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On the surface, this looks like a romance focused drama, which to be honest, was why I started watching. Don't be fooled by some of the promotional posters; while there is romance and romantic drama, I wouldn't put this series in either category. Rather, this is a story celebrating three capable women, all in their late thirties, who just happen to be in different stages of their relationships. This series got little attention, so when I was in the mood for something modern, I stumbled across this drama. Outside of Lee Da-Hee, who I liked in The Beauty Inside (see my review, here), I wasn't familiar with any of the cast. While I wasn't hooked with the first episode, I was definitely intrigued.

Starting with our central leading lady, we have 38-year old Bae Ta-mi. Her job: one of the senior directors for South Korea's #1 search engine, Unicon. When Unicon's top executives, including the CEO and the primary director, intentionally manipulate and delete Unicon's search hits and articles related to one of the current presidential candidates, it's immediately noticed by the public. The outcome directly affects the result of who wins the election. This puts Unicon under fire and they are subpoenaed for testimony in a national case. The director happens to be our second lead actress and character Song Ga-kyeong. Because of she is a daughter to one of the nation's most powerful families, the decision is made to have Ta-mi be the spokesperson for Unicon, as well as the media's punching back. Rather than become a pawn, Ta-mi takes decisions into her own hands by turning national focus to a dirty politician and using it as a social debate for privately owned web portals and search engines. This causes a national sensation. However, even after nearly 15 years of working for Unicon, they make up a bogus reason and fire Ta-mi. This pushes her to accept a job for Unicon's largest competitor, Barro, where she meets our third player in the series: Scarlett (Cha Hyun). These two have had passing interaction before, and Scarlett makes no effort to hide her intense dislike to both Bae Ta-mi's approach to business and her ethics. The relationship between the two is one of the best parts of this series.

The other aspects I liked is how this drama attempts to tackle some different issues, sometimes successfully, that don't show up in your typical dramas. First, all three women are successful (if you discount Ta-mi's recent dismissal) and competent in their respective positions. No climbing up the corporate ladder here; the drama starts off with them all at the pinnacle and having to navigate the fast-paced and high stress environments of Korean tech industries. Relationships also take center stage, with the most intriguing being Ta-mi's on again/off again boyfriend, Park Morgan. A CEO of a video game music production company, Morgan is instantly captivated by Ta-mi's kick-butt attitude, her competitiveness, and her intensity. He's clear in his intentions in wanting to pursue a long-term relationship, but insecurities arise with Ta-mi being 10 years older than Morgan. She's settled and comfortable in her lifestyle, and the drama surrounds their relationship facing the social pressure of marriage and age differences. I wasn't satisfied with the watery conclusion of their relationship, as it seemed out of character for Ta-mi, but the open interpretation isn't something you see a lot in K-dramas, so I understand the effort in trying to write something modern for such strong characters. Lastly, in the background is the dialogue and ethical ramifications of government control over search engines and access to private user data. My critique of the series is how they scratch the surface on these thought-provoking topics, but they all resolve themselves in the series without much conflict. There was a lot of "fluff" with search engine shenanigans, which takes up considerable air time in each episode. I felt this could've been re-purposed to go deeper into these stories, their characters, and their conflicts.

With the themes and social discussion happening in the background, this doesn't feel predictable or forced. It's also refreshing to see women in the drama making choices for their self-interest versus self-sacrifice. I will say that Ta-mi's choices in the first episode are what drew me into watching. In one particular scene, she has to go pick out a new lipstick. She knows she's being thrown under the proverbial bus, and this is essentially her preparation for battle. In her own words, she wants to look as "tough as f**k" before single-handedly throwing the gauntlet for an ethical debate while on a nationally televised investigation. I instantly liked her fighter attitude and felt it set a strong tone for what was to come. Combined with some funnier relationships, e.g. Scarlett's love interest, and more mysterious characters such as Ga-kyeong's husband, there is no lack of drama to keep you holding on until the last episode.