Not Others: Episodes 3-4
by Dramaddictally
Not Others finds its footing in the second week, lowering the shock-value humor and keeping the crime cases closer to home. With a focus on family in all its forms, we get introduced to some new characters and plunge into deeper (darker) themes. I choked back a few tears this week but also laughed out loud — so I’d say the show has me right where it wants me.
EPISODES 3-4
I wanted to like this drama and now I do. The premiere week felt like it was working a little too hard at the comedy, but now we’ve settled into a less overtly comedic space where the jokes flow from the central storyline. More importantly, it’s not all laughs this week.
We start with another criminal case, and it’s the second one we’ve seen involving child abuse. Jin-hee gets very emotionally invested in these cases and Jae-won reprimands her for not remaining detached. But then, when Jin-hee does her best to forget it and let headquarters handle it, Eun-mi judges her for being a heartless cop. The poor girl can’t win.
Eun-mi is the one who reported the crime in this case after an elderly woman, covered in bruises, visits the clinic where Eun-mi is a physical therapist. The woman’s adult son has been abusing both his young child and his elderly mother. But Eun-mi isn’t just upset about being witness to abuse — we come to learn that she herself suffered physical abuse as she was growing up, and this case is needling her trauma.
We get a little more backstory on Eun-mi when we see her as a pregnant teenager, getting the living hell beat out of her by her alcoholic father. Her mother is absent (maybe deceased?) and she has nowhere else to turn. In the end, one of her high school friends saves her life by inviting Eun-mi to live with her and her mom. They become like her family and help her take care of baby Jin-hee.
In the present, we’re introduced to the high school friend, KIM MI-JUNG (Kim Hye-eun), who’s still like family to Eun-mi and Jin-hee. She’s known them long enough to be comfortable with how they fight and argue all the time, and she just joins right in when they do.
We’re also introduced to Jin-hee’s best bud from childhood, KIM JIN-SOO (Im Sung-kyun) — her unrequited first love, who now looks like an idol and only comes around when he’s having girl troubles. Like Mi-jung, Jin-soo just ignores the mother-daughter arguing and makes himself at home in their apartment.
All in all, the drama is building a tight-knit little adopted family for our heroines, and this is where it hits its mark. It’s easy to see why people would be pulled into the world of these women because, no matter how tough their lives have been, neither one has any self-pity. They hold themselves like survivors, not victims, and don’t take any BS from anybody (except each other).
And it looks like they may be adopting another newbie if Eun-mi has anything to say about it. One day, while mom and daughter and their two old friends are out for drinks, Eun-mi spots Jae-won walking by and hauls him inside to have drinks with them. Eun-mi is already half in the bag and acting like her flirtatious self (“Do you have an older brother?”), and then she remembers that Jae-won was the “police academy oppa” from Jin-hee’s training days. Jin-hee is quick to point out that she never called him oppa, that’s just how her mom talks. The family of four continues on with their normal, overly honest way of communicating, and Jae-won looks extremely uncomfortable — but also, maybe a little curious?
The family theme also extends to the police station, where Jin-hee has been ostracized since she joined her new precinct. She views her colleagues as detached and feels like she’s the only one who gets emotionally involved in cases. She attempts to rally her team to go against procedure and gather evidence in the latest child abuse case, only to learn that they’re actually already doing that — they’re just way more nonchalant about it than she is.
In addition, Jin-hee learns that Jae-won — who’s constantly yelling at her to follow the rules — is actually a rule-breaker himself. When following procedure will take too long, he does what he can to remedy things on his own. Jin-hee is moved by all these realizations about her new team and, after a night of heavy drinking together, we see the seeds are planted for this police station crew to become their own quirky little family unit.
The development in the “citizens hero” case from last week leads to Eun-mi being followed around by a guy in a baseball cap and hoodie. When the woman that Eun-mi rescued turns up dead in a park, Jin-hee worries that Eun-mi is in danger too. The victim had asked for police protection multiple times, but was dismissed (and there’s a running thread about how the police don’t do their jobs very well).
We end with a brief introduction to a character who’s still a mystery, but will likely become important. Jin-hee tries to arrest a man she suspects of being a pervert, but he’s let go for lack of evidence. That night, she sees the same man looking up at her apartment window and she chases him down until she’s got him pinned to a wall. She demands to know who he is, but we’ll have to wait until next week to find out.
I’m liking this better now that Jin-hee and Jae-won are breaking the ice and the drama is keeping its focus on the relationships. I already liked the leads last week, but these episodes dive deeper into the heartfelt tension and the jokes hit better when they follow very intense scenes. All the hilarious cursing from the mouthy trio of physical therapy patients (cameos by Kim Young-ok, Sung Ae-jae, and Jung Eun-shim) doesn’t hurt either.
Also, the crimes make more sense for the story this week, with child abuse being a trigger for Eun-mi. There’s a nice exploration of generational trauma and its long-lasting effects when Eun-mi admits that there are things she didn’t do for Jin-hee because no one ever did them for her, and she didn’t know she was supposed to. As an adult, Jin-hee is learning how to care for people on her own and Eun-mi is learning from her.
The killer on the loose still feels a bit strange, but I understand it gives the drama an overarching structure. I’m much more interested in the perp Jin-hee picked up at the end, though. Is he Jin-hee’s father? There was a moment when Mi-jung fantasized about how she’d torture the father if she ever met him, and now it makes me wonder if we will indeed meet him. But, no matter who he is, I’m looking forward to seeing how he’ll tie into their lives. The drama does best in its character-driven moments and I love how this little family keeps adopting new members.
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Tags: Ahn Jae-wook, Jeon Hye-jin, Kim Hye-eun, Not Others, Park Sung-hoon, Sooyoung
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1 Aroha Uaena
July 26, 2023 at 9:45 PM
I'm only watching this show to see what happens. Other than that I'm not really enjoying it. One thing that bothers me a lot is the fact that the mother has to be involved in everything. Kind of like making her the hero all the time. Why can't both leads have individual storylines that mesh together well. Every episode seems very predictable besides ep 1 where they mentioned self pleasuring.. (which I didn't find humorous). For being cops, they don't give off the vibe of real law enforcement.. It's not a drop yet, I'm hanging on for my girl Sooyoung but idk.. The Ml after watching him in the Glory and falling for his devious charms. This is really a let down for me. What a bummer!!
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2 Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
July 26, 2023 at 9:47 PM
Thanks, @dramaddictally! I was also on the fence the first week, but these episodes nailed it. The funny is funny. Both FLs brought some layers to their performances that show the mother-daughter resemblances under all the conflicts. Park Sung-hoon’s deadpan expressions and cranky scolding are just gold - a great build-up for the moments we see cracks in his emotional armor. I normally dislike drunk scenes, but the one in ep. 4 that allows him to display his squid-like physical comedy was worth its weight in soju. Shout-out to Kim Young-ok and the PD who gave her an opportunity to beat the crap out of some jerk - I love seeing her having fun in a role.
I can’t be the only one who’s dying to know what photos Mystery Man really had in his phone, right?
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DancingEmma
July 26, 2023 at 11:24 PM
@Elinor: I am curious too about those pics! I found the intro of that character deliberately confusing as I initially thought he was a perve and even though his phone was declared ok, when he went up to the bathroom, I assumed he was going to install a molka but that doesn’t seem to be likely.
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Blue (@mayhemf)
July 27, 2023 at 2:44 AM
I was thinking he probably had EunMi’s high school photo or class photo? And worried Jin Hee might recognize?
Also not sure what he was doing in the bus stop. May be he was talking selfie. Lol. And those were terrible and he didn’t want to show a woman his awful selfie pictures.
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ar_arguably romantic
July 27, 2023 at 3:31 PM
My first guess was that he may have pics of his body to relay a medical condition, so he didn't want a lady to see. Like a pic of a wart on his nipple that he want to have a doctor friend look at or something like that.
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3 emsel
July 26, 2023 at 10:00 PM
Oh no, murder! :O
Well, we can't have a cop show without crime, but everything else shaped up nicely and I started loving the granma trio, warmed up to the police squad, enjoyed a less crabby Jae Won and to my delight, mom-daughter duo have their own a cute little quartet with mom's bestie and daughter's unrequited first love. LOL😂
Though Soo Young's expressions were funny during the drinking scene, I hate how they have to be drunk-conscious to embrace warmth and break the ice🙄
@dramaddictally Thanks for the recaps and looking forward to the mystery man as much as you.
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4 minnie
July 26, 2023 at 11:28 PM
Man, that is some sloppy scriptwriting.
Just because the husband is a rude guy, he is not automatically a perpetrator. What about his wife (women are abusers, too, and in no small numbers)? Instead we see a group of angry women applying trial by mob.
Other than that I agree with @aroha Uaena: the mother is everywhere with her silly antics and that is annoying.
I dropped this as it is too boring and unsophisticated.
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Kafiyah Bello
July 27, 2023 at 4:09 AM
This was my thought as well, how do we know it wasn't that wife, but as soon as he swung on her, I knew it was him.
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5 Kurama
July 26, 2023 at 11:37 PM
The mystery man being on the poster, I don't think he's dangerous. I guess he will be the love interest of Eun-Mi.
Both mother and daughter act without really thinking... I mean I understand it comes from a good intention but they're adult now.
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6 Nefret
July 27, 2023 at 1:22 AM
The mysterious man is certainly Eun-mi's first love and/or Jin-hee's father.
Like the first two episodes, I liked these very much.
Only sometimes I have problems understanding the conversations between Jin-hee and Jae-won or the undertones. Or is it because the subtitles might not always be quite correct? This week, for example, I noticed that Jae-won's name was spelled differently, which confused me at first.
Why did Jae-won call Jin-hee "a mean bastard" in the scene where she brought him home ?
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Blue (@mayhemf)
July 27, 2023 at 2:46 AM
I do wonder if there is some history between these two. Clearly he wants to avoid her. And yes called her a mean bastard made me curious. It was he just cursing her out?
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Nefret
July 27, 2023 at 5:08 AM
Yes, there must have been a history between them in the past, but perhaps only from Jae-won's side. Otherwise, why would a grown man do a 180 degree turn when he would otherwise be in danger of crossing the path of his colleague with whom he is with all day at work.
The "mean bastard" confused me because it didn't fit the situation, probably referring to something in the past.
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Blue (@mayhemf)
July 27, 2023 at 7:44 AM
I wonder if its a subtitle issue. Need to go watch that scene and listen to the korean word. Because miso in their comment below mentions that he called her an 'idiot'.
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Nefret
July 27, 2023 at 7:59 AM
I just watched the scene again. First he says "mean bastard" (I understand something like "saekki"), when she is out the door he says "that idiot" according to the subtitle, although for me it is not quite sure whether he means her or himself.
7 Blue (@mayhemf)
July 27, 2023 at 2:32 AM
As expected, the show toned down the humor. Not that I had any issues with them but it does feel more tonally consistent now. I enjoyed these two episodes.
Also, I have no issues with how the crime is integrated into the show. I didn’t realize that the girl who Eun Mi saved in the alley was the same girl at the bus stop and roof top. But now I know it’s just one case.
And we have the other lead introduced! I was waiting for it.
I am totally digging the little moments between Jae Won and Jin Hee. They are absolutely hilarious. When he did a 180 deg turn after seeing her on the road, I laughed so hard. And poor chap got invited to drink with her family. Lol, Oppa from academy!! It’s was just hilarious. Also, the way he totally didn’t mind drinking from the same water bottle made me super excited!! . Drama logic says ‘Indirect kiss!!!’
I enjoyed the team drink party and how Jin Hee just says the darndest things.
Hope the show can keep the humor!
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Unaspirated
July 27, 2023 at 6:53 AM
I was crushed right along with Jin-hee the next day when no one on the team actually called her the names they said they would. And then the older guy came in an dropped the "nim" and she and I both smiled so wide!
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8 miso
July 27, 2023 at 3:23 AM
Week 2 was even better than Week 1. I'm loving Jae-won and Jin-hee together - the drunk scene at his home was cute. What did he mean by calling her an idiot though - is it because he had feelings she never realised??
But my favourite is still Eun-mi. The way she ripped into the abuser on the phone was glorious. And I agree with the other beanies - Ahn Jae-wook's character is almost certainly Eun-mi's past love and/or Jin-hee's father. But I'm also curious about Jin-soo. The heavy emphasis on how he looks exactly like Jin-hee's dad was interesting. Maybe he's also a half-brother?
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Kafiyah Bello
July 27, 2023 at 4:11 AM
I had that thought too about Ji Soo, but wouldn't they have met his parents by now. Also, it might just be a play on the fact that they will have the actor play the younger version of her dad.
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Blue (@mayhemf)
July 27, 2023 at 5:10 AM
I just thought both were being petty and competitive about whose first love was more handsome.
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miso
July 27, 2023 at 5:27 AM
Oh I'm sure it'll turn out to be nothing. Jin-hee and Jin-soo are the same age after all and it'd be funny if their high-schooler dad had fathered two kids in quick succession.
I just thought the insistence a bit funny coupled with the fact that they both have Jin in their name, almost as if it was a dollimja or generational marker.
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Blue (@mayhemf)
July 27, 2023 at 7:46 AM
lol.. may be he was multi tasking as a high schooler and is now on a prowl to find all the children he spawned.
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Asha13
July 27, 2023 at 7:58 AM
I suspect there will be a backstory to the dad that will redeem him. He is, after all, on the poster.
9 Kafiyah Bello
July 27, 2023 at 4:12 AM
I am still enjoying this. It isn't as funny as it could be for me, but still enjoyable.
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10 Asha13
July 27, 2023 at 5:25 AM
I loved the grandmas cursing out the domestic violence perpetrator. In fact, the grandmas were a delight throughout.
The bickering and back and forth between various characters in the "family" didnt feel forced at all. For instance, mother/daughter on the tub was cute af where it couldve felt forced. It was nice to see Kim Hye-Eun. I like the 2 new people that have been added to the family. Hopefully they stick around.
Hoodie boy was having such a hard time catching up to Eun Mi, I was rooting for him to, just to put us all out of our misery. I suspect that the guy Jin Hee catches at the end of the episode is her dad, not the killer, so we may see more scenes of hoodie boy following Eun Mi. Funny that she thinks it is an admirer. In the interest of not getting too stressed, I am determined to take this lightly, cos I am pretty certain she isnt going to get killed anytime soon.
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11 Cay_sbtgoG
July 27, 2023 at 6:25 AM
Agreed with other beanies observation regarding the humor. It toned down drastically. But somehow I prefer this way - more subtle. The show tried to trick us into thinking that the hoodie guy is Ahn Jae Wook. But my guess, he is Jin Hee's father. And it means there's still a criminal on the loose. Love the clinic crew each week and the progress of Jin Hee's relationship with Jae Won. Somehow I ship Eunmi with her boss. They're both extra.
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12 Unaspirated
July 27, 2023 at 7:03 AM
I think the introduction of the other "family members" really helped this show for me. When it is just our mother-daughter pair, it felt a bit stifling, but the other characters help open things up a little. I love everyone's easy company with each other.
My other favorite thing this week was Jin-hee realizing that all the other members of the police officer team are also rule-benders. I'm excited to see how their relationships all develop over the next few episodes. I think the funniest thing for me this week was Jin-hee constantly reaching across Older Cop to gesture, and him constantly asking her if she wanted to switch places! Hit just right for me.
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13 Scottie
July 27, 2023 at 7:48 AM
The drama is getting better and better. The two leading ladies are so comfortable and relaxed with each other which makes their close relationship so believable and nice to watch.
It is not hard to guess that the man Jin-hee just arrested is her father and I also believe that the phone showed an old school photo of Eun-mi. I doubt he will be welcomed with open arms by the daughter.
I think that the hoody man is a police officer and I find Jin-hee's colleague, Jo Young-Gyo, a little suspicious. It was the attacker who watched the CCTV footage and after that scene the drama showed Jin-hee with this colleague out on patrol in the car together. Is this a hint?
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14 LaurenSophie
July 27, 2023 at 8:16 AM
I like this show a lot, even though at times it does feel like it has a bit of a tone problem. It's not quite slice-of-life or a romcom or a family com or a crime thriller. I don't mind blending genres, but there are times when I wish it would lean more heavily into one (and for me, that would be slice-of-life with a little romance).
I'm glad that Jae-won was more likeable this week; despite him always acting like they have completely opposite values and work styles, he and Jin Hee actually have more in common than not. There's good chemistry there, too. I still can't quite read why he's so insistent on creating distance between them, though.
Although I'm all for sex positive women over 40, I admit that I didn't love Eun-mi's drunk and sober flirting with either Jae-won or Jin Hee's first love (the power dynamics wouldn't be the same, of course, but I couldn't help but think about how overtly gross it would be if Eun-mi was Jin Hee's father and not her mother and acting like this with his child's co-worker and childhood crush).
I do like the way the show depicts the many obstacles that may stand in the way of helping abused family members, and shows that you can be good at your job and want to help someone, but there's only so much you can do in certain cases.
As an American, though, I had trouble cheering on Eun-mi's confrontational behavior with the abusive father/son--not because he didn't deserve it or that she was in the wrong, but because all I could think was "Stop! He could have a gun!" Additionally, I did find it a little too unbelievable that Eun-mi is constantly witnessing abusive behavior or rescuing someone quite handily from it.
That said, I liked the addition of Bus Stop Dude who may or may not be Jin-hee's father. There's definitely something telling on his phone, and I wonder not only what it was, but if Jae-won immediately understood what he was looking at. I was thinking that he did, and that was really what he wanted to talk to Eun-mi about in his office.
Another question I had was if Eun-mi was talking about Jin-hee's father when she discussed her first love at 17? Are we talking about two different guys?
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ar_arguably romantic
July 27, 2023 at 3:45 PM
I think Eun-mi was brought in for questioning about the abuse case. I think either the clinic was going to sue the abuser or the abuser was going to sue the clinic.
I feel like it may have been 2 different guys since she didn't refer to her first love as JIn-hee's dad. Sounds like she just had a unrequited crush. I wonder if the bus stop dude is the first love or if he's some guy who had a crush on her back then. Either way, I feel like he must have a quirky personality too if he were to be paired with a force of nature like Eun-mi!
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15 jerrykuvira
July 27, 2023 at 10:01 AM
The humors hit just right, both last week and this week. Was it toned down? Maybe yes. But I believe it felt like an overload because a whole lot of jokes were crammed in without proper structure so it rather a hit or miss. Its like they doled out all the teasers in the premiere episodes.
From the beginning I knew Ahn Jae-wook being the cap guy was a fake out. Their builds are different. I must however commend his endurance : running at that speed with that well-packed bag across his shoulders.
Watching Jin-hee's ostracism at her workplace was getting really uncomfortable. At least they got in line just when I had had it up to here.
I kinda loved how Eun-mi silenced the abuser over the phone, plus the grannies.
Even though it felt like chastening, it was a learning and humbling moment for me to see that the team were actually on top of things even though they do not act like it.
I don't think it was the alcohol gathering that cooled things. She didn't bump into them there, she was invited to join them. And their conversation showed that they were done being angry with her. They don't exactly dislike her, they dislike her methods and they are done hazing her for it, I guess. They simply have to accept their differences.
And thumbs up to Dad Cop.
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16 ar_arguably romantic
July 27, 2023 at 3:52 PM
Wow, the second week has captured me! It's humor with a streak of warm absurdity and heart. There is a lot of cast chemistry. I love all the scenes of various characters just getting together and the interactions.
I love the irrepressible Eun-mi's age limit requirements for a partner -2 years older than me through to 10 years younger! LOL!
Park Sung-hoon is so cute, especially with his bicycle helmet!
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17 PYC
July 27, 2023 at 11:40 PM
These two latest episodes certainly land on the right spot - and this is shaping up to be my favourite drama out of the current crop.
I always like ensemble cast and found family pieces. Here, we have the inner circle of found family at home with the mum’s best friend and first crush-brother like guy and the outer yet-to-be harmonised family circle in the police station and the clinic comprising the doc-and-nurses and our adorable resident halmoni-trio. The first two episodes are a bit suffocating with the intense mother-and-daughter interactions but these are significantly improved once the drama spacing out to the extended families. I love that neighbourhood slice of life vibe - and the natural progression of the OTP relationship although there must be some back story from the police academy days.
Ahn Jae-wok is certainly the father or a former boyfriend. I think the killer / stalker is the young man from the convenience store who complained about the street light.
Joen Hye-jin is a great actress but this is the first comedy I see her in. Excellent portrayal of a domineering mom from a vulnerable past. The physical comedy is beyond my expectation. The dating app arc between her and her boss is so hilarious. I can feel and share her win when managing to delete the conversation.
Looking forward to next week!
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18 Dylan [Suffering from Judge from Hell brainrot]
August 1, 2023 at 8:51 PM
Yeah, I don't think it was because her team is more nonchalant, it's more that they were deliberately keeping her out of the loop as part of the ostracism. Honestly, made my blood boil. From what I understand, she's literally their superior, they *have* to inform her about professional matters... How can they let personal feelings get in the way...
Intentionally or not, the way police are depicted in this drama shows how broken modern policing is.
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