The K-drama scene has really been making improvements recently, and I suppose as we come closer to the last quarter, the quality will only improve. If you’re looking for an old-school K-drama that is lighthearted yet emotional and will play with your heartstrings, like a little cat playing with a ball of wool, then this is the show for you. Now, I know we’re only an episode in, but immediately, I can tell that this show is going to be deeply poignant as a comedy. This is true for most K-dramas that we love; this is why they’re so loved, but what’s better is that the show also boasts a stellar cast with Jung Eun-Ji and Lee Jung-Eun as the titular characters and the return of Choi Jin-Hyuk, a handsome hunk who was last seen in Numbers, a show I believe not many have heard of. With all that said, I’d like to say I’m already maddeningly excited for this show and do not expect any disappointments. So, if you haven’t seen the first episode, go check that out before returning here for all the important stuff that went down in Miss Night and Day.
Spoiler Alert
Why is Mi-Jin struggling?
This is the story of Mi-Jin, a hardworking and bright young woman. Well, not very young, because apparently if you’re 28 you’re seen as an old person. Mi-Jin has been working to pass the civil service exam for many years now, and on one fine day, after the exam, an odd man gives her his card, claiming he’s a fortune teller. Mi-Jin doesn’t believe in this crap, but he hands her his card anyway. Soon after, Mi-Jin gives a job interview where there’s another girl with the same name as her. Mi-Jin is insulted for being too old to have no experience, and despite her skills, she believes she’s not going to get the job because she isn’t young and new. However, she’s shocked to hear that she got the job when she gets home after a part-time job, realizing that it was actually the other girl who got the job, and they must’ve mixed up the numbers. Mi-Jin gets the feeling that the fortune teller may have had something to do with this, so she ends up giving him a call. She’s also ironically dressed as a woman from the Joseon period when she meets this guy, almost looking like they switched roles. At the same time, prosecutor Kye Ji-Woong (swag in the name if you ask me) is circling in on this guy’s frauds and ends up catching him in the act while he’s talking with Mi-Jin. What’s unfortunate is that she’s already given him her money by this time.
A huge chase ensues, and Mi-Jin begins to cry, as she will many times in the near future, which leaves the prosecutor feeling terrible. He drives her to the police station to record her testimony, but the police tell her she most probably won’t get her money back. On her way home, Mi-Jin meets a little cat (nah, why is the CGI cat so adorable?). She feeds the cat milk in her palm, and it follows her all the way home. On the other hand, the prosecutor learns that 20 years ago, there was a case in her district, “Seohan,” where many adults went missing all at once. It’s still not solved. He also has Mi-Jin’s documents, and when he tries to call her to tell her, she ends up yelling at him, calling him a fraud, and blocking him. Wrong person, babe!
When Mi-Jin gets home, she’s shocked to see her parents treating her like a flower in bloom rather than a dead autumn leaf because they’re proud of her for getting her first job. She feels terrible that she’s basically lost all of their money and ends up burning her books and giving up on herself, something she hasn’t done in all these years. She cries a little more (way more, actually) and drinks away her sorrows. When she’s a little drunk, she sees the little cat again and ends up trying to pet it. The cat runs off and ends up jumping into a well, and Mi-Jin follows. When she’s falling, she makes a wish to either disappear without anyone knowing or to wake up as someone else.
Does Mi-Jin’s wish come true?
This little cat is a magical creature that apparently has the key to all of Mi-Jin’s dreams. When she wakes up, she’s not herself anymore. No, literally, she looks like a woman in her late 50s, an actual “ajumma.” This isn’t your ordinary story of switching soles or shapeshifting. Mi-Jin can’t decide when she’s old and when she’s herself. Her parents don’t recognize her, and the revelation of a strange woman scratching Mi-Jin’s father’s back is a real shocker, leaving the family in tatters (and us in splits). Soon, the police arrive to pick up this strange woman, who looks like she’s unsound, calling strangers who could be her peers “mom” and “dad.” Before they can take her fingerprints to figure out who she is, Mi-Jin ends up running out of the station. She ends up hiding under a table at a cafe till nightfall, and then miraculously, she’s back to her young self.
Mi-Jin is quick to understand the formula (let’s pretend it’s from watching a lot of fantasy K-dramas) and realizes this has something to do with the cat and that she turns old during the day and young at night. Mi-Jin returns to the veterinary hospital where she left the cat the previous night after the well incident (hey, now we don’t need to know how she got out unhurt). However, she learns the cat’s run away, and even the vet’s shocked because it was so terribly hurt.
On the other hand, cute cato stares at a missing person’s poster. The person’s name is Lim Sun, and it almost looks like the cat is her parent or something. Now, this could mean two things. Either the cat itself is said person, or the cat turned somebody into an old person many years ago too. Only time will tell. At the same time, Ji-Woong is prosecuting a young celebrity named Ko Won. He’s unbothered by the fact that Ko Won is such an influential figure, i.e., he’s going to get in real trouble if he says anything against the guy because he knows how to handle fangirls like a professional. At home, we see Mi-Jin struggle with her new “day” body, which is chubbier and saggier than her young and fit self. She avoids her parents and somehow manages to get out of the house, trying to see if she can get plastic surgery to look like… well, herself. It obviously won’t work.
At the end of Miss Night and Day episode 1, Mi-Jin is hit in the face with a banner that showcases a job opportunity for people of old age. She decides that since she’s capable of doing all the things she can as a 28-year-old in a 50-something-year-old’s body, she can be the best elderly person there is. Mi-Jin ends up applying for the internship as Im Soon. She aces the interview round (duh), and as you know, she’s got the skills of a young person in an old person’s body. The episode ends with Im Soon getting the internship. On the other hand, Ji-Woong gets transferred to Seohan district, right where Mi-Jin lives.
Miss Night and Day certainly has some meta-commentary about how society looks at old age and also about late bloomers who are just slightly slower than the rest of their peers. I am without a doubt certain that it’s going to leave me crying so hard for happiness because it almost feels like Mi-Jin is an extension of me. So, if you’re in your late 20s and are struggling with loving yourself, this might be the perfect show to help you get out of that wary feeling.
