When The Phone Rings: Why Yoo Yeon-seok, Chae Soo-bin's latest Netflix K-drama is a nail-biting watch
It's only Episode 4, and fans are eagerly waiting for Episode 5, to see what happens next
Your wife is just the supplementary pages.
No, she is a brand-new language.
These are the final words in the angst-ridden, tearful phone call between Yoo Yeon-seok's Sa-eon and Chae Soo-bin’s Hong Hee-Joo, a couple seemingly trapped in an unhappy marriage in the latest Netflix drama, When The Phone Rings. Sa-eon doesn’t know it’s his wife on the phone; he believes it’s a kidnapper, who had attacked her earlier. There are many things that Sa-eon doesn't know: One of them being that he had set off a chain of events when he laughed off the perpetrator’s call, who had threatened to kill Hong Hee-Joo, a woman, pretending to be mute due to a traumatic past. “Call me when there’s a corpse,” Sae-on had mirthlessly said, believing it to be a prank, not realising his words left a deeper scar on his wife than the kidnapper's knife scraping her neck.
The indifference of it all tortures Hee-jo enough, and she turns to use her voice again: But this time, as a weapon. In a turn of events, she decides to haunt Sa-aeon using the kidnapper’s phone, modulating his voice, taunting her husband for not knowing his wife or ever understanding her. Yet, beneath all the pulsing rage that she spews at Sa-eon, pretending to be the kidnapper: She has one demand. To be set free. And, she is even more perplexed that her husband doesn’t want to do so: In fact, contrary to his usual behaviour, he seems to actually care about her.
His cold exterior fractures at the thought of not knowing his wife well enough, mixed with shame that a kidnapper might know more, and Yoo Yoon Seok deserves the praise he has received for his stellar, and yet complex portrayal of a conflicted man, who is buried in the secrets that he has chosen to keep. Chae Soo-bin’s seemingly soft, yet broken character shows in the most indiscernible ways, from shakily making a bowlful of rice, to displaying quiet boredom at a party of rich socialites. She might not say much, but it’s clear that her eyes are full of unshed tears. She detests and loathes her husband, and yet wishes for some of the softness that he had once shown her from their complicated childhood. The kindness appears only in flashes, and she doesn’t know why. It’s clear that both sides are desperately holding on to secrets, some that we know, and others we are still not aware of.
During this brewing emotional turmoil, the real kidnapper is still around, upping the terror and tension for Hee-Joo, wishing that she had never taken his phone, in the first place. It’s a battle of wills and psychological torture, all carried through phone calls.
It's only Episode 4, and fans are eagerly waiting for Episode 5, to see what happens next for the couple. The chemistry between the leads, needless to say, is riveting to watch, which keeps the fans coming back for more. One fan wrote, “Both the leads are getting equal praise for their acting; everyone agrees that they’re both carrying the drama.” Another added, “They deserve at least five projects together.”
Moreover, contract marriage tropes are always a favourite: The lovers of die-hard romance enjoy watching the love story between two strangers trapped in an unhappy marriage unfold. As one fan writes on Twitter, “Only four episodes, but Baek Saeon leaves no chance to address his wife as ‘my wife’ every chance he gets. That’s why the drama is all over the internet, because it serves the marriage of convenience trope well.” Another writes, “The story is just getting better with each episode,” one wrote.
The chemistry and acting aside, the storyline has been delivering strong punches too, with twists and turns at every corner. The surprises and shocks are far from done: Fans are awaiting the answers to their questions and are eager to see how the couple’s baffling romance unravels in the midst of all chaos.
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'When The Phone Rings' is streaming on Netflix now