Radiant Office

Radiant Office was a nice surprise, since I went in with few expectations and now consider it one of the best drama of the year. That's effectively all I have to say - on with the review!

Go Ah-sung stars as Eun Ho-won, a woman who has spent her entire lifetime working part-time and desperately trying to secure a real job. After her hundredth job interview fails miserably, she tries to commit suicide and ends up in ER, where she discovers that she (or one of the two patients next to her who also tried to kill themselves) is dying and may only has a few months left to live. Somehow she, and her new buddies, got hired at a furniture company called Hauline. Ho-won, now armed with nothing to lose and a a reckless desire to speak her thoughts for the first time, strives to make the company a better place by tackling corruption and workplace discrimination. At first, it looks like the biggest obstacle to her happiness is her employer Seo Woo-jin, but he may become her greatest strength.

Despite how dark and gloomy the premise sounds, Radiant Office was very uplifting. It showed the world through a sunshine-coloured filtered, and for the most part remained very upbeat. Although it's honest about how awful the workplace can be, I think Radiant Office was purposely lax with reality to keep the show funny and bright. It was deceitfully wise about society and the hierarchy while telling a low-key underdog hero story.

  Ho-won is obviously the focal point of Radiant Office. I was hesitant to watch this, given the terminal disease premise and the fact that I can't handle that kind of melodrama, but Ho-won's decision to become outspoken and confidently speak her feelings was gratifying. Every time she made a stand against her superiors I felt like cheering for her. That's the point of this show, really. Radiant Office never set out to break the mould - it's just a simple, feel good drama. No more, no less. The moral of the story is to be happy right now, because you may not have the luxury to wait until tomorrow.

  Almost every character in the show had a full arc, which was nice since we got some insight to the motivations of everyone in the office. I liked Go Ah-sung a lot, and Ha Seok-jin brought his usual charm to what would have otherwise been quite a difficult role (but I wish he'd choose a different kind of character for once). Surprisingly, though, Lee Dong-hwi stood out the most in this show was a heartbreaking interpretation of lovely, sensitive sad-sack Do Ki-taek. Whilst Hoya's misfortune made him stupid and selfish at the best of times, Ki-taek stood out as the best friend Ho-won could ask for. Lee Dong-hwi hasn't really played that kind of character before - in Reply 1988, he was effectively just comic relief - so I appreciated the change.

  Although some pieces of the plot were dropped here and there (nothing deal-breaking), I'm impressed with this writer, a rookie who won first place in the 2016 MBC TV Drama Screenplay Competition with the script for this drama. I'm anticipating what else they can bring in the future.

I thought Radiant Office handled the beauty of life really well. The snippets of romance made for a wonderful consolation prize after dealing with all the hard truths Radiant Office threw in my face. It was about the little victories in life, and about seizing the day in a society where you can only survive by keeping quiet. Stories of growth and finding happiness are what I want to see more of. Live and love to the fullest, Ladies and Gentlemen, that's all anyone can ask of you.