The Secret Life of My Secretary (2019)

Surprisingly good

10/10 is my rating. This is a 2019 South Korean Romantic Drama with 32 episodes of about 35 minutes. Also known as "How to Train My Blind Boss."

First I provide a synopsis then a review.

Synopsis

Do Min-ik (Kim Young-kwang) is not an easy boss to work for as he relies on his secretary for everything but does not employ beyond a year. Jung Gal-hee (Jin Ki-joo) is determined to be the one to change that, and get her contract renewed, and goes out of her way to meet her bosses' crazy demands. That all changes when Ki-joo's contract is up and Director Min-ik indicates he will not renew. Gal-hee vows to get revenge on her boss and, in an alcohol fueled foray sets out to find him only to discover he needs help as someone genuinely tried to hurt him. Upon recovery from the immediate injury Min-ik suffers from prosopagnosia and is only able to see the face of his secretary as his many hours with her imprinted her image in his mind. Now desperate beyond his only 1 year per secretary policy, he begs Gal-hee to help him navigate a world where everyone looks the same only, this time, she has some conditions. Min-iks adopted mother has designs to use her son to further the family business and wants him to go on blind dates with Veronica Park (Kim Jae-kyung) a former heiress who is notorious for going through men and being difficult to work with. It so happens that Gal-hee used to work for Veronica and used to pretend to be her for various crazy stunts Veronica would involve her secretary in. Due to a mix up in schedules Gal-hee winds up pretending to be Veronica for a blind date with Min-ik and he falls for Gal-hee's version of the heiress. To make things even more complicated the real Veronica, during the same mix-up, falls for Min-ik's friend and fellow company director Ki Dae-joo (Koo Ja-sung). Will Min-ik forgive Gal-hee for tricking him? Has the real Veronica finally met her match?

Review
I tried to think of things I did not like about this series but they were so minor I have to say this is rather perfect. It ends well. The couples romances are well placed, believable and heart warming. Veronica Park is such an iconic character if you watch it for no other reason - watching it for that role would be worth it. But it is really good in addition to that.

Spoiler alert* I did not like that she tricked him. But, in the series, that was not justified and she was not happy with herself about it either. So I felt like she redeemed herself and him forgiving her made sense. I liked that his cold adopted mother "came around" and it was obvious, in her way, that she loved her adopted son. I liked that there was no miracle cure for his facial blindness and that he had to go through a whole process to learn to accept himself with the disability. He found ways to work around it. I liked that they did not miraculously and unbelievably find a way to preserve the Chairman job for him but the way they worked it out was very satisfying. You knew that he would be chairman in the near future. His love and caring for her when she was protesting was so cute. He was willing to give up anything to make things right for her. His relationship with her siblings, the way he "spoiled" them set the tone for how great of a relationship he would have with them in the future. He gained a close knit family and they gained a provider/protector. It was not clear or closed up if Gal-hee discovered her sister had the earrings. Or if her sister got the role. It was implied but it felt like we followed that character so closely I would liked to have known how things went for her. I would watch this one again and highly recommend it to anyone that likes heartwarming romance. There is very little intrigue in this one, the villians are pretty run of the mill, but the relationships completely carry the story in a good way.

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Eye-rolling and joy, somehow

This show was ridiculous in a way that really grew on me (and watching it with the Viki comments on was hilarious, too) and I see-sawed between a lot of eye-rolling and some amusement, which was a really weird mix. (I think a lot of it was made better by having commentary the comments playing at the same time because it still felt slow but without it would have felt really slow). Somehow I didn't love Veronica Park the first second when we meet her but quickly realised she is AMAZING and sometimes carries the show. Her scenes were pretty much guaranteed to always be entertaining.

I wasn't rushing to watch it, but I did enjoy watching it. It was relaxing and comforting - the plot developments didn't feel particularly overwhelmingly emotional at any point.

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Okay so thinking about this drama is making my heart flutter so much!! TRUST ME JUST WATCH THIS!!!!! It makes me so happy i dont know why hahahaha I love this drama so much!!!!!
THIS DRAMA IS SOOOOOOOO GOOD you have no idea how crazy this made me! Hahaha I love this drama way tooooo much. Jin Ki Joo and Kim Young Kwang and Veronica Park and Gi Dae Ju (cant really remember the real names of the last two on top of my head) portrayed their roles so perfectly I felt like God specifically made them for this drama. Hahahaha. I rarely watch behind the scenes as I don’t really want to ruin really good scenes on my mind. But boy oh boy I just came across one on YouTube and I feel like the ship could sail real good for Jin Kin Joo and Kim Young Kwang. If Dispatch would reveal they’re dating in real, I won’t even be surprised! I’ll probably jump for joy!!

Back to the drama itself - if you’re hesitating if you should give this a go, stop right there and just play episode 1. Swear to goodness this is a really really great feel-good romantic comedy drama that will make you happy!!!! Others do find that the story was lame because of how the face blindness was portrayed. But I was not even bothered, not even a tiny bit! There’s a reason why this was just a drama - a fictional one. You can’t have everything close to reality here!

Thank you to all the cast and crew of this wonderfully created drama!

I seriously don’t know how to let go after watching the last episode. I guess I’ll be rewatching this!

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Okay first off, the main actor is hot and the lead actress is really pretty. So there's that. Second off, the story line is not all that unique. It's pretty cliche but still very cute. You tend to begin to fall for the cast and find them very lovable. You anticipate each episode and look forward to the next event that will occur. The secretary that you encounter at first is a very dramatic one. Not herself but the things she is put to do. The lead actor at the beginning is very closed at first but there is a reason why. The supporting roles are very suspicious but also very exaggerated. They could have toned it down a bit. The ending was not all that great, the beginning was so-so and the middle content was amazing. I laughed so much not gonna lie.

Hope anyone who read this will watch this AMAZING drama. :)

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The secret life of my secretary was out about the same time as when her private life had finished.

The drama had an odd start and an even wierder plot description. And it almost looked like they couldn't pull it off, but they did. The whole drama, after episodes one and two at least, was really cute. The office drama was interesting, although towards the ending, it was boring. The couple, however, was cute. And the chemistry of the two leads was incredible and it helped the drama a lot. They had many cute moments and the love story was really good and intence.

Finally, the performances were good by everyone in the cast. But, the drama didn't have anything special to offer other than the love story. So, seven out of ten.

Leggi di Più

Light yet childish

I have a hard time liking this show since it started up messy with the over-romanticized concept of love. It's a good idea to introduce to the viewers that face blindness is a real-life condition. However, the show failed to provide a script that tackles the deeper taught of this phenomenon and solely focuses on the charm of romance that isn’t even as powerful as it should be. The female lead has a senseless nature that made her bland. Except for Veronica, most of the cast is somehow annoying. I also don’t like the continuous appearance of the female lead’s deceased mother who she can talk with in times of trouble. I got the idea of how they’re trying to establish the loneliness of the main character but it was too dramatic in a way that the viewer felt too much coming out from the genre of the show which is rom-com.

Nevertheless, I finally enjoy the last few episodes of the show after the Director catches the lie of his secretary. Yet, it was still not that sensational compared to a lot of romantic shows that I’ve watched before. They even rushed the ending by having the Director gain back his sight of people’s faces then cut the scene after the two met at the rooftop. Overall, it is not that great but not that bad kind of drama that is still good at some point.

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Um dorama muito fofo e lindo, amei todos os personagens. Vou sentir muita falta desse dorama fofo, eu ri, chorei, fiquei com raiva. Enfim foram várias emoções e o final foi tão fofo também, se eu já amava estes atores antes, agora sou completamente apaixonada. Vou ficar com lembrando com carinho por um bom tempo e com certeza vou assisti-lo novamente só para as saudades.
AMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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Not earthshattering, but very enjoyable

The Veronica Park character, very annoying - but she really redeemed herself and was so amusing. The storyline, initially not too interesting. Once the storyline really got started, lots of twists! The main characters? Great chemistry and they were both lovely to watch. I found myself smiling, a lot, they were just so cute together. He did a wonderful job of portraying loneliness in his life. He also had the cutest pout. And yes, I did some crying, oh, and laughing too! I don’t like when there aren’t consequences for evil (uncle). Mistaken identity went on longer than I would have liked, but overall this show gave me all the feels. Lovely happy ending.

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Not really...

I didn't really like it. Boring, in my opinion.
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The plot was meh, kinda boring. The secretary that with a make-up, hair done, and expensive clothes, is a new other person. Like... how even...(?)
I also think that Gal Hee kinda... took advantage of Min Ik... I mean, he thought she was Veronica, while she wasn't, taking advantage of his condition. So for me, their couple is a no.
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I actually watched it only for Veronica Park and Dae Joo. And they didn't disappoint.
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I really, highly doubt I'd re-watch it. At least, not the entire episodes.

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Une romance feel good comme on les aime

J'ai commencé mon visionnage en me disant que j'allais sûrement voir un ersatz de l'excellent et indétrônable Wat's Wrong With Secretary Kim? mais bien mal m'en a pris car je suis ravi.e de reconnaître que ce drama possède sa véritable identité.

L'histoire :

Avec le pitch de départ, mon impression du début s'était déjà émoussée car ici, la romance va apparaître très différente du drama Wat's Wrong With Secretary Kim?, surtout avec l'histoire de la maladie du héros en plus.

L'histoire est racontée simplement avec des enchaînements qui viennent d'eux-mêmes, c'est rythmé juste ce qu'il faut et avec les acteurs ont a souvent droit à des moments très cartoonesques, comme la scène de la buée sur les lunettes de l'héroïne dans le premier épisode par exemple.

Les personnages :

Notre héroïne, Jeong Gal Hee est jouée par Jin Gi Ju que j'ai découverte grâce à ce drama et que je trouve très rafraîchissante, elle ne paraît pas du tout niaise ni naïve, comme on pourrait s'y attendre de prime abord, mais nous plante un personnage de femme qui a énormément de difficultés à surmonter dans sa vie et elle y fait face, elle ne déroge jamais de son opinion ou de ses principes, même par amour et elle est attentive au bien être, non seulement de son patron, mais aussi de toutes les personnes qui comptent pour elle, ce qui nous montre qu'elle ne fait pas ça par obligation mais parce que c'est quelque chose de naturel chez elle.

Kim Young Kwang, que j'avais croisé dans le drama Pinocchio où il jouait un jeune chaebol voulant tracer son propre chemin, prend ici le rôle du lead masculin, le directeur Do Min Ik (ce qui en français donne « Dominique », ça m'a fait crever de rire je l'avoue). Nous avons ici affaire à un personnage qui paraît sortir de l'usine à chaebol, beau gosse et arrogant et en fait... ben pas du tout! Il nous montre qu'il sait être drôle et charmant, il ne se pose pas du tout en supérieur par rapport aux autres. On peut le voir à plusieurs moment dans le drama, il a même des réactions de « bébé pas content » a taper du pied en faisant la grimace quand quelque chose ne lui convient pas ou quand il est frustré. Et quand il est perdu ou désolé, il a un air de chien battu avec ses grands yeux larmoyants Aaaaaw je craque!

Concernant les second leads, il ne sont absolument pas en reste! On a tout d'abord Gu Ja Seong ( que j'ai rapidement croisé dans le drama Was It Love qui lui aussi cache bien son jeu, car, sous ses dehors de directeur qui s'habille en mode Chill par rapport aux autres toujours en costard et ses airs toujours trop sérieux se cache un sacré fripon! Je ne vous en dis pas plus, je vous laisse découvrir.
Et pour finir, l'inénarrable Veronica Park incarnée par l'actrice (inconnue pour moi) Kim Jae Kyung. Alors là une fabuleuse découverte! Un jeu totalement décomplexé et très extravagant qui sait aussi montrer qu'elle défendra ses principes ou les personnes qu'elle aime quoiqu'il lui en coûte. On croit avoir affaire à la traditionnelle peste de service en plus énervante mais en fait, elle se révélera bien différente au côté de notre lead féminine, et je n'en dirai pas plus pour ne pas vous spoiler.

Pour finir, une mention spéciale pour Riri, Fifi et Loulou (désolé les filles, ma mémoire des noms est nulle ! ), je parle ici du trio d'amies secrétaires de notre lead féminine qui m'ont bien fait rigoler et qui sont toujours là pour aider ou secouer notre héroïne quand elle en a besoin.

La réalisation :

Je l'ai déjà évoqué, il y a beaucoup de situations comiques dans le drama, même un clin d'œil à une scène d'Orange Mécanique bien rigolote avec le gang des secrétaires bourrées dans l'épisode un. Tout cela donne un côté rafraîchissant à l'histoire car même les situations les plus lourdes ou stressantes sont souvent désamorcées par ces moments humoristiques qui arrivent à point nommé.

La romance a parfois du mal à démarrer ou piétine un peu concernant le couple lead, mais la seconde romance avec nos second leads, je l'ai trouvée excellente même si elle n'est pas un point central de l'histoire.

Les effets spéciaux sont bien réalisés et relèvent des scènes qui étaient peut être juste banales a défaut d'être mignonne comme l'effet spécial de la pluie (plutôt du temps qui s'arrête ) quand nos héros sont sous la pelle d'un tractopelle.
D'ailleurs, les effets de morphing pour montrer l'état de prosopagnosie du héros sont vraiment très bien faits. À ce propos, j'ai beaucoup aimé le fait que le héros « attrape » cette maladie, plutôt qu'il l'ai depuis longtemps, comme dans le drama The Beauty Inside, car grâce à cela, on peut voir tout le cheminement qu'il doit accomplir afin de se faire à ce nouvel état, toutes les adaptations et tous les « trucs » qu'il doit inventer sur le tas pour s'en sortir, pour vivre sa vie tout simplement.
Le héros a d'ailleurs une discussion là-dessus avec le grand frère aveugle de l'héroïne qui m'a beaucoup touchée et c'est grâce à ces petites touches que le drama n'en est que meilleur à mon sens.

Maintenant, à vous de vous faire votre avis.

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it's something you won't regret!

since i'm running out of romantic chinese dramas atm, i gave it try and didn't expect that i would fall for sfl (veronica park's role) and sml.. unlike other romantic kdramas or cdramas where its sfl was potential to be third wheel (snaky gurl) or messed up w/ main lead's relationship, this cp being hilarious of all time even i couldn't help but laugh at them instead :D
on the other hand, i was rooting for main lead cp as well. their relationship might seem a bit complicated yet nevermind, as long as fl the one who acted those roles hehe.
》 sums up my review : it's a light pretty funny drama in which main lead cp + 2nd lead cp were filling one another. they're such complete packaging as u could find bromance and sismance at the same time ahaha! just one thing that annoyed me, they seemingly rushed over the last epi though it was happy ending after all however i wasn't able to see veronica park's wedding *sobs

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The acting saves the story!

The Secret Life of My Secretary is a fluffy office rom-com and while it touches upon the theme of discrimination of contract employees, that is not the essence of the story, at least for me. I recently re-watched the story and liked it better than my recollection of the first watch. What I liked about the show most was all the actors bringing their best to embibe the characters that could otherwise have come off as cookie cutter - chaebols, secretary, childhood bestie VP etc - with unique quirks, personalities and vulnerabilities that did not feel forced while watching.
The leads - Do Min Ik and Jung Gal Hee have a typical boss-employee relationship like is expected of this genre with exploitation of the power dynamic by the hero. However, despite everything on paper that would have made Do Min Ik a very annoying character to watch, Kim Youngkwang's portrayal puts an emotional strain to even his more cold behaviour making him stand apart in the crowd of other such drama characters.
Similarly, Jung Gal Hee portrayed by Jin Ki Joo is the typical hard working - providing for her family - poor - female lead, but her inner world of thoughts on why she makes the decisions she does including her betrayal of her boss makes you pity her naivety as well as root for her. She feels like a fleshed out person despite all the cliches enthrusted onto her.
As for the second lead couple, the stand out star of the drama - Kim Jaekyung as Veronica Park made it memorable. Everyone who has seen the show will agree that the character of Veronica is what makes the show stand apart and fun to watch. She is a rare gem in the world of 2FL roles. Jaekyung manages to make an outlandish chaebol not annoying with her heartfelt portrayal of a confident, ridiculous but also mature Veronica.
Koo Ja Sung as Ki Dae Joo served as a source of warmth for Do Min Ik and was a good supporting character who had his own storyline which was more involved in the contract employee plotline. Admittedly, he did not stand out as much as the other three leads though.
Amongst the other supporting casts, Choi Tae Hwan as the Driver caught my attention the most. A more of a throwaway role with limited screentime, he still convinced me of his pathos as well as loyalty and brought the emotions into the otherwise obligatory social commentary plotline that most rom coms try to do.
Another limited role that had me intrigued was the role of Jung Ae Ri as Do Min Ik's mother. Even though their relationship was dysfunctional and bordered on abusive, it was interesting to watch as usually these roles are either white or black, but she remained gray till the very end. And that made me understand why Min Ik still stuck to her and wanted her validation so badly, as even though they had a fake mother-son relationship, there was a subtle strength built over the years of association for both of them.
When I rewatched the series and paid attention to the characters and their individual arcs, the show was much more fun to watch as a whole than just trying to follow the plot. The smaller beats and the sum of its parts are bigger than the whole show at a glance, and made me upmark my initial rating. The actual plotline of the secretary disguising as a chaebol and the prospognasia were more cliche, however the fallout was handled much better than other dramas - the guilt, the betrayal, the forgiveness, made these cliches still feel like a real part of these people that might exist in some fictional drama land.

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