If you were disappointed with some aspects of the Auditors, liked the team dynamics of the underdogs in The good manager, and the nurturing of the maknae in Misaeng then this is your drama.

This drama spotlighted the human stories behind the companies, and demonstrated that this type of work can be done and maintain everyone’s dignity. The various shades of baddies are shown to be mistrustful of each other as they game play amongst themselves but they are all portrayed realistically.

There were hints there may be a second season (check the after credits final scene) but the wrap up of season one felt complete enough to not feel frustrated if the second season does not materialise.

Hate to admit it, but I get emotional when I think about this show. I’ve tried to figure out why and could write 1000 word comments (actually 2 or 3 thousand word) because the reasons are varied and not even mildly related. But. . here goes.
1. I mention this rarely, but I was in corporate legal for many years beginning when I was still in law school. Lots of contracts, quite a bit of M&A as we bought and sold (nothing as fun/crazy as TAON but our products got humans to the moon). Negotiation was my daily life. Negotiating settlements in litigation; negotiating contracts with mega defense contractors; constant negotiation with government regulators. And the one key ingredient was. . . .trying to achieve a win-win for all parties (well, except for that corrupt employee who embezzled close to $1million and we foreclosed on all his various homes). So, I was sympatico with Yun Ju-no every weekend as he figured out what was required for the win-win.
2. I was fascinated with the entire concept from the first few moments – How was Jun-no going to pull it off AND what was the mystery project that brought him back to Korea. My fear was – as writer-nim and the director sprinkled small moments, dialogue, technical jargon throughout – would the dots be connected in the end? OR. . . would the end be a combination of fluff/fireworks and “oh, never mind – we never intended for you to really think this would make total sense.” But, lo and behold – the dots were connected. No red herrings. No false clues. Everything made sense.
3. I loved the M Project Team and the way certain episodes were framed so that we learned quite a bit about each major character and their background. Kwak Min-yeong is my favorite.
4. Loved how guest appearances were used throughout.

To summarize, the script was air-tight and financial details were easy to understand. The director carefully crafted the character personalities. Problems/challenges resolved in each weekend negotiation.

One of my all time favorites.