[DISCLAIMER: SPOILERS AHEAD!]
Kim Dong-Wook is back with another new drama “Special Labor Inspector, Mr. Jo” along with Park Se-Young as the female lead. The first four episodes (30 mins each) portray the harsh reality of unpaid employees and how labor inspectors are known to take sides with the employers instead, leaving these employees helpless.
The story follows Jo Jin-Gap (Kim Dong-Wook) who passed the level nine civil servant exam and was appointed as a labor inspector in the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Getting the most stable job (civil servant) in the world was his goal at first, but he soon realizes the painful aspects of being a labor inspector.
Telling The Story From A Labor Inspector’s Perspective
There are plenty of dramas (such as “Good Manager” and “Feel Good To Die”) that portray helpless employees who are unpaid and suffer from unfair retrenchments. In most of these, the people who help them out are usually employees from within the same companies.
“Special Labor Inspector, Mr. Jo”, however, tells the story from a labor inspector’s point of view, someone who is completely unrelated to any company. These labor inspectors usually have too many cases on hand to follow through and are always working overtime to complete their work. Fighting for the employees’ rights would mean more work, that doesn’t give them a pay raise either.
This creates a struggle between going the extra mile to help these employees get what they deserve while not benefiting the labor inspectors in any way, and doing just enough to get through each day because that makes their lives so much easier.
Strong Character Jo Jin-Gap (Kim Dong-Wook)
We don’t need to worry about Jo Jin-Gap being unable to fend off the bad guys when they play foul and start beating him up first. Jo Jin-Gap was once a strong judo athlete (surprisingly) and can beat up several guys all at once.
With that, we get to see really cool fight scenes which spices up this drama so much more!
And while Jo Jin-Gap is still going around on his own as of now, being alone doesn’t seem to be a huge disadvantage for him. He seems to be good at making use of the situation and the people around him which leaves us anticipating what his next move or plan will be.
No Frustrating Characters (Yet)
In Jo Jin-Gap’s attempt to help the unpaid employees get their rightfully deserved salaries, the characters around him don’t do much to stop him. Instead, some help him out within their own means.
He is also clear on who he can trust right from the beginning, which makes his plans go rather smoothly. No annoying characters obstructing his work (too much) so far, phew!
Precious Comedic Scenes
This drama has surprisingly lots of funny scenes and they are definitely worth looking forward to!
THAT Chemistry
The chemistry between Kim Dong-Wook and Lee Won-Jong was so memorable in “The Guest.” And here, we finally get to see them together again! Seeing its plot, it’s safe to say that neither will be in life-threatening situations (as compared to the nature of the plot for “The Guest“) this time. To add, it seems like Kim Dong-Wook’s chemistry with the other characters have great potential too.
The female lead Joo Mi-Ran (Park Se-Young) hasn’t really come into the picture yet. All we can see now is that she’s a policewoman and is Jo Jin-Gap’s ex-wife. Is her character going to keep it at that? Hopefully, she gets more involved in the episodes to come!
Other than that, this drama already stands out from the rest by putting the spotlight on unpaid employees and labor inspectors alone. Along with its sense of humor and cool fight scenes hitting me at the right spot, it’s almost perfect, but we’ll have to see the rest of the episodes to decide.
RATINGS: 8/10
Be sure to watch the latest episodes of “Special Labor Inspector, Mr. Jo” on KOCOWA!
