#of course -unfortunately- there doesn't seem to be a shortage of stories where he's both terrible in ooc ways AND an idiot | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

i-see-you-have-good-taste · 3 years

Text

Misaeng episode 1

overview & analysis

"A path is not simply for walking. Its purpose lies in moving forward and improving oneself. A path that fails to do so is not a path. The path is open to everyone but not everyone can walk it". -Jang Geu-Rae.

Profound words uttered by the young intern, whose life the show revolves around. Opening with this overhead narration, the camera sweeps over a rocky terrain and cuts to a man in a suit walking through a valley.

We are in a town where the shops seem to have their names in Arabic. A quick search on google reveals that this show was the first Korean drama to film on location in Jordan. Our protagonist embarks on a wild chase through the busy streets in pursuit of an absconding client. It ends with him mid jump off a building and leaving me half off my seat. I do hope he makes it, but I guess I will have to wait till the end off this show to find out.

We are now taken back to 2012, the humble start of our protag's journey. We see 26-year-old Jang Geu-Rae, forced to do odd jobs, cleaning a public bath mirror with much vigour. Told to man-up and find a steady job, he wipes the mirror to reveal his dejected (and pouty) face.

Somehow, (and both the audience and Geu-rae are kept in the dark about this), he scores a prestigious internship. Though his mom insists she pulled no strings, over the course of the episode Geu-rae and the rest of the employees find this increasingly hard to believe.

Well into the episode, the circumstances of Gue-rae's barren resume are brought to light. Sacrificing a normal life, and a degree, to pursue his passion for Baduk (The game of go), he might have been a professional player. However, despite having the talent, he was dealt an unfortunate set of cards and had to play those instead. Failing to win the final deciding tournament, he is now forced to enter the corporate world.

"I don't want to hear that I lost because of my lack of skills or I was unlucky enough to lose by only half a territory. It's not because I did both baduk and a part-time job. It's not because my parents couldn't financially support me. It's not because my dad passed away, or my mom got sick. Those excuses break my heart. It's better to say I didn't work hard enough. It's not true, but I would rather think that. Because I didn't work hard enough, I had to come out into the world. Because I didn't work hard enough, I was abandoned."

What pleased me was that they didn't bring in the 'crushed hopes and dreams' plot device at the start. They introduced it as another character trait of our protagonist. Rather than defining the story, it is used to define the character and pave the way for his future development and character arc.

Though the efforts are minor, Gue-rae tries his best to step it up at work. He is further driven by the return of the boss of their sales team, Oh Sang-Shik. Oh seems to be the only one mildly amused by Gue-rae's incompetence. Oh tells Gue-rae to convince him to keep him on the team. Cue Gue-rae trying his best to use his skills of Baduk to organise computer files.

I sense bonding. I also forsee a potential 'inspirational mentor'.

The interns, much to their dismay, are rounded up and sent to a factory to make up for a shortage of manpower. Their higher ups needed them to check a shipment of fermented squid to ensure that there were no octopuses thrown in for good measure. Having marketed squid, they needed to ensure the client received just that, and Oh opened his gop and insisted they would check manually.

The interns make their dismay known and snidely look in Gue-rae's direction while saying there were people more suited to the job.

At the factory, all but Gue-rae have partners to work with. Of course, they run out of protective covering and a few of the interns, including Gue-rae, have to carry out the task in their suits. In trying to avoid getting squid gunk on the new suit his mother gifted him (He doesn't know she bought it on interest which makes it worse), he drops his phone in the water, busting it completely.

Oh calls one of the interns to inform them that the supplier owned up to adding the octopuses and would take the product back so they needn't continue looking. They leave without telling Gue-rae, who is absorbed with the work in a truck on his own.

By the time the factory owner notices he is still there, we are in as much pain as he is. The situation is so depressingly pathetic but tailored to assure us that from here on out he is only going to move forward in his development.

He stands in front of his colleagues outside the restaurant, covered in squid juice and quite stinky. They laugh it off as a joke, saying he was working so hard he didn't even pick up his phone. An obnoxious intern tells him to keep working hard.

Oh arrives and as soon as he sets eyes on Gue-rae, wonders what the hell happened. It looks like a whirlwind hit the guy (if the whirlwind was of wet squid ). Gue-rae tells Oh he will go back to the office to redo the files that Oh was unhappy with. Oh kindly tells him to leave it for the morning but squid boy insists he will have it ready by morning and turns to leave.

As Gue-rae walks away the words carelessly uttered by the obnoxious intern nag him. We are brought back to the lie he clings onto so desparately. "Did I work hard today? No. I didn't work hard enough so I was forced to come into this world. Because I didn't work hard I was abandoned.

Interestingly, we learn more about the skills Gue-rae lacks through the other interns. Those who have fought to get to the top brandish skills like efficiency, multilingual chops and cunning. Leaves us wondering exactly how Gue-rae is going to turn into the suave employee we see running around in the start.

We are made painfully aware of how hard the interns had to work to beautify their resumes, only to face unfairness, discrimination and other wonders of an office workplace. While giving us a realistic peek into a workplace, the drama enlightens us as to the challenge, intrigue and delight it offers to those who aimed to get there.

#misaeng #kdrama #misaeng kdrama #im si wan #im siwan #kdrama review #kdrama analysis #misaeng episode 1

8 notes · View notes