Love Scout: A Review

Love Scout is twelve episodes long and not a minute of it is wasted.

The show stands out for its extraordinary attention to detail, the props, the camera work and, most of all its cast. The show is set in a head hunting firm. It’s boss ably played by Han Ji Min is cold, aggressive and laser focused on zeroing in on the right candidate for the right job. Enter Lee Jun Hyuk a single father with an adorable seven year old daughter. He is hired as a secretary to our CEO based on his excellent organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail – all props to being a single dad.

This show subverts all the tropes we are comfortable with and upends them with ease. Yunho carries a cartoon printed umbrella. His bag has bandaids. He not only cooks well but plates his creations every meal with the skill of someone who does it each day, every day for his kid. JiYoon is laser focused on work that home is a shell. A cold, dark place she only comes to sleep in. Over the twelve episodes we watch her dark apartment warm up. We also watch our handsome daddy Yunho relax and unfreeze in some sense.

The supporting cast is just as dorky and cute.

While there is so much to unpack in terms of the storytelling and subversion, I can’t get over how all the little things that irk me in other dramas were just right in this one. Whomever did the wardrobe for this show needs a raise. The office fits, the casual wear, the sleepwear – everything felt natural and just right. Child actors usually swing between too cute and precocious but here our little Byeol played by Gi So Yoo is a self assured child straddling the line between cute and smart perfectly.

My novel A Star Keeps Its Distance lives in this same world of K-pop, fandom, and second chances. Signed copies ship from my desk in Exton.

This show is a commentary on parenting and absent parents. When a child is raised in a way that the parent and home is a safe space, that child is secure, confident, self assured. Do catch this show if you are looking for a lighthearted contemporary romance.

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