Filing For Love Review: Filing A Human Resources Complaint
- May 31
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 2
An edgier workplace romance straight out of a HR Representative’s nightmare where a hot shot employee falls in love with his boss, who once secretly dated the chairman of the company they all work at...And did I mention that these lovebirds catch employees in inappropriate workplace relationships for a living?
Title: | Filing For Love |
Platform: | Viki, Waave, TVING, HBO Max |
MDL Rating: | |
Genre: | Contemporary Workplace Romance |
Parental Guidance Rating: | TV-16 (Nudist model is shown from shoulders up (nothing explicit), fade to black intimate scene, some violence and blood, minor language) |
Staring: | Shin Hae Sun as Ju In A (Female Lead/ML) Gong Myoung as No Gi Jun (Male Lead/ML) Kim Jae Uck as Jeon Jae Yeol (Second Male Lead/2ML) Hong Hwa Yeon as Park A Jeong (Second Female Lead/2FL) |
The Cast:
Left to Right: Shin Hae Sun (FL), Gong Myoung (ML), Kim Jae Uck (2ML), and Hong Hwa Yeon (The Devil, ahem, 2FL)
Synopsis: No Gi Jin is at the top of his game in his department... until the new head of audit, Ju In A, sweeps in like a foul wind and reassigns him to a team tasked with monitoring workplace conduct (i.e. affairs, bullying, etc.). Although the two initially butt heads, Gu Jun begins to warm up to his no nonsense boss, and slowly starts to fall in love. The only problem is that the Chairman fell in love with her first.
_____________Beware Mateys: There be Spoilers ahead!_______________
My Audit
I was surprised by how much I liked this. Shin Hae Sun (FL actress) is really a hit or miss actress for me, but I thought her take on a level headed, unphased boss felt natural and you could see the toll it took on the FL to hold it together with her portrayal. This is only my second time watching Gong Myoung (ML actor) and he did good... nothing ground breaking but not bad at all. I never really cared about the character of Jeon Jae Yeol (2ML) so the acting was neither here nor there, but Hong Hwa Yeon's character (Park A Jeong/2FL) drove me bananas, so mission accomplished?
Each episode dealt with an employee on Audit's radar, which provided the leads and the rest of the team with an opportunity to create a believable bond. The story was a fun push and pull, and I enjoyed watching the ML fall head over heels. However, the narrative tripped up by having too many unexplored side plots
The Unexamined Life
Filing for Love was somewhat wasteful in storytelling. It would introduce interesting storylines, and then drop them just as fast:
The plotline of the FL's mother being a mistress was such a missed opportunity because the show could have explored how In A being accused of being a mistress herself reminded her of the past and how her mother must have felt. You would think it would be a trigger, but she just gets drunk and gets over it.
The FL's father coming back into her life was pointless. He was hardly in the show and his return didn't lead to any big revelations, and didn't significantly impact her character so what was the purpose?
The ML and 2FL previously dating was totally unnecessary because she didn't develop feelings for him again. The drama could just have had them be work friends and it would have sufficed. It never clearly addressed why she dumped him; she claimed it was because she wasn't good enough, and yet she's suddenly good enough for the chairman (2ML)? The ML doesn't seem to care about their past relationship at all and neither did the show.
The conflict of brothers was never fully explored. They have different mothers and a precarious relationship with their father and it would have been interesting to dig more into that dynamic.
An HR Representative’s Nightmare
The central conflict of the show is an HR representative's nightmare. The FL doesn't want to fall in love with the ML because it could get messy and she has trauma from her absent father, while the ML is living life on vibes apparently and won't let the complexity of their relationship get in the way. And to top it off, the Chairman is also in love with the FL and is now ready to also live off of vibes and be together with her. Thus, the perfect storm ensues and from a work perspective: yikes. The FL shouldn't be out here in these cubicles dating her direct subordinate and the chairman should have never dated the FL. Do they not have relationship disclosures at work? Is the leads relationship okay because it's not an affair? There would totally be a conflict of interest! This is anarchy and I don't blame the Chairman's brother for using it to his advantage.
They really needed Michael Scott to announce their relationship a la Jim and Pam.
Satan’s Secretary: When the Mustache Twirling Villain Doesn’t Have A Mustache
This secretary drove me nuts! She atomic bombed the show for the last three episodes for what? Park A Jeong (2FL) was presented as a secretary who had fallen on hard times and in love with her boss. She previously dated the ML and seemed to still care about him as a friend. So tell me why, all of a sudden, she became a villain devoid of remorse? Sure I guess, she randomly hated the FL because she felt like the FL stole her man, but why try to drag the chairman down too? Supposedly, her love her boss was really just the beard for her hatred for the FL? But then why hate the FL if the 2FL doesn't love her boss? Hell is truly a circle and Park A Jeong is its secretary.
The math truly wasn't mathing, especially when the 2FL announced that this was all her plan? Since when? And why did it require that she move in with the ML? It seemed like the show wanted a surprise villain and landed on the 2FL by default, when Joen Seong Yeol (the brother) would have sufficed given a more fleshed out story. It didn't help that the actress played the 2FL very passively. Maybe she made that choice because there wasn't substance there to begin with, but I couldn't buy into her burning hatred and about face. If a character is going to suddenly become a villain, you should be able to see the drag path (Twenty One Piolet is stuck in my head) and though the reasoning doesn't justify the actions, you should be able see how the character got there. But if not, and a nonsensical villain it is, they should at least have pizazz. But this secretary had neither a real nor metaphorical mustache to twirl, and no ground to stand on while doing so.
And tell me why Jeon Jae Yeol (2ML) offered her a job at the end? I would have only offered her side eye.
Filing For Final Thoughts
Filing For Love was better than I expected, but the aggravating villainess and workplace politics dampened my enthusiasm for the last four episodes. I thought all the actors had great chemistry with each other, which made the romance believable and the threat of the dissolution of the team
a true dilemma. I wouldn't call this a Business Proposal alternative, because Filing For Love felt more mature than just a rom com, but if you are in the mood for a workplace romance/melodrama hybrid, this might fit your bill.
A special shout out to the cast for their desperate struggle to not laugh when Park Hyeon Gyu slapped the rookie in episode 12. I really hope that was impromptu because the cast looked truly unprepared and it was hysterical.
Character Map:
@MDL
RBTS Overall Rating: 7 | ||
Story: | 5 | There are some moral nuances that I think we sped past too quickly and I didn’t care for the workplace politics. But I enjoyed the characters and romance |
Acting: | 8 | The FL actress is very hit and miss for me, but I liked her here. The ML did a good job |
Production Quality: | 8 | Good |
Ending: | 6 | Satan needs to come retrieve his secretary. Too much workplace politics that I didn't care about. |
Enjoyability: | 7.5 | Fine time, minus the last few eps |
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