What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim is a delightful romantic comedy that gained widespread acclaim for it’s engaging storyline, well developed characters and a perfect blend of humour, mystery and romance.
- 2018 — South Korea — Romantic Comedy, Mystery
- Written by: Jung Eun-young
- Directed by: Park Joon-hwa
- Starring: Park Seo-joon, Park Min-young
WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim revolves around a “perfect” but narcissistic vice chairman Lee Young-joon, played by Park Seo-joon. He leads his family’s successful conglomerate accompanied by his highly capable secretary, Kim Mi-so, portrayed by Park Min-young. She is so incredibly talented that she made Lee Young-joon look and believe he is a shining star and a “perfect” vice chairman. Lee Young-joon was shaken when Kim Mi-so, who has worked with him for nine years, suddenly decides to resign to start taking care of herself instead of others – her boss and family.
Lee Young-joon can’t understand why Kim Mi-so is leaving him. Being a competitive boss, he strategizes and plans on how to persuade her to stay. Soon he realizes that he can’t live and function without her. On top of that, they both share a traumatic childhood experience that they slowly figured out while spending time together. This made them understand that maybe they are meant to be with each other.
Enter Lee Young-joon’s brother, Lee Sung-yeon portrayed by Lee Tae-hwan who is a writer. Jealousy started to brew when Lee Sung-yeon had a chance encounter with Kim MI-so who is a fan of his work. This led to their relationship to start to grow. This is when the boastful executive decides to do everything in his power to win back Secretary Kim no matter what.
OUR TAKE: [Spoiler Alert]
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim is based on a novel and was adapted as a webtoon comic. I feel like you should know this before diving into the show as some of the visual cues, main actors’ acting, and the clothes were influenced by the comics. Which for me made it more fun and entertaining.
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim’s storyline is light and enjoyable. The story of why Secretary Kim wants to quit her job slowly unfolds with every scene, flowing extremely well. And the mystery behind Lee Young-joon and Kim Mi-so’s past gives it an added layer of excitement. You just want to know what happened and what will happen next. The gradual revelation of their secrets come to light and we can’t help but feel nervous and giddy with anticipation. The show portrayed how people deal with trauma and the healing process the leads went through was an added layer on the already enjoyable show.
The leads and their characters:
The characters are well-developed, each with their own quirks and backstories. Park Seo-joon and Park Min-young deliver convincing performances, bringing depth and authenticity to their roles. They deliver the romance with heartwarming moments. Park Min-young was outstanding in her acting and comedic timing. Although this is her first foray into romantic comedy, she really nailed it.
I was a bit confused though with Lee Young-joon’s cold treatment of Kim Mi-so in the beginning when he has known all along that she was the girl in his past. But I guess it can be a form of dealing with his trauma to keep her close so that she is within his protection and line of sight that’s why he decided to take her on as his secretary.
The chemistry between them is palpable, making the romantic development believable. The vibe you feel while watching them, although at times cringey, was electric! It is so convincing that the leads were even hounded in real life interviews asking if they were actually dating. And the support cast were always asked too if the leads were dating. To the point that Park Min-young has to publicly apologize to her castmates for the bother and intrusion of these questions thrown at them when the interview was supposed to be for their upcoming projects or themselves.
The supporting cast and their characters:
All the supporting cast are outstanding as well.
Office Gang:
The office gang of characters have distinct personalities that complement the main leads but also comes to life on their own even if they were added to provide comedic filler.
The standout for me among the support was the next Secretary Kim, Kim Ji-a, played by Pyo Ye-jin. I really enjoyed her character. She is lovable as a rookie, you think she won’t be able to fill the shoes of Kim Mi-so because she looks naive but she has strong characteristics of her own like investigative skills! And the ability to stand up to her beliefs especially when the pretentious guy was bullying her to keep his secret.
Kim Mi-so’s Sisters:
Kim Mi-so’s family, her sisters, are a delight to watch. Usually in k-drama land, the siblings are most often an adversary of the main lead, rather that supportive ones. So it’s refreshing to watch Mi-so’s sister to be nice and supportive of her. I was a bit annoyed by the older sister’s nagging but it’s because she cares about Mi-so. The other sister was so adorable though. She is an example of what loving yourself should be.
Lee Young-joon’s family:
In the world of the drama verse where cliche’s are abundant, it is a given that chaebol parents are usually mean and waves money in front of the lead’s loved one if from a non-chaebol family to get them out of the way. They usually object to this union when there’s no benefit for more money and prestige.
However, in this show that is fond of tropes, it is a surprise that Lee Young-joon’s parents are affectionate and trusting towards Kim Mi-so. They demonstrated time and time again that they truly like Kim Mi-so. There was a scene early in the drama where the mom and Kim Mi-so were drinking tea, and she sort of implied that Kim Mi-so is the ideal partner for her son, Lee Young-joon and it will truly make her happy if that would happen. She cutely brushed it aside to not embarrass Kim Mi-so. That gave me the feels and endeared me more with his chaebol parents.
Character development is a strong suit of What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim. The leads undergo significant growth throughout the series.
Lee Young-joon’s growth from being an arrogant, self-centered vice chairman to one that is giving and loving is a delight to watch. Especially when he realizes that he is ready to take care of other people.
He is a hero through and through, protecting Mi-so by making her his secretary and hiding the fact that he is indeed the one who saved the little girl that was lost to protect his brother’s memories. And marrying Kim Mi-so in the end made it all sweeter because it was a promise kept to that little girl when they survived that ordeal in the past.
Kim Mi-so’s growth is opposite, she started as someone who takes care of other people all the time. But she ends up realizing that she has to take care of herself and be happy too. This process of self discovery lead her back to working as a secretary to Young-joon. Some might say it’s going backwards, but I think this is really what she would like to do, be a partner and together become a formidable force with her husband in whatever they do.
This is a series that resonated well with me and millions of people around the world which make it stand out in its genre. I love how the show managed to create a story that balances humour, mystery, romance and character development.
Also, it wonderfully showed how the leads came to terms of their traumatic past, healing together in the present and moving on to spend time loving each other in the future.
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim is one of those series that you can’t have enough of. It’s like reading a good book that you can’t put down. This is a show that I can watch over and over again.
THE STANDOUT:
The outfits, sets and the light hearted vibe of the leads and the team. The kids who portrayed little Mi-so and Young-joon. Kim Mi-so’s parents (a surprise!). The chemistry of course!!! And the steamy bed scene. Yes!! That one is a sure standout.
Binge on! Stream on!