A Piece of Your Mind (2020)

a must-watch if you want to heal

This is not your typical kdrama. If you want something genuinely touching and have a core story that deals with loss and healing, then this is the drama for you. Something about this is so special that it can't be profoundly expressed. Just the music alone will stimulate your senses and already sets this apart from the other dramas. You need to watch this with caution though. I suggest to not bingewatch this. There are depressive undertones in this drama, and if you are an overly empathetic viewer like me, the emotions of the characters can get to you. But that is what made this drama so worth it. You will be frustrated, angry and sad because of the situations the characters are in, but at the end of the day this is a healing drama and as they improve on their lives, our hearts also lighten.

I really admire the whole cast for their perfect portrayal. Everyone was dynamic that it felt like the viewer was also integrated into a family with them, especially with the Eun Jo boarders.

And sidenote, the cuddles in this drama look so warm!

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Very warm and comforting watch

I really enjoyed this drama. The cadence and themes were perfectly set. I thought the depicted grief and depression really well. It doesn't look just one way and most of the characters were dealing with some of aspect of it throughout the story. The acting was top-notch as was the music which makes sense given the plot. I loved how the romance developed and how the ML never wavered once he recognized his feelings.

The AI aspect of the drama bright up a lot of questions for me. There was stuff that seemed unrealistic but what I struggled with more was the ethical questions it raised and those weren't really explored as a part of the story. I don't think it would have made sense to do that but I did wonder about it.

Overall, I loved this drama. There is a warmth about it that I was not expecting. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you watch.

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Breathtaking and healing, everything is deeper than it seems

Do you like slow paced dramas about healing? This is for you.

First thing you need to know is that you gotta pay attention to everything in this drama because some times you might think nothing is happening but each action leads to something important in the plot, that's what I like it. You won't get useless scenes. Over here each actor, each character is extremely important.

Second thing, the scenery is so beautiful, they got the time to show you the colors, the way the wind blows, the flowers, the coffee, everything, and if you don't care about spending 1 whole minute just looking at a yard, you will love this. I swear everything is so beautiful.

Third, mental health. Okay, they don't speak volumes about it but they are showing you important aspects of anxiety and depression mostly, even functional depression is all the time over here in this drama. They even say it openly a few times and I think that is wonderful, they talk about how a touch can help, how speaking can work, how medicine and therapy is always there and you just have to reach out. After all, this is a healing drama so pain and grief are the main topics here.

Fourth, the characters:

The ML is sweet, gentle, but he is deeper than that, he smiles the brightest but has the deepest pain. He had learn how to survive each day with a question inside just in order to get that answer and he got it, at the end.

The FL gave up many times on living. She is hurt and she shows it, she is charming but not too much, she is kind but wants to die most of the time. I hated here some briefly times because she is a bit nosy but is just fine at the end.

The second leads, the married couple, Jesus they are the most complex characters and I just adore the way in the beginning they were not stealing the show but after some time you get to know that they were everywhere and all of it is connected. Is very nice that they will tell you their own story and even their own love as time passes by, is deeper that is seems.

The supporting characters also have their own story and in the drama they got the time to dig and show you what happened to each of them. Which I love wonders.

Fifth, the music: I want to download every single song that is played here, that's all.

And finally just for you to understand:

In this world, which is just you normal regular world, exist a type of technology created for healing people throught voice, that's it, that's the drama. Tons of people have lost a person that might have just disappeared, or someone that passed away, this device contains the voice of that person and with the help of their memories, it can also get the personality reaction from that someone and so talking to them you can get your own help and healing process.

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A soft yet healing drama

If you're looking for a drama that has beautiful shots, soothes the viewer and is perfect with a hot cup of tea or coffee whilst crocheting/knitting, then this is it. A plotline that builds bit by bit and culminates in the end in a somewhat soothing fashion. You grieve as they grieve, cry as they cry, and rejoice in the scenery and moments of courage.

I enjoyed the character development and I definitely think it is the kind of drama you watch as you do something else, with a story prominent enough to stretch over a long period of time. While it might not hook you like it didn't hook me either, there's just something about its style that makes you not want to let go of it just yet.

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Absolutely Beautiful and now one of my favourite

Oof I seriously did not expect this drama to be this great, I'm still high on the feel of this drama. The vibe of this is so dreamy and beautiful and numerous times this stirred emotions in me. It's so gorgeously poignant at times that I felt like I was there with the characters, living in the story. Someone here has aptly described the drama as "dreamy, surreal and almost ethereal".
This drama is really amazing in every aspect. I know some people will be slightly bothered by the AI device but I say, just think of it as a mild sci fi element like you would in a sci-fi movie.

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It's pretty and has a smiley Hae In but half of a half of this would've been enough

This would probably have deserved a 6.5 but it managed a half point more thanks to my inescapable, conscious weakness for Jung Hae In.
The man smiles and I forget myself.
Hopeless.
Besides the hopelessness of my crush, though, I think it is relevant in this context to notice that it did not make me blind to a number of details that all together prevented my full enjoyment of this drama.

First and foremost, the sci-fi element: although this is definitely a romantic drama, I can't help but feel like they threw away a perfectly good sci-fi prompt by savagely mistreating it. The AI device is meant to be a pretext to entangle these characters' lives, and nothing more. Which is very upsetting because the whole idea of a device mimicking a person pattern of speech, and a dead person's speech at that, is so very intriguing and presents the perfect opportunity to push beyond boundaries and explore bereavement and healing and human relationships. Furthermore, they could have easily made it believable given the current state of AI development when, instead, throughout the drama, the technology felt absolutely unbelievable in multiple instances (e.g. I could have believed the Jisoo device becoming aware of itself, although it occurred too randomly and too suddenly for my tastes, but I could not suspend my incredulity when it asked to hear Jisoo's husband's voice, or, again, when it remembered memories that were not input by the owner of the memories themselves).
In my eyes the mismanagement of the sci-fi aspect (which was the reason I was drawn to watch in the first place… ok, maybe second place after Hae In) is an unforgivable sin, especially considering how much it propelled the plot forward in the beginning. A sin that took me out of the story and interrupted its flow and congruity.

The second element that disappointed is character development. I'm not saying it was completely messed up, yet it felt sloppy and, almost, unfinished. One recognizable theme in the story is basically about the capacity to overcome trauma through human connection, but the process that brings each character to their healing is confusing. Motivations behind certain actions were cryptic at times and I seldom understood the reasons for characters' choices or empathized with them. I also believe that the pacing didn't help. In particular with the confrontation that should have been the climax of the story: at that point the tension had completely dissipated and nothing about that scene felt pivotal for the characters.

Cinematography, acting and soundtrack sustain the whole drama and confer cohesion to the narration. The colors, the lights, the locations as well as the melodies work wonderfully toward evoking soothing, pensive, intimate atmospheres.
There isn't any performance that can be considered outstanding, yet the fact that the characters still come through despite imperfect writing attests the solid quality of all actors.
I liked the idea of building a tale of crossed destinies, how it conveys the theory of interconnection and the weight of human relationships, however it felt fumbled, notably with secondary characters (i.e. Min Jung), and some connections were forced (i.e. the one between In Wook and Soon Ho).
The attempt at creating a complex narration through recollection and discovery and a single character that unites all the others and dies early on is compelling enough. Still, I consider it a failed attempt since the character the story hinges on isn't interesting enough to prop everything else.

I believe the show's greatest merit lies in the development of the protagonists' relationship. They come together naturally by filling each other existential emptiness. The other's presence is the necessary prompt to leap beyond the blocks that hinder their growth. And it is heartwarming seeing these people learn how to stand on their own feet by meeting each other halfway (rather than just leaning on the other person).
It takes courage to look at all the pieces we're missing, those parts we lost along with the people that cherished them. We try to cling on the emptiness in fear of forgetting the love we gave and received, in fear of being too damaged to carry on by ourselves.
We need a connection to map out the unfamiliar borders that make up our self, the self that survived the loss.
We need a connection to want to feel complete again.
This is the hopeful message I want to take home from this show and, although I was let down by the clumsy misuse of the great potential of this story (hence the harsh score), I can ultimately say that it was worth watching.

But, most of all, how could anyone not forgive and forget looking at Hae In smiling, though?

Female Empowerment Score (5/5) portrayals of women helping each other always win my favor. Always.

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a must watch!!! your feelings and emotions will be tested upon the duration of this drama!

this would be a long note even if the drama made me confused a little but giving a bigger impact to my life. but i'll try to explain further. so here I am,

this would be the first healing drama added rpo my favorites that comforts me all the way while binge-watching. Even if I watched this drama during the cold season in early 2023, the Christmas break. I had little expectations from this drama as I told myself saying "just go with the flow", but when watching it till the end, this drama gave so much comfort and healing within my heart and my soul. Need your whole heart felt the way the story wants us to feel. I guess my feelings and emotions has been tested while watching this drama.

The story involves more of describing the grief they were bringing in the main casts. How the handled the pain they carried along their life-journey, and how they had all their trauma, some life-sacrifices from their loved once, and the suffering they got belong. The plot describes the life of how they shaped each other's life's from their own grief, from their sufferings until the regrets and realizations at the end. I was enlightened by the cinematic scenes, with their heartfelt voices and words of comfort, with the rhythm that sways with their conversations and scenes to give impact to the atmosphere it gives. While watching the scenes and moments the characters had, they were touching most of the times, comforting ones, especially their softest hugs so far I've seen in a kdrama, their comforting words to give comfort to each other, the way they give or spent time with the people they were comfortable and loved. It gave so much feels especially I get so much butterflies with their hugging scenes as well :< hoping I could get the relationship the main couple had huhuhu. With the story, the ost bring so much tension to each scenes as well.

The casts and characters, oh well they bring this drama such a masterpiece that everyone needs to know and look forward into. Heartfelt emotions and feelings every time the characters bring upon the screen. The casts seems to be very surprising. I like the cast how the portrayed ever scene they need to act to fit the story as well. I would give so much appreciation to the cast involved because they give so much attention to the story and with this drama. Jung Hae In as Moon Ha Won, and Chae Soo Bin as Han Seo Woo gets me every time I cried like the tears I had was so worth it. Including Lee Ha Na as Moon Soon Ho, Kim Sung Gyu as Kang In Wook and as I'll never forget the two as well, Park Ju Hyun as I unexpectedly saw her and was rooting for her from her other roles, portraying as Kim Ji Soo the first love of Ha Won and Lee Sang Hee as Jun Eun Joo the homestay owner. These casts were well combined and very entertaining as well. Again, I thanked them for choosing this drama that they were involved and the casts again were very promising from the start till the end. kudos to them!!

Overall, the soft-felt and heart-healing comfort that gives from this drama was a special one that placed in my heart. I would probably recommend this to someone else that needs comfort and healing from their pains they had been through.
Good for binge watch, great for time kill as well, and I guess I would say a 50-50 recommended for beginners since it needs understanding and focusing more of the feelings the viewer must have in the duration of the drama. And last but not the least, great for re watching as well.

Looking forward to the casts other projects! anticipated and hoping to see them act again soon for their next drama projects! I appreciated them so much!!! <333

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Honestly, this drama had a lot of potential. I have no problems with a drama being "slow", however, this drama started getting slightly unbearable after the first half. There were a few things that didn't seem to make any sense, like how some characters behaved and how the story progressed. The story had a lot of good elements but just didn't fit with one another. The first half of the drama was more intriguing and more relatable due to the storytelling of life's day to day struggles. There were a few characters that were very much unlikeable, and I feel like the romance part was a bit all over the place. Overall, this drama isn't bad, but it isn't all that good either.

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A piece of a masterpiece

I just have one word for this: WOW! Guys, I enjoy regular dramas, with many clichés and cheesy romance, but I also love dramas that bring real and important themes, and this one it's just like that.

The story tells us basically about the process of grief, and I was worried about what kind of message this could bring to the audience, but I never saw this theme being approach this way. For me, every detail was incredibly beautiful and full of meaning. See the process with Moon Ha Won (Jung Hae In) since the beginning and how he grows in the process was amazing. His relationship with Han Seo Woo (Chae Soo Bin) isn't forced like a major passion, but just a connection that made both of them see their grief from another perspective. We can see that they decided to foucus on Ha Won's grief, but the process in Seo Woo's life was also very strong. I felt like I was falling in love too at the pass of the episodes, it was crazy! When Ha Won said "I love you" for the first time, my heart stopped. The side stories were also very strong for me. Kang In Wook (Kim Sung Gyu) and his redemption, Kim Ji Soo (Park Joo Hyun) and the self-forgiveness, all the characters of the Boarding House (honorable mention to Kim Min Jung (Lee Jung Eun), OMG! I just love her plot). I felt touched in every single episode, I think this is a real healing drama, as they say. My desire in the entire show was to see everyone keep going and find the purpose of their lives again.

I have to talk about the OST. We have amazing songs that fit in every single moment... The classic music that made part of the story it's also beautiful and wet my eyes in many moments. I just wanna share one of the quotes that made me think about a lot of things. This one was when Seo Woo was talking about things that made her happy:

"I go to work at my usual time and find that it's light today while was dark the day before. When that happens, I like seeing the world-changing on its own according to each season. Every day changes a little bit."

So, this is what this drama it's about. How you can suffer and be in pain in a day, but how you need to wait and see the things changing in a slow fade. For me, this is a masterpiece and a "chosen one" (★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★).

See you soon!
XOXO, Mari!

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