Cheongdam-dong Alice (2012)
Grade: C+
16 Episodes
Hardworking
but poor designer Han Se-kyung believes she can achieve anything with
sheer determination and effort, until her boyfriend dumps her because
he will never be able to provide for her. Se-kyung also comes across
a former classmate/rival who has “entered” the upper-class South
Korean scene. Se-kyung then decides she's tired of working as hard as
she can while making no improvements in life and asks her former
rival for help. Se-kyung sets her sights on the rich owner of
Artemis, working with who she assumes is his secretary, when it is
the CEO in disguise. Se-kyung starts to have feelings for the
secretary but then puts him aside to achieve her dream of entering
the upper-class, until she learns his true identity. Will Se-kyung
choose love or money, honesty or lies?
*I
dislike the fashion industry and that “world,” but the Artemis
CEO, Cha Seung-jo (played by Park Si-hoo), is absolutely hilarious
and crazy and so fun to watch in the beginning episodes as he
realizes he is developing feelings for the poor designer and he kept
me watching. The first half of this show is definitely better than
the last half, as all the humor is lost while the characters struggle
with real life issues. I didn't really like how it ends – she's not
a good person, but she's not really a bad person, either – and
while they do end up together, it's just not very satisfying. It's
her stupid choices that put everyone in their predicaments. I also didn't like all the music of the soundtrack. I
probably won't watch
this again, but I will look for more shows with Park Si-hoo.*
