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Pierce Conran

Lead cast: Seo Hyun-jin, Yoo Jae-myung, Chang Ryul
Latest Nielsen rating: 1.5 per cent
Loneliness, guilt and desire form the heart of Love Me, a melodrama that begins on a dour note before smoothing over the pain with the promise of new romance.
Although Seo Hyun-jin (The Trunk) gets the most screen time, this is at its core an ensemble piece about six characters: three members of a fractured family and the partners to which they slowly turn to mend their broken hearts.


This is the second series helmed by Jo Young-min this year, following the critically acclaimed Netflix drama You and Everything Else. The script is penned by writing duo Park Eun-young and Park Hee-kwon (I Have Not Done My Best Yet); Park Eun-young previously collaborated with Seo on The Trunk.
Seo stars as Seo Jun-kyung, an obstetrician-gynaecologist who has been living a lonely life filled with long shifts, after-work convenience store beers and disappointing blind dates ever since leaving her family home seven years earlier.
Her father, Seo Jin-ho (Yoo Jae-myung, Tempest), has just taken early retirement to better care for his physically disabled wife, Kim Mi-ran (Jang Hye-jin, Parasite). Still living at home is the college-age Seo Jun-seo (Lee Si-woo, Love Your Enemy).
Jun-kyung seldom returns home, and the mood is never festive when she does, as tensions quickly explode between mother and daughter.

The reason for these frosty relations is soon made clear: Mi-ran was incapacitated in a crash seven years ago while driving to Jun-kyung’s hospital on a rainy day to bring her something she had forgotten at home.
Jun-kyung’s guilt compelled her to leave home, and the family has never been able to repair the psychological damage caused by the accident.
Things go from bad to worse early on when tragedy strikes the family again. Yet from this low point, all that is left is for the remaining characters to rebuild, each in their own time and in their own way.
For Jun-kyung, this takes the form of her next-door neighbour Jo Du-hyun (Chang Ryul, Daily Dose of Sunshine), a free spirit who has quietly noticed her strength and hidden charms.

Jun-seo is already in a passionate relationship at the beginning of the series, but his girlfriend, a club entertainer, attracts a lot of attention, and jealousy starts to get the better of him.
Jun-seo’s friend, Ji Hye-on (Dahyun of K-pop group Twice), is quickly presented as an alternative love interest, though nothing sparks in the early episodes.
For Jin-ho, who has just become a widower, it may take longer to open up, but Jin Ja-young (Yoon Se-ah, Perfect Family) is cautiously introduced as a potential love interest in episode two.
With its weighty themes and their occasionally heavy-handed treatment, Love Me may not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, it largely achieves what it aims to, which is to say it succeeds as a tale of redemption, where romance is the saviour that pulls several characters back from the brink.

If the series suffers from any crucial flaw, it is the glaring age mismatch between some of its cast members. In real life, Seo is only 12 years younger than Yoo, who plays her father, and 10 years younger than Jang, who plays her mother, and the production does little to bridge that discrepancy.
Narrative television is make-believe, and actors are called upon to play characters of different ages, but suspension of disbelief can only take you so far. In Love Me, this creates a disconnect that at times makes it hard to get into the story.
Once we look past this issue, what we are left with is a show that is deliberate in its pacing, sensitive to the psychological needs of its characters, and honest about the flaws their wounds have woven into them.
The familial drama of the early episodes serves as a structural foundation from which three slow-burning romances can steadily rise. What is less clear yet is what kind of romantic series Love Me will turn into in the coming weeks.

Given the neediness of the title, there is a risk the narrative will focus squarely on the Seos and their emotional voids. As we learn more about their potential partners in the episodes ahead, hopefully the show will remember that love is a two-way street.
Love Me is streaming on Viu.


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Seo Hyun-jin as Seo Jun-kyung, an obstetrician-gynaecologist, in a still from Love Me, a new Korean drama exploring grief, guilt and healing through family bonds. 

Lee Si-woo as the college-age Seo Jun-seo in a still from Love Me.

Chang Ryul as next-door neighbour Jo Du-hyun in a still from Love Me

Yoo Jae-myung as Seo Jun-kyung’s father Seo Jin-ho in a still from Love Me

Seo Hyun-jin as obstetrician-gynaecologist Seo Jun-kyung in a still from Love Me

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Loneliness and redemption are explored through family drama and romance in Love Me, starring Seo Hyun-jin, Yoo Jae-myung and Chang Ryul


Loneliness and redemption are explored through family drama and romance in Love Me, starring Seo Hyun-jin, Yoo Jae-myung and Chang Ryul.


K-drama Love Me: Seo Hyun-jin leads slow-burn ensemble family drama with heavy emotions

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Loneliness and redemption are explored through family drama and romance in Love Me, starring Seo Hyun-jin, Yoo Jae-myung and Chang Ryul

Loneliness and redemption are explored through family drama and romance in Love Me, starring Seo Hyun-jin, Yoo Jae-myung and Chang Ryul