. Since watching a full series is such a time commitment, I didn't want to waste my time on unsatisfactory dramas. Internet to the rescue! I quickly found myself googling things like "Best Korean dramas" or "Korean dramas like (insert whatever I watched most recently)." While this method has been pretty successful so far, I have to admit that there are a few instances where I think the internet consensus got it wrong. Not just kind of wrong, but I-think-I-have-been-transported-to-an-alternate-universe-filled-with-lying-robots wrong. It's the same kind of feeling I get when people say that they don't like chocolate, or when Bradley Cooper was People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" (with that smug face? How is this possible?).So today, I'm bringing the jury back in on one drama where the internet got it wrong. I'm completely biased here, but I'm going to do my best to sway you anyway.
The Best: Protect the Boss
Protect the Boss might very well be my favorite Korean drama of all time. Yes, it is the story of a rich, grumpy, emotional man-child who falls in love with a sassy poor girl, so I get the complaints that it's the same old cliche we've seen a million times. But this drama tweaks the formula just enough that I thoroughly enjoyed every single cliche-riddled minute. Here's my case for the defense (VERY mild spoilers below):Exhibit A: The Leads
It took me a couple of episodes to get used to them, but Ji Sung as Ji-heon and Choi Kang-hee as Eun-seol really won me over. Unlike most third-generation chaebol leads, Ji-heon has a personality of his own that involves more than yelling at people and looking--sad? pensive? angry? It's hard to tell when their facial expressions barely change. Whereas most of these characters have hidden quirks that seem tacked on to make them seem slightly more human, Ji-heon's quirks are an integral (and hilarious) part of who he is. It's so refreshing to see a male lead who can match (and even outdo) the female lead in physical comedy.
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| Let's compare, shall we? On the left, we have Ji-heon giving it his all and being awesome. On the right, we have Crown Prince Shin (Princess Hours) representing the typical male lead. "Movement is for poor people! I don't even swing my arms when I walk!" (All images are screen captures from the shows themselves.) |
This brings us to Eun-seol, the female lead. As I said, it took me a couple of episodes to get used to her, but once I did, I really loved her. One of the problems that I have with the female leads in most dramas is that they start out awesome, but then spend the second half of the series crying and/or almost dying from stupid causes (Geum Jan Di, I'm looking at you). Not so with Eun-seol! She's sassy and cool and good at her job throughout the entire series. When she starts to become mopey, Ji-heon threatens to break up with her. I'm pretty sure she only cries once, and it's during a cute penguin video--what kind of monster hasn't cried during a penguin video once or twice?Exhibit B: The Supporting Cast
This series has one of the most well-rounded supporting casts of any drama, ever. Forget the rich parents who are horrible people or the ex-girlfriend who is pretty, but a monster at heart. While some of the characters start out as charicatures, they all grow over the course of the series, and I really grew to love them. In fact, I just started to type the sentence "My favorite character is..." but found that I could fill in the blank with three or four different options (the gangster dad? the grandma? the mousy secretary? the best friend who wants to be a professional wrestler? SO MANY CHOICES!)
On a sidenote, the most consistent complaints I've heard about this drama have to do with Jaejoong--people either complain that he wasn't in the show enough, or they complain that his fangirls overrated the series. I had no idea who he was before I watched the show (Don't punch me!). He wasn't my favorite character by a long shot, and I STILL loved the whole thing.
Exhibit C: Relationship Development
I will concede that this drama probably could have wrapped up within 16 episodes instead of 18, but one of the nice parts of the extension is that we get to see the relationship actually develop between the two leads. I know that some people claim it's boring once they declare their love, but I really like that we don't get one kiss (and often a bad one, at that), and then everything ends. I want to see the fruits of all that angst! Some of the scenes work better than others (trying to snuggle in the elevator as opposed to the awkward singing proposal--which I fast forwarded), but overall, I think it rounds out the story nicely.
Exhibit D: EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THAT ELEVATOR
Have you noticed that half of my examples come from the elevator? This series is far more comedy than drama (so if you love to weep with the characters, stay away), and the elevator is one of the most magical parts of the whole thing. Maybe it should have gotten old, but I was busting up laughing every.single.time. A close second for funniest scene would be the girly man-fight between Mu-won and Ji-heon in the restaurant.
Have I convinced you? This might have been listed as one of the most overrated dramas of 2011 by both Seoulbeats and Dramabeans, but I must protest!
Tune in later for a review of You Are Beautiful, which runs at the opposite end of the internet disagreement spectrum.
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