2
4
Silly, Old-School Rom-Com with a Love Triangle, Cringe and Fluttering Moments and Lots of Laughter
My Bias, My Boss is a very typical romcom with a love triangle, bubbly female lead, cold but soft male lead and a likeable second male lead. It has cringe funny moments, lots of second-hand embarrassments and a light, fluffy romance with awkward hand brushes and accidental kisses. The story is cliched and tropey and falls back into the pattern of tried and tested formulas, but somehow still works — yes, it's familiar but not entirely predictable. This drama may not be winning awards for its groundbreaking story or characters, but it doesn’t really have to. Some dramas can just simply be an enjoyable break from life.
I was on the fence about starting this drama initially but ended up binge-ing the first four eps because of how easy it was to watch. It pleasantly reminded me of the 2015-18s romcoms and I’m enjoyed that familiarity and humour.
Nam Dareum is your cute, naïve, bubbly female lead who can be unwittingly oblivious at times. Typically, an annoying combo but somehow Dareum didn't really come off as annoying to me which is a feat and Kim Hyejun deserves praise for pulling that off. I liked her dynamic with both the MLs and appreciate how they handled their relationships. Contrary to what you’d expect, the love triangle is surprisingly not that messy and after the initial confusion, she is pretty in tune with her feelings.
I really like how they portrayed her fanship and her relationship with her idol. To a non-fan, her behaviour may come off as childish or extreme but as a longtime kpop fan myself, I think her way of being a fan was quite matured for the most part. She indulged in her fanship and wanted to support and be close to her bias, but she did that in a practical way that made sense from her standing and understood the line that exists between a fan and their idol. This is important and while some dramas like Lovely Runner did handle it well, others *cough Idol I cough* not so much. Personally, I’m almost never in favour of a fan dating their idol because of how skewed the power dynamics become, and I was glad to see them addressing it here.
Kang Hagi is also your typical workaholic, cold CEO male lead who is kind-hearted and caring when you get to know him. While tropey, I don’t think he’s two dimensional and had ample amounts of quirks and personality which were subtly brought out in Kang Hoon’s acting. I loved his clumsiness and how despite being inexperienced when it came to feelings, he still handled them so maturely.
Among the main cast, Cha Woomin is the only actor I knew from before and I’m glad to see him get bigger roles as I liked him in his previous dramas. Lee Chan is an interesting character - charming, likeable and yet somewhat flawed. His past with his former group members was really intriguing and I liked how they handled the reunion. His idol-fan interactions with Dareum were also really cute and I generally liked him, even if I was a little taken aback with his readiness to get into a relationship with his fan. But he had his reasons which became more understandable as the story progressed and I really enjoyed his overall character development.
Production-wise, My Bias, My Boss seemed pretty unremarkable to me but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. This drama doesn’t work because of its unique ingredients but because of its brilliant execution. It takes tropey characters and plotline and serves it in a way that’s familiar but not boring and even surprisingly refreshing at times. So, if you’re wondering if you should start this drama, I’d say take a chance and go ahead! You might enjoy this more than you’d think.
I was on the fence about starting this drama initially but ended up binge-ing the first four eps because of how easy it was to watch. It pleasantly reminded me of the 2015-18s romcoms and I’m enjoyed that familiarity and humour.
Nam Dareum is your cute, naïve, bubbly female lead who can be unwittingly oblivious at times. Typically, an annoying combo but somehow Dareum didn't really come off as annoying to me which is a feat and Kim Hyejun deserves praise for pulling that off. I liked her dynamic with both the MLs and appreciate how they handled their relationships. Contrary to what you’d expect, the love triangle is surprisingly not that messy and after the initial confusion, she is pretty in tune with her feelings.
I really like how they portrayed her fanship and her relationship with her idol. To a non-fan, her behaviour may come off as childish or extreme but as a longtime kpop fan myself, I think her way of being a fan was quite matured for the most part. She indulged in her fanship and wanted to support and be close to her bias, but she did that in a practical way that made sense from her standing and understood the line that exists between a fan and their idol. This is important and while some dramas like Lovely Runner did handle it well, others *cough Idol I cough* not so much. Personally, I’m almost never in favour of a fan dating their idol because of how skewed the power dynamics become, and I was glad to see them addressing it here.
Kang Hagi is also your typical workaholic, cold CEO male lead who is kind-hearted and caring when you get to know him. While tropey, I don’t think he’s two dimensional and had ample amounts of quirks and personality which were subtly brought out in Kang Hoon’s acting. I loved his clumsiness and how despite being inexperienced when it came to feelings, he still handled them so maturely.
Among the main cast, Cha Woomin is the only actor I knew from before and I’m glad to see him get bigger roles as I liked him in his previous dramas. Lee Chan is an interesting character - charming, likeable and yet somewhat flawed. His past with his former group members was really intriguing and I liked how they handled the reunion. His idol-fan interactions with Dareum were also really cute and I generally liked him, even if I was a little taken aback with his readiness to get into a relationship with his fan. But he had his reasons which became more understandable as the story progressed and I really enjoyed his overall character development.
Production-wise, My Bias, My Boss seemed pretty unremarkable to me but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. This drama doesn’t work because of its unique ingredients but because of its brilliant execution. It takes tropey characters and plotline and serves it in a way that’s familiar but not boring and even surprisingly refreshing at times. So, if you’re wondering if you should start this drama, I’d say take a chance and go ahead! You might enjoy this more than you’d think.
Was this review helpful to you?
