chingu123 4:45 pm on April 29, 2020

I’m going to miss my Misaeng

I totally enjoyed and appreciated all these characters (with obvious exceptions of course!)

I have so many favourite scenes, but the obvious highlights are any between Team 3 and our four newbies. One thing I found a bit jarring though was the change of location during the last episode — it just didn’t seem to fit this drama and I didn’t really see the necessity. I would have ended it at another appropriate scene, but that’s just a minor thing and didn’t detract at all from my enjoyment.

I’m so grateful that this drama was 20 episodes. I started to get sad when I approached the 16th episode and was delighted to learn that I had a few more ahead of me. And I finally got to see our dear boy with an actual forehead! 😂 Okay, I do have one complaint — I hated with a passion the helmet hairstyles we were forced to endure for the whole drama — is there no PERFECT drama?? 😂

yenchan69 7:04 pm on April 29, 2020

yeah, that weird ending in the Middle East was, like, why??

Anyway since I saw it in 2015 so I don’t remember specifics anymore, I’ll just post the bit I wrote to Robin about it back then:

SPOILERS:

Finished it! It was pretty good though horrifying that its an accurate representation of the Korean workplace. Really, their hierarchical system is ludicrously prone to abuse and mismanagement, with no one allowed to criticize or gainsay those higher up. I actually really liked Suk Ryul’s character because he at least tried to out his sucky boss–so frustrating that it backfired on him for no apparent reason except that it’s Korea, and in the end gave his slimy boss a pass on his affair instead of blowing the whistle on him for compromising workplace ethics.

And holy cow, how ridiculous the whole office gets about sharing space with whistleblowers. Not a damn one of them feels they’re living their lives so righteously that they can feel at ease working with someone who calls out fraud?? I for example cannot identify with that fear of whistleblowers (we saw that same phenomenon with the heroine’s Dad in “Pinocchio”) –what’s to be uncomfortable and afraid of?? I’m more afraid of abusive, arbitrary managers who will screw you and not think twice because they’re secure that no one will say anything and there won’t be repercussions–fuck that.
- Robin N 12:49 pm on May 3, 2020
  
  There’s that whole management case scenario about that KAL crash a dozen or so years ago where the investigation turned up the sorry evidence that one of the flight officers could have avoided the crash had he not been so concerned with going against the rules of chain of command, their rigid hierarchical system, and thinking for himself and the bigger picture and safety. Some will poo-poo that and say it never happened, but the things we see in this drama are based on the stories of countless workers in the real world; the manhwa author told their stories. That’s why all of these things that make us crazy have their impact on the viewers — not because they’re OTT, but because in many ways we have seen things that feel like these experiences, even if they’re not identical to what we have lived through.
  
  But as for that weird little Middle Eastern coda… I like to think of it as the workplace version of the HEA fantasy wedding. Instead of the hero/ine getting the big glow up & fabulous wedding, we’ve got our boy getting his big professional glow up as the action-oriented, quick-thinking, fast on his feet international trading rockstar!
chingu123 5:09 pm on April 30, 2020

here here Yolette..incredible attitude towards the Whistleblowers..there is something so truly wrong when someone who does the RIGHT thing and then is treated like a disloyal criminal..simply incredible…does blind loyalty extend that far???.. but then again..the whole world of the office worker is like a little place in hell..going home each day lucky to have all fingers and toes and not too many bruises!!