Agency (2023)

Seen it twice now and the battle between Go Ah-in (Lee Bo-young) and Cho Seong-ha (Choi Chang-su) remains a thrilling endavour. Looking at the title you might think this is a slice of life about people working at an advertising agency, but that's not it. It's about the struggle of someone abandoned as a child to overcome her self doubt, abandonment issues and child abuse trauma. You see her two sides, the confident executive versus the nervous wreck, heavily medicate and sleep deprived. The frustration uttered at various stages by veteran in office politics Choi can be felt and is very entertaining and not cheesy like in some other dramas. Jo Eun-jung and her son are a refreshing intermezzo at times it's needed. As is common in Korean drama it touches on social issues and the main thread is that promotion and status isn't based on skills but background and people you know. It also portrais how Korean chaebols approach common people, masterfully done by Jeon Kuk-hwan and probably no one is better at it. All in all a good watch and I'd also recommend it as "your first K-drama" for those new to the genre.

At the surface it may seems it's the type of show that goes through workplace cases one after another, while that was slightly true initially, but it was just a drama themed around an advertising agency, or so I thought, initially. After the introduction, the drama began with an advertising assignment then followed by a bigger one with more tension, stakes and clever plays, however, this all happened in the first half while the second half became a regular melodrama/power struggle in a corporate setting, no more advertising assignments. This was unfortunate because the second half couldn't carry the same impact, especially the last 4 episodes. Ah In & Han Na & Young Woo had a great dynamic between each other and those around them. On the other hand, Han Byung Soo was the worst character, his character didn't fit any scene, he lacked a good dynamic and story given that he was close to the female lead, even the actor himself was out of place and a big mismatch to his task. The personal stories were a hit or miss, take for example the female lead story, the writer put little to no effort into her childhood/trauma, everything started and ended with a few scenes which led to a weak resolution to her trauma. It was really disappointing in this specific case after building up her trauma and problems for so long. Han Na and her secretary might be a highlight for some but Eun Jung and her child were a highlight for me. The final wrap up felt a bit strange after just 1 year time skip, an obvious uncalculated afterthought for the sake of it. The drama offered a decent package with a lot more potentials on the table but it also left a lot more to be desired.