It’s the weekend! Which means I have time away from the claws of capitalism and can do whatever I want! Which this weekend means catching up on this adaptation of What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim!
Before I had to stop watching because I was already tired, the previous episode began sowing the seeds of the older brother storyline from the Korean original. Just making it clear here — like I’ve been doing in previous posts — I HATE that storyline. I thought it was unnecessarily overdramatic and dragged on for way more than it should have. BUT what you gonna do, it’s a K-drama convention. Filipino dramas have their own tropes and conventions after all.
The announcement that his older brother is going to be at the family dinner obviously rattles BMC and leads to a sorta sweet moment between the two of them. I say sorta because Secretary Kim still isn’t sure why BMC’s suddenly showing his weak underbelly. As a viewer of the Korean original I know why, and I am already sighing in resignation. Sorry guys, I just really hated the older brother storyline.
BMC’s parents are talking about how to best approach their awkward family dynamic and I have to admit I miss the kookiness of the parents in the Korean original. I know they get serious later on in the Korean version but we got a lot of their kookiness beforehand which I really liked. This version doesn’t have as much of that which is a shame. But Janice has been more known for her more serious roles lately so I guess that’s why they decided to go that direction.
BUT we’ll have to deal with that later on in the show because BMC is preening at the office because he think’s he’s got Secretary Kim wrapped around his finger already. Which of course isn’t true and maybe it’s because I’m getting used to him or he was a little more stuck in the earlier episode but Paolo Avelino seems to have loosened up more now in these later episodes.
After his product placement introduction in the previous episode, Cyrus, Brandon’s older brother, finally arrives at the family home and I’m sorry you guys, guys I’m sorry but I really did not like this storyline in the Korean original and if I thought it was overwrought in that one we Filipinos are probably going to make it even more overwrought.
While I twiddle my fingers thinking about how that storyline’s going to turn out, Secretary Kim’s family is dolling her up for her date with Troy and — just like the broken record that I am — ABS-CBN really has this whole Filipino family dynamic down to a science. I loved the red flag discussion!
The date with Troy finally starts and they really understood how to make him unattractive to Secretary Kim. She spends her working hours planning and making sure everthing’s perfect! She wants a man who’s going to be the one doing that instead in her personal life! Did they have to show a flashback to drive that point home? Maybe not!
The date is a disaster and made me look away from the screen a couple of time because that whole acting like you’re an expert on something to someone who’s actually the expert on that thing is just…oh lord it’s so embarrassing please make it stop. The actor really delivers on that grating affect too so it’s even more painful to watch.
Meanwhile, BMC is panicking and is desperate to contact Secretary Kim and it really is cute to see Paolo Avelino gradually loosen up as this show progresses. I still think they’re making stuff the show was implying too obvious but it’s not a major problem. It’s just how Philippine media views its audience.
We head on to Episode 7 and BMC is dancing around just saying that he likes Secretary Kim as more than just a competent employee. After all, we have multiples episodes to air still!
Secretary Kim has a post-mortem of the date with her sisters and I just now remembered that one of her elder sisters was supposed to be a chaperone during that date? What the hell happened to that? Why isn’t being acknowledged?
Anyways, Secretary Kim’s elder sisters end up inadvertently recommending BMC as a future husband to her and in tru Filipino elder sibling fashion they grill her about whether she has the hots for BMC or vice versa.
While they’re psychoanalyzing BMC from afar we finally get a shirtless scene because honestly it’s the least men can do. Is it as impactful as Park Seo Joon showering? Not quite but it’s a valiant effort!
They’re trying to do a The Devil Wears Prada thing the next day with BMC arriving in a bad mood but the people just aren’t terrified enough. Sorry about it. But we do get the cable tie scene and oh my god Paolo really does that wounded puppy look really well when he asks how Secretary Kim is going to keep things in order when she’s going to leave them anyway?
After that moment we go back to the elder brother storyline and honestly I just have to grin and bear it and get this over it. I am really so not looking forward to how this is going to progress during the rest of the show. But I’ll have to worry about that some other episode because it’s Sports Day!
It’s fun! Very 90s Filipino movie collage which I can appreciate on one level but it does feel a little less impactful than the Korean one. Maybe because there are fewer people? I don’t think I can’t quite put my finger on it but it just seems smaller. I also didn’t like this whole explanation for luksong baka. It’s fucking leapfrog or some shit let the audiences figure it out. Other shows from other countries don’t feel the need to spell everything out! But we do get that ~falling into the male lead’s arms~ moment so I guess it’s…sorta okay?
And then we see the marks from the cable ties and oh god here we go with this storyline again.
Ron Does Stuff 
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