[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Another Miss Oh" Episode 1

Hae-young (played by Seo Hyun-jin) is an administrative restauranteur with chronically rotten luck who shows neither determination nor despair at her many setbacks in life. Do-kyeong (played by Eric Mun), a sound effect designer for movies. Not a composer, a sound effect designer. His sister Soo-kyeong (played by Ye Ji-won) is Hae-young's boss, and both siblings share the same penchant for cruel behavior to subordinates in the name of getting the job done right.

Advertisement

The direction of "Another Miss Oh" is frequently counterintuitive. Abusive character interactions are played for laughs while goofy causes of tragic misunderstanding are treated with deadly seriousness. Hae-young's mom Deok-hee (played by Kim Mi-kyung) reacts to bad news in Hae-young's life by physically attacking her. In a melodrama this would be tragic. We find out Hae-young's ex-fiance Tae-jin (played by Lee Jae-yoon) had a shockingly petty reason for breaking up with Hae-young. In a comedy this revelation would be treated as a jokey starting point. In "Another Miss Oh" it's crushing.

But it's all part and parcel for Hae-young's generally hopeless existence. Oddly enough the funniest scene in this episode (the spit-take) is ultimately just as morose, yet that seemed more amusing because at least there Hae-young caused her own problem rather than just passively accepting it from another person. That's how Hae-young takes control of her own destiny- by not dying. And also by enjoying good food.

Do-kyeong is a queer choise of leading man for Hae-young, since in many ways he's every problem in her life concentrated into a single person. Do-kyeong dishes out abuse the same way Hae-young takes it. Do-kyeong has been gifted with talents that outweigh his crummy personality while Hae-young struggles with both. Do-kyeong is scared of disaster while Hae-young embraces it.

Yet for all these points of divergence, Hae-young and Do-kyeong have one commonality- they've both been burned badly by past relationships. Which in this day and age is hardly unusual. And of course their coping mechanisms, like everything else in "Another Miss Oh" are radically different so...all right, honestly, I'm still watching "Another Miss Oh" in a state of bemused curiousity. While the first episode is pure set-up, it's very good set-up that clearly explains who all the characters are and why they have their current outlooks on life. Now, let's have Do-kyeong and Hae-young get into an actual conversation, that there can be an actual conflict in there.

Review by William Schwartz

"Another Miss Oh" is directed by Song Hyeon-wook, written by Park Hae-yeong and features Eric Mun, Seo Hyun-jin, Jeon Hye-bin, Ye Ji-won, Kim Ji-suk, and Heo Jung-min

Watch on Viki