I think a lot of other reviewers mentioned this, but the two main leads were really outstanding in their roles here. They had chemistry and I genuinely laughed out loud during several moments of this series. However, the story was lacking in my opinion, which made watching it a bit of a slog. This is so unfortunate as the lead actors were really amazing. What frustrated me the most was that the premise of Jun's character having an allergy to tears, though somewhat absurd, could actually be viewed in such an interesting light, but didn't quite get realized in the story.

My thought on her tear allergy at first was that it was an obvious shortcut to create tension for Jun's entry into the investment banking world. But there were a couple of interesting points that were brought up but never really challenged that made me think that this tear allergy/inability to cry could have been an interesting way to explore some of the dynamics, especially gender dynamics, that were at play.

Yuan tells her early on that the kind of work they're doing is so difficult, time consuming, and often soul-crushing that only about 20% of the people working in investment banking are women; essentially, he says that this job is so difficult that a lot of men can't hack it, but especially a lot of women. Because, apparently, women are inherently mentally and emotionally weaker. For Jun, having an allergy to tears makes this kind of work dangerous to her health and well-being; apparently, women cry all the time when things are hard, and Jun doesn't even have that luxury. There's obviously some very patriarchal ideas at play here. Obviously, Jun proves that she can succeed because she's not the same 'weak and timid' girl Yuan knew in their schooldays. She proves that she's learned how to control her emotions better and that Yuan needs to get to know her again before making any judgments. But I thought it would have been interesting if the narrative challenged this initial premise in a more nuanced way.

For one, the idea that crying proves some kind of mental or emotional weakness, especially for women because, apparently, men don't cry (mmmhm) could have been looked at more closely. And, secondly, that the reason for a lack of gender parity in this field is that the majority of women are somehow too weak to handle it could have been examined through the lens of the first point.

For Jun to succeed in this field, she must prove that she won't cry; at least, that's the standard that Yuan holds her to at first. This is the part that seems the most absurd to me; the metric here being that if one sheds tears because things are hard, that one is unfit to deal with those hard things. For both men and women this type of gendered idea about crying is especially heinous for reasons I don't think I should have to get into. The narrative somewhat challenges this by showing that Jun is not just capable but talented in her work; even if she cries because something terrible happens to her (the mugging that happens early on for example) she can still do her job and do it well. But, I think the crux of this very idea about whether crying is acceptable or not gets lost in the premise of Jun's tear allergy. If she cries, it's literally dangerous to her, which lets Yuan's character and the audience off-the-hook for thinking she's unfit because of her "feminine emotions"; he's just concerned about her well-being. So, instead of facing the very idea of crying as being both inherently feminine and a sign of mental/emotional weakness, the narrative avoids it entirely.

Secondly, the lack of gender parity that Yuan cites early on was something that should have been challenged more in the narrative. Is it that women are just not as fit to do investment banking or are there very gendered conditions that exist that are the real reason? The narrative touches on the truth here in so many ways without even realizing it. For example, there's a storyline early on about workplace sexual violence. Jun discovers that a young woman in an entertainment company is the victim of sexual violence by the CEO. They use this to oust him from his role there. Another example happens later on when a colleague forces Jun to entertain and drink with a client. While toxic drinking culture isn't inherently gender-based, gender still comes into play here. Jun isn't just targeted and forced to drink exorbitantly by this client for being the newbie, but she's also sexually harassed in this scene as well. This hazing takes on another layer because she's a woman; they treat her as though she should act as an escort to their male client. But this touches on an important aspect about women in the workplace; sexual violence and harassment are a very real issues in many industries. Such issues make those workplaces unfair, toxic, and even dangerous for women to work in.

Then there's the underlying issue about working women, in general, and romance. When one of the other characters finds out about Yuan and Jun's relationship, she warns Jun that they should be careful; if it's found out, Jun will be the one who has to leave. Later, towards the end of the series, Yuan pressures Jun to resign because she's being so overworked her health is suffering as a result. While, Yuan walks this back later on, both of these points in the series illustrate one of the key issues at play here. When it comes to love, marriage, and starting a family, Jun's career can and should be sacrificed, because her first priority should be being a wife and mother. There's too many compounding and complex issues related to this very idea that I won't go into, but it does speak to the reality for many women in the workplace: that women are treated like they don't actually need to be there.

But rather than really explore some of the themes laid out initially, the series deviates through so many predictable and flat storylines, love triangles, and side couples. Jun doesn't even get to participate in the most consequential storyline related to her own character; once again, the men take charge and leave her out about finding the truth about her father's death. Instead, Jun is forced to navigate petty jealousy from colleagues and really... nothing else. She holds back her tears, because crying is weakness in this shark tank of a business (but also she has an allergy!!!1!). A lack of gender parity in a workplace is sometimes not because women can't do the job, but rather because there's often a gendered culture that is prohibitive towards women even being there. But if you cry about it? You're just proving them right.