First thing to know is that although this takes place at a school, it is not really a school drama, it is more of a workplace drama/slice of life (a slow paced one at that too). Yes, it's beautiful and inspiring and all, but it is also a combination of elements that I usually avoid. Black Dog tells the story of woman who starts her first career job as a contract employee and follows her journey of becoming a permanent hire. Seo Hyun Jin does an excellent job of portraying Go Ha Neul, a newly hired teacher with little experience. I could totally relate to her nervousness and lack of confidence when you first start a completely new job.

What I could not relate to and found absolutely ridiculous was some of the workplace drama and how messed up the school administration was. Our female lead finds herself thrown into the job on her first day and is forced to adapt into what seems like a very fast paced/chaotic environment. There is absolutely no way that a school would take a new hire and throw them into a job and expect them to figure things out without proper orientation and shadowing. I have taught abroad in an entirely foreign country and the process of adapting to the school system there was a lot more smoother than this ridiculous school. There is no way they throw you in deep waters like that, contract employee or not.

I'm not sure what the message of this drama was. There seemed to be vague touch and go commentary on a lot of things, but they would not follow through with the message. I'm not sure what point they were trying to hit home. There were three main things that they seemed to touch upon: difference between contract employee vs. non contract employee, nepotism, and how the South Korean education system is more geared toward college entrance exams than it is on educating students about other life values/subjects (i.e. it's not useful unless it's on the exam). The third one sort of popped up toward the end and was somewhat addressed, but the other commentary sort of faded away. Overall, solid good drama, but the lack of professionalism can be off-putting.