Chief B and the Love Letter

Chief B and the Love Letter

5/10

Chief B and the Love Letter

Genre:                                                 Episodes: 1                                    Year: 2017

Romance

Melodrama

Synopsis:

Despite being in her 30s, Bang Ga Young has never had a boyfriend. After she receives a love letter form a secret admirer, she starts to take more notice of the men at her workplace.

Cast:

Song Ji Hyo (Bang Ga Young)

Jo Woo Jin (Shim Byung Sun)

Kang Yoon Jae (Son Jae Hyun)

Lee Joon Hyuk (Lee Joon Hyuk)

General Thoughts:

It’s an interesting watch for sure, with the story not being the typical cheesy, sugary fluff that is usually delivered short shows. I do find that events that showcase winners of script competitions, or scripts that have been specially selected (such as TVN’s Drama Stage that this series was on) do tend to move away from the cliche- as this is the reason why the scripts are noticed in the first place.

Not your usual love story

It’s pretty hard to tell a detailed, well-rounded story that can pull on your emotions in only one hour, and I think the writer here did a pretty good job at bringing out the important points of the story, while ignoring more trivial facts. I almost would have liked if this drama had been a smidge longer, as it seemed as though there were more layers to what we were shown,

This pairing weirdly grew on me too

and that so much of what the writer had imagined for these characters was cut out due to time constraints. The show never felt childish or cheap the way a lot of other short shows do, and it felt like it was created with care by all the production staff involved. There were nice music choices, and the directing hand felt confident and sure of the story they wanted to tell. The acting was surprisingly good, especially from Song Ji Hyo. While I’m a fan of her (mostly from 'Running Man'), I must say that I do sometimes feel as though she’s putting up a wall between herself and her characters. However even though this was only a very small drama, I really felt her throwing everything she had into this character. Ga Young’s innocent happiness when she thought someone liked her, crushing embarrassment when she realised they didn’t, and feelings of humiliation and uselessness afterwards all felt very authentic due to Song Ji Hyo’s portrayal of the character.

The secondhand embarrassment was strong

Ga Young felt like a character that had been lived in, and we were being offered a small snapshot into her life. Though admittedly, I do find it a little exasperating when shows play that someone as devastatingly beautiful as Song Ji Hyo has not had a sniff at love. Like sure, pull the other one. And when Ga Young dresses up and everyone is surprised at how pretty she is. As if a bad hairdo and plain work clothes could hide the fact that Song Ji Hyo’s looks are waaaaaay above average. But moving on from Song Ji Hyo, Jo Woo Jin seemed sweet but unremarkable in his role.

An interesting learning curve

The story was definitely about Ga Young and her self-discovery, so the male characters were pushed to the side. Jo Woo Jin did a good job at not making his character seem too lame or unlikeable, only slightly nerdy, so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that someone like Ga Young would fall for him. Kang Yoon Jae had a pretty small role, but he played the cute younger man with…well…a good deal of cute. 

What Was Great:

Different:

I liked that this show skewed more to melancholic rather than humour, as it gave the show a more thoughtful, mature vibe. It made the plot feel very different from something that you would usually find in a short drama, and set it apart.

Not a lot of dramas have their lead not being romanced

The fact that the love letters were actually a marketing scam was a great twist that I definitely didn’t see coming. Rather than playing this twist for a laugh, the show instead looked at how lonely and pathetic that made Ga Young feel, and how just the idea that someone might have liked her made her feel like such an important person. It was an interesting commentary on self-importance and confidence that I think does ring true to real life. When someone is interested in you, you feel special and important, no matter who it is that likes you- whether it’s the cute younger coworker, or the slightly odd older coworker. Of course having these letters come from no one made those feelings Ga Young had disappear in an instant. Having our heroine not being involved in some sort of romance was a bold and interesting move, and again set the drama apart from others (though I seem to recall ‘If We Were a Season’ trying this, and in my opinion failing). Despite only being an hour long, the drama never felt predictable, and it certainly never felt cliched. 

What Wasn’t:

Feeling:

Tying into what made this drama feel special and different is also the reason I kind of didn’t like it as much as I'd hoped. While I enjoyed the show’s unique take on what could have been a very common and cheesy situation, I also found it perhaps a little depressing.

Ah alcohol- the poster boy for self medication

The social commentary about what can make a person feel special was definitely interesting, but it was also sad to see how horrible people felt when they didn’t have this sense of validation. When you tie in that it’s not just that this character hasn’t been liked for a long time, but that no one has confessed to her ever, it made the overall tone of the show a very lonely one. It was a success of the drama that I related to Ga Young, but having her left feeling so miserable then also left me feeling a bit miserable.

Just date him already

The show did save itself a little at the end there with the hint of a new (and real) romance for Ga Young, but I do wish that the show had perhaps taken it a little further to show that Ga Young was taking and using what she learned from her situation with Byung Sun, and confessing first.

Recommend?

If you’re a Song Ji Hyo fan it’s probably worth a watch, because she was really charming in this, but otherwise not really.

Basically a Song Ji Hyo special