An Appreciation Post For All The Vertical Male Lead’s Faithful Right Hand Man
If you have watched verticals you know who I mean. The faithful deputies who have to follow our male lead around (usually a billionaire CEO) and get all the things done.
These gentlemen have to make everything happen, and very rarely get thanked. If it is a good day they might get a bonus. Let’s dig in and cover just some of the tasks that they have to do:
Running The Business
We all know the orders that a billionaire CEO will frequently shout out to his right-hand man…
‘Cancel my meetings’
‘Tell the board it can wait’
‘Withdraw our investments’
‘Blacklist that company’
‘We will not longer being doing business with the Evans family’
‘Cancel all our contracts’
‘Buy this business / mall / shop’
We never see the hours of work that they will be putting in to make this happen. That’s a lot of angry shareholders, investors, and secretaries they are going to have to deal with. I really hope that the right-hand man has a team of minions to make this happen otherwise that is an awful lot of time stuck on zoom calls and rearranging digital diaries!
Acting As Search And Rescue
Why aren’t all those right-hand men in the special forces or police service? Their ability to track down a kidnapped female lead in minutes is legendary. All whilst armed with just their trusty iPad (other tablets are available). Sometimes they even have to help out with the rescue, ably backing up our male lead, but letting him get the money shot punch in.
Interestingly this skill only works when the female lead has been kidnapped recently. The right-hand men aren’t so efficient with cold cases, so when the lady in question has been missing for years. That takes them a lot longer.
Another key skill is getting or checking DNA test results, presumably they have a lab on standby somewhere.
Attending Events Without Overtime
If you are vertical right hand man with a billionaire boss, my guess is you have spent a lot of time at elite events from contract signings to galas and auctions. DO THEY GET PAID OVERTIME? That is my question
Dealing With Parents & A Clueless Boss
Crucially all our right-hand men go above and beyond for their boss, who will put them in awkward situation after awkward situation.
Things they have had to do include:
Telling terrifying mom that the wedding is off - James (Tristan Rewald) in Runaway Billionaire Becomes My Husband
Posing as the ‘booker’ for the male lead who is pretending to be a call boy - Jimmy (Richmond Keeling) in Fated To My Billionaire Call Boy
Plus if they dare try to point out to the boss that maybe, just maybe, he might like the female lead, they usually get shut down.
The One Boundary Right-Hand Men Have
Thankfully there is one job that the faithful right-hand man refuses to do. If their boss is drunk in a bar they ring the female lead to take him home. Crucial for the plot and I also approve of this work-life boundary. Bravo
Give Them A Sub Plot And Their Own Love Interest
Only occasionally do our faithful right-hand men get their own sub plot and love interest. When they do I always cheer. They deserve it.
So here is my plea to Vertical Writers, please give our faithful right-hand men the love they deserve. And at the very least I hope there is some sort of right-hand man what’s app group or network where they can all offload about their bosses and compare notes!
NB: One of the fun things about watching back older verticals is seeing actors who start out as a right-hand man and then move on to become male leads in their own right.
Vertical Drama Love is a fan site celebrating and promoting Vertical Dramas, run by Jen. All thoughts, articles, and opinions are my own!
