[Drama 2020] 365: One Year Against Destiny, 365: 운명을 거스르는 1년

[AC95]

Watched as soon as the episodes came out but didn't get a chance to post till now. The pace is breathless...

 

21 hours ago, keyta said:

3 out, 7 to go.. I have a 'And then there were none' wibes with this one. 

 

@keyta  Love Agatha Christie novels so really dig your reference. As with Christie, like that they approach the story from the psychological angle, not just the action thriller aspect.

 

Having foreknowledge is a terrible burden - the fear of reliving trauma, always watching over your shoulder, not being able to live 'in the moment'. The suspicion that you are still trapped by your fate.

 

11 hours ago, triplem said:

2. These 10 are in some way linked to Lee Shin. This is at least Lee Shin's second time resetting . She probably has done it many times considering that she knows enough of the rules. I wonder why they never ask her why them? Or did they?

@taeunfighting @triplem @nrllee Enjoyed hearing you all mulling over theories. We are all trying to work out the rules of the game now!

 

Like you, I suspect Lee Shin not only is connected to everyone but has very personal reasons for resetting. I feel she is experimenting continually to get the outcome she wants. In that conversation where she told Seo Yeon-su to 'survive no matter what', I had strong foreboding that she needed certain things to happen in each experiment to advance her goals. Each time, because fates of people become intertwined, she has to bring in more participants, tie up loose ends and 'close them off'. Hence the deaths and strange coincidences. 

 

~

 

Other reactions - I was a little disoriented in the first episode because the tone changed so erratically and the acting was so OTT  Was worried this would end up really corny  But I realised that they had to do it to hook the audience. The pacing since then has been swift but more consistent. 

 

I'm totally blown away by the film location they used for Lee Shin's Zian lair. It looks like some avant garde museum... Anybody have a clue where it was filmed? Really liked the cinematography and framing - the cyan macaroon that morphed into the interview space; the car travelling down the winding road...

 

 

 

 

[nrllee]

26 minutes ago, AC95 said:

the cyan macaroon that morphed into the interview space; the car travelling down the winding road

Yes I loved all those details.  It just adds to the tension.  The PD is very good.

 

Also did everyone notice how LeeShin seems to use the hourglass a lot?  There was one frame where the hourglass was turned horizontally and it looked like the infinity symbol.  Like a time continuum.  
 

Quote

I feel she is experimenting continually to get the outcome she wants. In that conversation where she told Seo Yeon-su to 'survive no matter what', I had strong foreboding that she needed certain things to happen in each experiment to advance her goals. Each time, because fates of people become intertwined, she has to bring in more participants, tie up loose ends and 'close them off'. Hence the deaths and strange coincidences. 

Yes to this.  How does she (LS) ensure that she’s the one who survives the “Hunger Games” in the end though?  She has to survive so I think she manipulates the pieces (the people) she’s picked for each iteration to safeguard her way to the end somehow whilst trying to get the desired outcome for herself.

[msaamia]

Im really liking Lee Joon Hyuk here. Ino he's alittle talkative and extroverted but I think his character is a very good one just being a normal dude who goes through something he never thought he would. I am looking forward to the next episodes  

[kboramint]

6 hours ago, nrllee said:

 But not sure why HJ’s Hyung gets a free ride though...or is that coming?   

  

 

It hasn't happened yet. HJ's hyung got murdered later that year. I'm calling it. Rather than Sun-Ho getting murdered like before. Someone else from the Investigation Team is going to get murdered. By the same person too. 

[ktcjdrama]

2 hours ago, kboramint said:

It hasn't happened yet. HJ's hyung got murdered later that year.

Do you mean that his hyung will not get a free ride and probably will die later on? Or do you mean the incident where he got killed has not happened yet after HJ reset?

[40somethingahjumma]

I was wondering if I should comment before watching the second episode. 

From the moment the psychiatrist from Zian/Jian walked into that circular room, I immediately thought of Liar Game. It certainly has a strong J drama vibe to it.

 

I started watching this mainly for LJH who is utterly adorable here by the way. Always great to see him in a starring role. But the premise is very intriguing. 

 

I wonder how he does it sometimes... transform himself so completely... just with doing the littlest things with his facial features.

 

Good to see his limbs all intact. 

[nrllee]

38 minutes ago, 40somethingahjumma said:

Good to see his limbs all intact.

You forgot the eye...   It still gives me chills just thinking about that drama.

 

1 hour ago, ktcjdrama said:

Or do you mean the incident where he got killed has not happened yet after HJ reset?

I think the incident already happened.  The guy was apprehended with the reset and HJ’s preemptive actions.  So the Hyung gets a second chance to live but possibly ends up dead at a later time?  It’s a bit confusing (the rules of the game).   I feel like there’s an equilibrium that needs to be maintained regardless.  So events that have happened before reset still have to happen some time within the 365 days.  Maru getting lost.  The accident happening.  So you can avoid or defer the event but it still happens?  What I am not sure of is if the event has to happen to you or someone near you.  Like GH’s friend who died in the accident that GH was supposed to have had.  I think because YS is in the mix the accident had to happen because she’s trying to change her fate (of being the driver)...and she does but the consequences for her were far worse than the original?  She dies in this iteration as a result of her abusive fiancé.  For GH she has suffered far worse than just being paralysed?  She’s lost her friend AND found out about their affair.  The butterfly effect.  One little change can have massive consequences.  So it would make sense that for HJ who tried to “save” his Hyung, he would suffer even more from the death of someone else close to him?  

[ktcjdrama]

That’s what I understood too. That on that same day of reset, he already managed to save the hyung. And I worry actually, that he will end up still dying at a later time because that guy didn’t end up dying due to successful surgery. But I agree that it could be worse since GH had to bear worse consequences than the first time. 

[kboramint]

3 hours ago, ktcjdrama said:

Do you mean that his hyung will not get a free ride and probably will die later on? Or do you mean the incident where he got killed has not happened yet after HJ reset?

 

I think the incident that got HJ's hyung killed has yet to happen. All he did was save the man that was killed before. It can still happen. Like GH's accident is altered into becoming her friend's accident on the day and time of the accident then one should believe that the murder of HJ's hyung will be altered into someone else. We just don't know what that is. Can someone else close to him die at his apartment? Will he still break his smart phone and try getting it fixed.

 

 

 

 

[sp17jcshipper]

6 hours ago, kboramint said:

  

 

It hasn't happened yet. HJ's hyung got murdered later that year. I'm calling it. Rather than Sun-Ho getting murdered like before. Someone else from the Investigation Team is going to get murdered. By the same person too. 

I think they managed to go through it without his friend getting murdered. He managed to arrest the guy before he could kill his friend.

[40somethingahjumma]

There is no way after that ending that I won't be continuing with the drama.  Not a chance. And Nam Ji Hyun gets to be murder suspect #1 again.

Everything about the drama tells me that this is going to be quite the roller coaster ride. Already there are easter eggs all over the place including the title of the manhwa, "Hidden Killer". Honestly I want this show to be good from go to woe because the premise is brimming with so much mystery and potential. It would be an absolute waste of talent and plot if it went down the proverbial gurgler after such an excellent start.

 

The first thing that has me really curious is the mechanics of the "reset". My first bit of speculation (as I reach into my limited sci-fi repertoire) just based on an initial exposure to the storyline is that we have something along the lines of a Matrix type scenario. The dog Maru had me thinking very early on of The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland because he seemed to be a point of connection between key people and events. In the first Matrix film, Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass was heavily referenced and so was the Wizard of Oz. Toto, Dorothy's dog journeys with her to Oz when Kansas "goes bye bye". My first inclination is to agree with the gamer lad that this is some kind of game. But I don't necessarily think it's a survival game like Liar Game. It's still early days and during the course of these episodes I changed my mind about what this show was about. Could be a VR role play type set up or AR... I'm not really up on the latest jargon. But something sophisticated could be set up somewhere in that facility as a platform for playing out these scenarios. Another feature of interest is the hypnosis sessions and how Ga-hyeon accesses her memories. Then there's the hourglass. Why use an hourglass instead of a wristwatch? And a really large one at that. That piques my interest as someone who has a thing for timepieces. Obviously timing is one of the keys to unravelling some of the psychiatrist's motives.

 

I wouldn't at this stage necessarily believe everything the psychiatrist Lee Shin says about time travel. However we can be certain that these individuals haven't been randomly picked. At the heart of it despite the psycho thriller window dressing (yay!) the police procedural aspect (yay, yay!) this is ultimately a drama about healing. I strongly believe, whatever the mechanics, it's an experiment of sorts to help people deal with grief and loss. To come to terms with the pain, trauma etc and move on.

 

Survivors of tragedy often second guess themselves... "What if I had... What if I hadn't..." Whatever Zian/Jian Corp is... (I keep thinking of Janus which would make a lot of sense because Janus is the Roman god of beginnings, transitions, doorways, endings etc. He is usually depicted with two faces, looking to the past and future. Rather like the hourglass which has two symmetrical sides. Maybe?) It allows individuals an opportunity to live through an alternative timeline from a decisive moment and then see the flow-on effects of that even when they have foreknowledge or tools by which they can change their future. My own thinking on this is that knowledge is not the key to change... but character. According to the drama at least. Character not knowledge is destiny.

 

Take for instance, Ga-hyeon. Her friend was right about her attitude. I sensed it myself and even after the reset... she had the same arrogance, the same self-righteous attitude. She also lacked patience and judgment when dealing with Seo Yeon Soo. I thought she jumped the gun on that one. And it turned out, I was right. She became easy pickings for someone happy to pin murder on her.

I also had a feeling about the boyfriend and the bestie in the "first timeline". While I agree that it was an ugly act of betrayal, GH once never stopped to think about why the bf and the bestie fell for each other behind her back. We always sympathize with the one betrayed... it's natural... no one likes deception. But affairs aren't usually things that happen overnight. It starts with the little things. Then there are comparisons made. A man and woman working so close together, left alone together for a lot of the time. A grumpy, demanding fiancee. It's textbook ingredients for an affair. I can't imagine that she's an easy person to get on with or work with and it must have been worse after the accident when she lost the use of her legs... when she became embittered. 

 

Of course I'm not saying that bf and bestie weren't responsible for the betrayal. They were but GH, from what I've seen, had some contribution to make in that love triangle too. 

 

We humans often think that if we change our environment... our lives will change for the better. We can limit suffering and pain. I think we know that is seldom true from case studies of lottery winners. Too often we're so busy trying to control all the external variables in our lives that we forget about the man and the woman in the mirror. 

[nrllee]

One other theory I had percolating in my mind is that they haven’t actually gone back in time.  They only did so in their head.  Similar to Avatar the movie where the guy goes into the Avatar world in his head.  Only because the one heading the operation is a psychiatrist and she uses hypnosis.  So she sends them back with present day memories (which is why she pointed out that they don’t go back in physically)...hence why they all have that blackout incident and not just reappear during the 2019 reset as is.  Who knows?  

[sp17jcshipper]

As am watching this drama am thinking of an American TV series called Shield were they are also able to travel to an alternate universe but it's only their consciousness that travels to the alternate reality but in actual sense nothing has changed in their real time line. Their bodies Are just connected to a machine for that time period. So if one dies in the alternate universe it could mean they also die in real time or sometimes they  just then just wake up in real time. So am wandering if this will be the premises since it looks like YS is a psychologist, so like what the previous writer said they are just going through it again so as to be able to deal with what happened to them and move on in real time. 

 

Like if this hadn't happened, the result would have been even more tragic. I don't know if it makes sense.

[Guest]

@nrllee @ktcjdrama @taeunfighting @AC95 any of you watched Death Note? The gamer boy brought it up. I have not and just googled it...

Spoiler

A high school student discovers a supernatural notebook that has deadly powers. He can kill anyone he wishes simply by inscribing their name within its pages. Intoxicated with his new power, he begins to eliminate those he deems unworthy of life.

So I am wondering if someone say like Lee Shin is the one that decides who it worthy of living and who is not...so let's see those who have died so far had a level of selfishness to them...GH's best friend who betrayed her, SY the resetter who tried to cover her own crime and push it on her fiance, the delivery driver and even the security guard who died - both were focussed on material gains - buying lottery...

The only one that had something positive take place was JH who did the reset to save his hyung...

 

Great response by domestic audience to the story and our leads. In the second pic , there were comments that LJH should do more rom-coms . They must have forgotten Dr Ye in a A Poem A Day

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

@40somethingahjumma I was waiting for you to watch this.. . 

 

Recommending this to @bebebisous33 and @stroppyse

[ktcjdrama]

1 hour ago, nrllee said:

One other theory I had percolating in my mind is that they haven’t actually gone back in time.  They only did so in their head.  Similar to Avatar the movie where the guy goes into the Avatar world in his head.  Only because the one heading the operation is a psychiatrist and she uses hypnosis.  So she sends them back with present day memories (which is why she pointed out that they don’t go back in physically)...hence why they all have that blackout incident and not just reappear during the 2019 reset as is.  Who knows?  

That is what I have been thinking too! That they’re all unconscious somewhere after being drugged or hypnotized and they’re living out a scenario/setting by Lee Shin. 

[Alice Wonderland]

Whoah. It's thrilling! It's like some sort of final destination and butterfly effect. Now they have to figure out the rules. It's not like what the gamer boy said. It's based on whose got up first from their seat. But indeed there's a certain rule or pattern who will be the next target here.

 

Every step they take might changes the outcome. It's been a long time to have this kind of story in dramaland. I used to watch traveler series and it's the same fun I got here from watching the first two episodes. I like the feisty female lead and manhwa detective are teaming up to solve the mystery. But GY be the suspect of SY's death??? How could they make that kind of ending, makes me totally curious!! 

 

It turned out that everybody is suspicious. No one can be trusted. But the most suspicious of all is the Zian lady. She's the one who start all of this. I guess she planned something to fix of her own life and she needs these peoples to make it happened. Just my wild guess.. hahahaha

My Sherlock brain cell keep spinning and speculating what if and what if the scenarios could be. Well. I am on a roll! 6 dramas in a week. Lol. Feeling scared to go outside. I'm stucked in my room all day except for bathroom, food, laundry and shopping groceries. I guess behind all these calamity I'm blessed with much free time at home. Hope everyone stays well wherever you are. 

 

[40somethingahjumma]

@triplem

I saw the original Death Note anime many many years ago. I haven't found any of the live action adaptations to be its equal. It's certainly has a cult following among otakus and for good reason. It's one of the best. The cat and mouse game between the primary detective "L" and the perpetrator was a nerve wrecking chess game. (PHJ in Bad Guys... bears a strong resemblance to L)

 

That said, I don't really see how Reset could be a Death Note survival game. It's purely speculation on his part at this point because he was trying to account for the unexpected deaths. But that's his assumption. It could be a red-herring. All it tells me so far is that he's a pop culture fan boy.  He obviously knows his J pop culture. However, there's no Shinigami -- a grim reaper type demon, no magic notebook or any indication that Lee Shin or the people behind her is deliberately trying to punish hardened criminals. None of the participants are repeat offenders. The entire mechanics of the reset doesn't resemble anything I recall about the Death Note universe. I think it's too early to say definitively either way but nothing about Reset, as we've seen, screams out Death Note to me.

 

For me The Matrix and Avatar parallels make the most sense at this point in time. I reserve the right to change my mind. It's a generational thing possibly but at this stage there's a strong case for believing that these people haven't actually travelled through time but are sitting in a room hotwired to some serious tech in a hugely sophisticated VR room making cognitive choices which see their actions play out. For example, in the post-original Star Trek iterations, there was something call the holodeck or holosuite which was essentially an interactive VR area that allowed for role playing etc. If memory serves there was a Stargate episode which featured members of the main team being held hostage by alien tech trying to learn how humans think and act. 

 

The other pop culture reference that came to my mind was Groundhog Day. Maybe because I've seen it so many times. That was the ultimate reset film to my mind. Sonny and Cher's I've Got You Babe coming over the radio still cracks me up. The mechanics of that probably isn't the same but the moral is. Character is destiny. To change the past one must change oneself. Something along those lines I would say... 

 

The show is really good so far. It certainly keeps you guessing in that Life on Mars sort of way.

 

@nrllee

Yes I did forget the eyeball. Heh.

 

I've been meaning to mention to @nrllee and @ktcjdrama

because you both read and understand Chinese...

 

Spoiler

You should take a look at Miss Truth. I bring this up only because we seem to like the same kinds of shows. All 36 episodes have been aired. The usual places. You may like it.

 

 

 

[taeunfighting]

@40somethingahjumma You brought up a good point about one’s character impacting destiny. I keep thinking about what Lee Shin said to GH when she was expressing her regret/disappointment about the reset. Lee Shin advised her to think about why she agreed to do it in the first place and how she will use the time granted to her. She should focus on those things. It will be more worth it to her than allowing her subconscious to make her decisions. So, it's possible the reset may be an opportunity for GH to change her attitude/perspective about the life events that are being dealt to her as they impact not only herself, but everything else around her as well.

 

I dig everyone's theory about them not really have technically time-traveled back, but instead, they are actually in a virtual reality experience simulated by Lee Shin. Based on how she seems to be counseling GH, it's plausible. In the meantime, I think we'll be in for a lot of twists and turns until the very end. And even when we get finally there, I have a feeling it may leave us still guessing which or what is the reality.

[Dramanoona]

I remember watching a movie (can't remember the name!) when at the end of it all, the story which happened throughout was due to the imagination of a character in her daily life as a convenience store cashier. She had woven the whole story together with the images of the people she interacted with at her job.

 

**Now I am trying to remember what the name of that movie is!**

[kboramint]

3 hours ago, taeunfighting said:

@40somethingahjumma You brought up a good point about one’s character impacting destiny. I keep thinking about what Lee Shin said to GH when she was expressing her regret/disappointment about the reset. Lee Shin advised her to think about why she agreed to do it in the first place and how she will use the time granted to her. She should focus on those things. It will be more worth it to her than allowing her subconscious to make her decisions. So, it's possible the reset may be an opportunity for GH to change her attitude/perspective about the life events that are being dealt to her as they impact not only herself, but everything else around her as well.

 

I dig everyone's theory about them not really have technically time-traveled back, but instead, they are actually in a virtual reality experience simulated by Lee Shin. Based on how she seems to be counseling GH, it's plausible. In the meantime, I think we'll be in for a lot of twists and turns until the very end. And even when we get finally there, I have a feeling it may leave us still guessing which or what is the reality.

 

I really like this theory. That could be possible (similar to Total Recall) and that would mean that GH's best friend is still be alive and the adultery between her friend and her boyfriend never actually happened. It was all simulation created by Lee Shin.