The initial setup of this show is hardly original. Nasty, cold hearted boss making all his employees’ life miserable. His worst victim is his parade of secretaries whom never lasted more than 3 months before they are driven to despair. That is until the FL arrived at the scene and managed to stick it out for 1 whole year. In that sense, it was almost like a Shakespearean play of revenge where a conga line of people all wanted to harm the ML either for real or at least play out some fantasy to get redress for past wrongs.

What happened next is dark, zany and over the top, but it worked because it was done with a lot of manic energy and running at break-neck speed. You just don’t have time to ask questions. It was a wild ride to say the least. However, that ride did not last. Around the halfway mark, the pacing and tone of the show began to shift. It coasted for a bit as it shifts gear and recalibrates. By the end of the show, it is a completely different beast. This may be a good thing for some viewers, but it can be problematic as well. If you start watching this show because of the leads, then there is no issue at all. They have great chemistry plus a nice amount of passionate skinship. However, if you stumbled onto this show and was hooked by the crazy, fast paced story then how it morphed into a fluffy romance might leave you scratching your head. On the other hand, if you were put off by the dark whimsical plot and dropped the show then you would have missed the swoon worthy love line that blossomed later on. It is a weird juxtaposition of genres but you have to give the writer-nim credit for trying something different.

Now, back to the main revenge theme that is the backbone of this show. It is ever present and drove a lot of the plots forward. However, it is a double-edged sword. It worked in the subplots and there were many of them. From silly voodoo doll action to inflicting serious bodily harm, just about anything goes. Nevertheless, I thought the overarching central plot is weak and out of proportion when the full reveal happened towards the end of the show. The Show would have us believe that the main antagonist was a mastermind that plotted his revenge for years and has many resources at his disposal that he can manipulate public opinion and pay for others to do his dirty deeds. Yet he blames the ML for ruining his life?! In all honesty, I don’t buy that. The antagonist is living well, and he certainly doesn't seemed to be hung up about his reputation so why play such a long game and devote so much energy to it. It is not as if it is a family feud or the cliche “you killed my father!” storyline. It did make the grand reveal somewhat lame. The ML certainly didn't understand the motivation and neither did I.

Acting is great from the leads. They demonstrated a wide range of skills especially the ML, he raced through several different personalities during the show so kudos to him. The FL was also very good and she is tough but deep down is a sweet and caring soul. The support casts were solid but the writer-nim gave them exaggerated roles so overacting is the norm. They all earned their keeps. SFL was no wall flower even though she is beautiful and I confess to having a bit of second lead syndrome.

To complete the transformation of the show, the final episode is total fan service. It was the most leisurely strode down Closure Lane I have seen for a long time. The writer-nim lovingly closed all the threads and ticked them off her list. Not that I'm complaining because it was so nice and sweet. She paid attention to minor subplots that would have been forgotten by most shows. It was sugar overload but if you ship the OTP then it would just be the icing on the cake. Speaking of OTP, the 2OTP is cute and sweet too and provided some early distraction from the endless revenge action.

To be honest, if it started as a rom-com with just the boss/secretary plot, it probably would have faded badly because the love line is fairly standard. It is the crazy momentum of the first half that carried it over the line.
OST is nice and easy on the ears. Rewatch is there depending on whether you like sugar or spice. ;)