In May of last year (2018) MBC aired a four episode (each a half hour) drama special entitled You Drive Me Crazy. After having it on my list for a while I finally decided to give it a try and I could just kick myself for not watching this entertaining love story sooner. Because the show is so short I’m deliberately going to keep my comments succinct and vague so you’ll be able to discover most of the story on your own as you watch.
Han Eun-Sung and Kim Rae-Wan have been buddies ever since they met in college eight years ago. They are as close as best friends can be – Eun-Sung telling Rae-Wan he knows more about her than her own parents. They have depended on each other and supported one another through thick and thin. Then, at a time when Eun-Sung was the most vulnerable, and smashed drunk, she let go of her breaks and kissed Rae-Won. That little bit of encouragement was exactly what he had always hoped for, and it wasn’t long before one thing lead to another and they ended up spending a passionate night together. Good or bad, the two decide to forget the whole thing and pretend it never happened. But this particular “elephant in the room” becomes too big to ignore. Will Eun-Sung and Rae-Won be able to straighten everything out and go on with their friendship or have they just ruined a good thing?
Twenty-seven year old Han Eun-Sung had hoped to work at the United Nations once she graduated college but she ended up getting a job at a big company instead. Then, wanting to break out on her own, she became a freelance French interpreter. Her relationship with Rae-Wan is so important to her that after their impromptu night together she became so scared of loosing what they had that she didn’t even try to figure out why she did what she did.
Artist Kim Rae-Wan is also twenty-seven years old but with a little help from his family he’s in a much better place financially than Eun-Sung – he has his own house and car (his parents gave him their house and his sister left him her car). When Eun-Sung declared her desire to go on with their lives as if their hot night had never happened he went along with the idea but his broken heart has put him in an artistic slump.
A surprise character in the show is Eung-Sung’s pet hedgehog, Bok Go. The darling little creature has a very small but significant role.
You can read about the actress who plays the part of Han Eun-Sung, Lee Yoo-Young, in my review of Your Honor.
Information about Kim Seon-Ho can be found in my Two Cops review. Kim Rae-Won may be his first leading man role but if Kdrama fans are lucky it won’t be his last.
I sincerely liked this two hour drama. The characters are personable and their reactions to the abrupt major shift in their relationship are very real. I could see how both people could think the way they did. Sometimes when a drama is very short the audience is left wondering about the characters’ back stories. The “why”s are left out and we’re expected to care about people we know nothing about and that’s often an impossible task. However, although this drama is only the length of a normal movie, we know plenty about these people, plenty enough to sincerely want them to be happy – hopefully together. The writer did a great job filling out these characters for us.
Rae-Wan and Eun-Sung have excellent chemistry. It’s not difficult to believe these two have been best friends for just shy of a decade. One thing that helps sell their love for each other is that the kisses in this show are real and yummy. There’s no just touching lips in this story.
I have no idea how well versed Lee Yoo-Young is with the French language but I was very impressed with how well she spoke it. It really sounded like she knew what she was saying. It could be she just memorizes easily and learned only what she needed to know for her role but I’m guessing she’s at least somewhat familiar with it in real life.
The music is nice. In fact, one of Rae-Wan’s friends, Yoon Hee-Nam (played by Kim Sung-Joo), is an indie guitarist/singer who falls for Eun-Sung and actually sings and plays a song he wrote for her, entitled Crazy. On the show’s original soundtrack the song’s accompaniment is mostly an acoustic guitar but close to the end of the song a few other instrumental sounds are added. It’s a really pretty song. Sung-Joo, who actually did the singing and guitar playing in the show and on the soundtrack, began his entertainment career as a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy group Uniq.
I liked the looks of this drama. Rae-Wan’s house is nice without being too fancy and the street shots are homey. A beautiful blossoming tree stands as a lovely background in one scene and an apricot tree helps encourage a little romance between the two “best friends” in another.
This drama may be tiny but the outcome is tremendous. I think you’ll enjoy the sexual tension/chemistry between the two “friends” as much as I did. The next time you have two free hours for a romance, turn on You Drive Me Crazy. You’ll love it!
Score: 9
The Good:
Excellent writing
Good directing
Superb acting
Great chemistry between lead characters
Real kisses
Perfect title
There’s a hedgehog!
Only two hours long
No “oops”
The Bad:
Nothing I would consider bad
Heart and Seoul 