Both the characters created a great impact on me. Especially the great affection they shared really mesmerized me. Park Bo-gum is perfect for the role and his expressions .. omg no words to explain.

I just finished this show this morning, and as per my custom, I dropped by to see what your thoughts on it were. I was admittedly surprised that this made the drop list, although after reading your summary I completely understand why. I think many dramas I’ve seen have fallen into the broken-genre category where RomCom plot points are awkwardly mixed with reality, and it does ruin the immersion and suspension of disbelief required to happily navigate a narrative. I appreciate your observations and keen points, and really can’t refute any of them. I think I’m somewhat protected because I don’t know how a real relationship would pan out in a corporate environment, and I know very little about the nuances of Korean life and business practices. Armed with blissful ignorance, it takes a lot for my incredulity to gain traction–particularly if I don’t want it to. I waded through about five false starts before finding “Encounter”, so I was amply motivated to find something I could tolerate. I can’t deny that the lead actress was a draw, and that my mild desperation may have kept me rooting for it longer than I would have under normal circumstances.

However, I will say that this show wasn’t difficult for me to watch, nor did it break for me. It took until the last twenty seconds of the final episode for me to ultimately decide that I liked it, and another twenty minutes or so in the shower afterwards (just before the hot water ran out) to work out why. And here’s what I came up with.

As is befitting a plot that puts a lot of initial focus on photography, the most apt analogy I can make is that this show has a very shallow depth of field. There is really only one thing in focus: perfect love. The company, the setting, the side characters, and even the main characters themselves are largely out of focus; they are merely there to give the love depth, width, contrast, and definition. This incredibly simplified approach is reminiscent of a particular kind of story that seeks to illustrate a concept, quality, moral, or lesson: the fairy tale. (And that is the most usage I have ever given a colon in a single paragraph.)

When you really think about fairy tales, they are incredibly simplistic. There’s a castle, a king, an queen and princess, but the parents have almost no personality, the castle seems tranquil despite the fact that it should be awash with political jousting and posturing, and the princess herself has only a few attributes to her name. She’s kind, pure of heart, and wants to meet her one true love. The prince has even less character than she does, often doing little more than show up. This is a broad, generic example of course, but you get my point. Fairy tales, designed mostly for children, distill a narrative down to its very essence, giving just enough detail to flesh out the world and carry the through-line to a happy ending.

I can’t say with certainty that the folks behind this show intended to make it a fairy tale, but the visuals marking the start of an episode do skew in that direction. Most of the title cards and animations I’ve seen are cute, fun, creative little jaunts that have some relevance to the show, but “Encounter” did something more. Each simple, animated vignette–very reminiscent of the stylized illustrations found in older literature and fairy tale compilations–foreshadowed what was going to happen in the episode in the most general sense. The man and woman would pass each other by, missing when they wanted to meet. A beast, was going to stalk the woman as she moved towards her heart’s desire.

I don’t know what it is about the illustrations, but their simplicity and style managed to communicate so much with so little and set the tone for the show. Very quickly I realized I wasn’t watching a slice of life or romantic comedy. I was watching a poem about love. Unlike other dramas, neither character stumbles or misses a beat until the obligatory crisis near the end. Jin Hyuk’s pursuit is pure, persistent, patient and perfectly timed. When he asks for something, it’s when Soo Hyun is ready to give it. When she is uncomfortable, he recedes but is not daunted or discouraged. Soo Hyun relinquishes to the pursuit when she realizes what her heart wants, pausing only to acknowledge a hurdle before jumping over it. Time and again adversity rears its head, and yet the two continue to become more intimate, more open, more honest, and more intertwined with each other.

The dialogue very rarely goes beyond their feelings, and how much they long to be with one another. In fact, the one time they actually talk about something other than love or food, they realize they are very different. They don’t enjoy doing the same things, they don’t have the same aspirations. I was hoping the show would tap into those differences and work through them, but they seem to exist simply to say, “We’re not a perfect match, but we’re still perfect for each other”.

In short, their relationship is what love can be when we don’t get in the way. It wasn’t perfectly smooth, but it didn’t have the real human setbacks, stalls, feints, facades, pride, and fears that beset most couples and threaten to derail intimacy. The reality is that love is always changing its expression, and it’s impossible to be what the other person or relationship itself needs all the time. This is the dynamic that most dramas focus on, and it provides the ebb and flow of a show and the growth of its characters.

Such is not the case with the main characters in this show. Soo Hyun and Jin Hyuk are representatives, demonstrating how beautifully love can be discovered, celebrated, embraced and expressed at different times and through different circumstances without hindrance. Their journey is surreal, even for a drama–which is saying a lot.

Everything became clear when I stopped to think, “What the heck are they gonna talk about once they’re married? Is he just gonna keep smiling and saying how much he loves her? Is she going to just express how much she likes being around him?” In most dramas, the characters are figuring out love amidst their daily lives. When the show is over, you have an idea of what things will be like afterwards, and there’s a long trail behind them to show how far they’d come to reach their happy ending.

But “Encounter” was about just that. The encounter. There was no substance beyond the love. Nothing else mattered. The characters and story had no more depth than the animations that heralded the start of each episode, but for me they didn’t need to. While I don’t think it’s a story written for children, it is very childlike in its approach. Even the orchestral tracks have a fantastic, distant vibe that makes me feel like I’m watching a classic tale retold rather than a contemporary piece of drama.

I said I didn’t realize I ultimately like the show until the final seconds. Prior to that, I was kinda feeling robbed. Instead of an amazing final scene that tied into the first episode or visuals that gave a moment of catharsis, the show ended with a montage showing peaks of intimacy underscored by the leads reciting a poem that had been introduced earlier. It was then that I realized it was love’s journey through those events that I connected with, not the characters themselves.

I’ll admit, nothing I’ve said really makes an argument for this being a good show. Quite the opposite in fact. While there is tension, there’s not really a lot of conflict. Most of the characters get along and become likable in their own way. There are antagonists, but they don’t really have much bite. And to say that I don’t really care too much about the leads at the end of it all seems to be more of a scathing indictment than praise. But think of classic fairy tales. Sometimes the characters don’t even have proper names, and the ones that do have little to distinguish themselves other than their physical appearance and the situation they are put in. It’s the adventure and promise of love’s realization that carries you through the story.

It’s not often you come across a show that is driven by a theme more than by characters. Historically I’ve never much cared for stories that don’t have compelling people to follow, and in general I think it’s a dicey way to craft a story. Most of the reviews here can attest to that! 🙂 But there was a great deal of resonance when I heard that music and those poetic words, and saw images of an infallible love manifesting itself in two people’s lives. It would have been a perfect fit to see, “And they lived happily ever after” at the end. Not as an empty tagline to put a superficial bow on the whole story, but to say that what was truth and love before is now, and forever will be. It will never be as beautiful and pure this side of Heaven, but it does exist and it does move through, between and for us just as powerfully and fully without condition or end.

It’s a moving illustration and a welcome promise for those of us hoping and longing for such an encounter.

I’m sorry to be always so late in my long run in the dramaland but I have just finished watching Boyfriend. I’m a little late with my observations, right?
I agree with you that setting a love story between a trainee and his CEO creates unresolvable and perhaps bad-resolved ethical issues throughout the drama. These questions are treated in a superficial way, but I am very sorry that you have finished your watching at episode 10 because the more difficult the relationship between the two becomes,more the acting qualities of Park Bo Gum emerge t (and yes also for me he is the reason why I watched this drama to the end).
At one point he steals the scene so much from Song Hye Kyo that plays in a monotonous and still manner showing all her limits.
SO I decided to see this narrative as the journey of transformation of a young man who has known love up until then in an abstracted and dreamy way and on books and novel in a man who accepts the agony that love often entails with courage without becoming cynical nor ridiculously sentimental, accepting to travel through suffering and excitement together. In this, PBG it is extraordinary because he makes the smallest emotional nuances so precisely, authentic and moving that sometimes I wonder where he finds all those expressive possibilities. He’s also so young …

Well, I endured the whole drama. Just stubborn I guess. I had my doubts about this ‘working’ in the first place. The age difference of our leads, the friendships involved among the actors, etc. which resulted for me as NO chemistry between our leads. But writernim seriously had some issues with the story line. Like you say, Fangirl, the whole story’s premise was totally messed up. I had a difficult time accepting Jin Hyuk as a believable character. Sorry to say, this character was just a bit on the ‘too sweet to be true’ side. Only in the last two episodes did some grit come out of this character and he became somewhat believable. SHK’s character.. was so one dimensional. Even after she realized she had to stop living for others, I found her character without a great deal of interesting aspects. Let’s not even mention the mother’s of our lead characters…really, seriously!?! And I to found the secondary characters so much more interesting and entertaining than the lead characters. I’m not knocking acting skills of PBG or SHK…I’m having issues with the script. Lavish and beautiful, but the script….really smelled, really, really, smelled! Would it have worked better if he’d for true been a fruit seller? Oh and btw, did they have to film with the filters that made everyone one but Driver Nam look like they had the skin of a three year old?

Dropped it on episode 5. Despite how I wanted to like and enjoy this drama, the two gorgeous lead characters do not seem to be enough. I was excited to watch it at first as I have seen them work for a while now. I was not asking much and was just hoping for some nice and charming scenes, but failed to see it.

Hey KFG! Been awhile. I got notified about this review and figured I’d check it out just for fun. (Haven’t been able to watch much of anything since last we spoke.) I enjoy your mental breakdowns–of the material, that is–and how much you dig to find out why you like/dislike a show.

First, I appreciate your shout out to The Proposal–I enjoyed that flick a lot. Sandy B and Deadpool make a good couple. 🙂 Oddly enough, it was your mention of this movie that got me thinking about what you said regarding genre mingling.

I started to think about a lot of the K-Drama/comedies I’ve watched, and many of them seem to have what I consider RomCom elements with real world consequences. Oftentimes the real-world aspect is what comprises the rising action, and it frequently dovetails with the climax of the romantic arc. There are comedic moments, but they are accents; they aren’t part of the mechanisms that drive the plot.

Since I haven’t seen this, I may be way out of line, but it sounds like the problem isn’t having RomCom moments with a drama, but rather having RomCom elements as part of the plot mechanics. This is where your reference to The Proposal comes in. That movie works because they are NOT together the whole time; they are antagonists. We as the audience know the banter and jousting are all in the name of love, but no one would accuse them of being in cahoots. They only get together at the end (as is typical), and we don’t really see them working out the logistics of sorting out their personal and professional lives.

I don’t think the arrangement you describe in this show works even if it was pure RomCom fun. RomComs allow for bizarre one-off interactions, crazy capers, and awkward moments, but they don’t perpetually warp the laws of social interaction and professional etiquette. Sure, some cabby may be a little kinder to a Lead trying to catch up to his paramour in a last-ditch romantic gesture than a real life driver would be, and perhaps the amount of traffic isn’t realistic for that time of day, but those are largely negligible details. Some of the super-cheesy moments I even see as possible winks from the filmmakers: “Yeah, when you’re in love, it seems like everyone is awesome and everything is great–even though that ain’t reality”.

But having the plot revolve around a relationship that is a bit too absurd even for rose-colored glasses would certainly make for a strained viewing experience. I don’t presume to tell ya why ya did or didn’t like it, particularly when I haven’t seen it and you’ve given it so much thought. I just realized as I was reading your synopsis that in every American RomCom I’ve seen, there’s always tension between the leads that isn’t resolved until the end (in most cases). Even the few Korean/Chinese shows I’ve watched that involve work-related connections don’t allow the Leads to officially come together until the final act when they typically unite to thwart the big-bad that has been scheming behind the scenes.

I could be way off. I was just trying to apply the RomCom vs reality conundrum to other stuff I’ve seen so as to help me avoid such pitfalls when writing my own stuff, and I was like, “Wait a sec! Even RomComs conform to reality when it’s important”. …But then again it is late and my brain feels very much like the sponge that it is.

In any case, thank you for the analysis and the gentle warning about the tone this show takes. I’m sure I suspend disbelief for shows I really like, but I feel like that involuntary, subconscious decision has to happen in the first ten minutes of the show. From the way you described the opening episode, I think I would have been swiftly deterred from pressing on.

Keep watching, keep analyzing, keep digging!

All the Best!

Well my dear no one can say that you didnt try. You lasted 6 episodes more than I did. I appreciate the post because it confirms what I already suspected that this show and I were not a match. Sad too because I love PARK BO GUM as well.

I’m also in the “love this drama” camp, and have no problems reconciling the dichotomy of the romance vs. real world. This is a very likely scenario this day and age of a much powerful, wealthy, and successful women dating a younger, less success man, and it ups the ante by making that man her subordinate. Your real world would likely have real heartburn with this—-and we see this even more the episodes you haven’t watched (13-14). I agree with @growingbeautifully that this story is from Seo Hyun’s perspective as well, and she is incredibly damaged, has never made a personal decision without the blessing of her family, doesn’t allow herself to be loved, and feels guilty for her position and notoriety dragging someone else down the road she has lived, not seeing a way out. She’s been emotionally abused all her life and bears those scars everywhere she goes. She’s likely depressed as well (and you see it more these latter episodes) which could explain her first misstep in taking a sleeping pill and going out. She keeps everyone at a safe distance, including Jin-Hyuk, so when he intermittently breaks down a wall and gets her to forget who she is, it’s a monumental scene. And ths would include those balcony kisses. Apparently, balconies are some mental portal device for her because she’s not afraid to lose a little control there.

The last two episodes solidified how I relate with this show though, because Seo Huyn’s inner struggle is front and center and I really empathize with her. I don’t think she ever has figured out who she really is or what she really wants in life. Everyone has told her who she should be and what she should do. Sure, she’s a successful CEO of a large hotel, but she didn’t get there on her own volition, it was pushed on her as part of the divorce settlement, and it gave her something outside her depressed personal life to do and do well, giving her some self confidence in the process. But she is still incredibly unsure of herself, and still reverting to her default of pleasing others before thinking of her own happiness. The little beats with Jin-Hyuk play are in the background as you see her story unfold in the foreground. At least this it what is seems to me. She lives is this very real world as you so eloquently put, and Jin-Hyuk and everything about him is a dream that she can’t quite believe yet. In Cuba, she allows herself to live in that dream state, but in Korea, the real world comes crashing down again and she can’t quite hold on to that dream. This is why I enjoy them in Cuba so much more and hope we visit there again by the end of the show.

I think this show shot beautifully for the most part. The paintings in the last episode in particular and how she in the same space with them, with them mirroring her emotion, loneliness, fighting a battle within, was poignant for me. There’s a lot that is said just by where she is in the frame, she’s never at the center, always off center, giving the viewer a sense that she is never the focus of her own life, she’s always putting herself as far away from the focus as possible and you feel very sad for her. I’m watching for scenes without Jin-Hyuk where she will be in the center of the frame. You notice that he is centered most of the time he is in a shot and she is when she is with him, but she needs to take control of her own life, be her own center, and make her own happiness before she can find happiness with him. But why would you not make Bo-gum the focus of attention in a frame every time? 😅

Thanks for giving us your take on Boyfriend kfangurl.

I’m in the mildly liking the show gang. Not crazy about it, but not hating it either. I mostly feel positive enough, so I’ll keep watching.

I was thinking about what you said about a clash of genres, and wondering if I could categorize this show. Although the main thrust is romance, I did not ever consider it a comedy. The rom without the com, I felt is more the genre. On looking back I find that despite the surreal first encounter setting, this show was firmly underpinned by a stark reality that is Soo Hyun’s world.

Hers was/is a stifled, unhappy existence where most big decisions were imposed upon her, even the divorce that was supposed to free her. I guess I see the show as an exploration of whether someone so controlled and nurtured to serve and accommodate the interests of others, and to not rock the boat, would be able to take the steps to really free herself.

The show is also called Encounter, which may help to balance out the perspective of the relationship and reality from both sides ie Jin Hyuk’s and Soo Hyun’s perspectives. But show is also entitled ‘Boyfriend’ which might be more accurate for me since I feel this show is more about Soo Hyun’s growth. Calling it Boyfriend refers to seeing the world from Soo Hyun’s perspective.

I see it more as a story from Soo Hyun’s point of view, her development as a character who finally dared to be happy, dared to stand up for herself and regain or get for the first time, agency in how she lived. What it took was a chance encounter with someone who was not as fettered as she was, and who dared to stand up for her, when she was unable to stand up for herself. There are ups and downs in her growth of course, and I was observing a down with the last episode as Soo Hyun stared at a painting of a female body, painted from shoulders down only and in a dress more like a shroud. The headless, ‘dead’ lady was a poignant comment and reminder of how she had lived her life for many years.

The animation as preview and epilogue of several episodes struck me not so much as being light or magical, but rather in the fairy tale tradition of the Grimms Brothers, ie, …er …more grim. They often denoted that one or both parties in the couple overcame odds. Not all epilogues were positive. In the usual drama tradition of pitting the couple against 1 obstacle after another, this couple too had/has to grapple with external and internal obstacles each episode.

The interesting thing is that what bothered them initially were not the usual, she’s too old/he’s too young or she’s divorced, but more whether they could withstand the judgement from outside. Only in the later episodes we see Soo Hyun grappling with real life issues faced when a couple tries to bridge the great divide between the influential and the un-influential. Between her position as CEO and his as new recruit. This was probably always a concern of Soo Hyun’s, but when brought to the fore by an external party, it re-lit the internal doubts and guilt.

Regardless of the romantic Driver Nam, the positive-thinking Jin Hyuk and the approving dads, Soo Hyun will still have to weather the wrath of those who’s control she has disdained and the woes of Jin Hyuk’s family (and friends?) and this continues to be dealt with in a serious way.

After all that, I guess I’d categorize this show as just a serious romance, therefore there’s no clash of genres for me. I’ll not even be surprised (except that it will be very daring of this writer and PD, so it’s surprising if they did go this way with a kdrama) if the ending was opposite from what I guess the majority want, ie, if it was NOT a happily ever after. That, to me would be much more interesting.