“CEO-dol Mart” (사장돌마트)

By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack
October 30, 2023

☆☆☆☆
Choi Ho-rang (played by Lee Shin-young)
Shin Tae-ho (played by Xiumin)
Jo Yi-jun (played by Hyungwon)
Oh Ye-rim (played by Choi Jung-woon)
Eun Yeong-min (played by Choi Won-myeong)
Yoon Sae-on (played by Lee Sae-on)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

If you’re looking for a light K-drama where the plot is not really the point, “CEO-dol Mart” is the show to watch. The premise of this series is that after the death of a member, the idol group the Thunder Boys break up and go their separate ways.

Flash forward 10 years. They’ve been assembled by their former management company because they are inheriting a local mart they used to frequent when they were trainees … in lieu of the five years back pay they’re owed.

And that isn’t even the weirdest part. They accept. What this group of young men know about running a mart is beyond me. But soon enough, they meet with creditors clamoring for their money, wholesalers who try to cheat them, another mart owner who wants them gone, and a masked man who does everything in his power to push them out of the store.

Meanwhile, they accept the mart without the legal paperwork, because their former manager claims he can’t find it. Uh huh. It’s not like they may need the documents to prove they’re the owners or anything.

With all that said, “CEOdol Mart” makes no pretense about being prestige television. It’s just a fun chance to watch some few real-life idols (Monsta X’s Hyungwon, EXO’s Xiumin) act in a drama that offers comedy and a darker crime element.

The most implausible moment in all of the 10 episodes occurred in the finale. There are five men running the store, one of whom is a taekwondo instructor and another who works construction. When someone threatens them (with no weapon) and walks away with their laptop, they just let him. It’s almost as if it doesn’t occur to them that they have the means to stop him!

Airdates: Ten 50-minute(ish) episodes aired on TVING from September 15 through October 13, 2023. I watched this on Viki.

Spoiler Alert: The store was originally owned by the the deceased Thunder Boys’ member’s grandfather, who was proud of his grandson. The masked man (Lee Sang-jin) was the other grandson, who was raised in the same family but felt neglected by his defacto parents (his aunt and uncle). In the end, he is punished, and his aunt and uncle forgive him. The Thunder Boys return the story to them to keep it in the family. And … there’s a hint of a second act for the Thunder Boys.

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