Misaeng is the best Kdrama of all time.
- Kenny Isibor
- Dec 13, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 4, 2024
"...Even if you forgot your dream, your dream remains there. Even if you don't see the road, the road still remains there."-Mr Oh
Realism in TV
The shows and movies I find most healing are the ones with a heavy sense of realism. Don't get me wrong, I love fantasy and I even like to dabble in writing it too, but shows with high levels of mundanity are my favorite to watch.
For this reason, some people will find this show incredibly boring, because who wants to watch a show about people at work? Don't we watch TV and movies to escape reality?
Yes, we do. However, watching a show steeped in reality can shake us out of that apathetic day-to-day haze we often find ourselves in and allow us to observe our own humanity through someone else's.
Misaeng's plot
Misaeng "Incomplete Life" follows the trials and tribulations of 26-year-old Jang Geu Rae (Yim Si Wan) ---a failed pro baduk player and high school graduate struggling to make ends meet while living with his widowed mother.
One day he is given a chance to intern at One International, a premier trading company in Busan. And like a cold plunge, he is dropped right into a hostile office where no one wants (or has time) to train an intern.
Here, we see Jang Geu Rae pass off his phone duty to Ahn Young Yi,(Kang So Ra), a fellow intern, because he is too afraid to answer the phone on his first day.
Where"Misaeng" shines
In a lot of television shows the protagonist and antagonist are stunningly clear. The main character is typically trying to overcome some sort of natural or supernatural evil pitted against them. But, in Misaeng, there is no true objective evil, just morally gray people and situations.
In a financial trading company like One International, it’s natural for the environment to be incredibly hostile and competitive. Those who win and are well-liked are promoted, and those with no political support or large projects are overlooked. And no team is more overlooked or targeted than Sales Team Three.
Sales Team Three, led by Mr. Oh (Lee Sung Min) and managed by Kim Dong Shik (Kim Dae Myung) along with Jang Geu Rae, faces the belly of the beast that is One International, daily. Overcoming obstacles, dealing with workplace harassment, chronic understaffing, office politics, and extreme pettiness is just a typical day in the life of Sales Team Three.
(Left to right), Kim Dong Shik, Mr. Oh, Jang Geu Rae on the company roof, waiting for milk to spoil.
Sales Team Three's Chemistry.
If you don’t watch Misaeng for any other reason, then you should watch for the stellar acting and superb chemistry between Sales Team Three. Each character is extremely compelling, interesting, well-written, and is given plenty of humanity and depth.
Watching Sales Team Three creates a sense of comfort, safe haven, and controlled chaos in the tense environment of One International. No matter how much they are bullied, suffer, or are unfairly targeted, they still find the drive to pick each other up at the end of the night. It's impossible not to root for this team full of underdogs trying their best to navigate a toxic work environment while also maintaining their integrity.
Why I love Misaeng
Everyone in this show can be paralleled in our waking lives. Not one moment feels contrived, forced, or unbelievable. This is incredibly refreshing when you’re used to watching a lot of shows about ageless half-human men or shows with intense plots and graphic violence.
The uniqueness of Misaeng comes in the natural microexpressions illustrating suppressed feelings. It comes in jealousy, feelings of inferiority, and misunderstandings between coworkers at One International.
There were moments when I felt like I was at work, dealing with difficult people/bosses and avoiding answering the phone. The office politics, backbiting, pettiness, little wins, power trips, and public humiliation struck a nerve and upset me at certain points.
But, that's what makes the show beautiful, raw, and wonderfully, human.
Citations
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