4.0/10 - Ep 1 and 2 combined reivew *babbling* Super indepth review and babbling!

Yes, as mentioned in my headline this is a combined review of episode 1 and 2. Mainly because I rated them the same and they flowed better.

My Mister has a super rough start. Barely even giving us a glimpse of the real leads of this drama it jumps straight to office politics and take overs. I mean . . . holy cow! They're even trying these special tactics to get us on board and team colors. Not to mention a bribe is sent out to take out a big to take out one of CEO Do Joon Yeong rivals. In a twist of a horrible error it gets sent to Dong Hoon. Oh, Dong Hoon's wife happens to be having an affair with Joon Yeong. Which if I was that woman and my husband came with news of that I'd super suspicious of Joon Yeong. But you know . . .she's kind of having and affair and nonchalant about this. Of course Dong Hoon can't prove that he has no idea who sent the bribe and that he didn't take it when Ji An takes it to pay off her loan shark. Only to find out that her loan shark would rather her be indebted to him for life and in jail. By reporting that she stole the money and tossing her in jail. She takes the money to work sees Dong Hoon being hauled off, but in the end listened to her building maintenance buddy and tosses it in the trash. Dong Hoon is being investigated and sent away.

This leaves me with many questions about South Korea's laws. Firstly he was accused and basically not allowed to make a call and his cellphone taken away. Which is his personal cell phone and not work one. They also denied him his call to his wife AKA an attorney. They bullied and harassed. Have judged him an evidence that in my opinion clearly leaves it open to suspicions. I mean people actually said he was being setup. Not to mention they found the money and it doesn't say who it is from and it can clear him there. The name in the anonymous tip off of who received a bribe was clearly not Dong Hoon's name or position. It clearly screams botched setup. But . . . bull crap ensues. Not to mention can a company watch their employees like that? Can they have that much surveillance that basically means you can read someone's text in an elevator? How much power do these companies have?

My Mister is clearly going to be giving us a look into poverty and hunger. When Dong Hoon mentioned that his brothers killed a pig because they were too young and stupid it smacked of untruth. They knew hunger and killed that pig for food. Dong Hoon has escape poverty, but the rest of his family hasn't Watching him deal with them and give money is a harsh reality. Ji An is broke, a loan shark feeding off her for crimes we assume has something to do with her answer of I killed a person, and has a disabled grandmother to take care of. She steals leftovers of the plates of her second job cleaning dishes. Her first job is working at Dong Hoon's office as a temp and clearly she does not want anyone there to know her. This is gonna be a harsh series, but I really want it to warm up.

Despite how much there is to show about everyone's status and lives, and the work politics *sighs*, My Mister manages to already create some intense emotions.

Dong Hoon is told he's so moral that his life is miserable. At the first chance his brother thinks he's having an affair and ready to tattle on him. Despite Dong Hoon's wife having an affair and the cold distance between the two making you wonder if it's an open secret. To having everyone blaming him for being bribed. I mean! He didn't ask for the bribe and he said it's a setup up! He has the weight of keeping his two hopeless brothers and sweet mom afloat. Ji An being the reason why he might now be doomed. Even though her accidentally saved him.

Ji An is clearly the girl so beaten by the world she'd kill an innocent lady bug. Her broke state is made clear immediately from her inadequate socks (which Dong Hoon notices because his own mom does not have decent shoes) to stealing that food from work. Which I feel. When you're hungry the waste around you can be insane. When you're to that point you pick up every penny on the ground--not for luck--and I remember taking my friend's leftovers from lunch. Ji An states the worst thing she's ever killed was a person. Soon after meeting her loan shark I think that it has something to do with him. Though I feel like the murder she committed was probably one of those silly drama ones. I agree that the loan shark probably does like her. Because it's a drama and that's some super obsession that hate leads to love. It's interesting how she picked the bad guy to side with. Clearly the other side has a concession. Maybe that means she couldn't play them? Not sure how I feel about office politic war far.

Overall I really dislike pretty much all of the other characters except for Dong Hoon's mom. Oh, and Ji An's grandmother. Dong Hoon's brothers are super annoying. If you hear both their stories it's pathetic. Not to mention the eldest actually decides to rob his daughter's wedding money. Enlisting the youngest brother to take the money from the people the eldest invited. The whole thing was stupid. Especially since they were so stupid about it and got caught. AT least at the end his brothers truly tried to help him. I want to know what the full story is that the cops found out.

I almost gave the episode a 5 instead of 4 just for emotional power. Clearly this is a lot to setup and it's hard to know where and how to start. I'm intrigued so far. I think this drama has a serious chance to be EPIC. Though it also has a HUGE chance of flopping out. I remember Another Miss Oh. Great story and start, then it just went of the rails a bit. I have hope that the writer will do better this time around. Though office politic dramas rarely interest me. Yes, The Good Wife (US original) is proof it will work. Most writing is not up to that standard though. I'm also nervous how long Ji An will keep he secret from Dong Hoon about his wife, or how long in general. Why can't she divorce him now? All I truly know is that despite hope this drama has plot lines that can easily drag.

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A uncompromising tale

If the first episode sets up the atmosphere, the second one resumes the plot quite well. The history about a suffering, nihilist and empty spirited girl who does whatever she can to get the money she needs. The first and second episode seems to be in search of a normal, ordinary life where this tense moment between the two main characters take place, however, it comes out boring and pointless. There's no tension between the characters and there's not a moment when the viewer would really sympathize with the feelings the characters are going through. Be it urgency, guilt, nervousness or whatever. Not to mention how IU's character, Lee Ji An, is still boring and dull; instead of seeming like a "person with cold heart" as she should appear to be due the hardships she's going though, she still is dull. Her expression, her voice in completely monotone doesn't leak her distance from everything that surrounds her but boring-ness. She's a boring, dull character. The director seems to want a certain distance from any personal interest in the characters, but as a side-effect the characters become nothing but pieces of cardboard floating around, there's no way one could less about whatever really happens to them and certainly doesn't help the extreme out of ordinary instance of Lee Ji An (IU's character) stealing the CEO's phone in the elevator while the other guy may or may not have seen, how did she know he /couldn't/ claim it at that moment. Being curious about the story doesn't mean the viewer is invested much less interested in it and that's how one would consider dropping a story. I, for instance, thought about it (dropping the drama) right in the middle of this episode. I can see how they could've wanted her character to seem like a female version of what we see so many male actors playing around, but, then again, there's no approach to story or characters. I can tell how the next episodes are basically the production team watching closely the response of the viewers ans stirring things up the way they needed to keep things going rather than actually caring about the story and its characters.

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I have a brother, who is exactly like Lee…

I have a brother, who is exactly like Lee Jin An's friend (is he a friend?): living for a game without responsibilities. How desperating. I want punching him, so much like I want to slap Dong Hoon' s wife. And I am not even to say a word respect the directors' conspirations.

IU and Lee Seon-kyun are doing AWESOME. Their corporal languages haven't price, they are so elocuent without a single word... There exist a strange comunication between Jin An and Dong Hoon, and I love it. Dong Hoon feels atracted to Jin An, perhaps having the impression that they are similar. Yes, she stole him and, he wants to clear his name... but at the end he sees across her and tries to extend his hand. She will fall for him, very fast.

Some people told me, in my firts review, that this isn't a romantic drama... Well, maybe I agree. After the first momentes, I noticed that this drama is not about love. Its center is life, the life with others in a horrible world. Some type of relationship has to grown, specially when the script is pretty good and gives a solid support to the characters.

The chapter's extension makes little bit hard to watch it, and as viewer I acept it becase creates a extraordinarie atmosphere of anxiety and suffocation. Everything is going slowly, we flow into a pitiful scenario where our protagonists sufert while we only contemplate their reality fading in grey colors just in front our eyes.

My Ajusshi is alredy a sadly and bitter story. With two chapters I am in love.

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