Misaeng: An Incomplete Life – An ode to commuters
All the roads go forward and at some point, one of them will lead to Wansaeng.
I decided to revisit the classic K-drama ‘Misaeng: An Incomplete Life‘ that took over the nation in 2014 a week before it was to leave the global streaming site Netflix.
Having watched the series a few years back as a newbie in K-drama Land and thoroughly enjoyed it; there were many days when I wanted to pick it up again. However, I couldn’t find myself to settle upon it until this week. (Just my luck!)
Although, I initially thought of savoring this drama by letting the one-hour episode last for 2/3 hours by pausing to think and discuss the characters with my mum; due to the time frame, I got an excuse to divulge into 20 episodes within a week.
Alas, I paused, replayed, and re-read some of the scenes (also dreamt of passing files around) while following the journey of the former Baduk player, Jang Geu-rae at One International
Geu-rae played by Im Si-Wan restarts his life as a corporate employee after dedicating himself to Baduk for 15 years. Despite initially hiding his past, he stands out like a sore thumb among the new interns due to his recruiting through nepotism with no ‘spec‘ (qualifications) other than a high school diploma.
Following various challenges, Geu-rae becomes a contract base employee for 2 years along with three other interns who receive permanent positions- Ahn Young-yi, Jang Baek-gi, and Han Seok-yul. (more about them later)
Among them, Gue-rae tries to find a way forward to Wansaeng (complete / fulfilled life) as a tradesman, colleague, and employee. To do so he needs to secure a permanent position at the company. Which turns out to be a herculean task because of his lack of academic qualifications.
At one point Geu-rae shares that amateur players in Baduk receive a head start when going against the masters. However, in the corporate world, one needs to prove themselves even to reach the status of amateur.
This can fall under the debate of skills vs. education that is particularly captured in the conflict between Jang Baek-gi and Geu-Rae.
Meanwhile, Ahn Young-yi and Han Seok-yul’s conflicts begin after they are recruited. The star intern Ahn Young-Yi (Kang So-ra) falls in her performance from being subjected to differentiated treatment due to her gender.
While the vivacious and street-smart Han Seok-yul (Byun Yo-han) with an empathy for on-site work ends up in a muddy situation with his manager. The more he tries to one-up the more he gets stuck into the troubles.
The answer to the troubles of Ahn Young-yi and Han Seok-Yul is also the opposite; where one finds peace by conforming to the norms other needs to keep climbing upstream to break through
To further showcase the human elements and variables of a commuter’s life, the palette of the drama remains blue, grey, and beige. This devoid of bright colors also helps create a canvas where the audience can see a reflection of themselves and find comfort.
However, there’s a team at One International that keeps breaking away from the norms forming an exceptional case. None other than Sales Team 3 led by Oh Sang-sik (Lee Sung-min), a romantic chief who values projects over quick promotion.
He also retains high principles and morals that lead him to make complicated decisions. As a consequence of which he becomes a difficult employee but an excellent trader and daeri-nim.
The flip side
Although one can say that Misaeng: An Incomplete Life romanticizes working in the corporate world; it needs to be noted that the drama also brushes upon the darker side of it.
In more than one sequence the characters end up at the hospital from severe stress and fatigue. They also show the employees depend on alcohol and cigarettes to pull through the deadlines and office politics.
Yet there is a sword hanging above their head which can shorten their journey in the company under complicated situations. This battle of finding a balance between their hard work and satisfaction is also thoroughly explored in the drama.
One of the scenes of an employee’s layoff reminded me of the 2023 drama Cold Blooded Intern, where lead Go Hae-ra’s (Ra Mi-ran) husband Gong Su-pyo (Lee Jong-hyuk) ends up in a mid-life crisis after his long-time company abruptly terminates his contract.
Such uncertainty in employment isn’t far from reality and they further disproportionate the hard work of an employee and their satisfaction.
Mr. Oh lightly comments on this subject and I paraphrase “Our company’s motto states we will give up work but not our employee”. However, this motto is also part of the idealistic working pattern unique to Mr. Oh that is hard to come across in Misaengs (a commuter’s life).