Season 1 |
|
|
Episode Guide
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10
Episode 11
Episode 12
Episode 13
Episode 14
Episode 15
Episode 16
With its finale airing on September 20th, Good Partner, the light legal workplace K-drama, has steadily grown in popularity. With an average nationwide viewership rating of 15.7%, Good Partner is certainly one of the more popular dramas to come out in recent months.
This sunbae-hoobae K-drama revolves around two women lawyers who are starkly different in their lifestyles and work. Han Yu-ri is a recent law school graduate who joins one of the top law firms in the country, Daejeong.
Although her first choice was the corporate law department, she’s assigned to the divorce cases department instead. Here, she meets her mentor, Cha Eun-kyung, the country’s top divorce attorney.
Being the most sought-after attorney, Eun-kyung is a workaholic, often neglecting her personal life and health for her job—eating kimbap to save time during lunch, working late into the night, and returning home to find her daughter fast asleep. Despite this, the public views Eun-kyung as a go-getter, an elite lawyer with both her career and family life seemingly in order.
Things take a turn when Yu-ri accidentally discovers that Eun-kyung’s husband, Kim Ji-sang, is having an affair with Eun-kyung’s secretary, Choi Sa-ra. While handling Eun-kyung’s divorce case, both women develop a camaraderie that helps them heal from their past traumas and move forward in their lives.
The narrative structure of the K-drama is linear, but the plot is clearly divided into three thematic parts—the beginning, which focuses on Yu-ri and Eun-kyung’s struggles with each other and their past demons; the middle, which revolves around Eun-kyung’s divorce lawsuit; and the end, which sees Yu-ri and Eun-kyung grow as individuals.
However, the attempt to stage these three plot progressions makes the show feel chaotic at times. Much of the charm of a light legal K-drama transforms into melodrama, which, while exciting, is largely fuelled by infidelity tropes.
The show eventually starts to fall into tropes like female characters either portrayed as unrepentant cheaters like Choi Sa-ra or helpless victims.
The show becomes oddly chaotic, often glossing over explanations to focus on its more positive aspects. Take, for example, Eun-kyung’s character.
She is portrayed as a strong-willed, elite lawyer, but the fact that she’s an absent parent is a glaring reality. Although she expresses guilt over this and earns redemption by the end with her daughter Jae-hui’s forgiveness, the focus remains primarily on her positive qualities.
In contrast, the entire villainous role is shifted onto Choi Sa-ra, who by the end of the show is the perfect example of a stereotypical adulteress.
Several instances of convenient plot progression and character development occur, such as Yu-ri’s sudden 180-degree change in attitude. She abandons all her prior reservations in one particular case and becomes an almost fervent supporter of her. The exact turning point in her behaviour is unclear. While one might argue that she begins to sympathize with and understand Eun-kyung, her sudden character change as soon as the lawsuit ends feels rushed.
Despite its problematic nuances and subtexts, Good Partner does an incredible job of portraying the complexities of human relationships, particularly those between parents and children, and how divorce affects children more than the adults involved.
The show sensitively portrays the relationship between Jae-hui and her parents. Another great addition is the theme of women reclaiming their individuality in relationships, as we watch many married women attempt to rediscover their identities through divorce, including Eun-kyung.
By the end of the show, Eun-kyung experiences some character growth as she attempts to balance work and life, while Yu-ri transforms from a rookie lawyer into a star attorney.
Much of Good Partner’s initial charm, before it took a predictable melodramatic turn, lay in its interesting and wholesome case-by-case narrative structure, which is reclaimed by the end of the show, providing an emotional high.
However, the finale feels somewhat rushed, leaving some fans feeling the show ended on an incomplete note. Additionally, if viewers are expecting Good Partner to be a light legal rom-com, they might be disappointed. While there are romantic elements, they are superficial, with most of the focus placed on the two female leads.
Overall, despite its minor shortcomings and occasional difficulty in conveying its central message, Jang Nara’s Good Partner is a decent watch. It offers a good mix of interesting cases alongside complex themes. However, the show can feel confusing and chaotic at times, as if it is caught in a constant struggle between telling a moral tale and presenting an entertaining, wholesome story.
-
Verdict - 6.5/10
6.5/10