A Business Proposal review, served hot

Close your eyes, breathe, and picture this: you’re dressed up in a scandalous outfit that is so not you, sitting in a cold fancy restaurant, ready for a blind date. Not just any blind date, though. You’re there to absolutely make a mess out of said date while pretending to be someone else (no, you’re not crazy, you’re just helping a friend out).

Suddenly, there’s that light tap on your shoulder you’ve been waiting for. You breathe in, ready to unveil your academy award-winning performance, and turn around to find your boss as the blind date you’re supposed to scare off. And not just a boss, but the boss: the CEO of that big culinary company you work for.

Oops.

Well, what do you do? Personally, I would’ve ran away. But that’s not what the protagonist of one of Netflix’s most recent hits decides to do. No, Shine Ha Ri decides that the show must go on. And that’s how this crazily fun ride starts. Take a look for yourself:

Today’s menu: a main course on why this 12-episode romcom should be your main weekend plan, paired on the side with the little flaws you’ll endure. (Get ready for a dash of scrumptious references, as we’re giving homage to one of the show’s main themes: food)

All the K-Drama Goodness

I joined the k-drama craze when I was fourteen. Eleven years later, they just don’t make them as silly and endearing as they used to. Yes, there are so many good ones out there. But that classic, innocent, childish k-drama charm is scarce. Modern k-dramas are good, but not foolishly good.

Enter Business Proposal.

All the silliness is back! I felt fourteen again bingeing through the first half of this show. You’ve got all the completely unreal occurrences that are so outlandish yet so entertaining you just can’t take your eyes off whatever kind of screen you’re watching this in. It is bashful like classic k-dramas glazed in a mischievous spark of steamy moments that old k-dramas could never. Just the right balance.

And just like old k-dramas…

Things start to lose spice halfway through

The first half had me rooting for Shin Ha-Ri -the hard-working, smart protagonist -and Kang Tae-Moo -the awkwardly pompous male lead -to get together through the crazily fun events that happen. And then they do and it’s amazing and… the story slows down. The show tries to add some heat back to it with its unnecessary “villains”: Koh Woo-Ra and Lee Min-Woo (kinda?). This could’ve worked if these two characters had actually been fleshed out to act as something more than plot-moving villains. There were hints of a very complicated relationship between these two and Ha-Ri that would’ve delivered the seasoning these last episodes needed. But it barely scratched the surface, like it did with many other plot points (Tae-Moo’s trauma, complicated family ties)… instead, we got adorable filler scenes.

Which were not unbearable thanks to:

Heart-warming relationships

I’m not only talking about Ha-Ri and Tae-Moo’s romance, or the refreshing relationship between the pair’s best friends, Jin Young-Seo and Cha Sung-ho. Don’t get me wrong, these two couples will melt your heart like marshmallow on hot cocoa. But the friendship between Ha-Ri and Young-Seo; the family bond between Tae-Moo, Sung-ho, and Grandpa; even the co-worker relationship between Ha-Ri and her food development team is simply delightful. I think what elevates good rom-coms from cute rom-coms are when we focus on each character’s relationship outside the main couple, and this show did so very beautifully.

There is no denying that this is an example of a great rom-com, but it still fails to escape some of the typical rom-com traps, like:

Main characters live to love

That might be a stretch: their concerns are 85% romance-related and 15% family and work related. On paper it doesn’t sound like an issue, but considering there are 12 episodes of this drama (each one hour long) and they get together halfway through… yeah. The writers of this show might’ve thought they had no choice but to drag out the drama with silly, cliched plot points. But there was another option: develop your main characters.

I love Ha-Ri and Tae-Moo but at the end of episode 12 they are still the same people they were at the start of episode 1. There was no challenge to tackle in their individual lives, no journey to embark on for personal improvement. But there could’ve been. There are hints of Ha-Ri being a workaholic and Tae-Moo suffering from some childhood trauma, so why not flesh that out? Ha-Ri’s shortcomings are barely addressed and we get some superficial scenes regarding Tae-Moo’s personal traumas. There could’ve been so much more done in this department that would’ve added the depth this show needed. It did not need to be the center stage (this is a rom-com after all, not a slice of life) but it could’ve been a better alternative to the sappy, scorned “villains” we got.

The writers of this show could’ve taken note from Hometown Cha Cha Cha, a rom-com that doesn’t forget their main characters’ individual struggles and ambitions.

Regardless of its shortcomings, this show is still a (hilarious) gem.

I had not genuinely laughed at my TV in a long time like I did when I started A Business Proposal. The main characters are charmingly goofy and so are the side characters. The main characters’ characterization might’ve needed more spice, but the side characters were as fleshed out as possible given the genre and episode count. Unlike other k-dramas, I genuinely enjoyed the scenes that handed the spotlight to our side characters.

Grandpa is a refreshing take on the usual k-drama in-laws: yes, he’s strict and traditional, but his love and empathy for his grandchild is the priority. And Ha-Ri’s co-workers? Exquisite. I would’ve paid to see more of their hilarious antics. And we can’t forget the main couple’s best friends, particularly Young-Seo (I dare say her character development was more complex than the protagonists’).

Tonight's dessert: the verdict. The show’s positive aspects overpower the opportunities for improvement. The plot might’ve needed some more cooking, but the servings of romance and entertainment make up for it and you should not skip on this show.