Hee-joo, played by Go Hyun-jung, must face the past in 'Reflection of You.'
Jeong Hee-joo, played by Go Hyun-jung, is a painter whose art captures pastel reflections of her comfortable life. Although her life might seem picture-perfect in the Korean drama Reflection of You, the reality is not always pretty. Her mother-in-law is cold and dismissive, undermining her authority with her children, so they too also dismiss her concerns. Her husband is kind but she’s treated rudely by her sister-in-law. She continues to smile through the family’s snide remarks. She holds her head high. Appearances matter.
Hee-joo’s life loses some of its superficial luster on the day that a substitute art teacher repeatedly slaps her daughter hard enough to rupture one eardrum. Her daughter won’t say why the teacher hit her and the teacher won’t apologize. This infuriates Hee-joo so much that she winds up hitting the teacher. She’s mortified that she lost her temper, but suspects the teacher wanted her to react that way.
There is something oddly familiar about the art teacher, Goo Hae-won, played by Shin Hyun-been. She looks a lot like someone Hee-joo used to know. Hee-joo quickly becomes haunted by the woman, seeing her everywhere, and it’s not entirely in her imagination. They did know each other before and Hae-won is indeed stalking her. It seems she is seeking revenge.
The women were friends before an undisclosed incident caused them to part ways. The drama does not immediately disclose what that might have been and whether Hee-joo’s husband, played by Choi Won-young, was involved. For better or worse, Hee-joo’s sense of self is reflected in the reactions of those around her. With Hae-won’s return, she will have to remember who she used to be.
The carefully plotted and well acted mystery also stars Kim Jae-young as sculptor Seo Woo-jae, Kim Bo-yeon as Hee-Joo’s mother-in-law, Kim Soo-ahn as Hee-joo’s daughter, Jang Hye-jin as her sister-in-law and Shin Dong-wook.
