5 Things I Loved About "Hyde Jekyll, Me" Episodes 13 & 14

Not much changes this week on “Hyde Jekyll, Me“– Lee Soo Hyun/Professor Yoon (Sung Joon) continues to evade the police, which isn’t very difficult given the sheer lack of competence of anyone with a badge and gun on this show, Professor Kang is still used as pawn being shuffled between Seo Jin/Robin (Hyun Bin) and Lee Soo Hyun/Professor Yoon, and the romance is at a stand-still between Robin/Seo Jin and Ha Na (Han Ji Min). I really enjoyed the progression the show was making until things seemed to plateau this week, as if the show is trying to push back the critical point between Seo Jin and Soo Hyun, and it all just seems so needlessly drawn out.

And yet, there was still a lot I liked from this week’s episodes. Here are 5 things I loved from “Hyde Jekyll, Me” episodes 13 and 14.

1. Eun Chang and Woo Jung

I mean, come on. There is just so much cuteness between the two of them, I can almost not deal. We know that for Eun Chang (Lee Won Geon) it was love at first sight, and I’ve really enjoyed how the drama has built up their relationship over the course of several episodes, gradually promoting Eun Chang from slightly-creepy stalker to actual friend, to perhaps (probably, most definitely) romantic interest for our adorable Woo Jung (Lee Hyeri). Eun Chang is just so upbeat and positive that even when he knows that Woo Jung is hung up over Robin, he doesn’t much mind it as long as she’s happy. I like that there isn’t jealousy on his part, and that he’s not dismissive of Woo Jung’s feelings for Robin. Rather, it seems he likes her enough that even if she may not ever like him back (unlikely because that disarming squishy smiling face!), it is enough for him to want to be around her.

In particular, I’ve really liked Woo Jung’s character in “Hyde Jekyll, Me” and in the last couple of episodes she showed a lot of maturity and sensitivity, which I appreciate. In this last half, I’m looking forward to more romantic developments between the two of them, because as much as it is sort of every fan girl’s dream to be accepted by their ultimate bias, I can’t help but think that Eun Chang is the better match for her character. Not that she needs a romantic interest at all to be the awesome girl that she is, but if that drama is going to go that way (and let’s be honest, it will), then for once I would like someone to trust and appreciate Woo Jung.

2. What a Keeper: Goo Seo Jin

He cooks (sort of)! He makes tea! He will take your temperature when you’re sick and give you hot packs until your fever breaks! And his medicine cabinet is a small pharmacy! What a keeper, this Goo Seo Jin.

In all seriousness, I really love this more open, more honest, more accepting Goo Seo Jin. And how much do I love the mirroring of Seo Jin taking care of Ha Na when she was sick? It is both sweet and incredibly indicative that Seo Jin follows Ha Na’s example of taking care of someone to a T. That is, he probably hasn’t done so before and so of course he just follows what Ha Na did. I mean, what other model would he have had? His loving parents? Pfft.

It is also interesting to note how Goo Seo Jin has constantly held the upper hand over Robin during the course of the drama by refusing him in so many ways. But now that he has accepted Robin, we begin to see Seo Jin’s insecurities about Robin, and just what upper hand Robin has over Seo Jin besides the whole saving personality. I mean, we all knew how Robin was generally the more welcomed and liked of the two, but it really says something for Seo Jin to recognize that and for it to affect him.

Part of Seo Jin’s new sensitivity is that he’s beginning to see how very much alone he actually is, how unhappy he is, and if that isn’t a catalyst for change I don’t know what is. And this display of concern for Ha Na on his part just goes to show how different Seo Jin is. Let’s not forget he once pushed her into harm’s way. Thank goodness we are way past that now, because I love this Seo Jin so much more.

3. Let’s Talk Romance

I’m curious: are you all rooting for Robin or Seo Jin as Ha Na’s leading man? Or, am I just splitting hairs?

I must say, Robin and Ha Na are cute together, there’s no getting around that. He makes her laugh and when she’s with him, it seems that there’s nothing but happy times (and not someone out to get them). And the strength of Robin’s affection for Ha Na is obvious, which if not slightly possessive, is not something to take lightly.

That being said, I am so on board with Seo Jin and Ha Na. Robin might have been the first to confess to Ha Na, to make her feel safe, and to befriend her, but I feel like Seo Jin and Ha Na grow and develop together. Seo Jin may not be the ball of fun that Robin is, but they’ve shared so many significant moments together, and they push each other in ways that Robin couldn’t.

But more than anything, I love that Seo Jin’s affection for Ha Na isn’t possessive and isn’t jealous. He understands that she has a relationship with Robin, and respects it. I think it’s proof of Seo Jin’s mindset that he isn’t going to fight Robin for Ha Na. He’s hell bent on not repeating the mistakes of the past, and is willing to take a backseat for the sake of them all. The sensitivity that Seo Jin displays, the maturity, was impressive. And I think, I’m not the only one who thinks so, because even Ha Na isn’t willing to let Seo Jin go. Ho ho, me thinks she feels more towards the executive director than she’s willing to admit.

4. “His Start Was an Accident”

The character arc for Professor Yoon/Lee Soo Hyun has been my favorite second only to Seo Jin’s. When Professor Kang mentions that his beginning was “an accident,” something lurched in my chest because like so many events in Lee Soo Hyun’s life, it didn’t have to turn out that way.

And I have just loved how we get to see his weaknesses, his loneliness, his confusion, and his struggle to see his plans out to the end. He wavers, and that makes him human–and not the monster we could so easily label him as.

It is not a difficult thing to understand Lee Soo Hyun, who had to endure so much on his own after being left behind by Seo Jin. When someone suffers that much, almost randomly, it’s not a wonder that they want someone to take responsibility for their needless suffering. It must have a larger meaning, must have significance, otherwise their suffering was for nothing–and that simply can’t be true when they think about the pain they’ve felt. It can’t be a result of circumstance, as if it couldn’t have been helped. If that were true, it would be the most terrible of all fates.

And so there’s a lot of pity for Lee Soo Hyun, who is struggling to make his suffering mean something. And even if his start was an accident, he’s not going to make his descent into darkness remain an accident. He’s going to squeeze significance out of all the moments he has, even if it leads him past the point of redemption.

5. Face to Face: Seo Jin and Soo Hyun

Seo Jin and Soo Hyun have been dancing around each other for episodes now, employing every form of communication from email to videos to phone calls, so it was both fitting and inevitable that they should finally meet without disguise, as simply Seo Jin and Soo Hyun. Did anyone else get a little chill when Seo Jin-as-Robin-under-hypnosis addressed Professor Yoon as “Soo Hyun”?

Finally, the two of them meet face-to-face, and I loved how Soo Hyun when from arrogant and vengeful in one moment, to completely caught off guard and grasping for leverage the next. Sure, Seo Jin and Professor Yoon have met each other several times, but this was the first moment where all pretenses were dropped and they met each other as they were.

I know the premise of “Hyde Jekyll, Me” focuses on the contrasting relationship between Robin and Seo Jin, but, honestly, couldn’t the Hyde-Jekyll relationship also relate to Seo Jin and Soo Hyun? Because more than Robin, Soo Hyun is more the counterpoint to Seo Jin–they were both wounded boys who grew up to be even more wounded men. And the origins of their wounds stem from the same place. I mentioned how Soo Hyun is struggling to make his life mean something, and the same goes to Seo Jin. The difference is how they’re going about doing so.

I am so intrigued by where their dynamic takes the story… I just hope we get there sooner than not.

That’s it for the 5 things I loved about episodes 13 and 14 of “Hyde Jekyll, Me.” Share your thoughts on the week’s episodes with me in the comments section below!

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