#kang da-eul

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This is the most justified thing that anyone has done in the history of the universe.

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Maybe I'm petty, but this made me so happy:

Even his own parents turned on him!

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All of these people deserve to be smitted:

Extra Bonus People to be Smitted: Oh Pyung-hwa's former boss and the boyfriend who entrapped her in a marriage.

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The only time we saw Evil Sister in EP9/10 was to learn 1. She has a son she totally ignores and 2. She will lose to Gu Won if he ever tries just because he's a guy. This is contrasted with Kang Da-eul who is shown phoning her daughter and buying presents for her even though she's only gone for a few days.

Evil Sister is extremely ruthless male coded: she's putting the business first, maintaining her marriage for show, and not spending any time with her kid(s?). She's more like Da-eul's husband than any of the female characters. And it kind of makes me feel sorry for her because she's twisted herself into this terrible person to be the heir (son) of the family, but it's all not going to matter in the end. She's sacrificed all her personal happiness for a job that will ultimately scorn her efforts.

But then maybe I shouldn't feel bad because it's just like what has happened to the employees she refuses to reward for their efforts...

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As much as King the Land is totally a tropey RomCom, I really love how much focus there is on problems women face in the workplace and even the Evil Older Sister is a victim of the vicious system. (spoilers for Ep 6)

She is an objectively bad person, but her father seems entirely ready to throw the entire company to Gu Won if he shows literally a single ounce of willingness to take it. Which is utter BS because despite her recent decisions, she seems fairly competent and has put in years and years of hard work. Doesn't matter though, her (illegitimate? step?) incompetent male sibling will win if he ever decides he wants to...

All three of the friends having service jobs and having to deal with all that BS is great because of how much awfulness it shows. I love that Kang Da-eul is completely shameless and will lie to customers to sell crap. You do that! And Sa-rang's comment about wearing a smile as part of her uniform, totally true. I smiled through customers berating me many times when I worked in retail.

Also Kang Da-eul going home and having to cook dinner and shop made me so angry. Give that girl a break!

But back to the systemic dynamics, Kang Da-eul abolishing the food buying and then having her subordinates rebel was perfect in that it shows how people will reinforce broken and horrible systems because "I suffered so others ought to suffer too". I love her for just shutting it down and deciding that no one should suffer any longer. She is one of the only female managers who seems to understand how to actually fix this (also Jeon Min-seo, the nice manager on the upper floor).

I guess this is just an appreciation post for her, she is awesome and deserves the world:

But back to my point! Cheon Sa-rang is succeeding not because she's an awesome employee who is very good at her job, but because of random luck and her smile. And while the hotel industry is customer facing and looks are important, it is BS. Her managers should be angry that she's moving ahead so quickly and not them, but they should be mad at her. She is victim to the random whims of the people above her as much as anyone else. What's happening is exactly what upper management wants, people (and in this show especially women) fighting each other instead of questioning why everything is so unfair.

All three friends are doing their jobs to the best of their ability, but fail or succeed, their work lives still suck. Kang Da-eul is excellent at her job and basically is punished for it when they tell her to increase sales beyond what she's already done. Oh Pyung-hwa already has to deal with harassment from customers, but because she's not great at pushing sales she also is harassed by her boss and held back from promotions. Cheon Sa-rang is attacked for having a poor education even though she is perfectly educated for the job she has. It's all unfair and horrible.

Also, counting down till when Sa-rang's coworkers start to say she's only succeeding because she's sleeping with the boss. She is already anticipating that happening while it hasn't crossed Nepo Baby Gu Won's mind.

I just want these girls to have all the beer and tuna heads that they want because they deserve it so much.

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The perfect ending to King the Land (that I doubt will happen) would be the three friends became co-owners of the company.