Clean with a Passion For Now

I compare this drama to one of those gluten-free and low sugar cheesecakes. It satisfies that drama sweet tooth: you feel full, good about your dessert choice, but you're still missing that graham cracker crust and extra bit of sugary goodness. Would you eat it again? Absolutely, but it's not going to be the scrumptious six-layer chocolate cake you dream about while on week three of your Whole30 diet. Now, for the rankings:

Character Development: 3.5

Costume and Set Design: 2.5

Time Investment: 3

Storyline: 2.5

***WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD***

Synopsis: Gil O-sol is a mid-twenties something girl still struggling to find employment after college. Her passion used to be in track and hurdle sports. In her late teens, her family encounters a devastating event: the accidental death of her mother which occurs during a protested neighborhood renovation. The grief and shock pushes her to give up her talent and focus on athletics due to the aftermath of the untimely passing. After failing to land a job, she ends funneling her athletic talent into becoming an employee at a unique cleaning service. This is where she encounters Jang Sun-Gyeol, the austere owner of the business. This is not their first encounter. Their first two encounters involve a beloved rumba style vacuum, as well as literally crashing into each other with a car and dumpster (all while O-sol is wearing a horse mask. You'll need to watch at least the first episode to get the full context). However, unbeknownst to O-sol, Sun-Gyeol suffers from near crippling mysophobia, or fear of germs.

At the same time, O-sol's father loses his job. Originally, he's been a city cleaner and trash collector. Despite the promise of lifetime employment, he receives a perfunctory dismissal. This leads O-sol to hide the fact she has also taken a job at a janitorial service. Other central plot characters include her younger brother, O-dol, who is an upcoming martial arts athlete. He also ends up having a cute relationship with his noona's best friend (who is not at all pivotal or needed for any plot lines). However, central to the plot line is the third wheel to an uninspiring love triangle involving our main characters. Living in the Gil's rooftop apartment is Choi, commonly and lovingly referred to as "pervert neighbor." Choi was one of the workers involved in the accident which took Mrs. Gil's life. It was turning point in his life, as this was the catalyst for him to quit his construction job and pursue his psychotherapy licence. He's been secretly watching over Gil O-sul ever since.

Loveable and girl-next-door O-sol charms her way into nearly everyone's hearts with her antics and strong work ethic, this includes Sun-Gyeol. She is eventually framed during a legal office cleaning where she is falsely accused of shredding a government endorsed document. This is a set-up by Secretary Gwon, who is secretly working for Sun-Gyeol's up-to-no-good grandfather, CEO Cha. After noticing a decrease in Sun-Gyeol's mysophobic tendencies, all due O-sol's influence, the pair hatched a scheme to get O-sol to be a live-in-maid to Sun-Gyeol by promising to clear her brother's charges of assault and battery. In the close quarters, the two develop feelings, but are unable to actually date when O-sol discovers that CEO Cha is the cause of her mother's death.

The two eventually separate, Sun-Geyol goes to America and helps remove most of his mysophobia. After he returns, it's a happy ending, with all plot lines wrapped up in a tidy bow.

Character Development: I finished this series just as I was picking up The Beauty Inside, see my first impressions post on this series here. It's hard not to compare the two, as they both deal with some severe disorders of prosopagnosia and mysophobia. In this series though, I was left with the impression of almost comical-ness in reference to Sun-Gyeol's fear of germs. There is a nice pace and natural progression of their relationship which makes it believable, but one might be turned off by the many K-drama predict-abilities. Met as children with a dramatic first encounter? Check. Mamma Drama who is opposed to the relationship? Check. Grungy girl turned gorgeous? Check. Love triangle? Check. Daddy, or in this case Grand-daddy, issues related to inheriting a major corporation? Check.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of cute scenes between our squeaky clean couple, and I really enjoyed the drama, watching it all the way to completion. If you are looking for a cute drama--I can't seem to use any other word to describe it except cute--look no further. Much like aforementioned cheesecake, I enjoyed it quite a bit. As for the character development, there is a lot of attention to our antagonists. We get to understand Sun-gyeol's painful journey that leads to his obsessive disorder, as well as the surrounding character sub-plots. Often, the sub-characters are one dimensional and needed to extend the series. This can make or break a series. Don't worry to much though, I thought their stories and scenes were enjoyable and helped support the character development of the central couple.

Costume and Set Design: Nothing stands out as a distraction to the overall story line, but nor do they do anything to set the series apart. I will say the pink jumpsuits remind me of a direct copy of the favor service from Skip Beat (seriously, the exact same shade of pink), but were a cute touch and some branding genius, if they were real. However, there were some sets and unbelievable references in the film, primarily the cleaning office. This looked like a trendy set, but not truly something you'd find in a cleaning service industry. I get why grandpa doesn't take it seriously.

Time Investment: This one follows the averages for Korean dramas. At 16 episodes (around one hour each), this is an easy watch to spread over a couple weeks or weekends. Overall, I'd recommend and I don't think you'll be disappointed in your investment.

Story Line: Clean with a passion for now follows the same architecture commonly found in romantic dramas, and I was missing that feeling of "I can't wait to get home from work to see what happens next!" I ended up spacing the episodes out and returning to my favorite "Scarlet Heart Ryeo" for some more dramatic sequences. That said, this was a nicely paced story, with interesting characters. While they may have stuck to typecast, there is more than enough to keep you interested in the development. I had my fair share of "Oh my gosh, hand-to-face, I can't believe she did that" moments, as well as found myself being very empathetic to Sun-gyeol's plight. His slow, but meaningful attachment which develops for O-sul is both sweet and engaging. Worth the watch, at least once.