[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Why Her?" Episode 6

After a ratings high of 10.1% in the fourth episode, "Why Her?" stumbled to 8.8% in the sixth episode. While these are still strong numbers, they may indicate an early peak to the show just because of the dense and complicated nature of the narrative. Seok-pal (played by Lee Cheol-min) has emerged as the main mysterious figure of the story, with the veteran crime boss holding an important behind-the-scenes role in Chairman Choi's law firm centered empire. But just when he starts getting some direct screen time...well...

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How exactly Chairman Choi's law firm centered empire works at all is left deliberately unclear. Soo-jae herself isn't really sure how or even if Chairman Choi can be brought down, let alone whether she should try to do so, so she just threatens him for fifty million dollars. And that plan works, for now anyway, because Chairman Choi recognizes that Soo-jae poses a greater potential danger to his plans than the loss of all that money, and that the last thing he should do is back her into a corner and tempt her into doing something dangerous.

First Son Choi isn't that smart though. That's the main political edge going on right now, with the appearance of Seung-yeon (played by Kim Yoon-seo), a gallery owner and the soon-to-be ex-wife of First Son Choi. Chairman Choi's seemingly outrageous suggestion that First Son Choi solve their problems by marrying Soo-jae becomes a lot more logical once Soo-jae finally meets Seung-yeon.

The whole scene is fascinating, since it's unclear whether Chairman Choi was trying to maneuver Soo-jae onto this divorce case either as a domination move or as an indirect means of communicating some crucial information. Either way, the man is undeniably sociopathic. But the most messed up part of all is that Soo-jae herself is forcing herself to adapt that same sociopathy to fight him. It's about the only strategy that works.

Chan's side of the story is sweet by comparison. Chan is less a knight in shining armor so much as he is just a knight in armor, loyal to a fault and eager to interject himself between Soo-jae and whatever enemy is about to lunge itself at her. Even Soo-jae's own attraction to Chan is poignantly conveyed at the close of this episode. Everyone she hates and is fighting knows her awful secret. But Soo-jae knows that Chan wouldn't even care. And that means a lot to her.

Review by William Schwartz

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"Why Her?" is directed by Park Soo-jin-II, written by Kim Ji-eun-III, and features Seo Hyun-jin, Hwang In-youp, Huh Joon-ho, Bae In-hyuk, Ji Seung-hyun, Lee Joo-woo. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2022/06/03~Now airing, Fri, Sat 22:00 on Coupang Play, SBS.