Oh boyyyyy this show is bad bad bad. It has a fairly interesting premise, good actors, and the cinematography is fine. But this show was a crazy ride from start to finish. I went along with it partially because I wanted to see how bonkers it would get, and I wasn’t disappointed. However, I would not advise you to make the same choice and waste your time on a show this bad.

The biggest problems with the show are:
- there are so many psychopaths/crazy people in this show. Consequently, a lot of character’s actions and behaviors are so weird and make no sense but they’re “crazy” so the writers don’t have to justify anything.
- A lot of the explanations for events or decisions involve the “well, they’re crazy” excuse, but even without it the explanations for things are so weird and unbelievable. It’s honestly amazing to watch all the crazy things the writers come up with. This escalates throughout the show so it becomes more and more full of nonsense. Almost nobody acts like a real person in this show to the point that it becomes comical.
- There’s a lot of misleading plot elements of the show. The romance is a big one, of course, but other things like who reincarnated into what body was intentionally vague for quite some time that I stopped caring about it.
- The romance. There’s a love triangle, of course, but it seems pretty clear which of the guys is a better (or at least healthier) choice. However, she does not draw boundaries with the guy she is not romantically interested in and allows him to get away with anything. And weirdly enough, even after it’s clear who she has feelings for, there are still scenes with the other guy that have romantic music, like the show wants us to think it’s romantic when (1) clearly his obsession with her is not romantic and is really creepy, (2) his actions are not okay, and (3) she isn’t romantically interested in him, so she does not feel the romance in the scene. The show is trying to justify this other romance but neither the characters’ actions nor the actors themselves convey the emotion the show seems to think is happening in a scene. If they admitted that he was a really creepy dude then it would’ve been more like a dark thriller type thing but no, they push the romance instead.
- The female lead in this show is probably the worst I’ve seen. I’d like to say upfront that I do not dislike her because of the actress or really even because of who she is as a character; it is because the writers made her make the most astonishing and unbelievable decisions, and her emotions make no sense. She has this savior complex and is willing to forgive the worst kinds of behavior from the male lead to the point that it becomes painful to watch her onscreen. I started to space out every time she was in a scene because if my brain was on at all I’d start yelling at her about the choices she was making and actions she was doing. It’s impossible to sympathize with her and/or like her because she doesn’t act like any real rational human being. I feel really, really bad for her, because honestly if she was a better character that might’ve made this show at least semi-good.

The main redeeming quality of this show was Lee Soo Hyuk. I hope his next show is better than this one (admittedly, it’s a very low bar). I’d say if you find the dark angsty romance appealing you should check out other shows like The Smile Has Left Your Eyes or even Come and Hug Me. Goodbye My Princess might also be a good choice.

Btw I wrote an entire recap of the show if you’re curious what happens but don’t want to subject yourself to watching the whole show: https://kdramakitty.tumblr.com/post/620780309390196736/born-again-summaryrecap