A Virtuous Business Season 1 Review – An empowering, well written drama with a rushed ending

Season 1

Episode Guide

Episode 1 -| Review Score – 4.5/5
Episode 2 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 3 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 4 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 5 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 6 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 7 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 8 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 9 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 10 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 11 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 12 -| Review Score – 3/5

 

K-dramas have certainly become more adventurous lately and whether it be the sex-fuelled Hit the Spot or steamy World of the Married, it’s clear that Korean dramas are starting to become a lot more open when it comes to sexually charged conversations and storylines.

A Virtuous Business then is the latest weekend drama from JTBC, set in 1992 and intending to bring sex to the foreground. Of course, this is right in the midst of a much more conservative and traditional South Korea, so inevitably there’s a lot of pushback and friction from the characters within the show to this.

This drama revolves around a housewife called Jeong-suk. Once a runner-up in the local beauty contest, Jeong-suk lives out her days in Geumje with a modest but ordinary life. She has a son, Min-ho, and a layabout partner, Seung-soo. She struggles to get by with what little money they have, but one moment changes everything.

When she catches her partner having an affair, Jeong-suk decides to step up and make a big change in her life. The perfect opportunity arises in a venture called Fantasy Lingerie, where Jeong-suk is joined by mother of 4 Yeong-bok to sell adult products.

While embarking on this odyssey, the pair meet single mother and absolute bundle of energy Ju-ri. She owns her own salon but similarly struggles to get by, however she also embraces her femininity and doesn’t let anyone hold her back.

Contrasting that is Geum-hui. She grew up in a wealthy family and graduated from a prestigious university. She’s married to Won-bong and moved to Geumje where she lives a boring life as a housewife. When these two get mixed up in the business, what ensues is a bond forged for life, and a tale full of twists, turns and humorous developments.

As far as plot outlines go, A Virtuous Business sets itself up as a quirky empowering comedy early on. There are some genuinely hilarious moments as the women try to pedal these products, which range from whips and chains across to naughty lingerie and everything in between. However, as the show continues the tone shifts to much more of a melodramatic and sentimental feel; something more akin to a slow-burn like My Liberation Notes.

Alongside this quirky adult product storyline is a mystery woven through the foundation of the drama. This stems from a new detective in town called Do-hyeon. He’s looking for his birth mum and has traced her origins back to this village. However, he’s not sure where to start and apart from some vague memories, burn marks up his arm and an inkling he’s in the right place, he doesn’t have a lot to go on.

He winds up getting involved with Jeong-suk, and the pair form a bond around their journeys. It’s quite a nice romance that the pair embark on, but the show similarly tries to add in a few other subplots to flesh the run-time out, which ends up being its biggest Achille’s Heel.

We all know that an ending can make or break a K-drama. Vagabond, for example, had a pulsating storyline only to suddenly come to an abrupt close. Love Alarm Season 2 is another, while the least said about Memories of the Alhambra the better! While I’m not about to spoil what happens here, suffice to say the show does that time-jump trope and it does a lot of damage to these subplots as a result.

While the desire in this show is specifically to show Jeong-suk’s character journey, developing from this frail and self-conscious wife to an empowering, independent woman, the show achieves that at the expense of all the other characters.

Yeong-bok and her husband have an arc that’s not really resolved, there’s no mention of the kids, the tenuous future of the business and Ju-ri’s inevitable relationship are all left with ifs, buts and maybes without proper closure. I’m not sure why the show decided to do this because it does sour some of the better work done earlier in the drama.

However, ending woes aside, the show has a really nice vibe when it comes to the friendship surrounding the four women. This is easily the strongest part of the whole series and feels like what fellow K-drama Thirty-Nine was trying to achieve when it dropped on Netflix in 2022. The writers manage to navigate the cliches they all embark on in a fresh and heartwarming way though, while the spotlight shifts across to all four women toward the middle of the drama after exclusively focusing on Jeong-suk for a lot of the opening episodes.

This focus definitely benefits the show as a whole, and understanding the backstory and struggles each of these women have is one of the stand-out elements. This is very much a drama that intends to educate audiences, with the message centering around the power of femineity and embracing the idea of women chasing their own pleasure (both sexually and with life in general) to become a happier person. This definitely comes across really well and the irony here is that I’d argue Jeong-suk – despite starting with the stronger storyline – ends up as the weak link by the end.

I won’t go into spoilers about the individual storylines but all three of these women – Yeong-bok and Geum-hui in particular – have so many hardships in their journeys. Both have a good chunk of screentime dedicated to their situations and by the end, theirs just feel a lot more meaningful compared to Jeong-suk. It almost feels like the writers are self-aware of this too, because as Jeong-suk connects more with Do-hyeon, it becomes less about Jeong-suk’s past and more about her helping others.

Aesthetically, the show looks great and there’s a surprising amount of variation to the small town. While sets are reused as you’d expect, the different houses are all distinct and the costuming department have done a great job with this one, without going too raunchy or all-out during the more sexually charged scenes.

The flashbacks are woven nicely into the drama too, with the usual blurry edges and dreamy music to emphasize this. The episodes aren’t overlong either, which is a bonus, and the editing is pretty sharp across the board. The soundtrack does have some nice tracks on it, with the title song quirky and upbeat, contrasting some of the more soulful ballads.

Despite a few roadbumps along the way, and a disappointing ending, A Virtuous Business is a fun, well-written drama with empowering themes and a lovely message at its core. The chemistry between the four leads is partly what makes this drama shine so brightly, but it’s also helped along by strong backstories and a memorable cast of characters. It’s certainly not perfect, but this is a lovely little treat that’s well worth checking out.

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