Missflameo

Beautiful, memorable, but not as balanced as I wanted it to be

I have a lot of complicated feelings about 'My Mister'. There is so much about this drama that I genuinely loved, particularly its characters, dialogue, and emotional moments, but I also found myself repeatedly wishing the show had made different choices with its screen time and character development.

One of my biggest issues is the amount of time devoted to Jeong-hui and Gyeom-deok. I actually like both characters, so this isn't a case of me thinking their scenes were bad or unnecessary. I just don't understand why they were given so much attention when there were other characters whose stories I found considerably more interesting. Sang-hun's relationship with his wife, for example, is something I would have loved to see explored more. I would have especially liked to see how they eventually found their way back to each other rather than having so much of that development happen outside of what we actually get to witness.

Similarly, Ki-hun is probably my favorite of Dong-hun's brothers, but even I felt like he received too much screen time at times. Meanwhile, Jun-yeong, who is essentially the main antagonist of the story, doesn't get nearly enough.

And this brings me to one of my biggest criticisms of the drama: I don't believe the show does a good job of making me feel like Jun-yeong is truly as deplorable as everyone says he is. Yes, sleeping with Dong-hun's wife is obviously terrible, but Yoon-hee is equally responsible for that affair, and the show doesn't really give Jun-yeong enough independent actions that make me understand why he's supposed to be the villain. For much of the story, he feels like someone reacting to the people around him rather than someone actively driving the conflict. We hear constantly about how awful he is, but we don't get enough opportunities to actually see it. Even when Dong-hun repeatedly becomes physical with him, Jun-yeong never actually hits him back. That doesn't make Jun-yeong a good person, but it does make me question the extent to which the drama successfully establishes him as its central antagonist. There's simply too much telling and not enough showing.

I also would have loved more of Ji-an's background, or more exploration of her complicated relationship with Lee Gwang-il and even Song Gi-beom. There are so many characters and relationships in this drama that feel like they could have benefited from additional development.

That said, there are some things 'My Mister' does exceptionally well, and the dialogue is one of them. There are so many memorable and existentially beautiful lines throughout the drama, particularly from Ki-hun. Some of his conversations genuinely stuck with me, and the show has a way of putting complicated feelings about life, failure, loneliness, and happiness into surprisingly simple words.

And IU's performance as Ji-an was such a joy to watch. I was especially impressed by her facial expressions since so much of Ji-an's character is communicated without her actually saying anything. I also loved watching the gradual change in her as she became more comfortable around Dong-hun. Honestly, watching Ji-an slowly fall for him and soften around him was my favorite aspect of the entire series.

I also really appreciated that the romance remained unrequited. I think the drama made the right choice by not turning their relationship into a conventional romance, and I especially respected how openly Ji-an acknowledged her feelings rather than pretending they weren't there. Their relationship was meaningful without needing to become romantic, and I think that restraint made it much more powerful.

However, I did have some trouble buying the idea that Dong-hun and Ji-an changed each other's lives equally.

It very clear how much Dong-hun affects Ji-an. We actually get to watch her change because of him. We see her become softer, happier, more connected to other people, and more capable of imagining a different life for herself. That development feels tangible. With Dong-hun, though, I didn't feel the same level of causality. He develops this incredibly deep care for Ji-an, but I don't always feel like the drama does enough to earn the extent of that transformation. He cares about her a lot, but I sometimes struggled to understand exactly why she became such a defining person in his life.

I actually think Gyeom-deok is the person who gives Dong-hun the major push toward changing his life. So when the drama frames Dong-hun and Ji-an as having this mutually transformative relationship, it didn't completely land for me.

The scene that absolutely destroyed me, though, was when Sang-hun made sure Ji-an's grandmother had a proper, packed funeral. I cried so hard. It was one of those moments where the show managed to communicate an enormous amount of compassion without needing to make a huge spectacle out of it.

Ultimately, I think 'My Mister' is a drama with some genuinely beautiful ideas and incredibly memorable characters. IU's performance, Ji-an's gradual transformation, the relationship between Ji-an and Dong-hun, and the show's existential observations about life are all things I'll remember. But I also think the drama could have been significantly better if it had balanced its screen time more carefully and trusted its audience enough to show rather than tell. There were characters whose stories I wanted more of, while others received considerably more attention than I thought they needed. And some of the emotional conclusions didn't quite feel as earned as the show seemed to believe they were.

So while I understand why 'My Mister' is so beloved, I personally couldn't quite reach the level of adoration that many people have for it.

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