‘Memory’…Don’t be fooled by the synopsis, this is a legal drama with a pounding heart.
Let me explain the title first because the synopsis of this show was what kept me from watching it all these years. With Lee Sungmin (remember, Misaeng?) headlining it, and an intriguing melancholic poster, I should have watched it right away, but as soon as I came upon the word ‘Alzheimers’ in the description, I began to picture the drama as something along the lines of 2014’s My Spring Days will Come (starring Girls Generation’s Choi Sooyoung), which dealt with heart disease, and was a slow burn medical and family drama with plenty of hospital visits, and plenty of commentary on life and death. This isn’t a bad thing, but generally, these topics are difficult to sit through and therefore are never really sought after.
But, here I am, writing this review to inform you that Memory isn’t at all like that. It has an energy, a throbbing pulse, which is a stark contrast to the deliberate unhurriedness that we tend to associate with shows about illnesses. That’s because, Memory is effectively a legal drama first, about a lawyer Park Tae Seok (played by the talented Lee Sungmin), who just so happens to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and not the other way round. So, it elevates the story from just being about a cocky star lawyer redeeming himself to a cocky star lawyer redeeming himself, with an illness that is untreatable and makes him weaker as each episode passes by. This adds a sense of urgency, and a tone of sorrow and despair, that is further intensified with Lee Sungmin’s fantastic performance. Take the scene where he forgets where he has to meet his family for dinner; he suddenly zones out, and for the life of him can’t remember where he is, and where he has to be. This is one of the first major symptoms Tae Seok displays, and it’s an inexplicable situation, and can’t be equated to just feeling lost, but the constant use of close-ups (in this situation and many more) perfectly capture Lee Sungmin’s minuscule facial expressions, as he slips in and out of consciousness, or feels frustrated on not remembering something. With very few words, he conveys everything his character goes through.
The title also alludes to a tragic incident in Tae Seok’s life which forms the legal aspect of the story. Characters like Lee Seung Ho (Yeo Hoi Hyeon), Na Eun Sun (Park Jin Hee) — Tae Seok’s first wife — who are associated with this incident, are latched onto this painful memory, that doesn’t let them move on. Eun Sun especially comes across as hurtful until the nature of the incident comes to light. Initially, it appears as though she resents Tae Seok and Seo Young Joo (an understated Kim Ji Soo) — Tae Seok’s second wife — but as we see more of her, it is understood that she resents her own inability to move on, while Tae Seok was able to. The relationship between the two wives could have become an icky situation but is handled with dignity and grace.
These two relationships of Tae Seoks also become helpful in comprehending when Tae Seok is disoriented, as he always seems to go back to the time when he was still married to Eun Sun as the disease progresses.
My mother had once said to me, that it’s a good thing we forget things, as it helps us move forward, otherwise, imagine remembering every single detail of your life? You will never be able to move on from your mistakes and will be stuck in a rut of regret. But when such a thing happens outside of your control, it is frightening to say the least. But Park Tae Seok uses his illness as a chance to right the wrongs in his past. He repeatedly remarks that he kept fearing that he would forget everything, but his memory for one last time, helped him find out the truth.
