I'm breaking this review down into simple paragraphs, because I want to demonstrate how this show so ruthlessly destroyed all my expectations. I'm going to be honest, I can't even bring myself to finish Introverted Boss. The fact that this show had the potential to be so much greater than it is haunts me, frankly.
The back story here is pretty simple. Introverted Boss was introduced proudly on tvN with extra-long episodes, and they evidently expected it to be a complete hit like a lot of their more recent dramas have been, especially considering it came from the team behind one of tvN's biggest hits, Another Oh Hae-young. So naturally, it came as a shock when no-one liked the drama. To fix this, the team decided to take a break and have a complete re-write of the show, but frankly that may have just made things worse.
What I Expected: An adorable, endearing but horribly misunderstood male lead.
What I Got: Exactly that.
Introverted boss Eun Hwan-ki was undoubtedly the best thing about Introverted Boss. I could relate to Hwan-ki on every level. The way he completely over thought everything he did, and how that often destroyed his chances of interacting with others normally even though he wanted to, made him so ridiculously perfect. This probably had a lot to do with Yeon Woo-jin too, I haven't seen a lot of him but I know he has talent. I was rooting for his journey into society and eager to see how his love would help him grow, but it turns out he was the only part of the show that didn't need changing.
What I Expected: A bubbly, lovable female lead.
What I Got: A horribly miscast and unlikable female lead.
Don't get me wrong, I really like Park Hye-soo. She was sweet in Age of Youth. But that doesn't mean she's appropriate for any role, no-one is. Her baby-face, height and demeanour are all things that made me feel that she looked too young for the role, and with her poorly-written character, she ended up coming across as a stubborn child at first. Knowing how impossible it was to like her, the team sped up her development, but the grey area left behind made that sudden transformation confusing and unsatisfying. You can't win them all. Better luck next time, Park Hye-soo!
What I Expected: A workplace rom-com.
What I Got: A suicide, and all the melodrama it came with.
Sure, I got some romance, not that I felt a spark at all (no matter how many expert kisses Yeon Woo-jin threw at me) and I was keener to focus on other relationships. But from day one, the focus was on a 'mystery' from three years ago, where Ro-woon's older sister commit suicide for some apparent reason. Firstly, I wish they'd gone deeper with her reasons for taking her own life, because I liked her character and it doesn't fit for her to have killed herself over such shallow problems, but secondly that aspect of the plot just spun the characters in circles. They acted in ways with each other that doesn't make sense - for example, why did they try to force a bromance between the man who caused a woman's death and the one who took the blame? That doesn't happen, and it pisses me off! I thought the idea of a suicide to push the conflict along would be a good idea, at first, but it killed the story completely.
What I Expected: A cast of quirky characters who would later become a strong team.
What I Got: That - but in a portion so tiny, I'm still hungry.
When Yeh Ji-won was cast in Introverted Boss, I was suddenly excited for the show. She was my favourite aspect of Another Oh Hae-young, where she played an unbeatable woman who became pregnant after a drunken one night stand with her brother's playboy best friend. I knew her character would have the potential for comedic gold but also great emotive moments It's a shame that she, and the other interesting characters, were never given the chance to shine. They hardly had any screen time at all in the first few episodes, and the little snippets of their interactions proved how great this show could have been. If this show had utilised it's fantastic cast, I wouldn't be so disappointed (but I will treasure that Kim Ji-suk cameo until the day I die).
What I Expected: A story about overcoming social anxiety.
What I Got: A story where everything else was more important, for some reason.
Introverted Boss' rewrite completely glossed over how Hwan-ki would overcome his social anxiety. There seems to be some kind of grey area between the Hwan-ki who could hardly spit otu a sentence around others, and the Hwan-ki from afterwards who just seemed a little shy. I'd hoped the rewrite would add some more clarity to his journey, since that was the aspect of the drama I came for. It was done so well in Flower Boy Next Door, one of my favourites, and even in Heart to Heart which I didn't enjoy at all. Why couldn't they manage it? The injustice done to the actors and all the people anticipating this show is killing me.
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