Welcome to Kdrama and Ramen

An ambitious female lawyer has lived her life climbing the ladder of success at a high-profile law office.  But her success has come at a high price.  She has been the pawn of the chairman and his cohorts, who consider her an expendable tool in their game of greed.  When she becomes involved in a scandal related to one of her cases, they take away her new promotion and send her out to be an adjunct professor for a local law school.  This sets her off on a path of revenge, aided by an eager group of law students who want to help her get justice.  And one of the students shares a connection from her past that will help them bring the truth to light.  

Hwang In Youp as Gong Chan

Gong Chan has a secret past.  He was accused of killing his step sister when he was younger.  He served time in prison before his innocence was proven and he was released.  Oh Soo Jae was his attorney at the time.  Now he has changed his name and made a fresh start.  With a bit of prodding from a sympathetic stranger, he finishes his GED and gets into law school.  When Oh Soo Jae shows up as his professor, he recognizes her immediately.  And the admiration he felt for her before is immediately rekindled.  Now Chan will do everything he can to help Soo Jae reveal the truth about what happened in the past to set the record straight for her and himself.  

Because of his difficult past and the need to hide his true identity, Gong Chan tends to be quiet and easy going.  His crush on Soo Jae has lasted for years and his desire to win her heart is sincere.  Regardless of their age difference or status, he is sure he can succeed.  I love Hwang In Youp, but I felt like this character was rather flat and uninspiring.  I don’t think this was the actor’s fault, but this non-descript role caused a lack of chemistry between his character and Soo Jae that took a lot of the romance out of the story.  

Heo Joon Ho as Choi Tae Gook

Choi Tae Gook is the Chairman of TK Law Firm.  He has spent his life building his company and aquiring powerful and influential allies to help him further his empire.  He is ruthless and will stop at nothing to assure his own success.  His only weak point is Joo Wan, who continually puts them in difficult and embarrassing situations.  

 ♥ Jo Gab and Hyung Chil

I love the family atmosphere Jo Gab and Hyung Chil have created for Chan.  Even the usually cool tempered Soo Jae seems to warm up under their sweet influence.  The way the pub became home base for Chan and his classmates was a nice touch and gave the drama a nice continuity.  I wish we had found out a little more about their pasts because both characters seemed to have an interesting story to tell.    

♥ Devoted Se Pil

I thought it was so sweet that even though it has been years since his fiance’s accident, Se Pil doesn’t seem to have moved on.  He still visits her in the hospital, even though she doesn’t even know who he is and he is still devoted to his “father-in-law”.  It can’t be easy for either of the men, but I enjoyed their scenes together.  Their connection seemed genuine and unique.  

Choi Jae Yi

The whole tragic story of Soo Jae’s daughter, Jae Yi was just so sad to watch.  Watching Soo Jae realize she was her child, and blame herself for not recognizing her was hard enough, but that death scene   was heartbreaking.  I question whether it was really necessary to take it that far.  I wish they could have found a way to lessen that blow.  

Too Convenient

There was a point at the end of this drama where everything felt just a bit too convenient.  So many pieces that had been in play for years suddenly all fell into place at once;  from the trials of Soo Jae and Baek Jin Ki, to finding a 10 year old earring in the wall of a house, to the death of Secretary Ha’s son.  An awful lot needed to happen all at once to finally catch and expose Choi Tae Gook, and it just started to feel a bit far-fetched for me.  

Why Her?” ends on a positive note, though plenty of bad guys slithered away unharmed.  It was Secretary Ha’s confession that really put the nail in Chairman Choi’s coffin.  With the abundance of evidence everyone gathered, it was easy to expose his true character.  Accepting his defeat, Chairman Choi kills himself to avoid prison.  His cronies, Chairman Han, Assemblyman Lee, and their sons, seem to have escaped the law, but only time will tell whether they will be able to regain public trust and financial stability.  Baek Jin Ki seems to be the only one actually serving time for his crime.  Soo Jae has started her own private business and is still teaching at the Law School.  The whole gang from the Law clinic are back for the second semester.  And we find out that Cho Kang Ja won the prize promised by Soo Jae at the beginning of the show.  As class ends, Soo Jae walks outside to find it raining.  And life comes full-circle as Chan appears with an umbrella.  The happy couple share the umbrella and a sweet smile as they leave together.