Kkondae Intern Review

Drama name: Kkondae Intern/ Old school intern
Country: South Korea

Year: May- July 2020

Stumbled across this drama on my local cable TV channel. It was airing a re-run of She Was Pretty and I was watching it, when it ended they started this show. I did see it airing earlier this year but I was not interested at that time as the episodes were already quite advanced and I don't like jumping into a drama mid-way. Glad they had a repeat airing and I could watch it properly again. 

So, what's this drama about?

Ga Yeol Chan is a recent graduate who managed to get an intern job at a ramyeon company. He started off full of enthusiasm but was shot down by the manager, Lee Man Sik. Mr Lee is a kkondae, meaning an old man with dead old school mindset and values. Yeol Chan was a constant target of hate from Mr Lee who made his life a living hell. One day, Mr Lee asked Yeol Chan to visit an old man who had a lawsuit against their ramyeon company. 

That old man had threatened suicide many times as he had lost the lawsuit. So that night when Yeol Chan arrived, he managed to stop the man from hanging himself. However, after that night's meeting, the old man tried to kill himself again. 

Yeol Chan was accused of killing that old man and Mr Lee pushed all the blame unto him. Yeol Chan had no choice but to resign. He wanted to jump off the bridge at the Han river that night but didn't. His life changed that very night when he saw a neon signboard of spicy chicken from the bridge. 

Fast forward five years, Yeol Chan is now a successful manager at another ramyeon company. He seemed to be the coolest manager and a very sporting boss until Mr Lee arrives at his department as a senior intern. It was payback time! Yasss... 

The rest of the story goes on with Yeol Chan dealing with Mr Lee as well as keeping his job at the ramyeon company. 

Overall thoughts

It was quite an uneasy watch especially the first two episodes. Mr Lee was really mean in the beginning and throughout the rest of the show the writer didn't show much transformation of his kkondae character. Instead, they focused more on Yeol Chan making it a negative for him most of the drama until the end. 

Best parts of the drama

Yeol Chan's penthouse given by the current ramyeon company he's working for: 

The CEO son's mustang and Yeol Chan's company car... 

As with a ramyeon company drama, you will definitely expect a lot of ramyeon eating! And a lot of yummy food scenes... 

As this is a comedy genre drama, it does have some funny scenes although some may find it offensive... 

Let's not forget the cute doggie in this show! 

Notable scenes

There isn't much romance in this show, which is good in my opinion... but I know some viewers were disappointed. However, I felt that the male lead and female lead was not compatible. She suited the CEO's son more with the age gap and level of mindset... 

The scene where Tae-Ri rejects Yeol Chan and calls him a kkondae... 

My favourite scene would be the rescue... Haha!! For once I actually like the CEO's son... He looked so badass there... 

Conclusion

Yeol Chan was finally promoted to be the Managing Director of the company. However, it had been the plan by the Chairman/ CEO all along to use Yeol Chan to get rid of the enemy and place his son as co-Managing Director. Yes, this is reality. Bosses only will do things for their own family and not care about the employees who worked their butts off for the company. 

Yeol Chan decides to quit and start his own business but went bankrupt within a two years. I didn't like this part but again it is reality, it's not easy to start your own business. The drama ends with an open ending where Yeol Chan meets Mr Lee again at another ramyeon company. One position is an experienced general manager and the other is a senior intern post. 

The writer left the audience guessing who is applying for which role. Most commenters wrote that their roles have reversed. Meaning that Yeol Chan is now the senior intern and Mr Lee is the experienced general manager. 

This show is just alright for me. I didn't enjoy it much because of the negative feeling most of the drama. Even though in the end Yeol Chan became a "better" man... I felt that this script was solely written for Mr Lee. (Kim Eung-Soo) He is a good actor no doubt. I wouldn't recommend this drama unless you have some spare time to waste and want some laughs in between. You could watch it for the bromance between the two male leads rather than the romance. 

Okay, that's about a wrap. Thanks for reading and stopping by! Until the next drama review, which I don't know when... haha! Stay safe. Take care