Oh My Ghost Clients: Episodes 1-2

by solstices

This premiere week brought me to tears — first from laughing too hard, and then from how deeply touching our first client’s case is. With offbeat humor delivered in a rhythm that’s quirkily off-kilter, alongside an eclectic crew of distinct personalities that somehow work perfectly in tandem even as they clash over all the petty things, I think we’re in for a fun ride.

 
EPISODES 1-2

One adorable opening animation later, NOH MU-JIN (Jung Kyung-ho) makes his heroic entrance by rescuing a worker from nearly getting crushed by a machine. But just as he’s rattling off all the fines that the warehouse could incur, another accident happens — a machinery collision sends steel beams raining down upon Mu-jin.

As it turns out, bad luck is Mu-jin’s best friend. Rewinding to two years ago, Mu-jin quits his steady office job after a decade. His friend (cameo by Hospital Playlist buddy Kim Dae-myung) picks him up in a fancy car, accelerating with reckless abandon while an increasingly terrified Mu-jin yells that he’ll die at this rate. Cut straight to that friend’s funeral, where Mu-jin bawls his eyes out because he just lost his entire fortune to cryptocurrency as per his friend’s investment advice. Not only is Mu-jin penniless, but his exasperated wife NA MI-JOO (Kyung Su-jin) has also walked out on him.

That forms the impetus for Mu-jin to become a labor attorney, since his ex-manager points out that its specialized nature translates to high demand and thus job security. In theory, at least. One study era and nosebleed runny nose later, Mu-jin finally passes the labor attorney exam — except his ex-manager has just been fired for harassment, so there’s no one to hire him back. Oops.

Mu-jin’s good pal (cameo by Jung Soon-won) suggests Mu-jin open his own office, and the two commiserate over alcohol. They’re drunk before long, and a disoriented Mu-jin ends up introducing his labor attorney services and giving his name card to a stranger… that turns out to be a statue. HA. It’s a comedic moment, but also a meaningful one — the statue is of the labor activist Jeon Tae-il, whose self-immolation sparked labor reform.

Mu-jin may be down on his luck, but one thing our hero has is tenacity. Opening his own office, Mu-jin partners up with his sister-in-law NA HEE-JOO (Seol In-ah), a (mostly unemployed) beauty content creator who insists that she doesn’t just have 500 subscribers, she has 532, thank you very much. They run all over the city handing out name cards, but alas, no clients come their way.

Taking matters into her own hands, Hee-joo introduces Mu-jin to GO GYEON-WOO (Cha Hak-yeon), a YouTuber who creates patriotic videos. He’s on his way to a million subscribers (“I just need 950,000 more,”) and he’s ready to put his internet fame to good use. The plan? Find companies violating labor laws, and offer them a choice: either they accept Mu-jin’s attorney services, or their crimes are going on Gyeon-woo’s channel. Mind you, this isn’t blackmail — it’s negotiation, of course! LOL. With no other option, Mu-jin caves — and their scheme actually works. Not only do they manage to pay off their overdue bills, but they even refurbish the office.

Having tasted success, our trio begins to dream big. Why stop at small companies? Why not target larger (and richer) corporations next? That brings them to Taehyeop Steel, a factory that has repeatedly failed to report workplace accidents. Hee-joo negotiates with the nepo baby director, while Mu-jin inspects the site — circling back to the drama’s opening scene.

Right before the falling steel beams land upon Mu-jin, his impoverished childhood flashes before his eyes. Then someone bangs on the door, desperately crying for help, and Mu-jin looks through the peephole to find a man on fire. (Another reference to Jeon Tae-il!) Mu-jin opens the door and finds himself in a white limbo, where BO-SAL (Tang Joon-sang) — i.e. a bodhisattva — holds up the name card that Mu-jin placed in the statue’s hand.

Bo-sal needs a helping hand with the spirits who died unjustly after working themselves to the bone, and he pressures Mu-jin into signing an employment contract if he wants a second shot at life. No time to read the fine print — off Mu-jin goes! Back in the real world, the beams fall around Mu-jin, leaving him unscathed — but shell-shocked and terrified, with a wet spot growing under him. Oops.

To his horror (and the skepticism of Hee-joo and Gyeon-woo), Mu-jin’s ordeal has granted him the ability to see ghosts. Our first spectre is the high school student LEE MIN-WOOK (Park Su-oh, what a delightful surprise so soon after A Head Coach’s Turnover!), who stares plaintively at Mu-jin with the saddest puppy eyes known to man (or, well, to ghost).

Mu-jin sees Min-wook’s story through his eyes, and oh, this is going to tug at my heartstrings the same way Seo Ji-hoon’s arc in The Midnight Studio did, isn’t it? A school-endorsed work placement leads Min-wook to Taehyeop Steel, where the sleazy manager dangles the carrot of a permanent position in order to coerce Min-wook into accepting the poor living conditions and risky work environment.

One of Min-wook’s tasks is greasing the machine’s belt if it gets stuck, but that means he has to stick his body into the machine while it’s operating. The factory can’t shut the machine down for repairs because clearly, keeping the production line running is way more important than safety. Min-wook is a sweet kid who reassures his mom and befriends his coworkers, but inevitably, he loses his life far too soon in a workplace accident that ought to have been entirely avoidable.

In the aftermath, Mom was pressured into a settlement, but our trio urges her to help prevent such a tragedy from happening again. With that, Gyeon-woo goes undercover, meeting Min-wook’s sole friend NIMAL (Anupam Tripathi) who can’t expose anything for fear of getting deported. But Min-wook’s notebook, filled with sincere sketches of Nimal, seems to change his mind.

Eventually, Gyeon-woo gets exposed as a mole, culminating in a bumbling chase through the warehouse. It ends with the police arriving and Nimal stepping forward — a video of Min-wook teaching Nimal phrases in Korean dates the accident to the Chuseok holiday. Then a far more horrific video, filmed in secret, provides conclusive evidence. Upon his chairman father’s orders, the factory director had chased the workers out and waited idly by as Min-wook bled out in excruciating pain, all so they could sweep his death under the rug. They’d falsified the incident date to avoid legal consequences, but it’s all come to light at last. And as our resident attorney helpfully supplies: these selfish monsters have hefty fines and years of imprisonment awaiting them.

After the case is wrapped up, Mom finds comfort in Nimal’s videos of her precious son, and Min-wook’s puppy eyes convince Mu-jin into accepting Mom’s offer of a meal. It’s something she hasn’t been able to do since she lost her son, and as our trio tuck into the hearty lunch, they all share a moment of respite and peace.

Before our team leaves, Mu-jin does the little finger heart wiggle that Min-wook always did. *sobs* Mom’s eyes fill with tears, and she holds him in an embrace of grief and love. For a moment, we see Mu-jin not as himself but as Min-wook, hugging his mother for the final time. Waaaah, I need a moment, I’m bawling my eyes out. Min-wook turns to meet Bo-sal’s reassuring gaze, and then he fades away, finally able to move on to the afterlife.

Our trio head home, rejoicing over how Mu-jin no longer sees ghosts. Just as they’re celebrating Mu-jin’s successful completion of his contract, though, an electrical wire snaps — lashing out right at Mu-jin. Ha, is Mu-jin going to experience near-death scenarios every time Bo-sal wants to speak to him?

Right off the bat, Oh My Ghost Clients is a hilarious romp through our labor attorney’s misadventures. Penned by the author of D.P. (both the first season and its sequel), the scenarios are a deft blend of humorous beats and incisive social commentary. The storytelling may be jovial and cheeky, but it handles its labor cases with a gravitas that grounds these incidents in a sobering reality.

It weighs heavy on my heart to say that this first case is a timely topic, with yet another tragic accident having occurred just a week prior to the drama’s premiere. The food conglomerate SPC Group has long had a history of workplace accidents, and I’m sure it’s no coincidence that Taehyeop Steel is based in the provincial city of Pyeongtaek, the same place as the SPC factory that caused the death of an employee in 2022. Despite nationwide boycott efforts, however, it’s clear the company — and many others like it — hasn’t bothered to reform its work ethic. Perhaps this drama is yet another call to action amidst the voices straining to be heard.

Our first case wraps up neatly, but the drama is already dropping hints for what’s in store. I love the setup of our beleaguered hero flanked by two gung-ho assistants in a will-they-won’t-they romance — not only is it hilarious to have our protagonist as a potential wingman, but it’s also such a fresh take to have the female lead and second male lead end up together.

To Mu-jin, Hee-joo brushes Gyeon-woo’s interest off as an unrequited crush, but the moment Gyeon-woo shows up with his pretty ex-colleague LEE YEO-JIN (Kang Hye-won), Hee-joo immediately introduces herself as Gyeon-woo’s girlfriend. LOL. Judging by how much Mu-jin misses his dear wife, it’s likely we won’t have to worry about a trite love triangle. (I hope.)

Talking about Mu-jin, it seems he’s accidentally stumbled into a potential case, too. While buying grub at a convenience store, Mu-jin intervenes to defend the young part-timer HEO YOON-JAE (Yoo Seon-ho) from a belligerent drunk customer. Then Mu-jin offers his business card when he overhears the boss shirking his payment of Yoon-jae’s overdue wages — except a tired Yoon-jae just asks for Mu-jin’s credit card instead so he can wrap up the transaction. HA. Between the ajusshi who’s trying too hard and the kid who’s consistently unimpressed, I think we have an amusing dynamic coming right up. I can’t wait for next week!

 
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