Not sure what happened to my previous pic of Park Hae-jin’s repressed bitchface, but anyway here are some more of him doing his stuff in Kkondae Intern.

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    I’ve been surprised there hasn’t been more chatter on the wall about this show.

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      The first two episodes did have quite a lot of rough edges, which I imagine might have put many people off. I have another theory (but I’m not sure about it cos I don’t watch that many K-dramas): this show is not the kind of K-drama that appeals to international audiences. It has no deep meaningful personal moments for viewers to ponder, no sustained romance to squee over, no fluffiness to delight in. There IS the epic bromance, but people seem to be cackling rather than squeeing over it. The comedy seems pretty wry, or at least kind of offbeat. Most importantly, IMO, none of the characters is exceptional in any way, which means viewers have nobody to have strong positive feelings for, let alone fall in love with.

      Oddly, I’ve been watching Kkondae Intern and My Ahjusshi simultaneously, and the contrast between the two is kind of instructive. Lee Ji-an and Park Dong-hoon are flawed and real characters, but they are heroic too. Though they are good guys at heart, Ga Yeol-chan and Lee Man-sik are real in a much more prosaic way. In fact, I think their main function isn’t to be loved, but to be vehicles for whatever the show is trying to say about company culture and workplace dynamics. It’s enough for me that it’s saying it so sharply, swiftly and hilariously. But I think many viewers want more emotional engagement than the writer is interested in offering.

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