We have at the moment (with 6 eps completed) the best kdrama workplace story I have seen so far. Insanity has been very good at putting forward many key issues that I’m sure many of us have experienced as well. It is a show that makes you reflect on one’s past (which we can see through the other great comments by others in this section, below). I have an IR/HR background before finally becoming a CEO myself, both of which are totally different to what I studied initially. Although I like Ms Dang very much, in the days when I ran HR, I was always transparent. Of course this put me at odds with the CEO and the executive at one organisation, but when there was a change in CEO (who was awesome), my level of transparency was embraced and allowed us to transform the organisation in such a way that our changes lasted for ten years after I left.
I went through the eras of when HR was important and crunched the numbers, to when it was being dismantled and executives and managers were expected to handle HR matters themselves, through to it reinventing itself and becoming key to implementing organisational development. I also acted in the main with complete autonomy. Which meant the executive were always wary of what I would say or do next and felt inadequate when I had to clean up their mess.
Cultural differences aside, one thing I will say is Ms Dang’s tirade from her director was very realistic and both actors played it very well. I think most people would have found it extremely unpleasant if this happened to them. Her director, despite whether Ms Dang was in the right or wrong, should not have carried on that way so publicly, although I have seen it done quite a few times myself in the past. The longest tirade I had to endure from a CEO was 40 minutes. Which, because I had worked for somebody else previously who would do the same, I knew exactly how to handle it.
Show overall has a naturalness to it and you want to see the business unit succeed, despite some of the personalities within. I am sure there is much more than meets the eye re Ms Dang. Whether Mr Choi is good for her and vice versa, I guess that remains to be seen. They have a good relationship. I think there are many red herrings regarding these two yet to come. I just hope they can keep their relationship balanced, which is what I enjoyed so much about Ms Temper and Nam Jun Gi, some four - five years ago.
As Lou says, this is a really well made drama. Fabulous in fact. At the end of ep 9, I would challenge anyone not to have a tear in their eye. This show is organic, it is natural and set in an ordinary setting. No highly polished and glitzy police station here or neighbourhoods. The characters are real. At times, it has the tone of a very good UK detective show.
I had The Lie Detective on my plan to watch for a little while. Then the other night we were rewatching Expendables 2. Yu Nan starred in that along with all the ancient action heroes. So I took it as a sign that I should watch The Lie Detective next :)
17 eps completed! Overall, I like this show. The blending of humour with the darker elements is extremely well done. I liked Da Kun, despite him being a rogue. He added good colour to the drama. So, I wasn’t happy to see his demise. As for the twist, they tried too hard to justify it, and so I was underwhelmed by it. However, we are a little past that now and Mu Ching’s tears of past memories and Ke Xin’s subtle reaction to his pain during the portrait scene was excellent.
Sadly, this was disappointing. Yes, it was epic, but the story lacked balance between long periods of dialogue and action. I guess there will a sequel or two.
So, for me, in the end, New Horizon was a mixed bag. I thought it got itself back on track from eps 31 - 42, but then show bailed out in the final 5 episodes with very forced/shortened storylines. Our leads played their parts well, I just didn’t like Wu Di much from ep 33 onwards. Even Xia Yu seemed to turn the corner. Du Wei was outstanding and a true friend to all. It could have been great *sigh*
After three episodes, show still feels flatter than a pancake to me. The cast is very good and the concept is an interesting one. However, it just isn’t gelling for me. So, sadly, dropped.
Although the reveal of the collaboration between the two MLs is not a complete surprise, it still doesn’t mean Wu Di is off the hook re what she said about Xiao Mo (even though he says it’s okay!). Good on Ren Yuan punching the other guy too.
The first episode was awesome on so many levels. The older leads, the camaraderie of the older supporting actors, the challenges of HR and restructuring, hints of some delectable interactions to come and all topped of with a fabulous hit over the head! :)
Ep 36 - Kudos to the writers and the actors, I think to get me wishing that Xiao Mo moves on and finds less heartless and selfish people in his life. Wu Di is totally and utterly out of line. As is Xia Yu (I know he is grieving, but…). Both blame others for everything wrong in their lives and not being able to face their own feelings. Neither of them, bothered to really see how Xiao Mo is or whether he is getting better, and when they do, they refuse to accept his wishes to be left alone to grieve, sift through why the accident happened (very suspicious) and his confusion re being left half the shares. Just because you are made of steel doesn’t mean you aren’t human underneath it all. He really needs Du Wei in his life.
The odd thing is, I think this so much more better written regarding what is happening now than when you see the same issues and behaviour in many other shows. I want to see a positive resolution for our characters re them all moving on. However, him getting back with Wu Di wouldn’t ring true for me, nor him becoming great friends with Xia Yu, but stranger things have happened in real life and in drama land. When it’s all said and done, maybe I am just getting sucked into the “soapiness” of the show :)
i can't believe she literally called him a freak..... such a low blow. does she not see that xiao mo is the only…
I was quite surprised at how strongly this was written and in terms of delivery, well it was a good piece of acting, but very cruel as far as the story goes. Yes, he is the only one changing himself. Any company would be lucky to have an employee like Xiao Mo, even though he was a bit over the top on a couple of occasions :)
2 
5 
I went through the eras of when HR was important and crunched the numbers, to when it was being dismantled and executives and managers were expected to handle HR matters themselves, through to it reinventing itself and becoming key to implementing organisational development. I also acted in the main with complete autonomy. Which meant the executive were always wary of what I would say or do next and felt inadequate when I had to clean up their mess.
Cultural differences aside, one thing I will say is Ms Dang’s tirade from her director was very realistic and both actors played it very well. I think most people would have found it extremely unpleasant if this happened to them. Her director, despite whether Ms Dang was in the right or wrong, should not have carried on that way so publicly, although I have seen it done quite a few times myself in the past. The longest tirade I had to endure from a CEO was 40 minutes. Which, because I had worked for somebody else previously who would do the same, I knew exactly how to handle it.
Show overall has a naturalness to it and you want to see the business unit succeed, despite some of the personalities within. I am sure there is much more than meets the eye re Ms Dang. Whether Mr Choi is good for her and vice versa, I guess that remains to be seen. They have a good relationship. I think there are many red herrings regarding these two yet to come. I just hope they can keep their relationship balanced, which is what I enjoyed so much about Ms Temper and Nam Jun Gi, some four - five years ago.
I had The Lie Detective on my plan to watch for a little while. Then the other night we were rewatching Expendables 2. Yu Nan starred in that along with all the ancient action heroes. So I took it as a sign that I should watch The Lie Detective next :)
The odd thing is, I think this so much more better written regarding what is happening now than when you see the same issues and behaviour in many other shows. I want to see a positive resolution for our characters re them all moving on. However, him getting back with Wu Di wouldn’t ring true for me, nor him becoming great friends with Xia Yu, but stranger things have happened in real life and in drama land. When it’s all said and done, maybe I am just getting sucked into the “soapiness” of the show :)