After targeting a cocky pop star during a filmed dodgeball match a little too aggressively, Woo-joo pulls Ki-baek aside and while being scolded in a supply room, Ki-baek gets electrocuted. Thankfully he appears unscathed, but, despite his promises to Woo-joo, once he returns to the pitch he is unable to hold back in front of the pop star, castigating him for all to see.
Following this display, both Ki-baek and Woo-joo find themselves in hot water and circumstance and Ki-baek’s unusual condition keeps bringing them back together.
The show’s concept appears to be a very simple one, but unlike previous tales of people who lose the ability to lie, which we can trace back to The Adventures of Pinocchio, Frankly Speaking robs of clarity a conceit that should be very clear.
Instead of not being able to lie, Ki-baek is only able to speak without thinking, but in practice the latter is no different from the former.
This calls to mind Korean studios refusing to refer to the creatures in Korean genre titles such as Train to Busan and Kingdom as zombies, instead euphemistically referring to them using terms such as “night demons” even though everyone recognises them as the undead.
That may just be semantics, but there’s also a lack of clarity regarding the rules of Ki-baek’s condition. In the episode after acquiring it, he seems to figure out a way around it.
Although the show presents the change very vaguely, Ki-baek appears to be able to say the words “I’m sorry”. Later in the same episode, the condition appears to go away, only to come back with a vengeance while he is hosting an awards show.
The parameters of his condition appear arbitrary as the show invites us to follow along with the shenanigans that result from it. But this lack of structure also unmoors the characters. They lack clear goals, which makes it hard for us to understand them and thus difficult to empathise with.
Ki-baek is also presented as a character from a rich family, living in a fancy bachelor pad in a prime Seoul district, but we quickly discover that his family is a poor one that leeches off him and embarrasses him.
Since the series did not bother to show us how this lie has influenced his life and career, his unmasking as a working class child is a truth bomb that fizzles before having a chance to ignite.
Narratively, the show has many weaknesses, so what about the comedy? Frankly Speaking dials up the humour from the beginning, but the results are a mixed bag. Just like their characters, Go and Kang are put through the wringer as performers, acting their way through a number of embarrassing scenarios.
Go in particular is a good sport, bearing the lion’s share of the humiliation on his shoulders with a committed comedic performance. Some of the jokes work, but a lot of the time the series relies on base humour, which is likely to turn off a number of viewers.
This includes the show’s meet cute, in which Ki-baek, who is presently experiencing some serious digestive troubles, meets Woo-joo for the first time when they are both stuck in a lift undergoing maintenance.
Ki-baek cannot stop farting and soon soils himself, providing the only “substance” of the scene. This scene happens early on and, while the show has not gone quite so low for its jokes since, it is still very early days.
Perhaps Ki-baek should consider a lateral move to the weather desk. At least then he could warn us if there are more bad days to come.
Frankly Speaking is streaming on Netflix.