She Knows Everything
미쓰리는 알고 있다
MBC (2020) 4 Hour-Long Episodes
Crime Mystery Melodrama, Grade: A
Korean Drama Review by Jill, USA
(Some Spoilers)
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I can't imagine that there has ever been a Korean drama made that is a better warning against people who chronically make excuses for bad siblings than She Knows Everything (2020). The two lead characters, played by Kang Sung Yun (Korean film classic The King And The Clown) and Jo Han Sun (Korean romantic film Now And Forever), drove me crazy when they constantly sought to shield their younger siblings from the consequences of their poor and criminal behaviors, even risking their own careers and livelihoods in the process! There's some kind of mental illness involved, in my opinion, with people who sacrifice their own well being to shield siblings who don't deserve it. Let them face the consequences of their actions, that's the only solution to help them grow into better human beings.
Trailers
This Whodunit drama definitely was intriguing and had a Hitchcock flavor to it that kept me watching; I only wish this drama had been eight hour-long episodes instead of four! There was enough material in the basic story to develop it even more deeply (and especially the personal relationship between the two main lead characters), but the producers obviously didn't give the writer that chance, for whatever reason. Too bad, otherwise this would have easily been an A+ show. It kept me hooked throughout, and I had trouble focusing on any other Korean drama that I was watching at the same time: I just wanted to see how this one developed!
The Story:
Lee Goong Bok (Grand Dame Actress Kang Sung Yun) is a long-experienced real estate agent and a supervisor of an older apartment complex as it undergoes reconstruction for modernization. She seems to know every resident very well, and nothing is secret from her. She is nicknamed by the residents "The Queen Of Ogee" (it sounded a bit like Ogre to me, haha!). One early morning when it's still dark outside she steps out of the building with a construction sign in her hand and suddenly comes upon the dead female body of a resident in her twenties, named Yang Soo Jin (Park Shin Ah). Goong Bok doesn't even seem that shocked and calmly calls the police.
Detective In Cheol Ho (Jo Han Sun - an Alpha Male Actor who is VERY easy on the eyes!) shows up with his cop deputies Kim Min Seok (Kim Dae Gun) and Koo Dae Sung (Yang Ki Won) and surveys the crime scene. He locks eyes with Goong Bok, who is standing there with residents looking at the victim's dead body -- they obviously know each other very well from past encounters. She is questioned by the police, and later also tries to protect other residents of the apartment complex from the police seeking to interview them about what they might have seen or heard around the time of the "suicide" -- which is what the victim's death is tentatively thought to be, since she apparently jumped from her balcony several stories high.
If Looks Could Kill
Little by little, as the police investigate, the "suicide" looks to be a murder case instead, and this is confirmed by the coroner's report that states she died from asphyxiation, not the fall from the balcony - so obviously someone had come along afterwards and "done her in" by strangling her. The dead female Soo Jin apparently had had several intense relationships with men living in the apartment complex, one of them Goong Bok's younger brother Seo Tae Hwa (Kim Do Wan), and the other Cheol Ho's younger brother, the married Lee Myung Won (Lee Ki Hyuk). Both of these men had been well aware of one another, and remain jealous of each other, even after Soo Jin's death. The victim's own mother had been run down by a car earlier and had become a "vegetable" on constant bed rest. Was the same person involved who did that dirty deed also the one who murdered Soo Jin? What could have been their motive?
Hiding Evidence and Cushioning Criminal Blows
Are NOT What Truly Loving Siblings Should Do!
Due to some incriminating evidence found on a cell phone, suspicions even fall on Goong Bok herself as the murderer, although she denies any involvement, in fact she cared about the girl since her own younger brother loved her. Cheol Ho knows all too well that his own younger brother DID have more of an impact on Soo Jin's death, but he hides this evidence from the police department, in order to protect his disturbed brother. Not good! Even his co-workers begin to suspect that their chief is hiding important details about the case. If discovered he could lose his job.
The Dead Soo Jin
As the drama concludes we see, in flashbacks, who the real culprit is in Soo Jin's death. I confess I wasn't that surprised about the identity of this person, because when episode three out of four concluded I went back and re-watched the first episode, and noticed some seemingly innocuous moments that would lead one to suspect this person. This character didn't seem all that important to the plot - at first - and the character had apparently an innocent excuse as to why they were not around at the time of Soo Jin's murder. (The best writers always do things like this, so when you go back and re-watch a drama or film you finally realize clues you had missed the first time around).
If you like a great, though short, murder mystery, then definitely check out She Knows Everything. I generally love short dramas, and rarely think they should be longer, but with this K-Drama I make an exception. I wanted MORE! (just like Edward G. Robinson playing a gangster did in the classic Hollywood film Key Largo, LOL). Enjoy!
