A Writers View

It’s the best – a one in a millions masterpiece!

A 2020 MBC Korean drama starring Shin Sung Rok and Lee Se Young, Kairos will have you jumping out of your seat, hiding behind your hands, running around your living room and generally freaking out with every single episode.

It follows Kim Seo Jin (Shin Sung Rok), an upper-class uptight workaholic, and Han Ae Ri (Lee Se Young), a lower-class hardworking daughter who is saving up money for her mother’s medical expenses.

One night Kim Seo Jin’s daughter is kidnapped.

While waiting desperately for a ransom call, Kim Seo Jin gets a phone call from Han Ae Ri, who insists that the phone that she’s just called is hers and he’s taken it. He informs her that it’s his, he just got this number within the last month, and hangs up. After a few more annoying calls and texts from Han Ae Ri, always at 10:33 PM, Kim Seo Jin sends her the missing poster for his daughter. As the time continues to pass Kim Seo Jin falls into despair, until Han Ae Ri informs him that, while the date on his poster is incorrect, she’s seen his daughter.

They try to meet up – but mutually no show – or so they think. That is when Kim Seo Jin discovers a faded copy of the missing poster for his daughter, with the date scratched off and re-written in to being one month earlier.

Then, Han Ae Ri’s mother goes missing.

In her desperation and confusion, Han Ae Ri calls her deceased father’s phone number – only to have it answered by Kim Seo Jin – one month in the future.

Kim Seo Jin has figured it out – they’re separated in time, one month apart, and are somehow able to communicate for 1 minute everyday at 10:33 PM.

Finally, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, a way to undo the past, and save both Kim Seo Jin’s daughter and Han Ae Ri’s mother. But, the journey also uncovers some long buried truths that may contain some deadly consequences.

This show is sooooo good!

Genuinely, if you love time travel, but even if you don’t, then you will love this show!

Not only is the story tightly paced and the plot phenomenal – the acting is seriously out of this world!

I first got to know Shin Sung Rok as the evil brother from My Love From The Star, and had seen him in many different types of roles since then. After his performance in The Last Empress, I knew that all I needed was to know that he was in the show to know that it was going to be a hit! He brings the pain, the confusion, the fear, the desperation, and the layers that only few actors can truly deliver.

Then, we have Lee Se Young, who’s been acting since she was a child and has only gotten better and better with time! This role felt like such a different role from those that she usually plays, there was no comedy or silliness or any of that – it was just pure focused desperation. I loved it!

After seeing this show, I discovered that the two had acted before in a delightful little Rom-Com called Trot Lovers. A truly, entirely different kind of show all around. 🤣 A good one, but for entirely different reasons.

I don’t know what else to say, except to say that – if you like action, drama, thriller, time travel, mystery, or just well-written, superbly-acted, perfectly-toned tv shows – then you definitely need to add Kairos to your watchlist!!

You can find Kairos over on Viki.com. You will have to sign-up to watch this show as it is not one of their free ones, but trust me it is well worth the cost!

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