Don’t Call Me Ma’am: Episode 1 (First Impressions)

by SailorJumun

In TV Chosun’s Don’t Call Me Ma’am, we’re introduced to three best friends trying to find their footing in their forties. They’ve long settled into their lives, and yet, they still crave so much more, whether that be with work or with love. And though society may say otherwise, it’s never too late for a fresh start.

EPISODE 1

It seems like every now and then, dramas will explore a female best friendship within a certain age group. We’ve had Age of Youth (women in their twenties), Be Melodramatic (women in their thirties), and Thirty-Nine (you get the picture). We’ve now reached the big four-oh, our heroines having graduated to ajumma status.

We open to our first 41-year-old heroine JO NA-JUNG (Kim Hee-sun), a stay-at-home mom who has her hands full with two young sons. She has plans to meet her besties for her birthday, but her passive husband (who may as well be her third son) is too busy at work to look after the kids. With no other choice, Na-jung brings the kids out with her.

Na-jung shows up to the fancy restaurant in casual clothes, shrieking kids in tow, and her friends express their embarrassment. They give her a hard time for “letting herself go” since becoming a mom, and though she insists that she’s fine, their words seem to hit hard.

But Na-jung isn’t the only one pretending to be okay. Her friend GOO JOO-YOUNG (Han Hye-jin) is successful at work and happily married, but she’s secretly stressing over conceiving. Then, there’s LEE IL-RI (Jin Seo-yeon), a magazine editor-in-chief and beloved relationship guide who’s struggling with her own relationship.

Na-jung’s kids cause a scene at the restaurant, and to her horror, she runs into her old boss and co-workers. The boss looks at Na-jung and her kids in the most patronizing way, and it just… *eyeroll* It’s annoying to me that Kim Hee-sun’s character is treated so terribly for simply being a mom.

Na-jung opts to leave early, but her former co-workers stop her, asking her to fill in for a last-minute broadcast. She complies, and the boss smiles with approval *even harder eyeroll* It makes Na-jung nostalgic for the days when she worked as a home shopping host.

That night, Na-jung’s husband NOH WON-BIN (Yoon Park) comes home drunk with a smushed birthday cake. What really pushes Na-jung over the edge is that he got her an apron as a gift. She cries that she’s not living as a housewife because she wants to — she actually wants to start working again. I have to say, though, that it’s hard to take this scene seriously when it feels like she’s scolding a younger brother or something. This pairing is just weird.

Meanwhile, Joo-young tries to schedule sexy times while she’s ovulating, but her husband OH SANG-MIN (Jang In-sub) doesn’t show up. To her annoyance, he comes home late, having been busy tracking down a rare collectible. She threatens to trash his collection, which gets him begging for forgiveness and finally jumping into bed. Cut to: Joo-young sulking after Sang-min failed to, er, perform. It seems like nothing is working for them — not even supplements.

Elsewhere, Il-ri is with her younger boyfriend EOM JONG-DO (Moon Yoo-kang). At work and with her friends, she plays the I don’t get clingy card, but in reality, she’s extremely clingy to Jong-do. The dude isn’t at all attentive, and he even calls her an ajumma for always nagging him, making her insecure. Yeah… I already hate this, and I want her to dump him immediately.

After some thinking and some convincing from the besties, Na-jung decides to pursue her career. Her hubby isn’t that crazy about the idea, especially since their lease is almost up. So, more determined than ever, Na-jung snatches up the best apartment she can. It seems perfect, until she realizes that the owner is her middle school nemesis YANG MI-SOOK (Han Ji-hye).

We see a flashback to when they were kids, when Na-jung was the top student and Mi-sook was hanging out with a rougher crowd. Oh, how the turns have tabled.

In the present, Mi-sook reveals that she dropped out of high school and found her calling as a mobile show host. Now, she’s extremely successful, owning several apartments. She asks if Na-jung wants to work for her, and flustered, Na-jung lies that she’s already been offered a job from her former employer.

Welp, she certainly trapped herself into that one. But, hey, nothing wrong with manifesting. I like her energy. I like her as a character in general, but I wouldn’t say that I’m invested in her story or her friends’ stories so far. I think it’s because of the way the drama introduced their friendship — our first impression was Joo-young and Il-ri embarrassed to be seen with Na-jung. For bringing her kids. For wearing a T-shirt and having disheveled (AKA, slightly wavy) hair. And these are supposed to be her best friends?

I know it’s only the first episode, but I can’t help but think of shows like Be Melo and Thirty-Nine and how they led with the trios’ tight relationships. We’re missing that heart. Their connection and their history. (Though, I did appreciate the cute flashback in the epilogue.) Maybe we’ll get to all that with time, as the drama goes on, and maybe that will get me hooked on their individual stories. For now, I’m most interested in Joo-young and her husband, since the drama appears to be exploring asexuality. I’m glad to see it, and I’m hoping it’ll be a solid representation, not just played for humor. But I don’t know — I think I’ll be keeping my expectations low for this show.

 
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