[Taiwanese Drama 2016] Refresh Man 後菜鳥的燦爛時代

[40somethingahjumma]

@phikyl -- Thanks for the welcome. Good to hear that they've trimmed the fat. I've been saying the last couple years that the Taiwanese really need to up their game in the writing stakes and focus on good stories and stop dragging out plotlines. Plus the over reliance on camp and actor chemistry. Yeah, I'm not a fan of bait and switch either.

But this one is actually quite decent. Things move along nicely, dialogue is decent, good use of flashback and some rather interesting scenarios involving the Sales Team. It gives one the feeling that some thought has been put into the storyline. The thing that often drives me crazy about Asian dramas is the deployment of that "let's throw in every cliche we can think of just to keep it going" strategy. Undoubtedly there are some well-used tropes at play in RM but at least they're well-integrated with the main storyline.

I would like this one to be a keeper as I like the leads a lot. If all goes well, I expect the rewatch value to be high.

[Guest]

@40somethingahjumma I will admit that there are a couple episodes that drag but it doesn't last for too long and the episode cut really sped up the plot development in the last 3 or 4 episodes [not including the one that airs tonight]. It's almost hard to keep up with all the information being thrown at you. They've also done really well with some of the throwbacks to things that happen in earlier episodes. 

Some of them are obvious with the flashbacks being shown at around the same time but some of them are more subtle. Right now, my re-watch value for this is really high. I might skip some of the business bits here and there but for the most part, it's an amazing show. 

[40somethingahjumma]

Seems like Ep. 17 is the last one. Didn't realise it. Short and sweet. My kind of show.

Will have to finish watching 14-16 first. 

[40somethingahjumma]

Nice little twist there although on a certain level it wasn't really all that much of a twist.

The real twist for me was that YT was in on it. It's nice to have the female lead a lot more proactive in these sorts of scenarios rather than just being the poster child for noble idiocy or the damsel in distress. 

Very good show overall... Good script, smart male lead who's on top of his game (2 steps ahead of everyone), likable female lead and thank heavens... no annoying second female lead who's trying to break up the OTP. Hallelujah!

Good low key ending with none of that last minute scrambling to tie up loose ends.

[Guest]

57 minutes ago, 40somethingahjumma said:

The real twist for me was that YT was in on it.

That was the surprising part for me too! I knew at some point WK would tell her what his plan was but I was shocked that she had figured it all out already!

My favorite part was probably the direction they went with Elsa. A likeable second female lead?! What?! Lets give these writers a cookie! I'm impressed they stuck with it to be honest. I think it's the first drama I've seen where the rejected female doesn't do everything she can to break the OTP up!

I feel like the script was completely written before they even started filming; unlike with some other dramas. There were things from the first few episodes that tied in to these last couple episodes and I think they couldn't have done that if they didn't know exactly where the storyline was going.

I'll absolutely be watching this drama again. Maybe not completely from start to finish as I'll probably skip the first half of the very first episode, but definitely the majority of it. 

[Misstwilightfan1416]

Here's ninjas recap

http://www.ninjareflection.com/2016/06/refresh-man-episode-17end-recap.html

 

[Nymeria289]

I will miss Aaron Yan so much, he is leaving for a long break to study. Good show, I especially love our two leads and their chemistry. Joanne Tseng is one my favorites now, I hope to see her in more dramas.

[whyisitcalleddescendants]

12 hours ago, phikyl said:

That was the surprising part for me too! I knew at some point WK would tell her what his plan was but I was shocked that she had figured it all out already!

My favorite part was probably the direction they went with Elsa. A likeable second female lead?! What?! Lets give these writers a cookie! I'm impressed they stuck with it to be honest. I think it's the first drama I've seen where the rejected female doesn't do everything she can to break the OTP up!

I feel like the script was completely written before they even started filming; unlike with some other dramas. There were things from the first few episodes that tied in to these last couple episodes and I think they couldn't have done that if they didn't know exactly where the storyline was going.

I'll absolutely be watching this drama again. Maybe not completely from start to finish as I'll probably skip the first half of the very first episode, but definitely the majority of it. 

 

I really like the way they dealt with Elsa too. Usually when there are nice female leads, it's because they aren't romantically interested in the male lead, so there's no conflict at all. It's quite rare for a female second lead to like a male lead and yet not compete for his love at all, but is completely understanding and kind. Angel indeed!! 

It's also really amazing how the loose ends were tied up, and HAHA I hated the first episode. I remembered rating it 3/10 in my mind. 

Yay it was a great watch, now I'm kinda tempted to re-watch Fall in love with Me. 

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, whyisitcalleddescendants said:

Yay it was a great watch, now I'm kinda tempted to re-watch Fall in love with Me.

Haha! I did that a few weeks ago so you're not the only one.  

I continue to think the first half of that show is amazing but I still don't like the second half. I think I understand what the writers were going for now though so I can at least get through it, even though that whole Huan Huan story arc drives me crazy.

25 minutes ago, whyisitcalleddescendants said:

I hated the first episode. I remembered rating it 3/10 in my mind. 

The first episode was mostly boring to me too but I liked it once they started showing the flashbacks; especially the one where WK gets punished and YT is teasing him. The little smile he gives as she's walking away slayed me. 

The flashbacks in the first episode are what got me hooked on the show and they're still my favorite part. I was disappointed when we stopped getting them every episode. 

[raewonkim]

Pls let me know if EP17 is the last episode?  thanks.

[Guest]

@raewonkim Yes, episode 17 is the final episode. 

[raewonkim]

13 hours ago, phikyl said:

@raewonkim Yes, episode 17 is the final episode. 

thanks phikyl, You are right about Aisha and you never changed your impression about her role, She is really a likeable 2nd lead. l like her reply to  Wang Zhi Yu that , "she has been Kelvin's secretary and that she never switch sides".  Hopefully, Aaron Yan will comeback to Taiwan to  star again in a drama. As for me he is one of the handsome actor  in Taiwan 

Also if I were Wen Kai in this drama, I'll kick out all Team1 employees especially Manager Jia  for being so impertinent and rude to his boss.

[doctor23b]

1 hour ago, raewonkim said:

thanks phikyl, You are right about Aisha and you never changed your impression about her role, She is really a likeable 2nd lead. l like her reply to  Wang Zhi Yu that , "she has been Kelvin's secretary and that she never switch sides".  Hopefully, Aaron Yan will comeback to Taiwan to  star again in a drama. As for me he is one of the handsome actor  in Taiwan 

Also if I were Wen Kai in this drama, I'll kick out all Team1 employees especially Manager Jia  for being so impertinent and rude to his boss.

Yeap, she said it before. You do not understand women, you never do. That was right smack in the face hahahahah!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, raewonkim said:

You are right about Aisha and you never changed your impression about her role, She is really a likeable 2nd lead.

Yeah, she is! I've been re-watching from episode 1 and it's clear she knew all along about WK's feelings for YT so that's even more proof in her favor that she wouldn't quit being his secretary just because WK and YT get together. 

I did like how gracious WZY was about WK's offer to be friends. I don't mind that WK wanted to be friends with ZY because they work at partner companies; it's always better to be friends with your partners. But I'm in agreement with everyone else about Sales Team 1 and 2. I honestly think everyone who left and created the extra hardship for the company should not be allowed to come back. Clearly they don't have any qualms in doing something that would harm the company they work for, so why bring them back on board?

[raewonkim]

PHIKYL, I noticed that one of his employee tendered her resignation and he just accepted it without asking her why and he just said "leave". Because of his actuation, you are right that he will never accept those persons who resigned because they think that the company crisis will cause them unemployed instead of working hard. 

 

 

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, raewonkim said:

PHIKYL, I noticed that one of his employee tendered her resignation and he just accepted it without asking her why and he just said "leave". Because of his actuation, you are right that he will never accept those persons who resigned because they think that the company crisis will cause them unemployed instead of working hard. 

Amy, yeah. I think at that point, Wen Kai was probably getting resignations from various employees every day because of the rumors of him siphoning off money from the company. The only ones that he would be interested in know why they were leaving would be ST3 because they were the ones who had decided to stick with him. I know I wouldn't want to bring back on board anyone who submits their resignation based on groundless rumors though. I don't see how staying with a company to the bitter end [if MUSE had actually failed] would be a bad thing. Doesn't that show that you're willing to be loyal to a company until the end? Personally, I'd be more willing to hire a person like that over one who quit when the going got rough!

I actually expected Amy to quit a lot sooner than that too. She was one of the secretaries that was giving Yu Tang a hard time after she was demoted to sales by Wen Kai. I don't even really like saying that Yu Tang was "demoted" though because I feel like she did a much better job in sales than she was doing as a secretary. She wasn't coasting for success any more but working hard for it.