Maybe I was just searching for a scratch for the itch that finishing Good Partner left me with, but I'm not complaining that it scratched that itch really well, if not being completely what I expected when I went in.
First off, if you want a procedural series about advertising, this really isn't it. Half the time they're actually doing their ad work, it barely even feels like they're making ads, more just excuses to advance the plot and bring about character revelations. This is far more about chaebol power struggles. Also known as the same thing every drama set in a big office building, but thankfully we get a really really good performance out of Lee Bo-young that brings the whole thing together. Certain topics are tackled in a way that mostly feel refreshingly undramatic.
Ah-in is flawed, and has a tragic backstory, yet works through her issues with ups and downs. She's not a villain, she's not a perfect hero with an explanation for everything, she's a human being dealing with a brain that functions slightly different to ones that others have. I do slightly wish we could have a character like her without the overly tragic backstory explaining things, but I also have to admit that as someone suffering from chronic anxiety, it's not just something that my brain decided to do one day either.
And the side characters around her aren't totally annoying, thank God. I'm sure there's someone out there that dislikes Eun-jung's chipperness here, but she's just enough of a good foil to Ah-in that it works. I wish I could say I liked some other aspects of the way her character is written... but I can't say I like any of the scenes with her family. I just hate them so much. A five year old is going to be five years old, sure, but my God, if this is how Korean husbands and mothers in law tip toe around their son's bad behaviour, no wonder such a significant chunk of the male populace are avowed misogynists. And it seems we're supposed to just forgive both of them and act like they were well meaning or something.
I do think there are also some pacing issues with the way some characters are prioritised in the back half, specifically Ha-na. Her character was a minefield of potential annoyances, yet Son Na-eun had just the right blend of insecurity and bravado that makes it work, but it just goes a little too far into being about her when it feels we haven't spent a lot of time with the actual main character in a while. The finale especially feels barely about Ah-in, and that's a shame. Couldn't really care for Ha-na's PA either, though I don't outright hate him and think the way things ended was satisfying enough.
Speaking of satisfying, this entire drama is basically a sixteen episode Choi Chang-soo humiliation ritual, it was so fun seeing episode to episode what enormous rake this moron would step on next. Not entirely happy with his ending, but there is something poetic about the nature of how corporate life corrupts, tying in well with the epilogue. As for how I feel about that epilogue? I'm okay with it. It makes sense for most of the characters, a little bit too precious and saccharine in a way only K-drama endings can be... but Eun-jung, leave your damn husband.
Really liked Jung-min's five minutes of screen time as a supporting character and I think I've settled on my ship dynamic for Ah-in because of her. Sue me. I'm always thinking of one. Another win for the "female lead doesn't really date any men, so you can't say she's straight" crowd (me) though.
First off, if you want a procedural series about advertising, this really isn't it. Half the time they're actually doing their ad work, it barely even feels like they're making ads, more just excuses to advance the plot and bring about character revelations. This is far more about chaebol power struggles. Also known as the same thing every drama set in a big office building, but thankfully we get a really really good performance out of Lee Bo-young that brings the whole thing together. Certain topics are tackled in a way that mostly feel refreshingly undramatic.
Ah-in is flawed, and has a tragic backstory, yet works through her issues with ups and downs. She's not a villain, she's not a perfect hero with an explanation for everything, she's a human being dealing with a brain that functions slightly different to ones that others have. I do slightly wish we could have a character like her without the overly tragic backstory explaining things, but I also have to admit that as someone suffering from chronic anxiety, it's not just something that my brain decided to do one day either.
And the side characters around her aren't totally annoying, thank God. I'm sure there's someone out there that dislikes Eun-jung's chipperness here, but she's just enough of a good foil to Ah-in that it works. I wish I could say I liked some other aspects of the way her character is written... but I can't say I like any of the scenes with her family. I just hate them so much. A five year old is going to be five years old, sure, but my God, if this is how Korean husbands and mothers in law tip toe around their son's bad behaviour, no wonder such a significant chunk of the male populace are avowed misogynists. And it seems we're supposed to just forgive both of them and act like they were well meaning or something.
I do think there are also some pacing issues with the way some characters are prioritised in the back half, specifically Ha-na. Her character was a minefield of potential annoyances, yet Son Na-eun had just the right blend of insecurity and bravado that makes it work, but it just goes a little too far into being about her when it feels we haven't spent a lot of time with the actual main character in a while. The finale especially feels barely about Ah-in, and that's a shame. Couldn't really care for Ha-na's PA either, though I don't outright hate him and think the way things ended was satisfying enough.
Speaking of satisfying, this entire drama is basically a sixteen episode Choi Chang-soo humiliation ritual, it was so fun seeing episode to episode what enormous rake this moron would step on next. Not entirely happy with his ending, but there is something poetic about the nature of how corporate life corrupts, tying in well with the epilogue. As for how I feel about that epilogue? I'm okay with it. It makes sense for most of the characters, a little bit too precious and saccharine in a way only K-drama endings can be... but Eun-jung, leave your damn husband.
Really liked Jung-min's five minutes of screen time as a supporting character and I think I've settled on my ship dynamic for Ah-in because of her. Sue me. I'm always thinking of one. Another win for the "female lead doesn't really date any men, so you can't say she's straight" crowd (me) though.
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