[KOREAN TV DRAMA REVIEWS] 신입사원 (Super Rookie)

PD
한희 (Han Hee)

WRITER
김기호 (Kim Gi-Ho), 이선미 (Lee Seon-Mi)

CAST
문정혁 (Moon Jung-Hyuk) as Kang Ho, 한가인 (Han Ga-In) as Lee Mi-Ok, 오지호 (Oh Ji-Ho) as Lee Bong-Sam, 이소연 (Lee So-Yeon) as Seo Hyun-Ah, 서동원 (Seo Dong-Won) as Kang Min, 정진 (Jung Jin) as Ju Sung-Tae, 박칠용 (Park Chil-Yong) Kang Cheol, 박혜숙 (Park Hye-Sook) as Gong Hye-Ja, 정준하 (Jung Joon-Ha) as Coach, 김영민 (Kim Young-Min) as Lee Il-Man, 권기선 (Kwon Gi-Seon) as Madam Kwon, 김세준 (Kim Se-Joon) as Moon Sung-Ho, 이기영 (Lee Gi-Young) as Gu Bon-Cheol, 김일우 (Kim Il-Woo) as Song Jae-Hee, 이기열 (Lee Gi-Yeol) as Kim Gi-Yeol, 이주희 (Lee Joo-Hee) as Na Ae-Ri, 김숙 (Kim Sook) as Kim Sook-Hee, 유다영 (Yoo Da-Young) as Oh Young-Ran
CAMEO: 권해효 (Kwon Hae-Hyo)

THE SHOW

It wasn't just your average group. One of the most popular boy bands in town those days was Shinhwa, amongst the creepiest inventions to ever grace the Korean musical landscape in decades. Dressed like the lovechild of a female Klingon and Fashion Guru Andre Kim, they strolled all over TV with their putrid dance pop and ballads, energizing hordes of teenager fans (almost always female) with their gyrations. Put together by brainstorming sessions to capitalize on their market potential, as if they were a bunch of talking action figures, Shinhwa was one of the many boy bands which drove mainstream K-pop to the ground. They emphasized empty dance numbers and spectacle over musical talent, formulaic routines and looks over creativity. But he was different, he was quiet, mysterious, and... he rapped, in English. Not that it made any sense, mind you, but that was enough for his legion of fans to make him the most popular Shinhwa member. He was Moon. Eric Moon.

Avoiding the kind of music Shinhwa made like the plague, I only discovered the real Eric a few years ago. Sure, I knew about him, but until 2003's 나는 달린다 (Running After a Dream), to me he was just a member of the 'Teletubbies of K-Pop'. I'd hardly say it was a breakthrough, but the underrated MBC drama did open the doors of acting for the young man, and showed he could handle acting pretty decently. It was around 불새 (Phoenix) in 2004 that his popularity sky-rocketed. Paired against Lee Seo-Jin in a 'love triangle of fire' with the late Lee Eun-Joo, the Drama showed Eric had the looks, and enough charisma to handle important roles. He certainly wasn't the kind of actor who could stand up comparisons with greats like Song Kang-Ho or Choi Min-Shik, but the raw potential was there, ready to be exploited. Kim Ji-Woon instantly saw that kind of intensity in him, when he cast Moon in a very brief, but memorable role in his masterful 달콤한 인생 (A Bittersweet Life). Yet, the biggest challenge for Eric, who from there on decided to use his real name Moon Jung-Hyuk and keep the other moniker for his musical career, was right behind the corner. All the roles he played up until then fit him like a glove, not because of any versatility he displayed, but because they took advantage of his physicality and screen presence, downplaying his shortcomings. But, finally, he had to play the average guy. He had to go from that 달콤한 인생, the sweet life, to 허접한 인생... a life which was a little less spectacular, a little less cool.

Kang Ho, what a name. It almost sounds like a manhwa character, an hero from one of those martial arts novels, brandishing his sword and flying in the air like a god. But alas, the Kang Ho in 신입사원 (Super Rookie) finds himself on the receiving end of a much less glamorous life. In a country which has always been obsessed with education and prestigious Universities, someone like him, coming from an unknown college in the 지방 (the area outside Seoul), tends to stand out for all the wrong reasons. He's one of those guys whose working experiences last just as long as his romances: a couple of weeks. He's a 백수, slang for being unemployed. His freeloading days might not be bad on the surface, but he's tired of getting those looks: from his mother, who wonders when he'll grow up; from his father, who thinks he's a disappointment; from his friends and acquaintances, who constantly look down on him; and why not, from society itself. Luck never seemed to be on his side, and all he had to his name was the ability to fight, and to adapt to new situations quickly. He decides it's time to change all that, and when he finds himself working for a 대기업 (big conglomerate) because of a mistake in processing applications, his life takes a turn for the better. Now the problem is lasting past those two weeks...

That of the freeloader has been a motive Korean Cinema and TV Dramas go back to from time to time, for obvious reasons. From Kim Seung-Woo in the glorious little comedy 라이터를 겨라! (Breakout) to Im Chang-Jung and Kim Seon-Ah in 위대한 유산 (The Greatest Expectation), films dealing with the subject tend to offer a playfully romantic view of the matter, creating a sense of catharsis in the viewer, after the characters successfully evolve out of their initial predicament. But things are a little different in TV Drama land, especially when it comes to Trendy Dramas. Much too often, work places in TV Dramas are used to highlight a social status, to define a certain standard of life, not to tell something about the character's personality. Of course Trendy Dramas always tend to leave realism at bay, and lazily exploiting this 'status symbol' syndrome only ends up cheapening the characters and their development. But a few writers do try different approaches, while at the same time remaining true to the formulae of Trendy Dramas. Other than Lee Kyung-Hee, the real life couple Lee Seon-Mi and Kim Gi-Ho have built a career out of making Trendy Dramas which look a little less empty than you'd expect. And, despite often falling into the pitfalls the genre almost forces upon them, they always create works which can entertain, and even offer some food for thought, as simplistic as that provocation might be.

Kim Gi-Ho worked in the theatrical world before the 1994 Drama 사랑을 그대 품안에 (Your Loving Embrace), but the show was his calling card into the world of TV Dramas. It might be remembered for pairing Shin Ae-Ra and Cha In-Pyo, who later married and have become the most respected 'real life couple' in the business. But Kim, who also played Shin's older brother in the show, started a very successful career from there. Although their collaboration started in 97 with the megahit 별은 내 가슴에 (Star in My Heart), Kim's wife Lee Seon-Mi was already a well established writer before that. She wrote one of the classics of the early 90s, 파일럿 (Pilot), 호텔 (Hotel), and the hilariously cheesy 96 comedy 체인지 (Change), her first foray on the big screen. But after 97, the Lee/Kim couple took Trendy Dramas by storm, creating new trends on TV and even popular culture as a result of their work. They made stars out of nowhere, like Ahn Jae-Wook in 'Star in My Heart', they started the trend of stylish Chaebol sons in 'Your Lovely Embrace', enlarged the usual love triangle adding a fourth party with 발리에서 생긴 일 (What Happened in Bali), and much more. Despite always sticking to tropes which appeal to the mainstream, they found a niche of their own, their style.

One of the examples of their uniqueness is the character's names: all the main male characters in their Dramas are named Kang -- Kang Ho in 'Super Rookie', Kang Pung-Ho (Cha In-Pyo) in 'Your Loving Embrace', Kang In-Wook (So Ji-Seop) in 'What Happened in Bali', Kang Min-Ho (Yoo Oh-Sung) in 뜨거운 것이 좋아 (Some Like It Hot), Kang Min (Ahn Jae-Wook) in 'Star in My Heart' -- while the main female characters are named Lee -- Lee Mi-Ok in 'Super Rookie', Lee Jin-Joo (Shin Ae-Ra) in 'Your Loving Embrace', Lee Soo-Jung (Ha Ji-Won) in 'What Happened in Bali', Lee Yeon-Ok (Park Sun-Young) in 'Some Like It Hot' and of course Lee Yeon-Yi (Choi Jin-Shil) in 'Star in My Heart'. This is just one of their many little tricks, like the comic tone of their shows, that little touch of realism added to all the characters, and a tendency to broaden the spectrum and involve the supporting characters as well, not making things an affair for two-three characters. Even their latest work, the hilarious comedy 달콤한 스파이 (Sweet Spy) carries many elements from the couple's past work.

But really, those are technicalities, why do their Dramas work, despite some stereotyping, average dialogue and lack of intensity (with the exception of 'Some Like It Hot')? Because they're fun, their breezy and lightweight atmosphere distancing them from the often unbearably cheap sentimentalism of other Trendy Dramas. 'Super Rookie' starts as a mere male fantasy, with a freeloader who's way too cocky for his own good enjoying the kind of luck life rarely brings to the table. He escapes all these situations with his wit and sense of adaptation, like a Korean サラリーマン金太郎 (Salaryman Kintaro) fighting against the corruption of big business. It all could be very idealistic, obnoxiously so, but Kang Ho never comes off as an annoying character, exactly because the writers play it for laughs. And that's the way to go, because doing otherwise would kill the show.

Of course the setup of this Drama presents us with four caricatures, and with a few exceptions (Kim Se-Yoon, always wonderful, and his character) the rest are no different. But, while never doing anything out of the ordinary, the 'LK' (Lee/Kim, name of their own company, and ironically also the conglomerate in 'Super Rookie') writing couple adds some food for thought. The most interesting character of the series ends up being Bong-Sam, someone who really fought hard to reach his position, but is now facing the kind of reality that destroys all the ambition and hope he built over the years. He's a victim of the same glass ceiling he seems to put in front of people like Mi-Ok and Ho, only this time the ceiling is a little higher up.

Certainly there are many faults with the show, starting from the acting, but that's only if you strip it from the emotional context of this show. Moon overacts, but given the way his character is written, the way situations develop, it all becomes more acceptable. Also, Oh Ji-Ho and Han Ga-In still show clear limitations, although they're slowly improving, but in this kind of atmosphere, it doesn't really matter. At times the show might feel like a pastiche of better works, trying to become a jack of all trades, and ending up as master of none, but I'd still take it over one of those tearjerkers tailor made for the Korean Wave. After watching TV Dramas for a while, you learn to appreciate flawed, but entertaining comedies like this.

This show risked becoming a sanctimonious, preachy exercise in wishful thinking. But, like 'Breakout', 'The Greatest Expectation' and similar works, it gives the viewers a sense of catharsis through other means, as visceral as they might be. I could spend a day talking about the many things that go wrong in Lee and Kim's Dramas, just like in their latest 'Sweet Spy'. They let popular opinion influence too much of what they write, and a little nastiness, some embarrassing moments with a more striking touch of realism -- a la '내 이름은 김삼순 (My Lovely Sam-Soon), so to speak -- wouldn't hurt. But they have talent, for raising above the lowest common denominator, for offering a little spice with the main course, for not always following cliches to a T. Through my reviews, I often try to direct people's attention to works like 부활 (Rebirth), with a clear focus on storytelling, but I also need my fix of dorky, inspirational fun like this every now and then. And, if you're willing to ignore the obvious flaws the genre brings as added baggage, then you'll enjoy 'Super Rookie' as well.

AVAILABILITY

DVD + OST (English, Korean Subtitles) REST OF THE WORLD
DVD + OST (English, Korean Subtitles) NORTH/SOUTH AMERICA

Bitwin had the bad idea of releasing this DVD with some course book (English? I don't remember), spicing up the price quite a bit. But thankfully they also released a normal version later, with the usual K-Drama prices, between 95 and 110 bucks (depending where you buy). Not as many extras as SBS' or KBS' sets, but overall a good boxset. And the show is worth a look, if you're in for a laugh or two. It's not high art, but as far as entertaining crap goes, it works pretty well. Call it the 가문의 위기 (Marrying The Mafia 2: Enemy in Law) of TV Dramas.