5 Things We Loved And 5 Things We Hated About "While You Were Sleeping" Episodes 7 And 8

Oct 21, 2017

It’s the fourth week of SBS’s Wednesday-Thursday drama “While You Were Sleeping,” and things are really starting to heat up, in both the romance department and the prosecution office. What did we love and hate about this week’s episodes? Read on to find out!

Warning: spoilers for Episodes 7 and 8 ahead.

1. Loved: Woo Tak is okay!

Last week’s episodes left off with a scary cliffhanger scenario: Hong Joo (Suzy) and Cho Hee cowered in fear as Jae Chan (Lee Jong Suk) confronted a murderer, and Woo Tak (Jung Hae In) lay on the floor, blood gushing from his stab wound.

My thoughts all week.

But thankfully, everyone turned out to be just fine at the start of this week. The murderer was apprehended, Hong Joo and Jae Chan got by with minor injuries, and Woo Tak is better, after spending some time in the hospital.

His ab — I mean, stab — wound looks fine!

2. Loved: Jae Chan’s jealousy

Speaking of Woo Tak and his abs, we’re grateful for them because they’re bringing out a hilariously adorable jealous side of Jae Chan.

The poor guy can’t get any peace of mind; he even has to watch Woo Tak hug his girlfriend-to-be in his dreams:

But as much as it may drive him crazy, Jae Chan’s jealousy at least serves him well by prompting him to turn up the heat in his relationship with Hong Joo.

3. Hated: seatbelts

Seatbelts are important. You should always wear a seatbelt. Unless, that is, your name is Jae Chan and you are sitting in a parked car, attempting to smoothly initiate a first kiss.

Great line, solid eye contact, things are going well…

Oh.

Any normal person might have taken off the seatbelt when it stuck, but this is Jae Chan we’re dealing with, so he just pauses and stares, horrified, into Hong Joo’s face for a hilarious and long, painfully awkward minute.

As exasperating as it is that the seatbelt cheated us out of a kiss, there’s no denying that this scene was priceless.

4. Hated: the increasingly bizarre childhood plot

Little by little, the childhood storyline is revealing more details about Hong Joo’s and Jae Chan’s youth. And maybe it will all make sense once we learn a bit more about their shared past, but for now, there are parts of these flashbacks that just don’t quite work.

For one, young Hong Joo’s ardent hatred towards the brother of the man who killed her and Jae Chan’s fathers is a bit puzzling.

This isn’t the murderer we’re talking about, it’s his brother. Hong Joo is obviously traumatized by the loss of her father, but isn’t this a harsh way to treat a man who has no actual connection to her father’s death?

Then, young Jae Chan takes his sweet time arguing with Hong Joo about why they should save this man from drowning… while the guy is fully submerged in water. And drowning.

Finally, in the most unnecessarily dangerous rescue attempt he could concoct, Jae Chan ties a rope around himself, doesn’t bother to tell Hong Joo how she should know when to pull him up, and dives in after the man. Thankfully, Hong Joo manages to save both of them by slowly hauling up the rope while sobbing dramatically.

Maybe this would all be less frustrating and make more sense if we understood why the drama keeps flashing back to the characters’ pasts, but it’s been vague so far on what connections their shared past has to the present. Hopefully more answers are forthcoming!

5. Loved: Hong Joo taking initiative

Hong Joo continues to impress as a female lead, and after the seatbelt incident, she takes it upon herself to initiate her first kiss with Jae Chan by grabbing his cheeks and planting one on him.

You’re not insane, Hong Joo, and Girl’s Day would be proud!

Plus, Jae Chan doesn’t seem to mind:

6. Hated: Woo Tak’s one-sided crush

All signs point to Woo Tak crushing hard on Hong Joo, and it’s tragic to see this sweetheart’s love go unrequited. He risked his life and took a knife to the stomach to protect her, and we all see the way he gazes longingly at her; just look at his face after he witnesses Hong Joo and Jae Chan’s kiss on the front door surveillance monitor:

That is the face of someone who is hurt but too good-natured to be upset with his friends, and our hearts are breaking for him. But it’s okay; something tells me he won’t have trouble finding someone eventually….

Although sometimes we can’t help but wonder if Hong Joo doesn’t have at least a little bit of a crush on Woo Tak as well.

She’s not helping us with our Second Lead Syndrome, here!

7. Hated: the biased prosecution team

Murder suspect Do Hak Young (Baek Sung Hyun) certainly seems a little slimy and untrustworthy. But that doesn’t mean he’s guilty, so why are Jae Chan and his coworkers so set on getting him convicted from the start? Shouldn’t they be less biased? It takes the competent Woo Tak acting as a convincing witness to make everyone realize that Hak Young is not a murderer after all.

Um, duh! Have they not heard of “innocent until proven guilty”?

Fortunately, Woo Tak and Jae Chan are able to work together to prevent Hak Young from being falsely accused. But in the meantime, we’ve lost more than a little bit of faith in the rest of these people.

8. Loved: the confession

The love storyline really took off this week, and after ages of denying it to himself and to Hong Joo, Jae Chan finally confessed that he has feelings for her. It was abrupt and unexpected, but we’re certainly not complaining.

Maybe they can start being a real, happy couple now, at least for a bit before their next dangerous escapade? Please?

9. Loved: Hong Joo’s moral conviction

When Yoo Beom (Lee Sang Yeob) handed Hong Joo suspect Hak Young’s school records and criminal history, Hong Joo had the potential for quite a story on her hands. But instead of doing what another reporter might have done and releasing the info just to stir up a controversy, Hong Joo decided to keep it to herself.

She knows that Hak Young was innocent irrespective of his history, and we can all admire her moral integrity in not wanting to drag the man’s name through the mud any further.

10. Hated: cliffhangers galore

So many questions, so few answers! Most importantly, what’s up with Woo Tak? The drama keeps hinting that he has some mysterious, possibly dark past that we don’t know about, and it’s nerve-wracking.

Whatever these secrets are, let’s hope they’re not sinister; this character is too lovable!

And for all the justice our trio of heroes was able to bring about, it looks like Hak Young’s case may not be over yet — not if Yoo Beom can help it, and especially not if Hong Joo’s dream at the end of Episode 8 turns out to be true.