Run On (Hangul: 런 온) is a South Korean show that aired from December 16, 2020, to February 4, 2021, originally on JTBC, and is also available worldwide on Netflix. The story follows the relationship between Seon-gyeom Kim (played by Si-wan Im), a male track and field athlete from a family of well-known figures, and Mi-joo Oh (played by Sae-kyeong Shin), a female movie translator and subtitle-maker with a head-strong and independent personality. It also follows the story of Dan-ah Seo (played by Soo-young Choi), a bold female sports agency CEO and the rightful successor of the Seomyung Group, and Yeong-hwa Lee (played by Tae-oh Kang), a bubbly male college student aspiring to be a painter. Netflix’s summary of the show is, “Veering off course from his preset path, a track star follows his own pace and heart for the first time after a film translator steps into his life.” The series has 16 total episodes, each a little more than an hour long.

The show’s charm is in how real it portrays life. It’s not too dramatic, not too angsty, not too corny, not too sappy, but rather a perfect balance of love, comedy, and drama. It also touches on issues including gender roles, LBGTQ+, social status, and political corruption. A prominent message that the show portrays is how social classes can complicate relations between normal people, and how they bounce around and overcome it. The chemistry of not only the couples, but of the four main characters as friends (or as yours truly dubbed it, the “friend square”), is very comfortable and, in many instances, hilarious. For instance, Dan-ah’s bluntness and fierceness with Mi-joo’s sass and stubbornness make them start off as frenemies, but they grow much closer as the episodes progress (though Mi-joo won’t admit it). On the other spectrum, Yeong-hwa’s exuberant and clingy personality mixed with Seon-gyeom’s caring yet shy demeanor call for many funny instances of the extrovert versus the introvert somehow getting along.

There are several prominent English scenes in the show portraying Mi-joo’s bilingualism, even an episode depicting Mi-joo working as the translator on a foreign English movie set. And because of Mi-joo and her surrounding characters’ connection to movies, there are movie references galore, such as Jerry Maguire, E.T., and more (however Seon-gyeom often does not seem to get the references). Sure, the show contains several cliches, but the show’s acting and situations happen very naturally and at a realistic pace, and the foreign notes make it very enjoyable to watch as an international watcher. 

All and all, the show is a very feel-good series that isn’t too complicated or tragic, a perfectly chill show to watch anytime in any mood. So next time you’re firing up Netflix in search of something to entertain you, maybe add Run On to your watch list. You can watch the official trailer here.