Reflection of You is a Korean drama-thriller TV series directed by Im Hyun-wook and starring Ko Hyun-jung, Shin Hyun-been, and Kim Jae-yeong, alongside other cast members. The series has 16 episodes and Reflection of You episode 1, titled Someone Like You, has a runtime of 62 minutes.
Netflix describes the series as:
A thriving painter’s enviable life begins to fray at the edges when a bright young woman she once befriended resurfaces as a shell of her former self.
– Reflection of You episode 1 recap contains major spoilers –
Reflection of You episode 1 starts with Hui-ju dragging something heavy through some grassland and a flashback showing her witnessing (or committing?) a gruesome death. In the present, she throws a heavy suitcase into a lake. After the deed is done, she sits down looking dejected and scared.
We then see Hui-ju on a bright new day, drawing intently. Her phone buzzes and Li-sa calls to inform her of something shocking – she gets to the hospital to find Li-sa badly beaten by a substitute teacher and needing a CT scan. Hui-ju is angry at how her daughter was assaulted and asks for action to be taken. Meanwhile, Li-sa is acting cold and standoffish; as if the assault is just another minor inconvenience in her life. She leaves the hospital against her mother’s wishes the moment all her tests are done.
The next day in Reflection of You episode 1, Hui-ju talks to her husband about Li-sa’s attack. Both parents are concerned regarding their daughter’s lack of emotions regarding such a big attack – it left her with a ruptured eardrum! However, she is acting as if nothing has happened at all. Rather, she just sleeps. Hui-ju expresses that she is nervous to talk to the teacher after what she did. Hyeon-seong tells her to skip it if she wants and he can handle it later, but next day, Hui-ju does make the trip to talk to the teacher.
Next, in Reflection of You episode 1, Hui-ju speaks to Li-sa’s teacher Hae-won and the discussion, or rather, the apology soon goes out of hand when Hae-won makes comments about how Li-sa brought the punishment on herself after she did not apologise for her mistakes. Riled up, Hui-ju takes a book and smashes it across the teacher’s face which knocks the latter off her chair. This results in Hae-won to quietly get up and leave the building, much to Hui-ju’s disbelief.
Hui-ju next talks to the classmate who filmed the incident on her phone. From her she gets to know that Hae-won has always had odd tendencies of going against what people tell her to do. She asks her why she hit her in the first place. However, she does not know the answer to that and tells her that Hae-won had whispered something in Li-sa’s ear in the end, making Hui-ju curious.
That night in Reflection of You episode 1, Hui-ju and her family are having dinner at Young-sun’s place who definitely dislikes her daughter in law. However, the atmosphere changes where Seong-hyeon comes back home. He takes his wife’s side and tells his mother that Hui-ju did nothing wrong by slapping the teacher.
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Still from: Reflection of You; Courtesy: Netflix. 
Still from: Reflection of You; Courtesy: Netflix.
Leaving Ho-su with his grandmother, Hui-ju and Seong-hyeon walk back home and at this moment she tells him that the teacher resembles a student who taught her to draw. Seong-hyeon is left a little confused but tells his wife to leave this mess to him and to just focus on her exhibition.
Back at home, Hui-ju thinks back to the moment when she hit Hae-won and wonders whether the latter was waiting for her to hit her. The thought is confirmed the next day when Hui-ju gets to know that Hae-won has sued her for assaulting her. However, Hui-ju tells her mother in law that they should not put everything under wraps because of what she did. Hae-won should not be allowed to get away with what she did.
Later, in Reflection of You episode 1, Li-sa has lunch with Sun-woo and tells him that she did not do anything bad. She just refused to give Hae-won what’s hers. It’s a confusing mystery of what a child was hit so severely which I am sure will be unveiled as we get to know more about Hae-won.
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Still from: Reflection of You; Courtesy: Netflix. 
Still from: Reflection of You; Courtesy: Netflix.
The next day in Reflection of You episode 1, the house waits for Li-sa’s new tutor to come in. As Seong-hyeon and Ho-su leave, Hui-ju makes a cup of coffee and sees Hae-won standing outside her window. Shocked, she drops her mug and smashes it. As the doorbell rings, she opens the door to find Hae-won kneeling in front of her door, apologizing.
It turns out she is the student whom Hui-ju talked about back then. Hae-won discusses how she couldn’t recognize her previously because she couldn’t believe that Hui-ju became a painter. In a flashback, we see that the two of them were quite close at one point. Now, too, her behaviour is quite shocking and a bit obsessive. As the two women catch up, Hui-ju tells her that she cannot forgive her for what she did to Li-sa and asks her to leave.
However, she realizes too late in Reflection of You episode 1 that Hae-won hadn’t, in fact, come over to apologise to her.
Final thoughts: Reflection of You episode 1
Still from: Reflection of You; Courtesy: Netflix.
Reflection of You starts off with a good mystery and a more mysterious character. Although it’s just the first episode, I am already invested in the story and its flow. It can get a bit choppy sometimes and some parts are a tad slow, but I still highly enjoyed it since all of these characters seem like they are a good amount of complicated.
Reflection of You is streaming on Netflix.
Liked the Reflection of You episode 1 recap? Read the other episodic recaps here.