Felt like three different shows mashed together

Before getting into the spoilers. Would I recommend this show? Sure. I think there is somethings to like.

The premise is a lot similar to Mystic Pop-up Bar and the show focuses on it well enough for the first 4 episodes, which are my favorite of the entire show. The contrast between the FLs world of giving reprieve to the recently deceases and the ML's of doing errands for select clients was what made the show interesting. Once that focus shifted to the romance and, especially, the ML's trauma, the show started to decline.

You have the early episodes that fit the 'May I Help You' (and even the alt title '1000 Won Butler') a lot more. The middle part focusing on the ML's trauma and establishing the romance. Then the third part that shifts to a crime drama. I would have liked the stories a lot more if they were different shows. But it only served to wane my interest in the show as it proceeded.

The biggest turn off in the show is the ML. In an attempt to make him a sympathetic character, he just ends becoming contemptible. The entire history with the ex-girlfriend doesn't make him look good at all and I believe that's why despite the SFL being introduced as an empathetic well-minded character (seeing her interactions with colleagues), we immediately see her turn miserable and overbearing just after coming across the ML once. Now the issue isn't them breaking up, it's the lack of communication between them. Which is weird since that is one thing they do well for the leads. I just wish it was maintained across the board.

Another weird turn was the abrupt turning of the cop to a criminal. Again it's not exactly wrong that he ended up that way but the sheer lack of anything hinting at that even a few episodes before the reveal.

I've heard that they had to make changes after the Itaewon incident to make the show lighter, but the show became darker towards the end so I don't know if I buy that anymore.

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I try to avoid describing shows as self-important or pretentious, but in this case, I can't help but apply those labels. While there were elements I liked, such as the antagonists and the conflict setup, the show ultimately fell short. The subject matter, a corrupt hegemony and a revenge plot, is not unique in the world of Kdramas, but that's not the issue. The problem is that the plot becomes overly complicated and hard to follow, and the protagonist is hard to empathize with because he lacks genuine relationships and treats everyone as a means to an end. As a result, it's difficult to believe that he cares about the strangers caught in the accident at the beginning of the show. The show also feels unnecessarily long, as the plot isn't complex enough to warrant 16 one-hour episodes. The writing needlessly complicates things to fill the time, and I ended up losing interest because of this.

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A better soundtrack would have helped a lot.

### No Spoiler Review

First. It's good to see a Noona romance not involving a high school student.

The shows potential lies in the women empowerment storylines. I believe this show would have been better sold as a story centered on Jin A, a woman trying to navigate her way through societal expectations. Something more in the tone of My Mister or Misaeng. It falls short of those shows in many ways, but the blueprint is there. The romance should just have been something that happens in Jin A's life, not define it (I want that for so many of romance stories I have seen). I love the relationship between the female characters here, especially Bo Ra and Jin A. Wish we'd have got more of that from the very start, including conversations that didn't center on the male characters.

But first there's the soundtrack. The show has many lingering shots which would provide an opportunity for the soundtrack to stand out, if only it was good. The score is quite good. However, the song choices ruins everything. Not only did they choose poorly composed music, with average melody and terrible lyrics, they had to reuse them multiple times in the show. It's another reason why I think the second half is kind of better, since it has less of that shitty music. Something I realized is that they didn't have a single Korean song. I feel anytime I have watched a show with English songs, it's often terrible. Should they have written better songs for the show, it would have been a lot better.

### Spoilers start here.

Having read some of the reviews on the show early on, I expected a huge dip in quality in the second half of the show. Other than the cliched evil mom, the show narrowing in on the workplace discrimination and sexual harassment plot elevates, if only for a bit. Many who must have picked up the show for the romance will probably end up disappointed. This is where the comparison to My Mister and the likes comes in. There's that hint of realism that you don't find in many shows. It's why I think the mom being against the relationship works for the story (It would have weird to have no one be against it when the first half focuses so much on hiding the relationship). That's not to say it was done well. I still think it went over the top and the lack of self-reflection or at least more insight to the mother's psyche has it teetering on the edge of the absurd. As much as I am praising the second half, I still think it is a worse than the first mostly due to the lack of consistency. The romance becomes repetitive with the couple having issues over the same mistakes. I was expecting a bittersweet ending given societal taboos, but I think the lack of proper communication between the couple ruins everything.

I give the story a 7 since I thought it was good but could have been better, starting with the side characters. We've already talked about the mom, but this applies too to the workplace characters and the rest of Jin A's family. The audience isn't given enough to root for or against them. This is what keeps the show as an average romance story rather than a great slice of life drama. When we think of the good slice of life stories, their success comes from having well developed characters. This show has only hints of it and it is not for a lack of time. The first part has so many slow scenes that could have been cut out to accommodate the other characters and plotlines. But we got the repetitive music instead.

I'd recommend the drama for the friendship between Bo Ra and Jin A but even that is hardly explored to be worth anyone's time.

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Better Motivations, and fewer episodes would have made this great

It is a good enough show. It was, in large, part engaging. That tapers off towards the end largely due to the plot not being enough for 16 episodes. I believe this show would have been better condensed even by 2 episodes.

The character motives were fine for some, terrible for others. The ML had a good motive to start but I don't think they did a good job depicting it changing. Him abandoning his win by all means attribute should have meant seeing him become, not only more empathetic, but attempt to do things the right way. This would have helped the plot too, I think, since the challenges of investigating things the right way would be more engaging. The motives of some other characters, like Gi Hoon's dad and the other attorney, weren't quite clear. Like why does the attorney try to help Gi Hoon even risking upsetting his employer? Why does the dad try to sabotage our lead's character for something he didn't seem that involved in.

Talking about the investigation, I feel it was largely weak. Many times, things just seemed to fall into place for our protagonists. The villains start of seeming too competent but then that's no longer the case.

The ending is, again, mostly good. I like that they couldn't find evidence to nail the main culprit. It is more real that way. However, it is weakened by the decision to kill him off so cheaply. The antagonist going insane would have been more powerful ending.

I also didn't like that the other villain kids, Gi Hoon and the Ye Ri, get away with their crimes (I know Ye Ri is no longer an idol) . I would have loved to see them at least recognize their wrongs and work to fix them gradually for them to get a peaceful resolution. I am a sucker for redemption stories, but they ought to be earned and not as immediate as in the final episode.

I also didn't like how cheaply Tae Ra was killed. I know it would have affected the ending we got, but I feel the show would have done better to focus on her death a little more, maybe her mom too. Perhaps having the mom kill Beom Jin would have been better.

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A decent attempt at addressing suicide

It was a difficult show to get into. The lead actor hamming it up in the early episodes almost made me drop it, since it came off as bad acting rather than just being goofy. But it got better.

The emotional moments are well handled with tearjerking scenes each episode.

The pacing is brilliant. It largely benefits from the case of the week formula, so there isn't a feeling that things are dragging.

Perhaps the most important thing is that it gets better towards the end which is often enough for me to rate a drama highly.

Despite how well the show handles suicide attempt, I feel it did a terrible job at addressing depression. It treats suicide like an on and off switch, all solved once the characters are taken off the ledge, which we know isn't how it works in reality. Now I know it's not supposed to be realistic but for a dark themed show, I think it could have afforded a deeper dive into depression for at least a few of the characters.

All in all, I would recommend this show to anyone who loves after-life fantasy dramas. It's a good one.

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Underwhelming, but maybe worth a try

If you are reading this review and wondering whether to watch the show, watch at least the first episode. The pilot episode is one of the best episodes I've seen. Unfortunately, it's downhill from there.

Start-Up is a show that lacks balance. Some storylines/conflicts are dragged out for too long, while others are glossed over.

The business plot is weak but perhaps that's me having my expectations set too high by similar tech shows like Silicon Valley, Mr Robot, Halt and Catch Fire. This is much a consequence of the business taking a back seat to the romance story. The romance is wrecked by an unnecessary conflict that could have been resolved within the first few episodes. Seeing how polarizing it is online is just a testament to that fact. A good story shouldn't have that.

The show could have benefitted from having well developed platonic relationship between the FML and either, or perhaps both, MLs. But I guess I have given up on KDramas ever giving equal focus to platonic opposite-sex relationships, everything has to be romantic.

Ultimately the show could have benefitted from more business and family conflicts and less romance.

I really loved the first 4 episodes and would probably rewatch them if it had developed better beyond that. I would still suggest that you give it a watch if you want to. The show has some great cinematography, the best OST I've heard and some great acting. It's a shame that the writing couldn't keep up. But even then there's still a good story in there. If the pilot hadn't been as good as it was, I think I would have enjoyed this story a lot more.

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