Lee Bo-young races up Agency’s corporate ladder

by tccolb

The promos have kicked off for JTBC’s upcoming Agency, starting with new stills and a video teaser of the office drama’s main cast: Lee Bo-young (Mine), Jo Sung-ha (Adamas), Sohn Na-eun (Ghost Doctor), Han Joon-woo (The Empire), and Jeon Hye-jin (My Liberation Notes).

The story follows our heroine Go Ah-in (Lee Bo-young), the creative director at VC Group who overcame discrimination to become the company’s first female executive board member. But her dreams are higher still and she’s determined to keep pushing until she makes her seat at the very top of the ladder.

One big obstacle is chief director Choi Chang-soo (Jo Sung-ha), who has his eyes on the same prize and has long been scheming to become VC Group’s next CEO. Also entering the succession war is the newly appointed head of social media communications and star influencer Kang Hanna (Sohn Na-eun) – who is also a member of VC Group’s chaebol family.

Hanna has additional support as well from her right hand man, Park Young-woo (Han Joon-woo). He was her tutor during their school days, and now works as her bodyguard and a VC Group secretary. But Ah-in is not alone on her side, having recruited the talented copywriter Jo Eun-jung (Jeon Hye-jin). As a working mom, though, Eun-jung is having a tough time juggling between her job and her family.

[embedded content]

The video teaser opens with our heroine presenting a meeting: “People like me who have nothing to lose don’t tend to have an optimistic outlook. We see things from an economical perspective.” While Chang-soo is busy networking, Ah-in studies billboard ads in the area while reflecting on the viewpoint we hear in voiceover: “The real players make their own message.”

We then jump to Ah-in’s confusion about the company wanting to push out a new ad when their CEO has just been imprisoned. In a meeting with Chang-soo, the team are told that the budget is 30 billion and that they have one week, but the sooner the better. In the intermittent text screens, we read: “Delving deep into the greed of others, the graceful but desperate war has begun!”

In the sequence that follows, Chang-soo celebrates while the rest of the staff – including Ah-in – are stressed and pressed for time as they work on the new ad. We learn in voiceover that this was ordered by the CEO and that there’s a large reward if it resolves the situation. Ah-in is, thus, ruthless about rejecting bad ideas – ripping up proposals and even burning the papers to the shock of Eun-jung.

Im Chul-soo (Alchemy of Souls 2) complains that it’s not an issue of bad personality, but that Ah-in is completely crazy. We also get a brief glimpse of an angry Hanna and worried Young-woo as the accompanying text screens explain Ah-in’s MO: “Consider it as a strategy and act like a crazy b*tch.” Chang-soo is patronizing as he tells her that taking the easy route doesn’t suit her. But Ah-in isn’t phased and confidently declares, “I’ll show them why I’m needed.”

Written by Song Soo-han with PD Lee Chang-min (Monthly Magazine Home, Woohoo Waikiki 2) at the helm, JTBC’s Agency premieres January 7 and will be taking over the weekend slot following Reborn Rich.