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Mad for Each Other (Initial Thoughts)


In recent years, global attention to mental disorders has started to increase exponentially, aided by the continuing inclusion of such topics in popular media. When it comes to K-dramas, we've gotten examples in It's Okay to Not Be Okay or Soul Mechanic, which gave us a better understanding of different kinds of mental disorders while at the same time thoroughly entertaining viewers. Now, we're heading back into the fray with Mad for Each Other (or directly translated to Crazy Person in the Area), another Netflix Original which takes on a more web drama-like format, similar to some of the previous outings we've seen on the streaming service. Starring Jung Woo (You Are the Best!, Reply 1994) as male lead NOH HWI-OH and Oh Yeon-seo (A Korean Odyssey, Love with Flaws) as female lead LEE MIN-KYUNG, this romcom revolves around two neighbours with their own mental health problems and the wacky situations they end up in on their path to romance. Let's dive in.

INITIAL THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS (SPOILER ALERT)

Episode 1 hasn't really given us too much in terms of the drama's story, in fact we know very little about it. All we know is that our two leads are suffering from their own mental health issues and we get a small glimpse at how their lives are affected by these disorders. Male lead Hwi-oh is shown to have anger management issues, even going so far as to take his frustrations out on inanimate objects like an "uncooperative" umbrella or punching a wall, to the extent where his knuckles are scraped and bleeding. His psychiatrist diagnoses him with posttraumatic embitterment disorder (PTED), something most people probably aren't familiar with, which is essentially triggered by a common but negative life event. It could be anything, a divorce, being insulted or being fired from a job but bottom line is, the patient would've found said event to be extremely unjust or a breach of a trust and would feel severe long-lasting embitterment as a consequence. 

We don't find out what's really wrong with Hwi-oh in this episode but it might have to do with his family. When Hwi-oh returns home, he gets insulted by his father who basically calls him a good-for-nothing and we find out that something happened prior to Hwi-oh's wedding that caused him to bail on it. As of right now that's all we know about our hero's backstory but in this episode, his interactions with female lead Min-kyung is what drives the drama forward. Min-kyung suffers from a multitude of mental problems and actually goes to the same psychiatrist as Hwi-oh, who has diagnosed her with PTSD, delusional disorder and OCD. We do see some instances of her OCD, such as repeatedly checking whether her house's gas meter is off or locking all her windows and shutting her blinds but the most prevalent of her disorders is her delusional disorder. We see that a lot in this episode, with Min-kyung believing that Hwi-oh is following her despite the fact that he was in front of her. Our leads meeting were purely coincidental, since both of them needed to go to the same psychiatrist but our heroine really deluded herself into believing that Hwi-oh plans to attack her. 

This is what leads to their very first interaction as Min-kyung actually hits Hwi-oh in her terrified and deluded state even though he hasn't done anything at all. Of course, this won't be the last time they meet as we see them once again in the very last scene, once again with Min-kyung believing that she's about to be attacked by Hwi-oh. This time though, she winds up on top of his car and jumps around screaming for help, completely oblivious to the fact that she's damaging an innocent man's car. The episode ends quite humorously with both leads screaming their lungs out, Hwi-oh in frustration and Min-kyung in terror.

This drama should prove to be quite interesting. With an increasing number of dramas addressing mental health, I think it's quite intriguing for this series to take a look at certain disorders that aren't as widely talked about. I for one didn't know that PTED was a thing and delusional disorder is also one of the rarest conditions around so I'll definitely learn a little bit more about them as I continue this drama. As the drama progresses, we'll definitely find out what caused our two leads to become this way and while they might be starting off on the wrong foot, we know for a fact that they'll end up as a couple. Like I mentioned up top, this is a short-form drama, with 13 episodes of around 30 minutes each so I hope you'll join me on this quick ride as we see how our leads become Mad for Each Other.

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