This review may contain spoilers
The System Is Cracked and Broken
Just finished watching the last two episodes. The ending was exactly as I thought it would be and gave closure to these professionals who were all questioning the choices of their present careers. They didn't just settle. They risked venturing out to seek the right fit, and were happier in the end. This was a very satisfying drama. I loved the characters and I think all the actors did a top-notch job in character development. It was also realistic. Professionals do question their choices in their careers, and I'm glad to see a drama that addresses this. It's not flashy, nor sexy, but very very relatable. I loved this drama, I loved the junior associate attorneys and wish I could eat with them and discuss life.
After 10 episodes:
I've read some of the other reviews for this drama and I have to say, I think most are missing the real significance behind why I think this series is superb. Most of the reviews focused on it being a "slow burn" and the comeback of Lee Jong Suk. Okay, both of those are true. But if that is only take away you got from this series....you really missed the point. Yes, it's slow, but significant.
First, it's an excellent ensemble cast. The actors playing the junior lawyers are excellent in their respective roles, each delivering a depth in their specific characters that adds such a realistic nature to the delivered storylines.
Lee Jong Suk/Ju Hyeong - a smart, dedicated junior lawyer who has been at this job way passed the time of seeking his own law firm. Why? He became robotic to survive and was good at it. He stopped feeling and just performed. As the drama unfolds, and a past love reenters his life, he begins to wake up and assess why he keeps doing what he is doing when he is faced with representing a victim vs. representing a company with a toxic work environment and the decision is made for him by his senior boss. If you are old enough you can relate to that moment when you realize and want to have life's decisions in your own hands not someone else's.
Mun Ka Young/Hui Ji - Intelligent and idealistic, Hui Ji discovers that her attempt to do the right thing by all parties even if it causes her extra work goes in contradiction to her boss, whom she thought was also idealistic, that would have done what was easiest and most lucrative for the firm.
Ryu Hey Young/Mun Jeong - Smart, a bit of a workaholic, delivers 210% everyday, and is also the soul and caretaker of the group of junior lawyers. I think her storyline is so representative of the sexism and inequality women deal with when faced with balancing career and motherhood. Her boss did not even ask if she plans on coming back after having the baby....instead he just began to prepare to find another lawyer. Thankless behavior for giving so much of her time and her self to his practice. What an @$$hole, but so representative of the work world out there.
Kang You Soek/Chang Won - He just wants to be a lawyer and help people. But he keeps getting rerouted by his boss (babysitting a felon son of a rich client), and hitting the wall of a broken system that punishes a victim instead of the perpetrator. You can just feel his idealism and motivation crumbling around him. Not to mention he is being pressured to stop being a lawyer and take over the family business.
Im Sung Jae/Sang Gi - Smart, extremely hard-working, and able to focus on achieving the goal even if it takes him twice as long. He discovers his true desire is to teach law. However, Sang Gi is from humble beginnings and has to work to support himself and his mother. He cannot take time away to get a PhD in order to teach, because the system will only allow students to work at a PhD full time. How discriminatory and punishing of a system.
Secondly, it allows the viewer to watch as these characters are faced with broken systems and even facing the cracks within themselves. Even the translation team is called Cracks in the System. It's a story of young professionals in that point of their career where they hit the wall. The wall of reality. When they begin to question their work and contribution to it. When they wonder, "Is this all there is? Is this what I actually do? Is this who I actually am? Where is the fairness? Where is the humanity? Do I want to keep doing this for the rest of my career?" It also shows a juxtaposition between early and late beginning career professionals vs. seasoned career professionals who have made choices and now have to lie very coldly and greedily in the beds of their choice justifying for themselves their actions.
These junior lawyers seemingly have enviable careers and lives. From the outside they work in fairly successful law firms in a cool building, they are attractive and dressed stylishly, they have formed a tight bond and friendship and enjoy many meals and outings together. Two of them have even found love together. But up close, you begin to see the cracks forming as we are taken on the journey into the true nature of their work and how that work affects them personally.
I still have the last two episodes to go, and I'm assuming it will show how each lawyer faces the wall of reality in their career and what decisions they will make. Yes, it is a slow burn drama, but if you get past the lack of theatrics and see the significance of the storylines, you can appreciate the work these actors are putting into the development of their characters.
It is a very satisfying watch.
After 10 episodes:
I've read some of the other reviews for this drama and I have to say, I think most are missing the real significance behind why I think this series is superb. Most of the reviews focused on it being a "slow burn" and the comeback of Lee Jong Suk. Okay, both of those are true. But if that is only take away you got from this series....you really missed the point. Yes, it's slow, but significant.
First, it's an excellent ensemble cast. The actors playing the junior lawyers are excellent in their respective roles, each delivering a depth in their specific characters that adds such a realistic nature to the delivered storylines.
Lee Jong Suk/Ju Hyeong - a smart, dedicated junior lawyer who has been at this job way passed the time of seeking his own law firm. Why? He became robotic to survive and was good at it. He stopped feeling and just performed. As the drama unfolds, and a past love reenters his life, he begins to wake up and assess why he keeps doing what he is doing when he is faced with representing a victim vs. representing a company with a toxic work environment and the decision is made for him by his senior boss. If you are old enough you can relate to that moment when you realize and want to have life's decisions in your own hands not someone else's.
Mun Ka Young/Hui Ji - Intelligent and idealistic, Hui Ji discovers that her attempt to do the right thing by all parties even if it causes her extra work goes in contradiction to her boss, whom she thought was also idealistic, that would have done what was easiest and most lucrative for the firm.
Ryu Hey Young/Mun Jeong - Smart, a bit of a workaholic, delivers 210% everyday, and is also the soul and caretaker of the group of junior lawyers. I think her storyline is so representative of the sexism and inequality women deal with when faced with balancing career and motherhood. Her boss did not even ask if she plans on coming back after having the baby....instead he just began to prepare to find another lawyer. Thankless behavior for giving so much of her time and her self to his practice. What an @$$hole, but so representative of the work world out there.
Kang You Soek/Chang Won - He just wants to be a lawyer and help people. But he keeps getting rerouted by his boss (babysitting a felon son of a rich client), and hitting the wall of a broken system that punishes a victim instead of the perpetrator. You can just feel his idealism and motivation crumbling around him. Not to mention he is being pressured to stop being a lawyer and take over the family business.
Im Sung Jae/Sang Gi - Smart, extremely hard-working, and able to focus on achieving the goal even if it takes him twice as long. He discovers his true desire is to teach law. However, Sang Gi is from humble beginnings and has to work to support himself and his mother. He cannot take time away to get a PhD in order to teach, because the system will only allow students to work at a PhD full time. How discriminatory and punishing of a system.
Secondly, it allows the viewer to watch as these characters are faced with broken systems and even facing the cracks within themselves. Even the translation team is called Cracks in the System. It's a story of young professionals in that point of their career where they hit the wall. The wall of reality. When they begin to question their work and contribution to it. When they wonder, "Is this all there is? Is this what I actually do? Is this who I actually am? Where is the fairness? Where is the humanity? Do I want to keep doing this for the rest of my career?" It also shows a juxtaposition between early and late beginning career professionals vs. seasoned career professionals who have made choices and now have to lie very coldly and greedily in the beds of their choice justifying for themselves their actions.
These junior lawyers seemingly have enviable careers and lives. From the outside they work in fairly successful law firms in a cool building, they are attractive and dressed stylishly, they have formed a tight bond and friendship and enjoy many meals and outings together. Two of them have even found love together. But up close, you begin to see the cracks forming as we are taken on the journey into the true nature of their work and how that work affects them personally.
I still have the last two episodes to go, and I'm assuming it will show how each lawyer faces the wall of reality in their career and what decisions they will make. Yes, it is a slow burn drama, but if you get past the lack of theatrics and see the significance of the storylines, you can appreciate the work these actors are putting into the development of their characters.
It is a very satisfying watch.
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