I'd Rather Quit Than Die, Director!

hot and cold

Overall: needed to focus more on the lead pair and their relationship development. Aired on Shortime app. Episodes 1-5 are free https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94xidyP8QrQ 65 total episodes a couple minutes each. My referral code is oetm5LkjoTOX (all letters except the number 5) and it should get you a bonus.

Content Warnings: homophobia, manipulation, hit, violence, non con kiss, past murder, murder, manhandling, trauma/mental health struggles, drugging, kidnapping, unwanted public outing

What I Liked
- premise
- a few cute moments
- perceptive co-worker
- boss was intelligent in episode 50

Room For Improvement
- the nonsense of he stood while a car approached and then the car didn't brake when it could clearly see him???
- episode 13 back hug was odd, the boss was hot and cold
- the non kiss when the other guy was sleeping
- told the plot thru voice overs
- stereotypical villains

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This wasn’t great. The acting was stiff and the leads had very little chemistry. Their relationship was very formal all the way through - no fluff or sweet moments to be found. The plot and script were soap opera level overdramatic.

The way the relationship was portrayed, it very much was sexual harassment and assault from both sides. The employee kisses the boss while he’s drunk and passed out. The boss breaks all kinds of boundaries, showing up at the employee’s house, giving him his personal number and asking him to go for a meal, wrapping his arms around him while teaching him baseball, and more. There’s a scene where the employee says to “wait” as the boss is going in for their first kiss, and the boss does not stop at all and kisses him anyways. The employee also tells the boss that he wants to be careful about their relationship at work, and the boss responds by pinning him to the wall, pinning his arm against the wall when the employee tries to push him away, and kissing him anyways. The justification is that he “can’t help it” and “this is him trying”. All the way until the end of the show, the employee still calls the boss “Director”, and not in a fun jokey kind of way. There’s very much a power dynamic that never dissipates.

Also, after the boss rejects the employee and the employee starts avoiding him, the boss starts power tripping. He abuses his power to try to force meetings and grabs the employee’s wrist to the point of pain to force a conversation. He grabs and drags the employee violently several times during the series. When he’s upset, he gets angry and violent, yelling and hitting things. If that’s the way you act when the person you like isn’t doing what you want, then they’re much better off without you.

I’m not sure why this is rated 18+. There are a few kissing scenes, but it’s lips only (not even going down to the neck). Their shoulders and backs block their mouths in a lot of shots. No sex scenes or makeout scenes. It’s not abnormally violent or profane either.

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