A Business Proposal (2022)

My enlightenment on plain old romcom

I started off this series because of the promising cast and the random cuts of them on youtube. The story had the usual contract dating troupe which I usually find entertaining, so I decided to give it a go. If you’re looking for a light hearted, kind of a no-brainer drama to binge, I think you would have found a pretty decent piece.

However, it was this particular series that made me realised, I don’t only want to pursue that feel-good moment you get from watching drama but also seek the possible moral stories that could be behind it. Everyone has their own cup of tea, in my case, it was this particular cup that made me more aware of what exactly I looked for in mine.

This drama is loaded with a great cast, praised for their acting in many other series, which increased the anticipation for this show. Up till episode 9, which I left off, I was following it weekly. Initially, I found the story pretty easy-going, and it was really quite comedic honestly. The grandpa was my favourite character, being relatable in how he gets so invested in the dramas he watch and just being a great source of comedic relief. The acting was great, not much to be said with this group of renown actors, they carried out their roles well. Retrospectively, it was the story itself that felt rather lacklustre that led to the dropping of the series.

It was when the relationships for both couple started blooming, I begin to question and reflect on how I felt about the story-telling thus far. These are my thoughts and feelings looking back after watching the series some time ago. I will be listing some points of the show that bugged and rubbed me in the wrong way, which could also just be me over-analysing but let’s dive in.

To begin with, this one genuinely didn’t sit well with me, the gathering with people they didn’t seem to like enough to be honest about their current romantic status and the weird meeting at the hotel. Was it simply a plot device to move the story forward, allowing Hari the opportunity to flaunt her rich fake boyfriend? So that Taemoo can show-off on behalf Hari, letting those “friends” be so utterly impressed and envious? Those people weren’t even being kind/nice towards Hari! It can be argued that he was standing up for his girl, to make sure she doesn’t get embarrassed. But what sort of message is the writer enforcing? One, she didn’t need another person to prove what she’s worth, especially not to those insignificant AND mean people. Two, the idea of what a “good” partner is being portrayed seems to be rather shallow; be rich, handsome and showy in front of others.

Next, I mainly stayed on till ep9 because I was looking forward as to how the second couple will develop. But once they got together I was like, wait a minute, what exactly did they do to suddenly be together again? From my memory, Youngseo had been the one actively trying to initiate interactions, and each time, Sunghoon very clearly drew the line. Though they have been having good feelings for each other since the first meeting, the get together felt rather abrupt and awkward. BECAUSE Sunghoon didn’t even seem to be emotionally invested right up till the kiss. We can justify the arc when he chased down the creepy neighbour as him showing concern, otherwise it had been feeling quite one-sided on Youngseo’s end to me. I was happy for our girl to finally get the guy she’s been wanting but again, it wasn’t very satisfying. Maybe I was the one who didn’t have enough connection with Sunghoon’s character to feel that their union was well deserved.

Also, going back to the plot of the spy cam/hidden camera, the handling of that particular conflict, again, did not sit well with me. When we were shown the imaginary eyes staring down on Youngseo in the toilet after the incident, I actually thought they were trying to address the prevalence of such issues and the effects. Plot twist, it was just a mode to create another “significant” moment for the second leads. Instead of at least trying to addressing the possible trauma that people can get from such acts, it was used as a means to create connection between Youngseo and Sunghoon? While I wasn’t expecting a deep dive into the effects of being a victim to such crimes, it was brush off like a any other day accident.

Lastly, while the main actors did a great job, Sejong’s endless comedic facial expressions and antics as Hari was hilarious. But again, it’s the story itself that made me feel cringe. A supposed genius businessman took a pretty darn long time to put the pieces together. He even met Hari and saw videos of her, straight on, multiples times, on multiple occasions……. Taemoo was written in a way where spending money on the person he love is his love language, but his character itself didn’t resonate with me. Which made it hard for me to feel engage with the main leads’ stories. Personally I enjoy slow burn romances but this series felt like a whole rollercoaster of unspoken feelings showed in the form of throwing cash around instead of a slow built up in the relationship.

All in all, these are offhandedly the reasons why I couldn’t truly enjoy this series despite many praises from others. As I mentioned, we all look for different things in what we consider to be an enjoyable drama, this just wasn’t the one for me. The story left a lot to be desired and wasn’t able to adequately touch on plots/topics that was brought up.

Once more, if you’re just looking for a good laugh after a long and tiring day, this series probably can put a smile on your face. However, if you appreciate dramas that lingers on, making you ponder and reflect, this isn’t the go-to.

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