[K-Drama Review & Filming Location Introduction] 'Frankly Speaking' Episode 1

JTBC Drama 'Secret is Gone' (Frankly Speaking) Episode 1 Review: It's a Lie

Announcer + Entertainer = Called 'Annatertainer', standing on the boundary between celebrity and ordinary person,

engaged in fierce competition for their dreams, success, and survival,

a drama depicting the world of freelance announcersthat has never been directly highlighted in dramas before.

It's a JTBC drama also available on Netflix.

Unfortunately, the viewership rating is below 1.5%, struggling to gain traction, but

I feel that the script was written with great care.It's a piece that gives you that impression.

In the drama, the representative figures of successful freelance announcers are "Jeon Hyun-moo" and "Jang Sung-gyu".

They are announcers who have achieved tremendous success by showcasing their intelligent image and overflowing talent in an entertaining way.

The drama starts by showcasing all sorts of <human types with unreasonable demands> that can be seen in the broadcasting industry.

It seemed like they were reporting on news related to preventing workplace bullying, but in reality, it was a personal request from a superior (team leader) to

have their son's work experience filming done at the company.

However, none of the employees are able to object, and they are all putting on forced smiles and gossiping behind their boss's back.

Why wouldn't you want it? Do you think taking the news desk position is a game?

You guys wouldn't do it even if asked anyway. Team Leader Kim will keep pushing until it's done. People like Senior Gi-baek endure it.

They're only announcers in front of the camera, but we're all just ordinary office workers.

Yun Ji-hoo, an announcer who has been a supporting character puppet in a children's program for 5 years.

Did my dad say he's strong? It depicts a scene of her persevering through workplace life, compromising with reality for her sick daughter.

Passing on work to juniors under the guise of 'a request that's actually a demand'.

A national MC who boycotts filming whenever something doesn't go their way.

A celebrity with terrible personality who only acts nice to powerful people.

It's a pity that the villains are too familiar, making it lack freshness. 🙄

The scene where writer On Woo-joo mistakenly thinks it's coffee and gulps it down, only to find out it's a 'variety show concoction with fermented fish sauce' or

the 'Hunminjeongeum Game' where people receive penalties every time they use English or other foreign languages are already familiar from variety shows.

In 2007, KBS's representative variety show <1 Night 2 Days>, episode 14, the production team came up with a 'penalty' based on the fact that the colors of water diluted with fermented fish sauce and Americano

were similar, and it was first introduced to the world as a 'random penalty'.

If you try the 'Hunminjeongeum Game' that was revived in tvN's representative variety show <New Journey to the West>,

you can get a sense of how much foreign language we use in our daily lives.

I'm attaching a video of the <Hunminjeongeum Game>, which is a game that, once seen, is impossible to forget.

The second male lead is Kim Jeong-heon, who is currently the hottest personality in variety shows and reigns as the nation's son-in-law.

He debuted as an idol but failed to gain success, and for nearly 10 years, he's tried just about everything before

experiencing his prime as a trot singer.

Trot, a traditional genre of Korean pop music.

In 2019, TV Chosun and Pocketdol Studio jointly produced <Miss Trot>, a next-generation trot star survival audition program, which sparked a trot craze in South Korea.

The male singer version, <Mr. Trot>, achieved a peak viewership rating of 35.7%, continuing the craze.

It seems to be a character born from that background.

Song Gi-baek, an announcer who was semi-forced to appear on a variety show, gets caught in an accidental electric shock and becomes unable to lie, leading to

all sorts of mishaps.

He blurts out his true feelings that he'd been hiding from his superiors, colleagues, and family.

Ultimately, he causes a major incident by grabbing the collar of a famous celebrity who appeared on the variety show with him, unable to stand their unreasonable behavior any longer.

Everyone here is here to do their job.

Is anyone here to be bullied by a maniac like you? No one here!

You're so used to people being nice to you that you think they're fools?

You succeeded because of the people who praised you. If you live your life without knowing how grateful you should be to people, you'll end up ruined by people.

You will definitely fail, you bastard.

I think the weakness of this drama lies in the staleness that comes from overly familiar settings.

The movie <The Honest Candidate>, which depicts the mishaps that occur to a politician who has to be good at lying due to the 'Truth Mouth,' was

released in 2022 and didn't achieve the expected box office success.

The setting of the romantic comedy drama <Jealousy Incarnate>, which focuses on the story of a news anchor and weather forecaster, is also very familiar.

Of course, <Secret is Gone> includes a bit more of the joys and sorrows of office workers.

Unfortunately, the viewership rating isn't very promising, but as the episodes progress, there's a certain resonance that comes from the dialogueso it seems like

it'll be a drama you can watch lightly while having a laugh.

For reference, if you want to watch another work with a similar setting of someone unable to lie,

there's the movie <The Invention of Lying>.

It's not released in Korea, but it's available on Netflix.

Coffee Han-yakbang Hyehwa Branch

Address: 9, Dongseong 2-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul

The cafe where writer On Woo-joo goes on a blind date is located in Daehak-ro.

It gained popularity for its traditional interior, but it's also a popular hand-drip coffee shop that offers various coffee beans.

Hye-mindangand you can enjoy desserts and bread made there. Highly recommended as a date spot in Daehak-ro!