Nat

‘My Boss’ has been popping up on my Viki for the longest time, but for some reason, I just continued skipping over it. After finishing ‘Love Between Lines’ with Chen Xing Xu, I just let the algorithm feed me the next best thing with him, which was I finally clicked on ‘My Boss’ because, well, it was there and I had nothing else to watch. So here we are!

First things first: this is a cute, silly, romcom that thrives on the opposites-attract trope, packed with characters misunderstanding each other for the most of the drama and a classic cohabitation setup. The romcom vibes are STRONG here, and you’ll need to suspend your belief for almost every episode. The fun atmosphere is maintained throughout the drama—except for the last three episodes, where things took a turn.

‘My Boss’ doesn’t take itself too seriously. No time wasted on unnecessary side characters or convoluted side stories. We mostly focus on our main couple, Cheng Yao (played by Zhang Ruo Nan) and Qian Heng (played by Chen Xing Xu). There’s a side couple, but they don’t hog the screen time and the supporting female lead’s story is actually quite interesting.

The secondary couple’s role is important to the overall story, and everything ties together nicely in the end.

But honestly, the real highlight for me was the banter between Cheng Yao Qian Heng and the hilarious situations they find themselves in. Let’s just say I laughed a lot!

If you're expecting a passionate romance, though, temper your expectations. This drama doesn’t dive into physical romance much—there are a couple of moments and yes, they do kiss a few times, but overall, the story is focused on the emotional connection rather than the physical. Cheng Yao and Qian Heng are adorable together, and their romance feels believable, but I'll be upfront: Zhang Ruo Nan doesn’t have the same chemistry with Chen Xing Xu here as she does with Bai Jing Ting in ‘The First Frost.’

Now, on to some things that could use improvement. Whoever styled Cheng Yao... yikes! I get that they’re trying to showcase that she’s different from other women in the industry, but some of her hairstyles and outfits made her look downright unappealing and unattractive at times. This is an extremely outdated take on female characters in fiction. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a female lead being dressing well! It feels like the writers wanted us to focus solely on her skills rather than her looks. I can’t fault them too much for this formula, since it sells, but still—come on! I stand by my opinion. It is an outdated notion.

The last three episodes were a bit of a downer for me. The characters kind of drifted apart, which wasn’t quite a breakup—more like a break. I get Cheng Yao wanting some space, but those episodes slowed the show’s funky pace significantly. I don’t have the problem with the idea the writers were trying to convey through their separation. I do understand if you are trying to stand on your own 2 feet and you’re over wearing boyfriend is trying to make decisions for you. it’s definitely necessary to put some space between each other. But I think the way the situation was delivered to the viewer made it boring. The drama lost its spark for the duration of that separation.
It recovers toward the end and the final episode was a nice wrap-up to watch. It was just a tad anticlimactic the way everything was presented to us before the final episode and how things fizzled out—mainly due to Cheng Yao's insecurity. Honestly, if she dressed better, she might not have felt so insecure! Sorry, but I said what I said. Wearing nice clothes and having your hair done properly makes a big difference in woman’s overall wellbeing.

That said, these little quirks didn’t overly affect my score because I still had plenty of fun watching the drama. I just hoped that this drama would not be like the rest of the C-dramas where toward the end they all get all teary-eyed after two thirds of romcom. The story was interesting and well-written. Writers didn’t squander time on side stories(I was so happy parents did not get any independent scenes and only appeared when the lead characters were the picture), and the business setting was just enough for us to grasp that this was a drama set against a legal backdrop. Plus, I absolutely loved the vibe of their apartment scenes and the night cityscape scenery. Very pretty!

Overall, I think this will be a great drama for someone looking for something uncomplicated—just pure laughs and a typical, clean C-drama romcom.