The Prime Minister and I (The Prime Minister is Dating) Korean Drama Review

The Prime Minister and I happens to be one of the few recent dramas that both of us watched together, so we’re going to do a joint review on this one. A warning: spoilers will most definitely abound in this review. Here we go!

The Story: A spunky female paparazzi reporter is assigned to write a story about Korea's most eligible bachelor, the Prime Minister, a very serious, overworking widower who is out of touch with his three children. Through a series of misunderstandings, a scandal erupts where the public believes she is his lover. The only way out of it? A pretend marriage, of course! Which is also in her favor because she has a terminally ill father whose dying wish is to walk his daughter down the aisle. Will this contract marriage turn into real love???
Answer: Obviously, yes.

Coco: I fell in love with Prime Minister and I in the beginning because of the personality of the female lead. She was smart, fun, and adventurous. 

Vivi: Same here. She was so sassy! Even though there was an age gap between the two, she didn’t let the male lead push her around.

I do have to say, though, that I’m still upset that she just dropped her scooter in the middle of traffic. Spunky, yes. Safe? No. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SCOOTER?

Coco: It was just a casualty of the trade. One reason I loved her was because she had the funnest job. Who wouldn’t secretly love to be paparazzi? Even though everyone “hates” them, you know you peek at tabloids while in line at supermarkets. I think sneaking around and taking photos of people and prying into their personal lives sounds like a blast. Right? I was just sad that this side of her so quickly disappeared.

Vivi: Look, I was just happy that she started with a job, period. At no point in time was she on the brink of homelessness! That’s female empowerment right there. But yes, I feel like they set her up with a unique, rooftop-sneaking personality, and it just disappeared the second she got married and started straightening her hair. Is she like Samson or something? The curls give her power? In the end, she was this deflated version of her former self. Typical bland, nice female lead.

Exhibit A: Curly and sassy on left, Straight and dull on right.

Coco: Agreed. It was kind of strange because we didn’t even get to see the transition or makeover. Suddenly she was wearing dresses instead of jeans and it barely mentioned that leaving her job and becoming a housewife was any kind of a loss for her. She mentioned that it was hard for her to be in the house all day once, but there was no talk about it after that. As much as the ending plot device of the female lead venturing off on her own to find herself gets tiresome, in this case it made up for it a little.

Vivi: No way. She ventured off to become a successful author, which appears to be the new Kdrama version of the “fashion designer.” Remember Marry Him If you Dare? She did the same thing.

Coco: Plus, if I think about it, it was really more of a sign of her domestication. Since she was struggling with becoming a mother to these children, becoming a children’s book writer is the tamest version of her former career.

Vivi: Yes, exactly that. But what makes it even worse is that they domesticated her into a nice housewife, and then SHE ABANDONED THE CHILDREN! What kind of logic is that? “You know what would totally help these poor, abandoned children? If I ALSO abandoned them! Their mom is in town--this is the only possible answer!” Because we all know that kids can only handle one loving person in their lives at a time.

Coco: Yes, that seemed like the worst idea ever. As if they weren’t traumatized enough. I don’t think that piece of writing was true to her character. I think they just fell into the noble selfless love plot device, which as we’ve already discussed, is stupid and awful. Not to mention that it just led to the whole thing evolving from a fun romantic comedy to a lackluster melodrama.

Vivi: Yeah, aside from the deflated female lead, that’s the second big problem with this show. It turned into a melodrama, but it was a shallow melodrama. Instead of going into depth with the actual real-life problems they were facing (him dealing with his wife’s death, her dealing with her dad and struggling to fit into her new role), it felt like the writers were just saving up random plot devices (He got stabbed!) that they could toss in for emotional impact. It felt cheap. I hated all of the boooooooring political intrigue, and the whole side story with the wife dragged everything down so that I didn’t really care about any of it.

Coco: Yes, I wish they had never brought her back to life. It would have been much more interesting if they had just focused on him dealing with his wife’s betrayal and death and the guilt he felt, and her dealing with the fact that she was giving up her life and personality while also dealing with her dad’s terminal illness. It makes me think that the writers just added that storyline in because ratings were slipping and they thought people might be more interested in a melodrama. I would have instead liked to see their relationship develop as they each find identities that make them happy with each other’s help. 

Vivi: The one consistent positive for me was Lee Bum Soo as the prime minister. Yes, there was a patch in the middle where the writers made him shout at his wife a little too much for my taste, but I thought he handled the role really well overall. I genuinely liked the prime minister, and that was 100% due to acting. Yoona did well with what she had, but she didn’t get much to work with for the last third of the drama. They were so cute together!

Coco: I loved Yoona, and I think she did a great job even though her character degenerated. And it’s not like her character became totally unlikeable. There were aspects of her that were lovely and admirable, but she just lost the spirit and feistiness that would have made me want to be her best friend. I will definitely watch her next drama because she is really cute and fun as an actress. Let’s just hope that next time she has better material.

Vivi: I felt the worst for Yoon Si Yoon, though. Poor guy got nothing to do the whole time. I guess he got to practice his worried face a lot?

Coco: The only other drama I had seen him in was Flower Boy Next Door, and I wasn’t a fan of his childlike, slightly annoying character. This drama actually made me like him a whole lot more. He’s really pretty good at crying. But he played a second male lead that I only felt somewhat torn over. At the end when he’s like, then just date me, I was like, ok that would be pretty good, but I wasn’t crying inside that she chose the Prime Minister instead.

Vivi: You’re right. I liked him even though he just had to be sad all of the time. How I feel about these characters is how I feel about the drama in general. It wasn’t actively bad; it just lost the magic towards the end. I certainly wasn’t nearly as angry with this drama as I was with some others that I’ve seen.

Coco: You know what was actively bad though? The fact that there was NO KISS! A handshake? SERIOUSLY?

Vivi: I wonder if it’s in Lee Bum Soo’s contract that he can’t go past a hug. The same thing happened in History of a Salaryman. Maybe his wife gets too jealous?

I actually didn’t completely hate the handshake at the end. (*waits to be attacked). I mean, I didn’t love it, but I got that it was trying to be symbolic. Besides, I was much more upset that we didn’t get a scene with the kids at the end.

Coco: True! How cute was that little boy? He sent me into some serious baby hungriness as only really adorable Asian kids can.

Vivi: Man Seeeeeeeeeeeee!

Coco: If I had stopped watching The Prime Minister and I halfway through I would probably have added it to my favorites list, and maybe even to the recommendations list, but it took a nosedive due to writing and I honestly struggled to make myself watch the last couple of episodes. 

Vivi: Ditto to all of that. 

What did you think of The Prime Minister and I? Comment below!

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