‘Entertaining But Empty’ Is Spot On

The acting carried the show. Somehow I found myself finishing the show despite the severe “what am I watching?” feeling I had throughout. The performances carried the overwhelmingly lacking script. Certain plot points ended up being super repetitive, and without a convincing reason behind the character’s motivations and actions. If not for the acting, I would’ve dropped the show long ago. The ending/resolution was also a bit anti-climactic, which is disappointing enough. I was hoping the writer would somehow stick the landing. To the reviewer that tagged the show “Entertaining but Empty”… truer words have never been spoken. Kudos to you for succinctly describing this entertaining train wreck of a show.

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NICE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN LEADS. PROBLEMATIC SCENES THAT WERE GLOSSED OVER. NOT BAD OVERALL.

This drama left me with mixed feelings. I found the basic premise - (a fantasy world where) multiple men in the same office fall for one woman - intriguing. I was interested to see how the story would be handled… and I was slightly disappointed? The male and female lead have such lovely chemistry, I wish the show would’ve capitalized on that but instead we had scenes filled with sexual harassment and men turning their pursuit of the FL into a chest-beating, testosterone-fueled competition - with a scoreboard and everything. It was giving very much “dibs”. The hoobae kissed her without her consent but it was glossed over and that didn’t sit right with me. There was also a man in the office that was a serial sexual harasser and that could’ve made for a valid conversation but it was (in my opinion) glossed over.

That is not to say the show is without merit. I did end up watching all 20 episodes for a reason. The show was well-paced and the male lead somehow endeared himself to me enough to make me root for his grumpy ass (I say this with love). The male lead, Kim Young Kwang, was pitch perfect as the grumpy and competent Kang Tae Oh. Even though I felt there were scenes where his temper was written that (to me) outside of this kdrama land would land outright disrespectful, he managed to play this bad-tempered character with an underlying warmth that made you feel that he did not have malicious intentions. The female lead, Kwon Yoo Ri, while not perfect, leaned into her role as Go Ho and committed to the full range of delivery. She did a solid job.

This drama is binge worthy and fluffy in the right parts. It had all the makings for the perfect fluffy romcom, but it’s downfall was the writing. The actors did a solid job. If you’re looking for a show to watch for fluff and relaxation that doesn’t require you to turn on your brain, this might just hit the spot for you. I would rate this a 6.5/10 overall.

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YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY!

The best way to describe this show is “seriously unserious” - in the best way. Truth be told, I actually tried watching the show once before, dropped it, and gave it a 1-star rating. I think I was just not in the mood for it at the time. I started it again on a whim, and what d’you know? I quite enjoyed it. It’s far from perfect - there could’ve been more emotional development (alas, it’s only about 39 minutes of actual show time for each of the 10 episodes compared to the standard 1-hour each for 16 episodes), the secondary characters could’ve been developed more/better e.g. SML and SFL (I’ll blame this again on the limited screen time), etc. But overall, it was a good time well spent on the show - the lead’s had very nice, believable skinship and chemistry; the emotional development and scenes they did show were done very well; the self-aware tropeyness and simultaneous subversion of tropes was refreshing; etc. I loved the message. I think the show could’ve done without the moments of fatphobia towards the stepsister (e.g. pig noises in episode 1??). Luckily, I think the most glaring ones were relegated to episode 1 and her relationship with the female lead was touching overall.

I think this show will be polarizing - you’ll either enjoy it or you won’t, the slapsticky humour will either work for you or it won’t, you’ll either be in the mood for it or you won’t. If possible, if you’re in the right mood for it, I’d suggest bingeing the episodes as some episodes may not work for you on different days if your mood isn’t in the right space.

I hope this non-spoilery review helps potential viewers decide if this show is for them or not! ?

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