VIP

Presentation

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Analysis

Synopsis

​Na Jung Sun and Park Sung Joon both work for the VIP customer service at a department store and are happily married. One day, Jung Sun receives an anonymous message, saying that her husband is having an affair with someone on their team. 

My Opinion (No Spoilers)

Loved it! It is an excellent, intriguing and suspenseful drama. Jang Na Ra glows in that drama and the complexity of the plot makes VIP clearly addictive. 

​Analysis (Spoiler Alert)

​Badass female characters: Obviously the 3 main female characters are incredible, each in a different way. Na Jung Sun(Jung Na Ra) is strong-willed and determined, she is also excellent at her jobs and manages professional and personal life well. She is not afraid of getting hurt, if it means discovering the truth about her husband’s affairs. She fights until the end and has a rather vengeful spirit as well. I loved seeing how she always stands strong and dignified, even when confronted with such humiliating circumstances. She is a force to be reckoned with. At the same, Jung Sun is also sweet and bright. She doesn’t hesitate to help people who need it, even her colleagues. I think at first, you might get the impression that the news of the affair might crush her, as she seems to be that nice, kind and generous character. However, the end of the first episode already introduces us to her tougher side, the one she doesn’t show, but triggered when someone betrays her. Over the course of the episodes, Jung Sun turns into that badass character, who gives back the pain and fends for herself, while keeping a dignified face. I really loved her character! Moreover, the writing is excellent as well, since Jung Sun makes clever choices at the most unexpected moments. Each time you think she might give up the fight, she comes back even stronger. This kind of mindset is actually present in another female character: Sun Woo in The World of the Married (review here). When I watched the remake, I couldn’t help but think about Jung Sun’s personality, especially when both stories deal with adultery. 

The second badass female character is Lee Hyun Ah (Lee Chung Ah). In a different way, Hyun Ah shines on screen. She is coldand her words can sometimes be mean. Plus, she is competitive and isn’t scared of speaking the truth (which sometimes bring her problems). Yet, she has a softer side, that not so many people know about. She doesn’t show it easily, only to her closest friends (like Jung Sun and her future lover Cha Jin Ho (Jung Joon Won)). Also, can we please talk about her fashion!? She is so elegant all the time. That and her strong-minded and cold personality, together give her a majestic aura. 

The last female character is Song Mi Na (Kwak Sun Young). I agree she doesn’t appear as the fiercest person at first. She is stressed out most of the time because she hasn’t been promoted in a long time and her kids need her at home as well. What makes her totally badass, in my opinion, is the fact that she is the only one in the office managing two full-time jobs: being an employee and being a mother. She is resilient and strong, refusing to give up either job. She has ambition and wishes to prove how capable she is. This statement being reinforced by the fact that she is actually excellent at what she does. 

These 3 female characters working together leads at times to some outbursts, as their respective strong-mindedness collide. Still, they respect and recognized each other’s skills. I really liked the fact that the environment they all evolve in, is fierce and competitive, but none of them actually plays it unfair to get what she wants. They are intelligent enough to back down, when need be. 

As a sum up, I believe that female trio was amazing, exposing different types of personality, able to create a stimulating environment and embodying female empowerment. Each of them is strong and badass, in her own way, but this doesn’t make her any less inferior to her colleagues. 

The affair: Unfortunately for Jung Sun, she discovers quite brutally that her husband Park Sung Joon (Lee Sang Yoon), who also happens to be her manager, is having an affair with someone from the office. The strength of the drama comes from this mysterious ambiance that it conveys. There is suspicion, secret, lie, suspense, all of these ingredients leading to the climax: revealing the identity of the mistress. 

During the first episodes, Jung Sun tries to investigate discreetly her husband’s and her colleagues’ whereabouts. She doesn’t say a word and eventually finds out that her husband’s mistress is none other than Oh Yoo Ri (Pyo Ye Jin), the daughter of the highest manager. This revelation is a shock for Jung Sun, but she doesn’t act rashly. I told you that Jung Sun is capable of making the craziest decisions at the most unexpected moments. Well, once she uncovers the truth, that’s when the fun starts in the drama. She forbids her husband to talk, while tormenting him privately; until he finally cracks. 

I thought that the adulterous couple was really well done, especially because characters were not dichotomous. They really had a certain complexity that added to the torment and suffering of all characters. Sung Joon for example is a quiet and secretive man on the outside (probably too stoic and quiet!), but very affectionate and tender on the inside. He was madly in love with Jung Sun and repents throughout the drama. He begs Jung Sun to forgive him because he feels guilty. Yet, he never expresses his feelings properly, what Jung Sun knows well. They eventually separate at the end, but Sung Joon really punished himself by betraying Jung Sun. I really thought that having an affair really destroyed him (professionally and emotionally) and his wedding. Once again I clearly drew a parallel between him and Lee Tae Oh from The World of the Married. Both men are actually stuck in a situation in which they love both women, but necessarily have to choose one. Even though I completely sided with Jung Sun during the drama, I couldn’t help feeling empathetic towards Sung Joon at times, seeing how tortured he was. But once again, you brought it on yourself man!

​Now to complete the pair, I need to talk about Oh Yoo Ri, the mistress. First, I have to say that I was very satisfied with Pyo Ye Jin’s acting. I really appreciate that actress, which made it even more difficult for me to hate her in the drama. Once again, Oh Yoo Ri is in pain throughout the drama. She wants a man, she can never have and this drives her crazy; to the point that she resorts to terrible means. She is the one who sent the text to Jung Sun, arousing her suspicion and breaking her wedding. Interestingly, Yoo Ri has a particular background: she is the daughter of Sung Joon’s manager and his mistress.Thereafter, she herself becomes someone’s mistress. The cycle repeats itself. However, I was not certain that Yoo Ri was interested in Jung Soon because she loved him. Instead, she felt comfortable and safe with him, because he was constantly protecting and siding with her. Since no one ever did that for her, Yoo Ri clearly developed an attachment, that slightly evolved into obsession. In fact, she is afraid of being hurt again and vulnerable and wishes to use him as a shield. Sung Joon perceives it and his kind side makes him protect her, without thinking about the consequences. 

Feeling needed by someone is a trigger for Sung Joon, who lost that in his marriage after Jung Sun’s miscarriage. After that trauma, Jung Sun retreated within herself; she dwelled on her pain, excluding her husband. She shut down everyone, thing that I totally understand. Yet, this precipitated Sung Joon’s estrangement and kind of pushed him in Yoo Ri’s arms. Beware I am not judging anyone here; I am just analyzing the complex set of emotions the drama describes. So on the one side you have Jung Sun, cold and distant and on the other side, there is Sung Joon, also in pain and helpless. Arrives Yoo Ri, vulnerable and suffering, in need of protection and when she meets Sung Joon, it sets everything on fire. 

The real resolution comes with the fact that all 3 characters need to let go: Jung Sun needs to accept her miscarriage and divorce, Yoo Ri needs to let go of her obsession and learn how to become strong by herself and Sung Joon needs to let go of all the emotions he bottled up to move on; what all of them do by the end of the drama. 

Finally, I am not going to talk much about the last office worker Ma Sang Woo (Shin Jae Ha), but to say just a few words. It is a character that is quite immature and childish, when he arrives but he grows up really fast and manages well on his own. He becomes capable professionally and also reveals to be a kind-hearted and wise person. 

What are the themes questioned?

I have already mentioned some such as having an affair, getting a divorce, betrayal, miscarriage. Still, there are two other main themes that clearly have to be tackled in this review. 

First, being a working mother. Mi Na’s character is the perfect depiction of that situation, as we see her juggling her two jobs, while expecting another child. It is actually quite a complicated matter for women in South Korea to keep their work and take care of their children at the same time. By the way, a lot of dramas raise awareness on that issue (the latest I have in mind is Oh My Baby). Yet, Song Mi Na is stuck and feels guilty, because she feels like pursuing a career necessarily means giving up on her family. Of course she goes through a lot of ups and downs, even leaving her family for some time; but discussing with her husband really opens up her eyes. The drama shed light on an actual possibility: fathers taking paternity leaves. Indeed, a father taking a paternity leave is better seen than a mother doing so. Moreover, it affects less his career, so for the couple, that solution is clearly beneficial. 

Second, the drama emphasizes some strong issues such as sexual harassment at work (you definitely should watch Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food if you are interested in that issue). Hyun Ah is the character who has to deal with that. In the past, she has been a victim of such a harassment and has not hesitated denouncing her aggressor, turning her at the same point into a whistleblower and life-wrecker at the office. Since then, she is really careful whom she meddles with and doesn’t let men approach her that easily. The incident also changed her personality and made her stronger and colder as well. On that matter, she suffered from a trauma, that she doesn’t want to show to anyone, and pushes others away. Taking all of that into account, her romantic relationship with Cha Jin Ho is even cuter. He takes things really slow, especially when he learns about her past issue and even gets all worked up. A reaction that totally contrasts with his usual self, making him even cuter and more reliable as a man. I believe that his kind, patient and affectionate side is what draws Hyun Ah towards him, as she eventually surrenders at the end and dates him. Still, Jin Ho led a small and long fight, winning Hyun Ah’s heart at the end. 

Sexual harassment is a really serious issue, no matter the country you live in and shouldn’t be left unpunished. The drama managed to show how tough and traumatizing it is for victims, while demonstrating also that fortunately not all men and pigs. 

In a nutshell, VIP was a very good drama tackling serious issues and highlighting them through complex characters. The plot was amazing and distinctive, which really got me hung up on it! 

P.S.: Am I the only one who was confusing the two main characters’ names Jung Sun and Sung Joon? They are so alike!