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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Please Come Back, Mister" Episode 6

Yeong-soo continues the mission here to harass his wife and co-worker regarding a perceived romantic entanglement between the two. When it comes to Ji-hoon (played by Yoon Park), I can almost be all right with it, because Ji-hoon is definitely up to something suspicious. But Da-hye is a grieving widow working in a department store that may have murdered her husband. Doesn't the woman have enough to deal with? Is this really the time for abusive pep talks? Even bearing in mind that Yeong-soo has friendly moments too they don't cancel out his often terrifying disposition.

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Gi-tak's storyline fares somewhat better, because I-hyeon would have been dealing with these problems even if Gi-tak hadn't died. There's also much better tension. Observe how during the press conference there's this constant, palpable fear that I-hyeon is going to be brutally humiliated somehow. Yet she fights that, because this is the path I-hyeon chose for herself. Gi-tak's encouraging role in this context actually manages to be decently helpful.

The two central storylines in "Please Come Back, Mister" don't really have that much to do with each other. For this reason it's hard to tell who the real culprit here is when it comes to the drama's more uneven problems. Is it the writing? The direction? Or is the real issue casting? I find that Oh Yeon-seo and Lee Hanee tend to put in much better performances than Rain and Lee Min-jung, although that may just be a matter of proper tone.

Lest I come off as too dour, "Please Come Back, Mister" is able, every so often, to pull off some decent slapstick. The department store confrontation, just as an example, ends up going completely off the rails, and the sheer uncomfortable-looking nature of the visuals does manage to sell the scene. If nothing else I have to give the cast credit for dedication. That scene must have been hugely uncomfortable for all involved parties.

But in the long run what does this scene accomplish? Well, it sets up a modeling subplot which I have no idea how to place in the story, given that Yeong-soo and Gi-tak have so much more pressing and urgent matters to attend to. Although then again the villains are so generic I have trouble getting excited about any of the revelations here. Mostly I just noticed that a disproportionate amount of sinister corporate scheming appears to take place in Japanese tearooms. Well, if you got to do it, do it in style I guess.

Review by William Schwartz

"Please Come Back, Mister" is directed by Sin Yoon-seob, written by Noh Hye-yeong and features Rain Kim Soo-ro, Kim In-kwon, Oh Yeon-seo, Lee Min-jung, Lee Hanee, Choi Won-young, Yoon Park and more

 

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