K-drama: Gogh, the Starry Night – Review

This is a cute, light-hearted mini-drama about a woman whose male coworkers all simultaneously fall in love with her. The series opens with Go Ho watching a drama with her mother. “How is this realistic? Don’t men have standards? How can they all be in love with one girl?” she complains to her mom. And thus is the premise of our drama. It stars Kwon Yuri as Go Ho, Kim Young Kwang as Kang Tae Ho, and Lee Ji Hoon as Hwang Ji Hoon.

As she struggles under this dynamic of her ex being her boss, she finds herself simultaneously batting away the attentions of office “flower boy” Oh Jung Min, and her goofy chief Park Jin Woo.

At the same time, it seems as though her boss of many years, Kang Tae Ho, might have feelings for her! Oh my! Who on earth will Go Ho choose?

Spoilers Ahead!

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Overall,

This was a cute, easy drama. It’s not very heavy and it’s not very complicated. It’s really perfect for what it is– fluff! It’s not too philosophical or thoughtful. It’s just a cute, engaging story. This drama needs to be applauded for its pacing. This was very tightly written. There are really no scenes or story arcs that lag or drag on; the story is fast paced, but lingers on all the right moments. If you have any experience in drama-land, you know how rare this is!

This was a very goofy premise, but the show was self-aware about it. By the time we got to the final pseudo-love-interest, it felt like our heroine was catching Pokemon! Exactly how many more male coworkers will Go Ho capture with her charms?? It was very cute. If this show had been more serious, I don’t think I would have liked it. But because it was played off in a goofy way, it was likeable rather than ridiculous. And it was touching. I actually did really end up caring about who the main pairing would be, though it was predictable from the beginning.

Despite the supposed premise that Go Ho has an entire workforce of options to choose from, it’s clear from episode 1 that there are only two real contenders here: Boss Kang Tae Hoe, and ex-boyfriend Hwang Ji Hoon. And though I had hopes and dreams that it would be otherwise.. it was pretty obvious that Kang Tae Ho would be End Game. The Grumpy Boss whose been Crushing on Heroine from Afar VS. Ex-Boyfriend who Regrets Losing the Girl. I so badly wanted those two to get back together. Break-ups are bad! They’re sad and terrible and should be avoided at all costs! That’s my philosophy, anyway.

I really could not get behind the main male lead, I think because he was a meanie. (Bullies are bad!) He was my second-to-least favorite of the leads.

But, even though I wasn’t rooting for the OTP, I didn’t hate the way the drama ended. I will say this though: every time I see this man, he is crying.

Someone, give this man the girl! I can’t take it anymore! Does anyone know of a drama where this guy has a happy ending?

A couple other things I want to note:

• The brother, Go Kang, was a very nice character. He doesn’t do anything wrong or mean in the entire show. And he’s probably the only character the heroine is genuinely mean to. WHY!!? Because Mom likes him more? Is that a good reason? Her general nastiness towards her brother was the only thing I didn’t like about her.

• There are random appearances of Ji Hoon’s and Go Ho’s fathers watching over their children as angels. That’s all. Lol. It’s not really explained or even mentioned.

• I thought Kang Tae Ho was played by Lee Seung Gi when I first started watching. They have the same smirk.

And that’s about all my thoughts. This was a cute little drama. It’s well acted, well-written, and sharply paced. The OST is solid and the directing is good. “Objectively” I think this drama deserves an A! On the Bethany scale, it gets a B-, simply for not being very personally relevant or compelling to me.

What did you think of Gogh, the Starry Night?

A/B-