A Comprehensive Look at Dear X 2025
Dive Into the Dangerous World of 'Dear X'
Explore every aspect of ‘Dear X’ in this comprehensive review. Dive into character insights, strengths, and weaknesses. If you haven’t seen the drama yet and are looking for a spoiler-free review, check out the link below.
Spoiler Alert
Please be advised that this review contains significant spoilers about the plot and characters of ‘Dear X’. If you have not yet watched the drama, we recommend viewing it first to avoid any spoilers.
Series Details
General Information
Air Dates: November 6 – December 4, 2025
Episodes: 12
Where to Watch: Viki
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Starring: Kim You Jung and Kim Young Dae
The Story
A young woman rises above her upbringing of poverty and abuse to become a famous actress. But her road to success has not been easy. The wounds of her past have left her irrevocably scarred and psychologically unstable. And as she spins further out of control, her dark secrets may threaten everything she has worked so hard for.
Meeting the stars: Kim You Jung and Kim Young Dae
Kim You Jung as Baek A Jin
Baek A Jin grew up being abused by her parents. Because of this trauma, she developed Anti-Social Personality Disorder. But when her father kills her mother and remarries, she meets her step-brother, Yun Jun Seo. A Jin immediately sets to work driving a wedge between Jun Seo and his mother, leaving him totally dependant on A Jin and willing to do anything to protect her. This sets a pattern for the way A Jin will deal with men for the rest of her life.
Eventually, A Jin becomes a famous actress, but she leaves behind a path of destruction built on the backs of kind-hearted and unsuspecting men. Through it all, only Jun Seo is able to remain constantly by her side. As A Jin gains success, she begins to spin more and more out of control.
But A Jin meets her match in the handsome but cruel millionaire, Moon Do Hyeok. He is as twisted and dangerous as A Jin herself. And he will slowly begin to chip away at A Jin’s sanity until Jun Seo is forced to step in and put an end to it all.
Baek A Jin is a sociopath. She is ruthless, conceited, and unable to empathize with human emotions. But she is also a victim of intense trauma. Her character is never likable, or even redeemable, but she is, at times, ALMOST too pathetic to hate. Kim You Jung was incredible in this role. Her edgy hysteria is breathtaking and I felt every mood swing like a kick in the gut.
Kim Young Dae as Yun Jun Seo
Yun Jun Seo grew up as the illegitimate son of a wealthy family. His mother doted on him because he was her ticket to financial security. When his mom marries an abusive, alcoholic con man, the man brings along his daughter, A Jin. Jun Seo sees A Jin as a kindred spirit. She has also suffered at the hands of parents who see her only as a tool to be used. And when he sees his mom abusing A Jin, he turns against her in order to protect A Jin.
Through their childhood, Jun Seo is always there to protect A Jin and do anything she asks. But as his love for her deepens, it becomes obvious that she will never feel the same kind of devotion to him that he feels for her.
After high school, Jun Seo goes on to study at university and becomes a famous author in the US before returning to Korea. But as soon as he returns, he quickly falls back under A Jin’s spell. And as she has risen in fame and success, her appetites have become increasingly more destructive.
When their high school friend and fellow A Jin “devotee”, Jae O, gives his own life for A Jin, Jun Seo realizes that enough is enough. And so he sets in motion a plan to expose the true A Jin to the world. But when he realizes nothing will stop her, he decides to end both their lives.
Yun Jun Seo starts as an innocent and reserved character. But as he gets tangled in A Jin’s web, he finds himself slipping more and more into moral ambiguity. His devotion has grown into an obsession and he has gone from protector to enabler. I really like Kim Young Dae, but I do find his acting a bit stiff at times. While the character is quiet and introspective, I think Kim Young Dae could have given him more depth.
Supporting characters
Kim Do Hoon as Kim Jae O
Kim Jae O went to high school with A Jin and Jun Seo. He had always felt like an inferior outsider until A Jin encouraged him to fight back against his abusive father. From that time on, Jae O feels indebted to her. And even though he serves prison time for his action, he goes back to A Jin as soon as he is released and offers his services to her. He is not obsessed in the same way Jun Seo is, but he is blindly devoted.
Lee Yeol Eum as Im Re Na
Im Re Na is an actress who is under the same agency as A Jin. The two of them become rivals over acting jobs and the attention of fellow actor, Heo In Gang. Once Re Na moves on from In Gang she develops a crush on Jun Seo, but she quickly realizes she will never be able to win him away from A Jin. But hat doesn’t stop her from hanging around Jun Seo, maybe partly in the hopes of making A Jin jealous.
Kim Ji Young as Seo Mi Ri
Seo Mi Ri is the agent who scouts A Jin after seeing her at the police station one day. Mi Ri helps A Jin bury the secrets of her past and propels her to superstar fame. But Mi Ri keeps files on all her stars to use as blackmail. And eventually A Jin gets sick of her threats and exposes her abusive behaviors, which ruins Mi Ri and her company.
3 Things I Loved About ‘Dear X’
1.
Edgy and Compelling:
This drama is dark and gritty in the way that draws you into its spell. Its like the car crash you just can’t look away from. From the filming to the acting, this one carried a weight that kept me fully engaged. The twists and turns were too chaotic to be predictable and just when you thought the characters couldn’t plunge any lower, they would do something completely unthinkable.
2.
Kim You Jung:
Again, I don’t know how you talk about this drama without praising Kim You Jung on her acting. This role was so challenging and complex. Yet she handled it with just enough intensity and never over-played it. This is the kind of mature role that proves Kim You Jung is more than just some child actress. I hope we get to see her do more serious roles like this.
3.
Jun Seo and Jae O:
Although their mindless adoration for A Jin was anything but healthy, Jun Seo and Jae O’s friendship was still fun to watch. They never acted like rivals for A Jin’s attention. Instead, they were comrades in arms, set to work together to keep her safe at all costs. And that built a sweet trust between them. Even though Jun Seo liked to pretend he was annoyed by Jae O, you could tell that Jun Seo was happy to have a friend who could understand everything he was going through.
3 Things I Didn’t Love About ‘Dear X’
1.
Too Many Xs:
I almost wish we could have had fewer victims so that some of those characters could have stuck around more. It seems like such a shame to have actors like Kim Ji Hoon and Hwang In Youp disappear so quickly. I was happy when Kim Ji Hoon’s character showed up after prison, and I thought he would factor back into the story more heavily. But even that was just a momentary flash.
2.
What’s the Lesson Here:
Ok, so that ending…I mean after all of that, it hardly seems fair that A Jin and Do Hyeok both walk away, while everyone with a shred of human decency around A Jin is dead. I mean, that is a pretty depressing outlook. She is a survivor. I get that. And maybe if Jun Seo had managed to take out Do Hyeok on the way, I would have felt more satisfied. As it is, I suspect he will be able to buy his way out of the video proof Jae O gave his life for. It makes sense within the story, but it sure was sad to lose both Jun Seo and Jae O while A Jin and Do Hyeok live on to ruin other unsuspecting victims.
3.
Moon Do Hyeok:
I feel like if Do Hyeok was going to be A Jin’s final showdown, he should have shown up in the story a bit earlier. We never really get any explanation about who he really is or how he got to be so psychopathically cruel. I feel like they could have really played up the similarities between he and A Jin before blowing it all up. Showing more of a romance between them, even if it was fake on both sides, would have given the ending more emotional weight.
The Conclusion of 'Dear X'
The Ending
‘Dear X’ gives us an ending as chaotic and gritty as the rest of the drama. Miserable in her marriage, A Jin is being drugged and emotionally abused by Do Hyeok and it is causing her to slowly falling apart. And Jun Seo and Jae O refuse to just sit and watch. Jae O jumps in with his muscles, baiting Do Hyeok to send his thugs. And although Jae O is killed in the fight, he gets evidence that proves Do Hyeok is the one who ordered the hit.
But Jae O’s death is the final straw for Jun Seo. He makes the difficult decision to work with a producer making a documentary that exposes A Jin’s true nature and her dark past. He plans to air it during the acting awards. So as A Jin achieves her greatest dream of being awarded best actress, the audience is made aware of the documentary.
At rock bottom, as A Jin wanders the streets, Jun Seo appears and picks A Jin up. They drive outside of the city and Jun Seo gives her one last choice. She can stop now and get help or he is ending it for both of them. A Jin refuses to change and Jun Seo tells her he loves her, grabs her hand, and drives them off the cliff.
After the accident we see that Jun Seo has left his mom a letter telling her he will never forgive her. And in one final act of defiance, he takes all her pictures of him so that she will be left with nothing to remember him by. Running to find him, she trips down the stairs and lays there bleeding, with no one to find her.
Do Hyeok watches the documentary as his goons report that they can’t find A Jin’s body at the scene of the accident. A video shows A Jin leaving the car, so he knows that she is alive, and we can assume he will use all his resources to find her again. But for now, we see that Jun Seo is stuck in the car, dying, and A Jin leaves him there and completely disappears. The final shot shows A Jin, battered and bloody, but laughing, as she stares down at the crashed car.
My Personal Thoughts and Ratings
‘Dear X’ is an edgy psychological thriller about a famous actress who is also a sociopath. The story and cinematography is thrilling and gritty. Kim You Jung is fascinating as the vicious lead character and the secondary cast is star-studded. It’s a wild ride from start to finish, with twists and turns that keep you invested.
But this drama is dark, violent, and emotionally heavy. If you dislike stories of abuse, manipulative lead characters, or emotionally difficult themes, you aren’t going to enjoy this one. This is not a redemption tale. It is the heartbreaking story of a woman who hurts others because she doesn’t know how to heal herself. But I found this moody thriller to be an exciting and unpredictable story that was worth the watch. I give ‘Dear X’ an 8 out of 10 ramen.
🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜
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