Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Samusil: A Loving Tribute (The Office, kdrama style)

Episode 1:
  Pam, a cute and spunky but poor girl, is in desperate need of a job. She had to drop out of college because of her family situation—her father is a failed entrepreneur who can't find work and racked up massive debt, her mother works sewing dolls, and her younger brother is in high school, but wants to go to Seoul University. Pam has been in a relationship with Roy for three years. Roy is also poor, but ambitious, and may have more going on in his personal life than Pam realizes. It's Roy who got her an interview with the company where he works, although it's a different branch.






  On her way to the only interview she's had in months, she bumps into Angela and Dwight and spills her coffee all over Angela's designer dress. Angela demands repayment for her ruined dress, and names an exorbitant amount—far more than Pam has left in her savings. She withdraws all the money she has in her account and gives Angela her contact info to set up a monthly payment plan.
  Pam finally gets to the branch of Dunder Mifflin an hour late for her interview. She wheedles her way into Michael Scott's office and manages to interrupt a meeting he is having with David (the owner of all the companies affiliated with Dunder Mifflin, but Pam doesn't know that yet). The job requires more education/connections than she has, and she bumbles the interview terribly, but cutely, and is able to charm David enough that he has Michael offer her a low-level position. In addition to her regular duties as a secretary, she will be in charge of keeping the new parachuted salesman in line, starting the next day. If she is successful in this project, she'll be promoted in a month.
  On her way home to celebrate her new job, Pam stops at a po jang ma ja (soju tent) to pick up food to take home. She meets a wasted Jim, who thinks she's his proxy driver and creates a scene. They argue and Pam ends up kicking him in the shins and running away.
  The next morning Pam goes to her first day of work. She is surprised to run into Angela, who assigns her all sorts of crazy and degrading errands, most of which aren't work related. Pam also meets the office gossip Kelly, who tells her all about Angela's MBA from Harvard, and how Angela has been sent by David Wallace to figure out whether their branch can be saved. Around noon, Pam is sent out to bring in the new salesman, who still hasn't shown up for work and whose hand-ah-pone is off.
  Pam races to the posh apartment complex and rings the bell of the penthouse apartment. After several tries, the door finally opens on a bare-chested Jim, who is trying to shake off his hangover. Both stare incredulously at each other. (Of course, Pam got a good peek in before acting all embarrassed.)
  Freeze-frame.
Episode 2:
  Pam and Jim stare at one another. Then yell in unison "You!" Jim tries to slam the door in Pam's face, but she stops him and  forces her way into the apartment. She tries to convince him to get ready for work, but he fights back and creates problems. Finally, we see Jim in the back seat as Pam drives him to the office.
  Flashback to the day before. Jim tries to flee but is surrounded at the airport by various men in black suits and taken to David's office. David tells Jim it's time to stop playing around and learn responsibility. Jim will be assigned to the one company within the corporation that is having serious profit issues. If he can help turn things around in 2 months, he will be promoted up the corporate ladder. He will be paid the same as other employees in his position, and he shouldn't tell people that he is David's son. He'll have a week to find a new apartment, and all his credit cards have been frozen except one, with a 50,000 won limit. If he refuses, he will lose his inheritance.
  Okay, I'm not really going to do this episode by episode. We'll just do a rough sketch from here on out. All the other employees in the office shun Pam and Jim—Jim because everyone knows he's someone's relative, and they hate that he is a parachute, and Pam because she's the newbie and doesn't understand the office politics. Plus, there are rumors about some kind of sketchy relationship with someone in the top ranks of the company. Pam ends up eating her lunches on the rooftop, and Jim sees her sadly moping over her meal, and his heart softens a bit towards her.
  As time goes by, Pam gets an offer for company-paid housing, which she accepts, but she finds a small rooftop apartment and uses the difference to pay off her debts to Angela and her father's creditors. Jim gets kicked out of his apartment and is forced to temporarily move in with Pam. They fight incessantly (but it's just to hide their budding attraction) and many awkward situations arise. Parents show up unexpectedly, and Jim is stuffed into closets or pushed out the window onto the ledge. Also, Roy shows up sporadically, making Jim jealous. Jim still doesn't know he has feelings for Pam, and continues to playfully torture her and generally make her life miserable in order to suppress his feelings.


  Dwight and Angela are secretly sabotaging the branch, with a view towards taking over the entire company, which will only be possible if they force the branch they all work in to close. Angela pretends to be interested in Jim, and they date for a while, but then he sees her being mean to a child and a kitten, and realizes that she is an awful human being. Dwight is Jim's half-brother, the product of an affair between David and his first love, but she left Korea suddenly when she found out she was pregnant and David never knew they had a child. Dwight is out for revenge and is plotting to take over everything, including Jim's inheritance.


  Jim and Pam end up having to work together on many company-saving projects. They often work late into the night, and one time Pam falls asleep on his shoulder. Jim then realizes he has feelings for Pam, but is unwilling to let her know. Jim realizes that Dwight is a threat to his inheritance, and will ruin their father's company, and so finds various ways to try to stop him. Dwight sees these plans as office pranks and dismisses them, but they are all part of an elaborate trap to catch him in the act of ruining the company.
  Before that can happen, though, David collapses from the health problem he has kept from everyone. This forces Jim to really evaluate what he wants from life and determine that he is going to make things work. As soon as David collapses, Dwight makes a power play, in which Pam loses her job. Jim realizes how much he misses her, and in the process creeps out her replacement Ryan.
  Dwight and Angela continue their evil plans, hosting parties and making deals under the table. Dwight also reveals his identity to David, causing him to collapse a second time, only this collapse is more severe, and David ends up in a coma.


  Roy and Jim fight over Pam. Pam and Roy break up when Pam finds out Roy has been helping Dwight and Angela this whole time. Jim confesses to Pam. They continue working to save the company, devising plan after plan until they start to see progress. More horrible things happen. Finally, they kiss. However, they can't be together because Jim's family won't approve. They continue to date anyway. 



  After Pam literally walks through fire to prove her love, everything works out. Jim and Dwight share the company and the inheritance, and Dwight and Angela get married. Pam's dad gets a job in the company, and her family can now send her brother to college.
  Pam flies off to America for a two-year internship while Jim continues to work with Dwight to grow the company. David recovers enough to enjoy a lazy retirement. Pam finally comes back and immediately gets pregnant. Shotgun wedding it is. With all the interference from both families, they run off to do the wedding their way.




1 comment:

  1. Nice! :))) the writer is a kdrama addict for sure :))

    ReplyDelete