Photo credits: SBS

[Review] One The Woman

We’re back with a new K-drama review and this time I really wanted to talk about the 2021 series ‘One The Woman’.

This SBS drama was written by Kim Yoon and directed by Choi Hyeong-Hun. The sixteen episode show was a massive hit in Korea and was recently added to Netflix.

Plot

‘One The Woman’ is about a prosecutor who loses her memory after she was hit by a car. Through a mismatch, and the fact that she pretty much looks the same as the daughter-in-law of a chaebol family, she ends up knee deep in the Hanju family’s intrigues. 

Lee Ha-Nee plays the dual role of Jo Yeon-Joo and Kang Mi-Na really well. It’s kind of insane how different they look with small changes. The first thing I thought of when I started to figure out the plot was the Barbie film ‘Princess and the Pauper’. 

The prosecutor Jo Yeon-Joo wasn’t the most earnest prosecutor. She took a lot of shady deals to get ahead faster, but it was with a good reason. Her grandma was the victim of a hit-and-run and the prosecutor of that case had just dismissed the case. 

Kang Mi-Na’s role in the Hanju family is rather tragic. She’s looked down upon by the entire family. Her husband is cheating on her and she’s being used as an errand person by her family as well. 

After Yeon-Joo regains her memory and discovers that the real Kang Mi-Na is in fact missing, she does her best to step into Mi-Na’s footsteps to create a better life for her while also dealing with all the backstabbing that is happening within the family.

Yeon-Joo is helped by Han Seung-Wook, played by Lee Sang-Yoon who recently came back from abroad and wants to figure out the truth behind his father’s passing. 

Overall

This K-drama is hilarious. Ha-Nee has great comedic timing and there’s a nice balance between the dramatic parts and the comedic parts. The romantic tension between Yeon-Joo and Seung-wook is legit and they’re just so wholesome together. 

The series literally has all of the tropes. There’s memory loss, the old switcheroo between two characters who resemble each other, the poor and rich characters, facial plastic surgery, childhood connection, the whole works. It was a great watch and honestly I totally get how this was such a success. 

Special shout out to the actress Jin Seo-Yeon, who played the role of Han Sung-Hye, one of the daughters of the chaebol family. She did a fantastic job with the character. 

Also on a last note, the epilogue was hilarious and I’m obsessed. 

Go ahead and watch the trailer below.

A writer with a slight coffee addiction and a tendency to find K-Indie gems in the YouTube rabbit hole.