bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Pierce Conran

This article contains spoilers.
3/5 stars
Lead cast: Jung Eun-ji, Lee Jung-eun, Choi Jin-hyuk
Latest Nielsen rating: 11.7 per cent
The narrative of the newly concluded K-drama hit Miss Night and Day in some ways called to mind Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic horror tale The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
On the one hand, there was the daily transformation of the down-on-her-luck jobseeker Lee Mi-jin (Jung Eun-ji, Work Later, Drink Now) into the middle-aged Lim Sun (Lee Jung-eun, Parasite) every time the sun poked its head over the horizon.


However, despite their different appearances, Mi-jin and Sun are exactly the same person – their behaviour does not change.
The show’s Jekyll and Hyde aspect was the seesawing between its lighter workplace drama, romantic comedy and family elements and its darker serial killer investigation tropes.
In Stevenson’s classic horror fable, the gentle Jekyll’s sudden transformation starts off as manageable but later becomes chaotic, as the manic Hyde begins to take over.
Miss Night and Day introduced the mystery of a series of present-day murders and past disappearances early on. When Mi-jin was young, her beloved aunt Lim Sun – whose name she borrows for her alter ago – disappeared without a trace.

Meanwhile, Mi-jin’s romantic interest Gye Ji-ung (Choi Jin-hyun, Mr. Queen), who is also Sun’s boss, is investigating a series of disappearances, including Lim Sun’s, and believes that they are connected to recent crimes.
For much of the series, this investigation took place on the sidelines, with the centrefield action squarely focused on the show’s lighter attributes.
However, there is a hint early on that Mi-jin’s transformation is connected to Lim Sun’s disappearance. Indeed, we soon learn that Mi-jin’s daytime alter ego looks the way her aunt would look were she alive today.
Thus an escalation of the show’s serial killer investigation was inevitable. However, just like Mr Hyde, once it took over the show was unable to keep it in check.

The prominence of Sun’s senior colleagues at the Seohan District Prosecutors’ Office in the drama, even after she is promoted to become Ji-ung’s assistant and has limited contact with them, suggested that they would have a meaningful part to play in the story’s background mystery.
Retired hospital director Baek Chul-kyu (Jung Jae-sung) joins their ranks after a few episodes, but he is so suspicious that he quickly sticks out as a red herring. He goes so far as to kidnap Sun, and we soon learn that his wife was a victim of the killer.
The true killer is revealed to be Na Ok-hui, and voracious K-drama fans may have suspected her from the start. Bae Hae-sun (Happiness), the actress who portrays her, had suspiciously little screen time early in the show, despite being the most prominent performer among that group of characters.
As the show’s central villain, Ok-hui’s actions lacked clear motivations. The story leans on a few tired tropes, including her exaggerated mental illness and drug addiction – she grows her own poppies – but fails to adequately connect her to the story.

The real draw of Miss Night and Day was always the romance, comedy, family and office high jinks. And on these points, it largely succeeds.
Sticking to the tried-and-true K-drama formula, the chaste romance between Mi-jin and Ji-ung takes time to build, with the dating phase only beginning in episode 12. But the long journey to get there is never a slog, thanks to the show’s novel romantic comedy twist.
Ji-ung’s feelings grow for Mi-jin each time he bumps into her at night, only he has no idea that he has also been meeting her during the day as Sun. Meanwhile, from Mi-jin’s perspective, she has to be careful to keep her emotions in check, depending on which version of her is interacting with him.
After they finally get together, they exchange giddy texts to one another during the day. This gives Mi-jin unique insight into how her lovestruck boyfriend feels about her, since they are in the same office as they text one another, unbeknown to Ji-ung.

Such moments, when the writers squeezed something new out of familiar and relatable scenarios, were when the show was at its best.
The grislier elements, which may not be relatable but were oh-so-familiar, were merely a distraction. If only Miss Night and Day could have kept its Mr Hyde under control.
Miss Night and Day is streaming on Netflix.


K-drama The Haunted Palace: Bona, Yook Sung-jae lead spirited period drama

Netflix K-drama Weak Hero Class 2: Park Ji-hoon back for school fight drama sequel

Netflix K-drama Heavenly Ever After: Kim Hye-ja, Son Suk-ku lead afterlife fantasy romcom

K-drama Way Back Love review: Kim Min-ha, Gong Myung shine in fantasy high school drama

Korean drama reviews

Netflix K-drama Miss Night and Day review: Jung Eun-ji, Lee Jung-eun in fantasy romcom

Jung Eun-ji as down-on-her-luck jobseeker Lee Mi-jin in a still from Miss Night and Day.

Choi Jin-hyuk as Mi-jin’s romantic interest Gye Ji-ung in a still from Miss Night and Day.

Lee Jung-eun as Mi-jin’s alter ego Sun in a still from Miss Night and Day.

Choi Jin-hyuk as Ji-ung in a still from Miss Night and Day.

Jung Eun-ji (left) as Mi-jin and Choi Jin-hyuk as Ji-ung in a still from Miss Night and Day.

14 of the best new K-dramas to watch in August 2024, including Disney+’s The Tyrant

Kim Seon-ho in a still from The Tyrant. Photo: Disney+

Kim Seon-ho in a still from The Tyrant on Disney+, one of 14 Korean drama series dropping in August. They include season two of Pachinko, romantic comedy Love Next Door starring Jung So-min and Jung Hae-in, and Jeon Jong-soo in period drama Queen Woo. Photo: Disney+

A promotional poster for Black Out.

In Disney+ K-drama No Way Out: The Roulette, Cho Jin-woong leads a twisted thriller tale

Lee Kwang-soo in a still from Disney+ drama No Way Out: The Roulette. Photo: Disney+

Cho Jin-woong as desperate detective Baek Joong-sik in a still from No Way Out: The Roulette. Photo: Disney+

A still from No Way Out: The Roulette. Photo: Disney+

Yoo Jae-myung as freed killer Kim Guk-ho in a still from No Way Out: The Roulette. Photo: Disney+

Hyun Bong-sik as criminal Im Ji-hong (top) and Lee Kwang-soo as mutilated butcher Yoon Chang-jae in a still from No Way Out: The Roulette. Photo: Disney+

Disney+ K-drama Red Swan review: romantic thriller starring Rain fails to convince

Rain as Seo Do-yoon in a still from Red Swan.

Korean actor-singer Rain as Seo Do-yoon carries Oh Wan-soo (played by Kim Ha-neul) in a still from K-drama Red Swan.

Kim Ha-neul as Oh Wan-soo in a still from Red Swan.

Jung Gyu-woon as Kim Young-gook in a still from Red Swan.

Yoon Je-moon as family lawyer Han Sang-il (left) and Seo Yi-sook as Hwain Group chairwoman Park Mi-ran in a still from Red Swan.

K-drama The Auditors midseason recap: Shin Ha-kyun cuts through corporate wrongdoing

Shin Ha-kyun in a still from The Auditors.

Shin Ha-kyun as Shin Cha-il in a still from The Auditors. His upstanding, corruption-fighting corporate auditor clashes with executive-level power players in the company he works for as this K-drama nears its end.

Lee Jeong-ha as junior auditor Goo Han-soo in a still from The Auditors.

Jin Goo as Hwang Dae-woong, brother of JU Construction’s chief executive, in a still from The Auditors.

Shin Ha-kyun as auditor Shin Cha-il in a still from The Auditors.

Lee Jeong-ha as Goo Han-soo in a still from The Auditors.

K-drama Serendipity’s Embrace: Kim So-hyun, Chae Jong-hyeop meet in run-of-the-mill romcom

Kim So-hyun as Lee Hong-ju in a still from Serendipity’s Embrace.

Chae Jong-hyeop as Kang Hoo-yeong (left) and Kim So-hyun as Lee Hong-ju in a still from Serendipity’s Embrace.

Chae Jong-hyeop as Kang Hoo-yeong in a still from Serendipity’s Embrace.

Kim So-hyun as Lee Hong-ju (left) and Chae Jong-hyeop in a still from Serendipity’s Embrace.

Kim So-hyun in a still from Serendipity’s Embrace.

Kim So-hyun (left) and Chae Jong-hyeop in a still from Serendipity’s Embrace.

Lifestyle

K-drama

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

K-Pop

The hit show has two strands, one light and comedic and the other a dark serial killer tale, and it is the latter that comes to dominate


The show’s narrative of a struggling jobseeker (Jung Eun-ji) with a middle-aged alter ego (Lee Jung-eun) has been fun, but it is its darker strand about the hunt for a serial killer that takes over.


K-drama news

What's hot in Korea

South Korean celebrities

Fame and celebrity

TV shows and streaming video

Netflix

An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


Review

Review | Netflix K-drama Miss Night and Day review: Jung Eun-ji, Lee Jung-eun in fantasy romcom

The hit show has two strands, one light and comedic and the other a dark serial killer tale, and it is the latter that comes to dominate