First episodes are important, from them I decide whether I'll keep watching or not because it sets the atmosphere of the kdrama. Every now and then you'll get to a great first episode, one that makes you feel like you have found a precious gemstone. I've looked into my collection of those gemstones and chose the best one (yet). Ready? The best first episode award goes to... While You Were Sleeping. (Ok, you knew already because of the header above but just go along with me).

I remember when I watched it I was completely awestruck, gasping and feeling excited with every scene, and when it finished I thought: now that's a first episode. Because it was P.E.R.F.E.C.T. (I watched it again to write this entry and let me tell you, I fell in love with it again because it is that good).  

• You get all the feels. Is funny, then there's action, then is sad, and then there's more action. And let me tell you, action scenes aren't my cup of tea (what can I say, in movies, they even put me to sleep), so they have to be really good to keep me interested. Why it works here? because they made me get invested in the characters and what happened to them and because they were there for the story.
• And speaking of the story, it manages to set the premise of it so well. And that's so hard to do because this drama goes back and forth in time and that means you don't want your audience to get confused. The fantasy element had to be put perfectly clear for everyone to understand how it worked but in a slow way because they also wanted to surprise us at the end. 
• I'm telling you, Park Hye Ryun is a genius screenwriter. She is the one behind amazing kdramas (Pinocchio, I Hear Your Voice, Dream High) and just when you think you have watched her best drama, she surprises you with more because she just keeps improving more and more. Masterpieces, that's what she writes.
• You don't expect all those twists and turns (in just one episode!) I'm just saying, I was at the edge of my seat for the whole episode.
• Watching Suzy and Lee Jong Suk in a kdrama is already a delight for my eyes but is even better when they play such adorable protagonists. In the first episode, we get to know a bit of who they are as we see them in their respective perspectives.
• We get a perfect circle in the story a.k.a, we start and end with the same scene. The whole episode is to get to know what happens in between those scenes. Because even when they are the same, they happen at different times. And the cinematography of that scene in itself is so beautiful that it becomes iconic.
• The bests first episodes need to make you want more. That's why this one is a success because it leaves you thinking: wow, if this is just the 1st episode, the rest of the drama must be amazing too, I can't wait to see more of it.