilarious part is that if Ji-an acted more like a normal love interest, Hyeon would probably lose interest straightaway. But it's precisely because Ji-an is so consistently annoying that Hyeon can't dismiss her. Ji-an's entire date idea appears to be some sort of elaborate plan deliberately designed to pester him. That's the beauty of it, though. The fact that Ji-an wants to pester Hyeon means that she cares enough about him to put effort into it. The wrong kind of effort, obviously, but effort nonetheless.

Back to the mystery, another fairly interesting that "Hello Monster" does is note how perceptions are important. In this case and in the past incident, biological determinism appeared to be borne out by objective evidence. The problem is, this evidence wasn't quite as objective as it looked- when people look at information with a certain conclusion in mind, they tend to filter out alternative interpretations. This unwillingness to adhere to reality has tragic consequences- both in dramas and in real life.

The intellectual material in "Hello Monster" is quite strong- although beyond that I'd like to take a moment to praise the camerawork. Take a look at the shot when Ji-an meets Hyeon on her bicycle. That is an absolutely beautiful, wonderful shot. The kind that makes me wonder how they could have possibly found that shooting. More consistently good work from the production team in a very well-crafted production.

Review by William Schwartz

"Hello Monster" is directed by Kim Jin-won-I and No Sang-hoon, written by Kwon Ki-yeong and features Seo In-guk, Jang Nara, Choi Won-young, Lee Chun-hee, Park Bo-gum, Min Sung-wook and more.

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