Protect the Boss (2011)

2011/SBS

If you're looking for a drama that pushes boundaries, then this is definitely not what you're looking for. This one is all about continuing on the success of a formula that works well. As one would expect for a SBS prime time drama (previous dramas in this time slot are City Hunter, 49 Days, Dae Mul, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho and You're Beautiful), Protect The Boss delivers a solid story, solid characters, solid performances by the actors and a proper production. No surprises in this drama, you get what you expect.

While I saw it being praised and highlighted because of the strong female lead, this isn't really new any more nor is is executed in an extraordinary fashion in Protect The Boss. Perhaps I have a different understanding of a strong female lead, but is not something that I would use to promote Protect The Boss for, or recommend it to someone else because of this. I'm slightly disappointed in Choi Gang-Hee's performance, but my only reference to her acting was the 2010 film Petty Romance. Her performance, I would consider superior to that in Protect The Boss.

I wasn't especially impressed with Ji Sung's acting either, especially later on into the drama. He really shined in the first few episodes when acting as the paranoid and panicky Cha Ji-Hun. The plot forced his character to become normal, which was a shame. I have not seen any of his other dramas or films yet, but if anyone knows how to obtain Delicious Proposal from 2001, do let me know.

I thought Jaejoong's performance was an excellent debut for Korean dramas. We should be seeing more from him in the future. His soundtrack for this drama were great as well. Definitely the best cast of the lead actors. I feel a bit bad for Wang Ji-Hye for having to play the unappealing characters such as in Personal Taste. I didn't expect the turn-around halfway into this drama though, good for her. I haven't seen any other dramas or films that cast her, I am looking forward to see one where she gets to play the lead character or at the very least something another than an annoying and spoiled Chaebol daughter.

Nothing but praise for the supporting cast in Protect The Boss. Performances by company president Cha Bong Man played by Park Yeong-Gyu, his mother and veteran actress Kim Young-Ok, sister-in-law Shin Sook-Hee (Cha Hwa-Yeon), Eun-Seul's friend Myung-Ran (Ha Jae-Suk from Alone in Love) and the others are all excellent. Each is given a few moments in the last episode to close their stories properly. It comes across as a bit unnatural, but it's alright by me.

The story as mentioned before is not spectacular, nor orginal or daring in any sort of fashion. It's what one would expect from a Korean drama so don't go in expecting taboo's to be broken. I was a little worried around episode 11, as the plot seemed to be coming to a halt. That was prevented by the corruption scandal twist, which worked its magic until episode 16 or 17, when the end was nearing. While there's no special recognition for the script, there are also no real complaints to be had. Even if you're watching many episodes in a short amount of time, this drama is unlikely to bore you and will keep you interested in the next episode.

I am however going to have to say that I thought Secret Garden was a better execution of this concept. Everything that this drama does well, Secret Garden does just a little better. Fortunately, one doesn't have to choose between two drama's, so just watch them both if you like this particular variation of kdrama. Overall, it's a high value SBS production that does precisely what it is supposed to do, entertain.

7/10

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I started this show for the comedy, love triangle and Jae Joong *-* And it exceeded all my expectations. Cha Ji Heon x No Eun Seol x Cha Mu Won was the most lovable triangle and the cousins were the most adorable male leads I've ever seen so far. They always made me burst into laughter each time they fought ^^

I loved everything about this show: the flow of events, the romance, the way they handled conflict, the originality - it really is unpredictable for a kdrama. All up to a point though... To me this show was perfect until around episode 10. Or even 8 I'd say. The story was flawless until that point. I loved the way romance was developing between both "couples" (revolving around No Eun Seol, I mean). The competition between the cousins kept this show fun and entertaining. It was simply adorable and incredibly funny. But once they hit ep 10, there were a few things that bothered me:

First, they got lost in all the conflict and business problems and put the romance and fun moments aside. Second, ... it's impossible for me to speak about it without giving out spoilers. I'll just use this so you know and skip if you want... [SPOILER]the romantic moments weren't as fun once Mu Won sort of disappeared from the picture. Seeing Mu Won and Ji Heon with two different girls was weird. Aside from the fact that I disliked Na Yoon for some reason, even if she wasn't a negative character, and I didn't want to see her together with Mu Won, it also took away the fun from the love triangle. I don't know how to explain this properly... but once he decided to give up, things sort of run dry. [/SPOILER]

And third, this is spoiler-free: I felt they didn't manage to create a right and effective order of events. I may sound like I'm contradicting myself now, because I said the flow of events was perfect, but I'm actually not. It really does feel perfect until ep 8/10. But afterwards it feels a bit out of place. They sort of gathered the most adorable and fun moments in the first half and threw all the conflictual scenes in the last half. I think a mix of both would have been easier to take in. Spoiler ahead again, be careful [SPOILER]So they took away the love triangle, Eun Seol and Ji Heon start fighting and break-up, and we're left with scenes that mostly deal with the other newly formed couple, Mu Won and Na Yoon, which I'm not very fond of. It's like each half of this show deals with a couple. And while one is suffering the other is having fun. In my opinion, if they wanted to create such arguments between No Eun Seol and Ji Heon, they should have kept Mu Won around at least, to balance out the sadness of the situation.[/SPOILER]

Simply put, without any spoilers, I feel they could have spread the conflicts throughout the show more, rather than cram them all in the last half. But then again, the first half might not have been perfect if they did... so I'm going back and forth thinking if this is actually a good or a bad thing.
The ending was ok though. Great, compared to other dramas. It did feel like something was missing, I guess I was just expecting something more impressive because I was really blown away by the awesomeness of this show and expected the most unpredictable ending. But it was ok.

Overall though this is one of my favourite dramas! It sounds like I typed a lot of bad things about it, but in fact I'm trying to say I LOVE the show, and the downsides are minor. The bad sides take up more space just because I ramble a lot about the things that bother me, but it doesn't mean they define the drama. They did bother me a bit, but the drama overall was too adorable and fun to even think about them. They still keep some humour even in the most tense episodes, that's what I love about the show. But they just weren't as many as I had gotten used to in the first episodes.


The music was outstanding. I have to mention this. It really brings out the best of each scene and it's well placed. Many times it was the music that cracked me up and the editing of some scenes. Like the ice-cream scene... I won't say more! XD But this is still one of my favourite moments of the entire show.


The acting was great, as expected. I rarely come across bad acting in asian dramas though, so I'm not even sure if it's worth mentioning.

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves romantic comedies! :) It's the perfect fit for the genre.

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Protect the Boss for me is one of the best dramas ever. I love stories where a person can come into the lives of people and change them for the better. This is definitely a romantic comedy with very little angsty moments. The best thing about this drama is that the main characters find their love for each other pretty early on in the drama and they stay in love. I love dramas like this.

The story is fun and I smiled through pretty much the whole drama. Of course, there are some people that cause trouble throughout the drama, but they aren’t the best at it. I have seen way more evil in other dramas. I love the friendship that develops between the women and the cousins are just too adorable. I love all the cheesy moments and the goofy fun.

The actors seemed to have a good time making this drama. I have never seen Choi Kang Hee in anything other than this. I think she did an excellent job playing Eun Seol with the correct amount of tuff and aigoo. The very first drama I watched was Royal Family with Ji Sung. I don’t know why I haven’t watched any of his other dramas, because Protect the Boss reminded me of why I completely love him. He plays Ji Heon as an adorably troubled man that grows after meeting Eun Seol. I just watched Kim Jae Joong in Time Slip Dr. Jin and he was the only thing great in that drama. He is the reason why I decided to watch Protect the Boss and he doesn’t disappoint. He is certainly a great actor. Jae Joong plays a delightful Moo Won that faces some struggles, but is very strong and sweet. I absolutely admire Wang Ji Hye. She has performed in several other dramas that I enjoyed. She plays Na Yoon with flare. Some actresses have the same look for every emotion, but all the actresses in this drama from young to old show their emotions on their face. I think that the best actors do that. Even the side characters in this drama are good and needed to make this drama special.

The music is really good. I have added a few songs to my playlist.

I unconditionally recommend that this be a drama that you watch. It isn’t deep, but that is the point. It is light hearted and full of fun.

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Boo angst! Yay silliness!

If you've been watching dramas for a while, the premise might should familiar: an immature chaebol boss, Cha Ji Heon (Ji Sung), falling for his secretary, No Eun Seol (Choi Kang Hee). Rather than inserting melo and angst, Protect the Boss brings a very fun lead couple.

No Eun Seol is a kick ass and I love her being strong and independent, even reluctant to fall in love. It's rare to see a female lead who is not a damsel in distress. Ji Heon, instead of being the perfect businessman we’ve become so familiar within dramas, he has a stage fright. As he's trying to overcome it with Eun Seol's helps, romance ensues and I get to see his persistent and confident side. Their dialogues and hijinks are hilarious, kept me entertained throughout.

The highlights of this drama is the clever use of cliché, which makes it a refreshing experience. For example, Ji Heon and his father relationship are not frustrating despite the conflict between them. His father loves him deeply and secretly support him, which is a rare thing in dramas.

I have to admit, the pacing suffers in some episodes of the series, though it is not too boring that it ruined the enjoyment. Overall, entertaining, a solid ending and excellent acting from the leads, for sure. It has a good combination of romance, comedy, and friendships!

-Jan 2024, Yovita
Find me on Instagram: @kdramajudge

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I was skeptical about watching this drama just because the romantic comedies of 2011 were average and disappointing. But I was willing to give this a chance because I was a new fan of Choi Kang Hee who I just seen in Petty Romance. I didn’t even know who anybody else in the cast was…

Story- has the most hilarious script ever! I don’t know how many times I cried from the laughter because it really is just too much. The plot is pretty average being that nothing really happens outside of them working in an office and the romances that develop. It does get a bit dramatic in some of the episodes. The ending was perfect=)

Acting/Cast- Perfect casting! I seriously loved not only the 4 leads but the supporting characters as well. Wang Ji Hye was awesome as Ice Cream. I'm a new fan of hers, Ji Sung, and JaeJoong.

Music- I liked 3 songs from the OST enough to put them on my ipod. Some of the other songs fit the scenes but weren’t memorable to me.

Rewatch- Id watch this once a year for the laughs and b/c I loved the characters so much.

Overall Protect the Boss isn’t perfect by far, but it has just the right amount of entertainment. That, along with the awesome cast, makes it a romantic comedy that will be remembered for a long time to come.

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I have only been watching Korean dramas for about a year, but many of the dramas I have watched recently, have frequently disappointed me in their final episode. I mostly look for romantic comedies or dramas, but with a few laughs. I am not expecting laugh out loud or silly comedy, but a good smile to keep my spirits up. I decided to seek out recommendations for romantic dramas with happy endings, and this was one of those. Despite being an older drama which I rarely watch, I decided to give it a try, and I’m glad I did. This drama was like a close friend or a pair of warm, comfortable slippers. There were no real surprises. I liked that there were no murderous or really nasty villains that we often see. The villains were more comical than evil and their ‘punishments’ were slight.

This ticked almost all the boxes, but I am nitpicking here.

What music there was was okay. If not particularly memorable.

The storyline is your typical workplace, poor girl meets chaebol, romantic comedy. There is nothing new here that we haven’t see many times. Many of the actors are easily recognizable from many other dramas but despite the predictability of the storyline they give it their full effort and make many genuinely funny moments. I do not have even the slightest complaint about any of the actors.

There were two minor letdowns for me. Firstly that the romantic outcomes for ALL the characters by the final episode could have been better developed. Also, the punching and kicking from the lead female was a little repetitive after a while, but I have to stress the word ‘little’ as this did not affect, in any way, my enjoyment of the show or her character.

I wish there were more dramas like this.

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This show was really really fun and enjoyable!!! Almost every episode made me laugh. The comedy in this is great, and while there are some serious moments, it's not one of those shows that have TOO much drama. Also, this is probably the first drama I've seen that I absolutely loved all the characters!!! They were all amazing, and funny, and loveable (even the not so "bad" guys) I especially loved seeing a tough stand-up-for-myself kind of lead girl. The character development is phenomenal, even most of the minor characters grew as the story progressed. The ending was very well done, and not rushed, I loved how every character got their happy ending. The music was quirky, and fun, and fit perfectly with their perspective scenes. I can't say enough good things about this show. If you're still wondering whether or not to watch this, take my word on this, and WATCH IT!!!! You definitely will not regret it!!!!!!

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STORY:
I could not carry on watching so dropped it after they tried to put ridiculous and predictable twist such as an ex and jealousy and his feelings. Would not have probably minded if they told the story in a shorter length. Eight more episodes seemed easier to just predict for myself instead of sitting through. I really hoped she was kept as the kiss-a** lady from the first episode, but that was lost once she was hired. But I did enjoy the scenes he kept getting hit by his father (hehehe)
Another reason for dropping this is the fact that I could tell that the one I rooted for (the underdog) was not going to end up with the girl.

ACTING:
Had no problem with the acting for Ji Sung and Kim Jae Joong potrayed their characters well and even managed to pull off the comedic scenes; storyline just failed them.

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