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We cannot be doing this in 2026.
I feel like I mention the year a lot in my reviews, but media, even media like this that are the blandest and most non-political pieces imaginable, are products of their times. And on the surface, this does appear bland and non-political: a Cinderella story as old as time. A relatively green flag male lead, a down-on-her-luck but optimistic female lead, and how he sweeps her off her feet.
The actors are all very decent, but it’s clear that there’s no love for these characters from the crew: not from the writers, not from the director, not from the actors. Every single character is a stereotype with nothing to differentiate them from the 500 copies that came before them. Stereotypes may effectively convey a story fast, but they shouldn’t be all that there is. The puppy-like 2ML, sassy best friend, goofy older brother, stoic/cool right hand man… The list is as long as the cast, and this unoriginality even extends to the backstories. The ending scene is so generic and overdone that I wondered if I had watched the show before. At this point, you’re left wondering “why should I care?”—clearly no one else does.
Coming to the character of Na Bo-bae. Her entire life is upended when she becomes (effectively) disabled at a young age. She feels like she has to isolate herself, her electrical powers getting in the way of her making friends and finding love… But that’s not the case. She has a loyal best friend, a family that really cares about her, and a guy that has a crush on her, and they all know about her issue. And yeah, that’s it. You can be disabled, and still have meaningful relationships. So why is her true connection, her fated one, a guy who is not affected by her powers? Can’t she not be like the others and still find love? Her turning back to “normal” at the end only adds insult to injury. She’s in love now, she cried over a guy, and now she’s fixed! Yay.
The male lead is a bore. He has no interesting qualities. He is a rich heir who is extremely fair and just, cares about the commonfolk, wants to continue the honest rule of his parents over a gigantic conglomerate, and has a cute side. Nothing regarding the societal hierarchy or politics is examined, or even thought about. Rich people are either absolutely good or absolutely evil. Give me a break.
I am fully aware that this show never intended to make any sociological statements: it’s painfully evident from its heavy-handed tackling of the plot points. But even a one-minute commercial is political. Everything is. But from the billionaire class to disabilities and human relationships, the show fails to take the side of the individual. You can see how they understand the anxieties of a regular person with Na Bo-bae—isolation, anxiety, money issues—yet they always drop the ball. They didn’t even bother to throw in a surface-level girlboss speech to appease judgemental feminists like me.
It is really tragic as a viewer to be treated like this is the best we deserve, especially when we have been shown time and time again that what love for the work and the subject matter can achieve in these past two years, even with a silly and lighthearted medium like romcoms: in the CEO and fish-out-of-water FL of My Royal Nemesis, the disability representation in Twinkling Watermelon, in finding love when lonely in Head over Heels. Our work should reflect the progress in our society, and Take Charge of My Heart just isn’t up to par.
The actors are all very decent, but it’s clear that there’s no love for these characters from the crew: not from the writers, not from the director, not from the actors. Every single character is a stereotype with nothing to differentiate them from the 500 copies that came before them. Stereotypes may effectively convey a story fast, but they shouldn’t be all that there is. The puppy-like 2ML, sassy best friend, goofy older brother, stoic/cool right hand man… The list is as long as the cast, and this unoriginality even extends to the backstories. The ending scene is so generic and overdone that I wondered if I had watched the show before. At this point, you’re left wondering “why should I care?”—clearly no one else does.
Coming to the character of Na Bo-bae. Her entire life is upended when she becomes (effectively) disabled at a young age. She feels like she has to isolate herself, her electrical powers getting in the way of her making friends and finding love… But that’s not the case. She has a loyal best friend, a family that really cares about her, and a guy that has a crush on her, and they all know about her issue. And yeah, that’s it. You can be disabled, and still have meaningful relationships. So why is her true connection, her fated one, a guy who is not affected by her powers? Can’t she not be like the others and still find love? Her turning back to “normal” at the end only adds insult to injury. She’s in love now, she cried over a guy, and now she’s fixed! Yay.
The male lead is a bore. He has no interesting qualities. He is a rich heir who is extremely fair and just, cares about the commonfolk, wants to continue the honest rule of his parents over a gigantic conglomerate, and has a cute side. Nothing regarding the societal hierarchy or politics is examined, or even thought about. Rich people are either absolutely good or absolutely evil. Give me a break.
I am fully aware that this show never intended to make any sociological statements: it’s painfully evident from its heavy-handed tackling of the plot points. But even a one-minute commercial is political. Everything is. But from the billionaire class to disabilities and human relationships, the show fails to take the side of the individual. You can see how they understand the anxieties of a regular person with Na Bo-bae—isolation, anxiety, money issues—yet they always drop the ball. They didn’t even bother to throw in a surface-level girlboss speech to appease judgemental feminists like me.
It is really tragic as a viewer to be treated like this is the best we deserve, especially when we have been shown time and time again that what love for the work and the subject matter can achieve in these past two years, even with a silly and lighthearted medium like romcoms: in the CEO and fish-out-of-water FL of My Royal Nemesis, the disability representation in Twinkling Watermelon, in finding love when lonely in Head over Heels. Our work should reflect the progress in our society, and Take Charge of My Heart just isn’t up to par.
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