Drama name: Ms Temper & Nam Jung Gi/ My Horrible Boss (English title)
Country: South Korea
Year: March- May 2016
I came across this drama on our local TV channel one Sunday... It was subbed in Malay and I was hooked because of the title My Horrible Boss haha! I'm glad that I managed to pick it up again online and slowly watched it at my own pace.
So, what's this drama about?
Nam Jung Gi is a middle aged man working as a manager in a small cosmetics company named Lovely, and he is in charge of product development there. As Lovely is a small company, they survive by supplying products to a larger cosmetics giant named Gold Chemicals. Now, Lovely is not doing so well and they need Gold Chemicals to sign on another new product in order to continue business.
This is where Nam Jung Gi meets Ok Da Jung, a fierce hot tempered woman who is a team leader at Gold Chemicals. He must get her to buy their product and sign on the contract. However, the meeting with her did not go well and Nam Jung Gi was left in dismay. He tried desperately after that to get another chance to pitch Lovely's new product which is a moisturising serum named Pat- pat to her.
Ok Da Jung is no ordinary woman. She has had three marriages that all ended in divorce and she is a strong opinionated woman who does not tolerate nonsense. She also does not care about what others think of her and is always work driven. With her fiery personality, she has her own power struggles within Gold Chemicals as well.
The rest of the story goes on with Ok Da Jung leaving Gold Chemicals and joining Lovely cosmetics, thus becoming Nam Jung Gi's immediate boss. The horror! She tries to launch Lovely as its own brand with the Pat- pat serum and that sparks the major market fight between Gold Chemicals and Lovely, which ultimately pushes the employees of Lovely to their limits.
Overall thoughts
The beginning of this drama can be a bit slow and I know that many will find Nam Jung Gi's character too weak. However, his character is so relatable because as a salary employed worker in Asia, you will have to swallow your pride almost if not, all the time in order to keep your job. I really enjoyed this show because of all the life struggles from work to personal life. The issues that were mentioned were all so relatable.
Best parts of the drama
As I have mentioned above, the life issues covered in this drama is really good. Ranging from trying to live life...
to... Money. Is money the root of all evil? No, money in itself is not evil... but the greed for money is...
I really love this line from Nam Jung Gi's father... Money isn't everything, you will feel comfortable only with the money which you have earned honestly... and life is bitter sweet indeed...
And pride in your work... For most of us (speaking for myself! :D) just getting by from paycheck to paycheck... having to swallow your pride and work like a dog....wondering if life is worth anything...
Conclusion
It's a good ending, Lovely cosmetics finally becomes a known brand and opens its first flagship store. They managed to fend off Gold Chemicals from swallowing up their company, Nam Jung Gi finally gets promoted to become Chief...
There is an open ending between Nam Jung Gi and Ok Da Jung, he did confess that he liked her in the last few episodes and Ok Da Jung also showed some interest in him. For those hopeless romantics this drama will not appeal to you because there is zero romance. Yaassss!! I actually enjoy dramas without cheesy and the usual cliche romance...
This drama is really good. I know each drama is suited for different taste. I liked this show a lot because of all the life thoughts, which you will think about all the time. It also has the story of businesses and powerful people... the market fight between big influential companies and smaller ones.
That's it for now. I'm currently on a drama hiatus, haha! Maybe you can suggest something for me to watch. I'll leave you with Nam Jung Gi's family.... despite being just a working class family, they are happy and that is something, which worth more than money and riches...
