@mistyisles Wonderful summary of what I agree is the show's theme. While the A.I. appeared to be calling the shots, time after time it was in fact it was In-Sung and Se-yeon making the decisions. Even the "wisdom" of the A.I. in deleting itself not to confuse the daughter was anticipated by Se-yeon, already telling Min-ah the truth.

I actually thought this show was perfect light entertainment--intrigue, action, romance and yet actually pretty thought provoking. Its message, as @mistyisles captured it, is actually an excellent take on the issues that are being covered daily with the controversies surrounding chat-gpt. I'm just sorry that the show didn't get more attention, but thanks for discussion on Dramabeans!

The revelation that the final car ride was actually a virtual-reality illusion was just fabulous. I have no idea what the rest of that ending was because I was completely distracted during the last 10 minutes by all the callbacks to Alchemy of Souls - from Im Chul-soo making a cameo saying he had switched souls to the leads quoting Wook/Naksu dialogue to setting up a parallel "remembering a past life" scene. What the heck? I mean, it was funny but totally out of place. Was it making the point that any convincing magic is actually advanced technology at work?

For a while this show had me wondering if that butler might actually be a good guy. Should have had more faith in the power of kdrama typecasting.

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Little known fact: 85.732% of kdramas are actually written by Baro 2.0 while the official writers are unconscious and v 3.0 is off on vacation in Tahiti.

I just felt a little emotional disconnect when I expected a more "angry" or "emotional" reaction from In-Sung and Se-yeon to fuel their determination to catch the bad guys. Some form of outpouring of grief and anguish for his death after they had grown close to one another as a tag team, and to then channelling these emotions into action. But their muted emotional response made me feel as if Ma-pi did not emotionally mean more to them than what the scriptwriting told me to feel.

But otherwise I enjoyed the light-hearted entertainment provided by this drama, particularly all the little warm-hearted moments.

If I can hazard a guess, I think what the show is saying is that we need technology to remain technology. Once it crosses that line into imitating humanity than it loses its functionality.

What interested me about this show was the implication in that position - that we see technology as essentially a slave and we're scared that at some point it will start acting like it's not a slave.

Technology that can think for itself is therefore not just terrifying in an existential sense. It's terrifying in a pragmatic sense. Because it stops being useful.

Of course with Korea's technology optimism, the AI basically bowed out conceding that a real person was better. But imagine for a moment that it didn't...

Anyway, despite a really rocky start I enjoyed this show a great deal. At least until the ending, which I found unsatisfying. I'm left with a lot of questions about very basic things like - does the company still exist and who is running it? And those are questions a finale should answer.

But overall, this turned out to be much more enjoyable than I had originally thought it would be.

I did successfully finish this while multitasking. I really don't care about the company shenanigans, I just feel sad for the little girl has to have her dad brain dead since 6 y.o with no mother and any close family member 🥲.
Anyway who then run the company at the end?
As for people who are not a people person, AI really offers great relief for the future ha ha
I really want all the AI that K drama has offered from AI speaker in Start up to Baro in Unlock the Boss to be happen 🫠

For me, the message the drama wants to convey about technology isn't clear but thanks to @mistyisles's interpretation as well as fellow beanies, I got a better understanding of it.
The ending was bittersweet for me since they chose to kill Mapi which was entirely unnecessary for the plot. I liked that the drama didn't sideline him as a thug who was there to bring the leads together so why after this great arc of redemption, kill that interesting character? Writers please enough with what seems like last-minute decisions for sake of shock and ratings as it leaves us infuriated instead.
I wanted to see Sun-joo wake up and apologize to Min-ah for being busy all the time and making her his top priority. Maybe also some bromance between him and In-seung but we got nothing on that note.
Overall, it was a good watch but still, it could have been better.

I'd prefer if In-seong remained as acting CEO or Sun-joo took back the reins of Silver Lining or at least a professional is employed to pilot the company. The fate of the company, leaving it with a head is not open ended, it's irresponsible to those who work the day and night for the company.
In-seong becoming an actor doesn't sit well either. Was that the only way he could find satisfying happiness? It's seems irresponsible to me with the kind of ambiguous uncertain stakes he was leaving Silver Lining in.
I understand the need to take a break or exit a particular aspect of life that seems to suck life out of us. But I do not encourage it when it is done without putting things in place.

I like what I watched. But I'm very unsatisfied with the way things went.

I absolutely *LOVE* allusions and callbacks so I was absolutely giddy when Im Chul Soo appeared and referenced 3 of his roles (does anyone know which role/drama involved him being an insurance salesman?)

I liked that this had a happy ending. Even though I was curious what happened with Silver Linings after In Seong stopped being the president but it wasn't enough to gnaw at me or for me to feel unsatisfied. Same with AI Sun Joo's return; I just figured the AI got swayed by Min Ah's crying and everyone just decided to be as honest as possible about things: he's an AI but he can still give her time and conversation which is more than the real Sun Joo did. Min Ah even said there was no difference considering he wasn't around, claimed being busy, and just told her to use technology.

All I could think when Young Geun walked into the ocean, all I could think was "if only he had teamed up with In Seong, when In Seong tried to get her removed from her position in the first place rather than betray him, would things have reached this point?" But then again, didn't want him get the company either and he did try to ruin In Seong so I didn't feel about his loss either.

Overall, I just thought this was an interesting premise and I'm glad for the happy ending.

I really enjoyed the show despite the many questions in the end. I am glad In Sung and Se Yeon are doing well. I am glad SE Yeon has people around her. I am hope they are still keeping in contact with Mi Nah.

That Im Chul-soo cameo made my life. I had to pause so that I could stop laughing and collect myself before I moved on. And! It was a rare instance of my having seen all three dramas that he was referencing. Is this how well-watched Beanies feel all the time? It’s amazing.

I loved this but as ever, I wanted a little more time at the end to wrap up. I’m so glad that In-seong was able to return to acting (maybe his fame as president helped him overcome that waste-of-space-director?) but I wanted to know what happened with Se-yeon’s career too. Did they keep in close contact with Min-ah? I’m guessing yes, but I wanted to see our beloved found family having a meal or something at the end. I respect the show’s preference not to wrap everything up too perfectly - Se-yeon’s mom is still comatose, but now she has reliable people to watch over her and hang out with her, Seon-joo has similarly been unconscious during this time, but signs point to him waking up any minute. But I also did want to explore what real Seon-joo would think of everything that went down while he was unconscious/held hostage. Would he come around the same way the AI version of him did? Would it take him time to adjust to the idea that these people have been acting for him? Is this really what he intended to happen, or was that guess a bit off?

Still though, I really enjoyed this drama. In-seong is one of the best drama heroes I’ve seen in a while and I hope we see more like him (although there will be few-to-none who have as great a smile), and I loved Se-yeon’s journey from cold and untrusting into warmth and acceptance of help. I also loved our AI’s journey into recognizing the value of “nosiness” and supposedly superfluous acts of kindness and therefore recognizing the value of In-seong.

Is the drama good or worth to binge? Chae Jong Hyeop is okay? I am still in scarred after his Sisyphus performance. He seems escalating super quick in stardom and already being cast in new project.

This drama joined the list of Sci-fi Kdramas that didn't know how ending their story in a good way... I thought it will be a comedy, so I didn't care about the fact it was a sci-fi, but they decided to make it serious and completely failed... To be honest, I didn't really follow the scheming part, so the ex-soldat or butler's motives are still not clear.

They killed Ma-Pi to add a new cop from nowhere to be the muscles. It was weird. I missed him.

In-Seong is happy, I guess it's enough.

I really enjoyed this and thought the child actor was adorable. Course Chae Jong-hyeop fits this category too. And, I liked the actors a lot. It was so fun to see Kim Sung-oh as a soft heart cause he really scared me in one of his roles. The title fails me but a snake remains in my memory.

Does this have enough romance to make someone like me, who only watches dramas if they have romance in them, happy? I didn't watch it because I didn't think there'd be any, but now I see I was wrong.

The show could have used an extra 15 minutes to answer some questions and I wonder why they did not do just that when other sillier and totally overrated shows would average 1.5 hours without plot movement.

That said, this was still an enjoyable watch for me, the corporate struggle was the trigger for the story so I did not mind it. In fact, without it, there would be no reason for the protagonists to band together.

As to who is running the company, I thought it would naturally be the acting CEO who temporarily took over from In Seong when he was dismissed. And in fact, it would be the natural succession if the company was run like a non family owned organization - i.e. the most senior and qualified takes over. In Seong's heart may be in the right place but he was under qualified and not trained to run an actual company.

Debates about the ethics of AI is a slippery slope but at least the show tried to handle it simply without being preachy and heavy handed.

Overall, a fine watch. Pity this did not get high ratings in SK.

Since the ending to Unlock My Boss seems to have left everyone (including me) unsatisfied, I decided to have a go at crafting my own ending starting from ep 11:

In Seong calls 119 and the paramedics are able to save Mapi. Mapi has put a tracker on Seon Ju's hospital gurney so they are able to track his location.
Blah, blah, blah... stuff happens and Oh Mi Ran gets arrested thanks to In Seong, Se Yeon, Mapi, and AI Seon Ju's teamwork.

Two years later, In Seong, Se Yeon, Nanny, and Mapi take Min Ah camping for her birthday. They light the candles and sing Happy Birthday. Minah blows out the candles and makes a wish. As she opens her eyes, she hears footsteps approaching the campsite. A shadowy figure approaches the fire. As the firelight flits across his face, Minah's eyes light up and she shouts in delight "Daddy!"

Two months ago:
Kim Seon Ju woke up in a strange room. What time is it? Had his alarm not gone off? It was broad daylight. He should have been at work hours ago. Who was this guy sitting by his bed?
"Boss! You're awake!" the young man cried. Boss? He didn't remember hiring this kid.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Park In Seong."
"Who are you, Park In Seong?"
"Well, sir, I've been taking care of the company while you've been... in a coma."
"Coma? How long have I been in a coma?"
"About two years, sir."
"TWO YEARS?!?"
"Yes, sir."
"And /you've/ been running my company? How did you end up doing that?"
"Well, sir, that's kind of a funny story..."
Seon Ju didn't speak but somehow he heard his own voice.
"Yes, it's rather a long story too. Shall I call Se Yeon so the three of us can explain together?"

In Seong, Se Yeon, and AI Seon Ju explain everything that happened to real Seon Ju. Seon Ju watches all the videos of Minah's interactions with AI Seon Ju over the past two years so he can see what he missed.

Seon Ju decides to surprise Minah by showing up to her birthday party in perfect health. He receives rigorous physical therapy for two months to prepare for the big day.

Minah's birthday:
Montage of fun camping scenes: making smores, telling scary stories around the campfire, singing songs, etc.

Epilogue:
Seon Ju returns to his rightful place as the president of Silver Linings.
Seon Ju hires Mapi as Minah's personal bodyguard.
In Seong returns to acting and becomes very successful.
Se Yeon continues as Seon Ju's secretary.
In Seong and Se Yeon get engaged and ask Minah to be the flower girl at their wedding.

I just watched this little gem and I'm so sad about Uncle Mapi :(

I'm also in danger of falling into a Chae Jong-hyeop-shaped rabbit-hole.

The AI kept reminding me of KITT from Knight Rider. Too bad there was no talking self-driving car because both the phone and the cars ran on BARO 4.0. And they could have called the car KIMM.
That old series from 1980-something was way ahead of it's time as it addressed AI interface and ethics that we deal with today.
Like how the BARO suddenly made it's own decisions and even learned a form of emotions. Those questions happened with KITT and their evil twin KARR and later there was that supposed upgrade on the KITT software that didn't turn out so good because of ethics parameters.

If there would be a rare case of season 2 or spin off from Unlock My Boss with a car named KIMM I'll be sure to watch it.
What could KIMM stand for? Karma Industries Multi-Million?