Viewers cheer So Ji-sub's return in Manager Kim, debate 1440-degree spin scene

An SBS highlight clip covering episodes 3 and 4 of Manager Kim (김부장), starring So Ji-sub alongside Choi Dae-hoon and Yoon Kyung-ho, drew a steady stream of viewer reactions in the comments. The most-liked comment zeroed in on a stunt, saying "Ah, the 1440-degree spin — the directing was a little disappointing" (하 1440도는 연출이 살짝 아쉽다). Much of the rest centered on the lead, with one viewer calling it "a drama that only So Ji-sub should be doing" and another writing that it was great to see the actor again after a long time. Another highly liked comment pleaded over a character's fate: "If you kill Min-ji, I won't let it slide!!!"

The spin became the clip's main talking point, and opinion split. One commenter mounted a lengthy defense, arguing that figure skaters manage such rotations on ice, that a former Olympic gold medalist turned special agent doing it on solid ground is fair game for fiction, and pointing to Clint Eastwood shooting through a hangman's rope and the John Wick films as precedents. Others treated the action's excess as a running joke, with one viewer asking, "Does that pistol have unlimited bullets? He fired more than 60 shots and still has some left," and another noting the ammunition ran out only after 40 rounds. One commenter felt the tone wobbled, writing that a heavyset man in fatigues dodging bullets was a stretch and that So Ji-sub was the only one playing it straight.

Reactions to the storytelling were also divided. Several commenters said the fourth episode dragged, with one writing that it "stretched what could have wrapped in 10 minutes into 50," while another felt the opposite, saying the story is moving fast enough that the lead could be facing the Jugang Construction chairman by next Saturday. One viewer questioned the logic of a cold-storage scene involving Min-ji and wished the adaptation had hewed closer to the original webtoon, and another asked for more care in the directing from episode 3 onward, saying they were watching closely because they cared. Even so, anticipation ran through the thread, with comments praising the dialogue, music, and cast, and one viewer sighing, "How am I supposed to wait until next week?"