Terry Tsurugi
California
This review may contain spoilers
I enjoyed this show a lot and found it hard to stop watching. There were a lot of good aspects—the detailed realism (with some exceptions) about the operations of the business, most of the acting, the emotional intensity, etc. But there were a few things that really annoyed me about the show. It’s easier to criticize than to praise, so I’ll focus on the bad things, but keep in mind that overall I recommend this show.
Misleading Start. The premise looked interesting (realistic workplace drama), so I had high hopes when I started watching this. However, the drawn out Hollywood-style action chase sequence that began the show threw me for a loop, and I dropped it immediately (just like what happened with Memories of the Alhambra). Several weeks later, I decided to give it another chance, wondering if maybe that beginning didn’t accurately represent the rest of the show. It turned out to be totally misleading. If I were on the creative staff, I would have left out the entire Jordan stuff, both at the beginning and the end, because it clashes with the rest of the show. I don’t understand the intention. Someone looking for a serious office drama like me might be turned off by the action stuff at the beginning and stop watching. But someone who enjoyed that opening might be disappointed by the rest of the show.
Lead Actor. Overall the cast did a great acting job. However, the lead, Im Shi Wan was terrible. He was just a cold fish totally lacking in charisma or ability to communicate. It was hard to believe that everyone loved him so much. This may not be the actor’s fault. Maybe the director and writer wanted him to act like an inarticulate babo. If that’s the case, then his acting was perfect. But he didn’t express the drive, passion, creativity, and intelligence that his character was supposed to have. And even though his character is supposed to be boyish and naive, I thought he looked and acted more like 16 than 26. I would have preferred either Byun Yo Han or Kang Ha Neul in that role.
Repeated Scenes. This is only the 3rd K drama that I’ve watched all the way through (after Age of Youth 1-2 and Live), so I’m still learning about the genre conventions, but one major thing I’ve noticed is the overuse of repeated scenes to fill out the air time. Seriously, I would guess that maybe 1/5 to 1/4 of the entire run time consists of repeated scenes (flashbacks, important words played back in characters’ memories, etc.). This has to stop! My time is precious, and I really resent having to waste it seeing the same scenes over and over again. I had to use the skip forward button a lot, but this is imprecise. I would much rather that all that crap was just cut out and the episodes just lasted 45 mins or less. I understand with limited budgets and set airtimes that need to be filled with content, this is a standard practice, but I wish K dramas (or at least the ones I’ve watched so far) relied less on these kinds of cheap tricks.
Other Filler. Unfortunately, replayed scenes aren’t the only filler used in this show. Another way to cheaply and easily fill up airtime is to have characters run into each other 1) in the coffee/copy room, 2) break room, 3) elevator lobby, 3) on the roof, 4) in the stairwell, 5) in the garden, 6) in front of the bldg, etc., and stop and stare at each other silently for 5 mins., and then either 1) nod and walk away, 2) bow and walk away, 3) say “Jang Geu Rae Shi” and walk away, 4) say let’s get some coffee or let’s drink, 5) or if you’re lucky, one of them will say 1 sentence about something that’s going on while the other (usually Jang Geu Rae Shi) stares at the ground silently. I can’t think of a single one of these scenes that actually advances the plot, so I would cut them. The result would be a lean mean show of like half hour episodes.
Over the Top Misery and Villainy. I like shows and movies that are very realistic. And in real life, you almost never meet people who are absolutely evil all the way through. People are usually complicated and have their good sides and bad sides. The show did a good job of portraying some flawed people who still had some good sides deep down or changed during the show. However, there were several characters who were just pure evil, like the head of the resource department, Byun Yo Han’s boss, An Yeong Yi’s dad, the jealous resentful intern, the new hire who commits fraud, etc. All of these people need to die immediately. But they were hateful caricatures of evil. The show would have been much better if all these people were shown to have more complex and sympathetic sides. Also, if their abuse of the other characters was toned down and more realistic, this would have been better. I’m sure there’s lots of bullying, hazing, close-minded bureaucracy, sexism, and other kinds of discrimination and corruption in the Korean business world, but my guess is that it’s not quite as bad as depicted in Misaeng.
That’s it. Watch the show though, it’s very engaging and addictive.
Misleading Start. The premise looked interesting (realistic workplace drama), so I had high hopes when I started watching this. However, the drawn out Hollywood-style action chase sequence that began the show threw me for a loop, and I dropped it immediately (just like what happened with Memories of the Alhambra). Several weeks later, I decided to give it another chance, wondering if maybe that beginning didn’t accurately represent the rest of the show. It turned out to be totally misleading. If I were on the creative staff, I would have left out the entire Jordan stuff, both at the beginning and the end, because it clashes with the rest of the show. I don’t understand the intention. Someone looking for a serious office drama like me might be turned off by the action stuff at the beginning and stop watching. But someone who enjoyed that opening might be disappointed by the rest of the show.
Lead Actor. Overall the cast did a great acting job. However, the lead, Im Shi Wan was terrible. He was just a cold fish totally lacking in charisma or ability to communicate. It was hard to believe that everyone loved him so much. This may not be the actor’s fault. Maybe the director and writer wanted him to act like an inarticulate babo. If that’s the case, then his acting was perfect. But he didn’t express the drive, passion, creativity, and intelligence that his character was supposed to have. And even though his character is supposed to be boyish and naive, I thought he looked and acted more like 16 than 26. I would have preferred either Byun Yo Han or Kang Ha Neul in that role.
Repeated Scenes. This is only the 3rd K drama that I’ve watched all the way through (after Age of Youth 1-2 and Live), so I’m still learning about the genre conventions, but one major thing I’ve noticed is the overuse of repeated scenes to fill out the air time. Seriously, I would guess that maybe 1/5 to 1/4 of the entire run time consists of repeated scenes (flashbacks, important words played back in characters’ memories, etc.). This has to stop! My time is precious, and I really resent having to waste it seeing the same scenes over and over again. I had to use the skip forward button a lot, but this is imprecise. I would much rather that all that crap was just cut out and the episodes just lasted 45 mins or less. I understand with limited budgets and set airtimes that need to be filled with content, this is a standard practice, but I wish K dramas (or at least the ones I’ve watched so far) relied less on these kinds of cheap tricks.
Other Filler. Unfortunately, replayed scenes aren’t the only filler used in this show. Another way to cheaply and easily fill up airtime is to have characters run into each other 1) in the coffee/copy room, 2) break room, 3) elevator lobby, 3) on the roof, 4) in the stairwell, 5) in the garden, 6) in front of the bldg, etc., and stop and stare at each other silently for 5 mins., and then either 1) nod and walk away, 2) bow and walk away, 3) say “Jang Geu Rae Shi” and walk away, 4) say let’s get some coffee or let’s drink, 5) or if you’re lucky, one of them will say 1 sentence about something that’s going on while the other (usually Jang Geu Rae Shi) stares at the ground silently. I can’t think of a single one of these scenes that actually advances the plot, so I would cut them. The result would be a lean mean show of like half hour episodes.
Over the Top Misery and Villainy. I like shows and movies that are very realistic. And in real life, you almost never meet people who are absolutely evil all the way through. People are usually complicated and have their good sides and bad sides. The show did a good job of portraying some flawed people who still had some good sides deep down or changed during the show. However, there were several characters who were just pure evil, like the head of the resource department, Byun Yo Han’s boss, An Yeong Yi’s dad, the jealous resentful intern, the new hire who commits fraud, etc. All of these people need to die immediately. But they were hateful caricatures of evil. The show would have been much better if all these people were shown to have more complex and sympathetic sides. Also, if their abuse of the other characters was toned down and more realistic, this would have been better. I’m sure there’s lots of bullying, hazing, close-minded bureaucracy, sexism, and other kinds of discrimination and corruption in the Korean business world, but my guess is that it’s not quite as bad as depicted in Misaeng.
That’s it. Watch the show though, it’s very engaging and addictive.
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