My Mister (Korean Drama)
My Mister (Korean Drama)

What a lovely series and what great episodes from My Mister (also known as My Ajusshi) could have been having it been presented in English with an emotional voice-over. Unfortunately, this series was presented in a robotic, documentary style of the worst kind and that ruined the English version. So, let’s look at the Korean version instead.

This is a series developed and directed by Kim Won-Seok, the director of the great series “Signal,” so it comes with a pedigree of quality and professionalism. The series is written by Park Hae-young, who wrote “Another Miss Oh,” between the two of them, they have some serious excellent projects.

As in the previous works, so in this one, the plot is solid, with all the motivational reasons fully understood behind each of the characters.

Ji-An is the contractual office assistant to CEO Joon Young, a contractor. Hi-An is a no-nonsense woman with an unapologetic way to life, she is in debt to a rather burdensome loan shark that literally breathes down her neck, and she is seeking a way to remove him and the problem from her life.

She sees an opportunity to do this by getting rid of the building inspector Dong Joon, who was also a senior in college to the then and still younger Joon-Young, who was also cheating on Dong Joon with his wife. Yup, you go it, a very sordid affair indeed. However, with all that in the background, Ji-An has to remove Dong Joon, but Dong Joon is our leading hero, with all the wonderful loving traits a hero has.

As expected, Ji-An has to fall in love with Dong Joon, especially after she successfully wire-tapped his phone and can read all his emails and messages. She starts to fall for this kind fellow, and even wants him to find out about his wife’s infidelity.

This is a melodrama, it has all the aspects of a classic love story, with business and politics involved. With our hero suffering (as all heroes do) from a wife that is meeting with her husband’s boss, to a boss’s secretary that wants money to pay off a debt to a rather slimy loan shark. All these stories entwine into a whole series of double-dealing, two-timing plots, and plans, leading to a very sad life on all parts.

The episodes explore in a logical stepwise fashion, how actions lead to reactions leading to results, sometimes good, sometimes bad, and in most cases, just leading to life as we know it, a shamble of unplanned emotional decisions.

The bottom line is that My Mister touches the core of how life really is, a mixture of perseverance and selflessness, mixed with friendship in a brotherhood of accountability and acceptance, with a few touches of forgiveness and letting go.

There is a good family bond in the Hoon family, and the three brothers, Dong, Sang, and Ki al holds onto and support one another. even with sibling rivalry, or sibling teaching, the three brothers work together leading to some very tearful moments.

This series is an emotional roller coaster and is a true work of art from director Kim Won-Seok and writer Park Hae-you. The Ji-An, Dong-Hoon relationship is something you eventually root for and want so much, and of course, I will let you watch the series to find out what happens in the final episode.