[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Someone Noticeable" Episodes 4-7

The other Jin-yeong (played by Lee Won-keun) is the newest employee under An's discretion. He also coincidentally has the exact same name as her departed ex-boyfriend, which frequently stirs up memories as, when in an altered state of mind, An can briefly forget that her boyfriend is dead. Through these trials and tribulations more memories pop up, as An remembers that awful thing she accidentally did to Jin-yeong while he had military service, that time she upset him by going on a blind date as a favor to a friend, when he helped her move in, and when she taught him to drive.

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"Someone Noticeable" gives up on acting like An is going to unlock the phone any time soon. I mean, obviously we know that's not going to happen because it's a ten episode drama and unlocking the phone, if it happens at all, will likely happen at the climax. But from An's point of view, this sense of disinterest is a surprisingly good match for an increasingly ambiguous situation.

The fact of the matter is, An has already gone through all of her major memories of Jin-yeong. The stories we see her, while cute and sad in the way they explore the bond An and Jin-yeong had, are simply not all that relevant in the long run. The first kiss, the first I love you, the first date, the first meeting- these events have obvious emotional significance. Everything else is just a normal memory.

This is nothing to be dismissive about. An is clearly feeling overwhelmed by just how many of these memories she has, and how there won't be any obvious cause to recall them once the phone has either been locked or unlocked. One of the flashbacks doesn't even give a clue for what the password might be. An still panics nonetheless when one of her guesses is wasted because...because...

...Well, because she's just not ready yet. Note how the other Jin-yeong, thematic identical name purpose notwithstanding, is also an obvious love interest for An. It's not clear she's had any other boyfriends besides the first Jin-yeong. Maybe An didn't want any, focused as she was on her work. In any case we're going to need much darker memories than anything we've seen so far to really understand this relationship. I think that's what An is dreading. That there won't be any closure unless she takes a serious look at why they broke up.

Review by William Schwartz

"Someone Noticeable" is directed by Lim Hyeon-wook, written by Yoon I-na-I, and features Choi Soo-young, Lee Won-keun, Shim Hee-sub and Jeon Hye-jin.