What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

TV

Into the Ring (2020) – Ep 1-8

I went into watching Into the Ring with next to no expectation and have found a beautiful gem of a  show. Writer Moon Hyun-kyeong has been slowly teasing out all the plot elements, and has a stellar cast to work with to pull off the complex characters and universe she’s building out. While the show does have its share of “drama”, it’s done for the most part in a believable manner. The friendships, the workplace relationships and the interactions between the townspeople feel grounded and realistic, as though you would find Mawon district tucked into a corner of Seoul.

I’m loving the visual style of the show too. While it did take me some time to adjust to the fisheye photography, I now find that it helps to draw the eye and direct focus in the right way. Director Hwang Seung-ki is trying almost every experimental style available to him, but does so in a manner that suits the storytelling, lending a visual exaggeration to the dramatic storytelling and keeping me engaged.

The show has also been a fascinating learning curve on how local politics work on a daily basis, dealing with passing bills, petty infighting and local elections all with the same level of gravitas as you might find on a national political scale. But due to the close-knit nature of the council, I feel like I’m also getting to know each of the council members in a way that often gets lost in big political shows. I know the Shim-Jang-Shi trio are inseparable, that Go Dong-chan (Oh Dong-min) has an ego bigger than the size of Jupiter and Yoon Hee-soo (Yoo Da-in) has a hero complex.

We also get to see that no character is infallible. Goo Se-ra (Nana) learnt that lesson the hard way this last episode when she overestimated her ability following her earlier win, and that overconfidence cost the jobs of 10 people. While she does experience a sense of regret over it, the people around her are quick to show her that it wasn’t entirely her fault, and more than that, everyone has failures in life, but one shouldn’t define themselves by those.

I like that she showed a sense of caution upon being elected as the Chairperson of the District Council, and I hope that she continues to evaluate her decision-making and not taking the Council members at their word. At least she has a shrewd ally in Seo Gong-myeong (Park Sung-hoon), who’s cool head and years of political experience gives him good judgement of how to navigate the cutthroat environment. 

As far as their personal relationship goes, I think that Gong-myeong still has a long way to go before he can be entirely open, but I feel that Se-ra’s pulling and prying will slowly start to get him to become a little more forthcoming (Although, I do find her to be a little too violent with him at times). It seems like there a long and difficult history with his father that is a direct result of his brother’s death, and that caused Gong-myeong to shut himself off to people to avoid betrayal in the future.

I don’t think Se-ra’s elections to Chairperson of the Council is going to be the fix-all cure that everyone around her thinks it will. If anything, she’s painting larger target on her back, and things will probably only get more difficult before they get easier. I do however have faith in her persisting through whatever trials life might throw at her, and I’m looking forward to how things turn out for our Goo Se-ra.

I Am Not a Robot (2017)

Continuing from last week’s theme, we have another show about an entitled chaebol who is struck with debilitating condition and has to rely on a down-on-her-luck woman who disguises herself to get back on her feet. I’m not sure why I picked this show up, other than something about Chae Soo-bin and Yoo Seung-ho appealed to me. Both give off an easy-going and approachable vibe, and despite being rather prickly on the outside, both their characters exhibit exactly these traits.

The show is light on story, focusing on three main components: Jo Ji-ah’s lifelong goal of becoming a successful inventor; Kim Min-gyu’s physiological condition that limits his human contact; and the space where these two components meet, when Ji-ah pretends to be a robot around Min-gyu, which helps her get a foot in the door to his company and him a way to alleviate his loneliness from isolation. Of course, there’s all the other components that help the show achieve peak drama, such as betrayal by a close friend, love triangles, and whacky scientists. But I never fully engaged with any of those storylines.

As preposterous as all this sounds, I can at least say that I enjoyed the show, because I went into it full expecting silly hijinks and I am Not a Robot delivered. The added bonus came from the two leads being exceedingly charming and compelling to watch. While I do have issues with the foundation of lies that the relationship was built on, Chae and Yoo are both very uplifting to watch over the course of the show. I was also happy to see Uhm Ki-joon as the peevish scientist, who I had previously seen in Dream High.

This is the kind of show I would put on when I want an easy watch, and I’m glad that I did exactly that, with low expectations and high returns as result.