Mary Poppins: Korean Office Edition. An outrageously competent, practically perfect woman who goes exclusively by "Ms. Kim" (played by the amazing Kim Hye Soo) joins the marketing & sales team of a big soy sauce company as a contract worker for 3 months, and she makes it clear she has absolutely no intention to stay longer. Someone has a problem? Ms. Kim is on it. Just don't bother her during her lunch break or any time after 6:00 p.m. unless you want to be charged an arm and a leg for her overtime pay.

Her lack of motivation to devote her life to a single company results in truth bombs regarding toxic (classist, elitist, misogynistic) workplace culture. Ms. Kim constantly butts heads with Jang Gyu Jik (Oh Ji Ho), one of the two assistant managers in the same office. He is wildly unpopular but capable in his own way, with his emotional baggage hidden behind his douchebag persona. His best friend, the other assistant manager and Ms. Kim's direct supervisor, Mu Jeong Han (Lee Hee Joon), is sweet, considerate, albeit naive. While he doesn't always agree with either of their ways, his main conflict is to balance his morals with the harsh realities that the more cynical Ms. Kim and Mr. Jang have already internalized.

The office has a set of supporting characters that are really there to provide the commentary for every situation. Most notably, the ingenue Jeong Ju Ri (played by the lovely Jung Yu Mi) is another contract worker learning the ropes of this setting. Her mishaps often provide the battleground between Jang and Ms. Kim, although each take the opportunity to teach her in some way.

Now for the Good, OK / Meh, and Bad points.

The Good: The whole show rides on Kim Hye Soo's star power. While the direction was questionable at times, and reactions so crazy they're almost cringe-worthy, KHS proves her versatility: from subtle tears and expressions that forgo the use of the internal monologue like in "Signal", to straight up cartoonish comedic chops like in "Hyena", just like Ms. Kim, she can do it all.

The character of Ms. Kim was also pretty great in that she stuck to her beliefs until the end, though with very subtle signs of wanting to change and being ready to move on from her grief. Too often, these dramas make the character turn 180 degrees under the guise of character development. I like that she never really succumbed to the brewing love triangle and that they didn't take the character down the romantic path at all. Same for Ju Ri's character. For me, it sends a good message that just because someone, or even two people show their interest in you (especially a superior), you shouldn't feel obliged to return their feelings. However this may not fly well for those who expect a romantic storyline.

Some would argue that Mr. Mu was too meek, but I really liked him. He wasn't Superman by any means. I appreciated that his actions towards Ms. Kim weren't for the sake of seduction (even though he knew early on that he was attracted to her), but more driven by guilt and genuine concern. He doesn't overstep his boundaries, at least not physically, so Ms. Kim didn't need to put him in his place as much as Mr. Jang.

The focus on contract workers, though satirical and cartoonish at times, is a refreshing take especially in 2013, wherein love stories between chaebol heirs and lower-income daughters have dominated the screens. In this drama, the cause of poverty and desperation isn't just a lack of money, but a corporate system that encourages self-preservation and ego-boosting over honesty and hard work, which is much more realistic.

The OK / Meh: The supporting cast wasn't bad and the characters were OK in serving as the chorus that would voice different perspectives on a given situation. It was nice that some of them like the older Mr. Ko had some significant use but could have been more fleshed out.

The music and OST were appropriate but not particularly memorable.

The friendship between Ju Ri and the rich Bit Na was nice since they didn't fight over a man. Bit Na herself was naive but pleasant and she never really took anyone's class against them. Sometimes I would forget she was well off. But apart from her desperate need to get back together with Gyu Jik, her character seemed unnecessary apart from meeting a kind of quota in the cast.

Bad: Ms. Kim's backstory was pretty easy to guess, you would probably put it together by the third episode. So after that, you're just waiting for everyone else to find out. The event linking Mr. Jang, Mr. Mu, and Ms. Kim was not necessary. I think it's better to understand each other through different episodes of grief rather than having some magic connection to the same issue. I was just shaking my head by ep 15.

You have to really suspend your disbelief through a lot of this show, especially when they throw numbers around. I get that Ms. Kim's 124 certifications were for comic relief and to add to her characterization. But to say that she's had 98 stints as a contract worker, many of which ended in exactly three months between 2007 and 2013, not to mention the long vacations she would take abroad right after each job, felt so off. Maybe my math isn't right or she counted those before her bank job and during her stints abroad, but with 98 consecutive jobs and 124 certifications it was so unrealistic.

I liked that Mr. Jang wasn't from a rich family and that deep down he seemed to understand the plight of contract workers, but his actions and his comments toward them made the overall characterization really disjointed for me. Based on the reveal at the end, he should have been softer than Mr. Mu towards Ju Ri and the other girls. Surely his mother must have told him some things that her managers have done just because she was a contract worker for over ten years too.


Overall, not a perfect drama, but enjoyable enough if you don't take it too seriously. 8 / 10.