My Mister/My Ahjussi: An Instant Classic

As always, there are MAJOR SPOILERS in this episode so if you haven’t seen it yet, go watch it and then come back and listen. 

1:05: We celebrate a big milestone for our little podcast: 10,000 listens! When we started, we never imagined we'd have listeners worldwide in places like India, Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil, Finland, Nigeria, and many more countries. Thank you for listening and for your comments & support!

3:35: Introduction to My Mister/My Ahjussi, including some background on casting controversies before the drama aired because of false rumors that IU and Lee Sun Kyun would have a romantic relationship in the drama.

6:47: We refer to the show as My Ahjussi even though it is called My Mister on Netflix because the word ahjussi has meanings that the word mister can’t convey. Ahjussi means a middle aged man but also carries connotations of someone who is laughable or contemptible. Also, if you can, watch it on Viki.com instead of Netflix. The subtitles are vastly better and provide context for many words and phrases (Fighting!)

10:20: Those first three episodes of My Ahjussi are very dark and a lot of people struggle to get through them (if Alisa hadn’t strong-armed Melanie into watching she would’ve dropped in those early episodes). But it’s worth powering through because once you’re hooked, you’ll be treated to one of the best written, acted, and directed dramas of all time.

16:03: Melanie (and everyone else) got sucked back into the narrative on a rewatch—and that includes crying all over again. She also treasures this drama for keeping you engaged to the very end—especially now that she’s seen a lot of dramas and understands how rare that is.

21:29: We discuss the visual symbolism of the show. For example, both Dong Hoon and Ji An carry heavy bags symbolizing the weight of their emotional burdens. You can see more examples in a Twitter thread created by Alisa: https://twitter.com/BollywoodNewbie/status/1330736450971729920. Katherine also weighs in on the drama’s brilliant sound production and the role that characters listening plays in the narrative.

26:57: Vickey points out that My Ahjussi feels more like a Korean film than a typical Kdrama both in visuals and style of storytelling.

28:30: Melanie talks about Ji An wiretapping the phone and how that plot device gives her character access to Dong Hoon’s life and learns how a good person lives his life—something she’s never experienced before. It also gives us, the viewers, access to the character in a way that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Alisa points out that it’s a slice of life show but with genre elements that drive the plot forward. 

31:03: We discuss Dong Hoon’s wife and how the drama makes you sympathize with her even though she’s having an affair. Dong Hoon is a very flawed husband. We also talk about how the drama portrays the joys and pain of family and the ways they can both support you and drag you down. 

34:06: Katherine points out a real social problem in Korea, which is older men being forced out of their jobs in their 40s and 50s and ending up in dead end jobs and poverty. This is the backdrop to many of the conflicts in the drama. 

37:31: Melanie launches a long conversation on the nature of the relationship between Ji An and Dong Hoon. They care for each other, they have an affinity of souls, they enjoy being in each other’s company, but there is a lot of ambiguity around how exactly they feel about each other. There’s no overt romance in the drama but do they have romantic feelings for each other?

43:22: What is up with Dong Hoon hitting Ji An hard enough to knock her to the ground? Why did he do that? Was it because he was catching feelings for her and got scared? 

45:29: Melanie points out that the show uses romantic tropes in key scenes of the drama. Alisa adds that people can have romantic feelings for each other without acting on them and that the show wants you to think Dong Hoon and Ji An are soulmates. We get REALLY loud discussing this point 😆. We all agree that we’re glad there wasn’t a romance because it would just be wrong.

50:08: We discuss IU’s uncle fans and her song Uncle and hoooooo boy. How does this inform the drama and its themes as well as the lack or presence of implicit romance between Ji An and Dong Hoon.

52:47: We discuss the open ending and the intent of the writer. We think that it’s deliberately left open so that if you want to believe Ji An and Dong Hoon have a romance after the drama is over you can infer that but if you believe they simply have a mentor-mentee relationship you can infer that as well. Clever writers! 

1:00:17: Alisa brings up the scene where Dong Hoon gets into a fight with the loan shark and how it appears in the episode where a love declaration would happen in a typical drama. “It’s not a moment associated with fatherly feelings.”

1:02:12: Katherine discusses how My Ahjussi has many similarities to saeguks (Korean historical dramas), particularly the plot around the corporate succession battle. The aging king, two warring camps with one side using dirty tricks to win, and the One Good Man, and that’s Dong Hoon.

1:07:15: We discuss how complex and nuanced most of the characters are, even those who are ostensibly villains. For example, the oldest brother who starts out stealing his daughter’s wedding money and ends up paying for Ji An’s grandmother’s funeral.

1:08:42: We discuss bar owner Jeong Hui and her ex-boyfriend, the monk. They aren’t major characters but their story is thematically important to the whole story. This also touches on the themes of Buddhism in the drama, which are very present in the story (but which alas we aren’t qualified to discuss in very much depth).

1:16:22: Each of the supporting characters gets a moment to show off their acting. The leads are amazing but all the way down you have story arcs and a rich tapestry of storytelling and you feel like you know all of these people. Most of the time side characters are disregarded and you don’t feel connected but in My Ahjussi you are invested in all of the supporting characters.

 1:23:58: We have a long conversation about Dong Hoon’s wife and how she was treated in her marriage (not well!). But this just illustrates how all of the characters are complex and flawed, including the male lead. 

1:31:34: We spend some time praising IU for her unique talents. We don’t think any other actor could’ve portrayed Ji An the way she did.