Twelve Nights (2018)
Quick Take: 12 Nights (2018), starring and Shin Hyun-soo and Han Seung-yeon . 9.5/10. 12 60-minute episodes.
Synopsis: Cha Hyun-oh is from Tokyo, the son of Korean emigrants. Han Yoo-kyung is from New York; her family emigrated to the US when she was in high school. They meet in Seoul in 2010 and share an attraction, but have to leave for home after only four days. They promise to meet again in a year, but Hyun-oh doesn’t appear. As Fate would have it — lots of Fate in this show! — they meet again in 2015, again for four days. This time they exchange email addresses, but after six months, Hyon-oh stops responding. In 2018 they are both in Seoul again but it’s complicated by his fiance` and her distrust.
Review: I binged all 12 episodes in two days! I totally loved this show.
Recurring themes are many.
Fate is one. Korean Wisdom holds that three chance encounters signifies that a couple is Meant To Be. In 12 Nights, the protagonists coincidentally find each other many more times than three. It takes some suspension of disbelief to think that people from different continents can randomly bump into each other in a city the size of Seoul.
Another theme is Follow Your Dream. Han Yoo-kyung wants to be a professional photographer; Cha Hyun-oh wants to be a dancer. They are both feeling blocked and discouraged when they first meet, but they encourage each other not to give up. This theme has a problematic corollary, however: Art Matters Most. People can get hurt when Art is given priority over Responsibility.
Another theme is Elders Give Wise Advice. Han Seung-yeon gets advice from two older women, both successful photographers. I especially liked the character Lee Ri, an elder who is still rocking and rolling. She closes her photo shop and retires, and immediately takes off for the Sarengeti! Go Lee Ri!
And yet another theme is Forgiveness and Redemption. Family members who are estranged for years can overcome their past in order to move forward. F&R requires a sincere desire to make amends on both sides, however, and it can take a long time to achieve.
Recommended.
Rewatchable - 5, Compelling - 5, Plot/ Story/Writing - 10, Acting/Casting - 10, Production - 10, Bonus - 5. Bonus for the inclusion of elders, both as wise and as flawed.
Notes:
Han Seung-yeon
began his career in musical theater. He has been acting in films and dramas since 2013. See him also in Hello My Twenties! 2 (2017), Welcome to Waikiki 1 and 2 (2018 and 2019), and Bossam: Steal the Fate (2021).
Han Seung-yeon
is a singer and actress. Since her girl group Kara disbanded, she has pursued a solo singing career as well as acting. See her in Hello, My Twenties 1 and 2 (2016-17), Last Minute Romance (2017), and About Time (2018).
Ye Soo-jung
is a character actress. Once you recognize her, you’ll see her in a wide range of dramas and roles, including Train to Busan (2016), Prison Playbook (2017), and Mine (2021).