Misaeng: Episode 8

by odilettante

Sometimes being a leader requires sacrifice, and Chief Oh faces his Scylla and Charibdys as he’s forced to choose what is more important to him: his integrity or his team. As for our newbies, we learn who Young-yi’s mysterious caller is, and Baek-ki’s finally loses his patience for being constantly ignored when he asks the question we’ve been wondering for weeks: why does his boss hate pretty boys in glasses?

 
EPISODE 8 RECAP

It’s Sunday, the day of rest, and in the early morning, Geu-rae goes for a run, remembering how his old baduk teacher counseled that physical health is important for mental health, especially when it comes to will power and stamina.

At a coffee shop, Baek-ki tries to appear politely interested in his blind date, but she’s more focused on his salary and how he would be able to provide for her. He bails early and heads to the movies, where he runs into Young-yi (and he lies that he’s dressed up for a friend’s wedding, not a blind date).

They end up watching a horror-film double-feature together, and afterwards Young-yi is amused at Baek-ki’s glassy-eyed expression. Ha! Apparently he can’t handle scary movies. She leans in to tell him one more scary thing: “Tomorrow’s Monday.”

Chief Oh snoozes on the sofa as his wife cleans, and when she ruthlessly vacuums the sofa with him still on it, he ends up on the floor, much to the delight of his sons.

Monday arrives (as predicted) and everyone’s back at work, and Chief Oh is in his boss’s office, expecting a new big project after the rare resources one was taken from him. But when he sees what it’s for — and more importantly, who he’ll have to persuade to sign a contract — he immediately refuses.

The department head offers Chief Oh a bribe that’s hard to ignore: if they get this deal, then he’ll assign an another person to the overworked Sales Team 3. Chief Oh’s reticence to start a new project baffles Geu-rae, though, and he wonders what his boss could be so worried about.

Committing a crime, apparently. During a rooftop smoke break, he bursts out that this assignment is worse than embezzlement, and besides, he doesn’t want to look bad in front of his kids. Which is why he didn’t accept the assignment after all, much to Dong-shik’s exasperation.

But when they return to the office, the documents for the Mecca Phone deal have already been delivered. It looks like they’ll have no choice but to work on it, then, because Chief Oh’s last-ditch effort to avoid it due to lack of funds only ends up with him being presented with his boss’s company credit card.

As Chief Oh returns to his lost-in-thought catatonic state, Dong-shik tries explains to the bewildered Geu-rae why Chief Oh is so against this project. He struggles to explain the issue Chief Oh has with the “quirky” CEO Moon of Mecca Phone, but finally states that it all comes down to Chief Oh’s “principles.”

Those “principles” apparently have given him the grand idea of getting the three of them to drink spoiled milk, since the department head can’t possibly expect them to work when they’re sick with food poisoning.

Dong-shik protests, but Geu-rae downs his in one shot while the other two stare in astonishment. They attempt gag down the rest of the spoiled milk, and it’s as gross as you can imagine. But as the men sit on the toilet, expecting the worst, they gradually realize that their microflora is heartier than expected. The taste of sour milk never seemed so bitter.

Back to square one as everyone returns whole and healthy to their desks. Geu-rae wonders what principle of Chief Oh’s could possibly be stronger than his work ethic. But he’s not given much time to think about it as the phones start to ring off the hook from various owners of gentlemen’s clubs, offering Chief Oh special deals.

Annoyed, he hangs up on them all, yelling at them to never call him again, but one enterprising owner arrives in person, official business plan in hand. She gives her sales pitch, reminding Chief Oh that they were the ones who helped Sales Team 1 seal the deal last year with CEO Moon, and assures him that with their VIP services, satisfaction is guaranteed. Especially for the “second round.”

As Chief Oh mopes outside with Sales Team 2’s department chief (who tells him to suck it up and just accept the assignment for the sake of his team), Dong-shik and Geu-rae happily snack on the sweet treats the gentlemen’s club owner brought as a bribe.

But once Geu-rae finds out that the reason Chief Oh is so dead-set against entertaining CEO Moon is because the CEO always demands a second round (aka sexual favors) he sets aside the candy in distaste. A second round is illegal, of course, but Dong-shik attempts to explain that Chief Oh isn’t just against it because of legal reasons, but also because of his principles regarding basic human dignity.

Geu-rae: “So he puts people above work?” As noble as it sounds, it’s also frustrating — Dong-shik points out that for an assignment that affects the whole team, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do, principles be damned.

Seok-yul to the rescue! Of course he knows exactly the dilemma Sales Team 3 is going through, and he suggests that Chief Oh just get CEO Moon so drunk in the first round he’ll sign the contract without going to the second. He adds that he would offer his vast drinking knowledge to help out, but he’s just too busy right now. Both Chief Oh and I laugh at the thought of Seok-yul being “too busy.”

Baek-ki returns to his desk after his smoke break, noting the corrections Assistant Manager Kang made on the list he gave him earlier. In a huff, he sets about updating them in the spreadsheet, remembering that Assistant Manager Kang had told him he could go work at another company if he wanted to. His phone buzzes, and it’s a message from a head hunter, asking if he’s thinking about switching jobs any time soon. Perfect timing!

The resource department’s chief gives the carbon emissions case to Young-yi, since she was the one who convinced the finance department to approve it, and he also assigns douchey Assistant Manager Ha to work on it with her. Young-yi is thrilled that she’ll get to work on her own project, but Assistant Manager Ha is pissed that he’s forced to work with her. He pulls her aside to tell her to find an excuse — any excuse at all — to not work on the case.

As Chief Oh returns to his desk, he sees that poor over-worked Dong-shik’s fallen asleep in his chair, only jolted awake by the phone ringing. Remembering the promise that the department head would give him another employee, which would lessen the workload for his team, he makes his decision: “Let’s do it!”

Geu-rae provides a hilariously detailed powerpoint presentation of all the research he’s done regarding their “entertainment strategy” for CEO Moon. There’s even a flowchart! But it doesn’t get them any further in figuring out how to get CEO Moon (with his ridiculously high alcohol tolerance) drunk before the second round.

Enter Seok-yul, with his simple whiteboard and a basic seating chart (ha, it looks like he spent more time on his drawing of CEO Moon’s face than anything else). Young-yi gets roped into their shenanigans, too, and is assigned the role of CEO Moon in their imagined role-play. Aw, she looks super cute with her mustache!

Seok-yul launches into his convoluted plan, but is swiftly interrupted by Young-yi, who explains why his advice isn’t totally helpful. Then she rattles off a list of ways the guys can pretend to keep drinking but still stay sober. They all stare at her in astonishment. Chief Oh: “See? This is why I said we need her!”

Later, when Geu-rae tells her that Chief Oh is going through all this to uphold his principles, she marvels at the old-fashioned concept, charmed to discover that such idealism still exists in this cynical and jaded world. Despite Dong-shik’s worry about not having the second round as a backup, Chief Oh is convinced they’ll find a way to get CEO Moon to sign in the first round, no matter what.

Baek-ki’s getting ready to leave for the day when Assistant Manager Kang returns. He glances at the corrections made to the list, approving them, and then hands Baek-ki a new document to review for typos. But Baek-ki’s reached his breaking point, and tells him that he won’t do it.

He’s done enough tedious clerical tasks as an intern — he’s here to do business, to start working on projects like the other newbies (he stops just short of fully naming Geu-rae). Baek-ki wants to know why his assistant manager hates him so much, but Assistant Manager Kang wants to know what Baek-ki has learned so far. All Baek-ki can come up with is “patience,” and he adds that this is not the time for learning, but to put his already-learned knowledge to use.

Young-yi watches in concern as he stomps off, giving her the cold shoulder when they meet at the elevator. She’s tagging along with Sales Team 3 for dinner (on the boss’s dime, since Chief Oh still has his credit card, ha!). But when an unfamiliar man steps into the lobby and quietly calls her name, she freezes in shock.

Excusing herself from dinner, she hurries to the bus stop to go home. She’s so preoccupied with her thoughts about this mysterious man, she doesn’t realize she left some paperwork on the bench. Geu-rae, who’s been keeping a careful eye on her, runs to get on the bus so he can return them to her.

He watches in quiet concern as she stares out the window, ignoring him. Fighting back tears, she remembers a previous time when she confronted that mysterious man from the lobby, referring to him as “Team Leader” as she angrily called him a hypocrite. Crying, she demanded to know if he thought she would be grateful or think of him as her savior, before turning on her heel and walking away.

In the present, her phone rings — it’s the mysterious unknown number from before. This time she answers it, but only to say “Please stop, Father.” Innnnnteresting. She’s so shaken by everything, she doesn’t even notice when Geu-rae gets off the bus.

The next morning, Baek-ki sighs defeatedly as he enters the office. But the document awaiting his review is back on his desk, and he slams it down in frustration. He reads the message from the head-hunter one last time before deciding to give her a call.

The men of Sales Team 3 prepare themselves to entertain CEO Moon as though they’re going to war, and they arrive at the gentlemen’s club to double-check that all their carefully planned efforts to avoid getting drunk have been set up.

The fabulously mustachioed CEO Moon arrives, and Geu-rae wonders if Chief Oh will be able to stick to his principles. It will be a lot harder than originally planned, since CEO Moon casually walks by the room that the guys have pre-selected. They stare in worried astonishment as Geu-rae narrates that the battle was over before it was even begun.

Between flashes of the drunken aftermath as the guys, in crazy costumes, belt-out karaoke while CEO Moon cozies up to the ladies, we see how each and every meticulous detail they worked on was easily foiled.

Even though they never really stand a chance, Chief Oh tries to persevere with his intent to get CEO Moon to sign the contract, all the way up to the point when they’re stumbling drunk by the time early morning rolls around.

CEO Moon’s got an arm around one of the club girls as they stagger to the hotel, and Chief Oh manages to shove the copy of the contract into the pocket of CEO Moon’s suit coat. Dong-shik can barely even stand, and as he and Geu-rae watch Chief Oh attempt to walk down the street, Geu-rae at least consoles himself with the fact that, even though Chief Oh failed in getting CEO Moon to sign before the second round, at least their team will still survive.

But the next morning, the team sits dazed and hungover as Dong-shik moans that they’re ruined. Ruined! It turns out that CEO Moon woke up to find not a club girl in bed with him, but his own wife. Chief Oh is the only pleased by that news as he informs the guys that it was his plan all along.

He’d found out that CEO Moon’s anniversary was the same night they were going to be entertaining him, and the fact that CEO Moon was planning to cheat on his wife on their anniversary got Chief Oh’s blood boiling. So he came up with the idea to send her to the hotel, too, as an anniversary present. He’s happy that everything went to plan, but Dong-shik is freaking out because they’ve lost the contract.

The department head is furious that Chief Oh would let his principles stand in the way of an important business deal, and doles out his heavy-handed punishment of threatening that they’ll receive the worst assignments from now on. Chief Oh escapes to the roof for a break, and as he gulps down his beer, his son calls to ask him to buy fried chicken on the way home. Aw, his spirit is slightly restored when talking to his son.

He falls asleep for awhile, reviving only to a text message from his son about the chicken. Geu-rae arrives, concerned that his boss hadn’t been answering his phone, as Chief Oh warns him to not tell anyone that he had dozed off — or passed out — with a nose bleed. Yikes.

Assistant Manager Ha is furious that Young-yi hasn’t dropped the project yet, and says that she can work on it all by herself. He storms off, taking his anger out on a trashcan as he passes Seok-yul, who stepped out for a smoke break (and, of course, overheard everything).

Seok-yul tries to cheer up Young-yi, telling her that Assistant Manager Ha is just jealous of Young-yi’s talent and abilities. He encourages Young-yi to return to the confident intern he once knew.

Head held high, she returns to the office, informing Assistant Manager Ha that she’ll do just as he’s requested: she’ll let him take the lead on that case, and instead will take over his mundane day-to-day tasks so he can focus on it.

Baek-ki is revising his resumé in preparation to send it off to the head hunter when Assistant Manager Kang returns. At first he’s as dismissive as ever, but then he tells Baek-ki that he won’t stop him if he decides to quit. Steel is a conservative business — small changes are made gradually over a long period of time. Which is why someone on the steel team needs to be less focused on eloquence and instant results, and more focused on the basics and long-term goals.

But Baek-ki believes he’s spent enough time building up the basics during his schooling and internships. Finally dropping his calm facade, he angrily demands Assistant Manager Kang explain why he hates him.

The assistant manager points out that it has nothing to do with feelings It all goes back to the first day that Baek-ki was here, when he had tried to submit his own plan without even bothering to study what the steel team had previously submitted. Baek-ki was too hasty to be acknowledged.

If that kind of basic research was so important, why didn’t he tell Baek-ki right away? Assistant Manager Kang says he gave him many opportunities to figure it out himself, but obviously Baek-ki still has a long ways to go.

After the assistant manager leaves, Baek-ki returns to his desk and immediately emails his resumé. Young-yi again runs into Baek-ki at the elevator, and tells him that she’s taken his advice: she’s going to give in to her team. Baek-ki cryptically answers that she’s found her way now, and “I guess I’ve found mine.”

Chief Oh is still feeling the effects of his hangover, and decides to go out for some fresh air. Dong-shik and Geu-rae worriedly watch him go, and when Chief Go mentions that a same-aged collogue recently had a stroke with similar symptoms as Chief Oh, they rush out to find him, panicking when he doesn’t answer his phone.

A flashback to Geu-rae’s father’s funeral makes him stress even more frantic as hits redial over and over. Soon the entire sales department is on the hunt for Chief Oh, everyone assuming the worst.

But he’s at the hospital, snoring away while he’s hooked to an IV machine. He wakes up, surprised to see so many missed calls.

He returns to work, apologizing for his absence while the department head yells at him for skipping his annual medical check-up. His boss chides him for not taking care of his health when he has a family to support. Then he gives Chief Oh a big box of dried eels for health, claiming he bought it for for a vendor that never showed. Aw, the department head may be a jerk sometimes, but he still cares about his staff.

Chief Oh clutches the box of dried eel to his chest, practically daring his staff to take him up on his offer of sharing it with them. When he hears the department head scream out his name, he quickly hides it underneath the desk, lest it be taken back.

The department head isn’t yelling in anger, though — he just received a phone call that CEO Moon approved the deal, and actually asked to double the agreement. Dong-shik is amazed, surprised to learn that CEO Moon is such a romantic, assuming he was swayed by the opportunity to spend his anniversary with his wife. But as Geu-rae cleans up the research on CEO Moon that was left on Chief Oh’s desk, he finds out the truth: Chief Oh had discovered that it’s the CEO’s wife who’s actually in charge of the company.

The next day, Geu-rae — and Assistant Manger Kang — see Baek-ki in the middle of a meeting with his head-hunter. Chief Oh is just excited to get to the office because, as promised, a new employee has been assigned to their team. Aw, he’s still hoping for Young-yi.

When they arrive at their desks, the new guy is already there. He greets Chief Oh by name, but Chief Oh stands stone-faced, his previous good cheer completely gone.

 
COMMENTS

I’ll admit I had the wild idea (or blind hope?) that Baek-ki might be reassigned to Sales Team 3 as their new employee. I think that’s just because I want Chief Oh to become “Chief of All Interns and Newbies” — to just gather up these poor lost little ducks who feel so out of place in their departments and teach them how to be successful while they maintain a sense of integrity. (Well, except for maybe Seok-yul, who apparently is quite happy in his department, even if it seems like he never does any work. Or maybe he’s happy because he never does any work. Hmmm.)

This new guy definitely made me tense up, though. We know absolutely nothing about him yet, but already I’m totally sold on his backstory. Clearly there’s tension between him and Chief Oh, and once again I have to hand it to the casting directors, because even though he had maybe ten seconds (at most!) of screen time, I still felt like I immediately got a handle on his character: a shady, gangster type that clearly has a not-so-great past with Chief Oh.

I’m all set to hate him, but then I have to remind myself that this show continues to remind us over and over that these characters are so much more than archetypal black-and-white “hero” or “villains.” Each time I’m ready to dig my heels in, all, “yes, you’re totally an asshole and deserve to be tripped at every opportunity,” somehow the show makes me realize that these people are first-and-foremost human, with their own foibles and struggles. (Well, except for the resource team, especially that douchey Assistant Manager Ha. They’re still definitely on the black list.)

Case-in-point from this episode: Assistant Manager Kang. I haaaaaaaated the way he had been treating Baek-ki these past couple of episodes. But then I realized the show had only been giving me Baek-ki’s perspective — that of a superior who was snubbing the eager efforts of a young, ambitious worker. Like Baek-ki, I didn’t stop to think that perhaps there was a reason he assigned only mundane tasks. But now I’ve completely turned my opinion around and am rooting for Baek-ki to learn the lesson Assistant Manager Kang is trying to teach him.

Or maybe I’m just desperately hoping Baek-ki stays, no matter what it takes. I’m pretty sure Baek-ki won’t go to the other company, because Kang Ha-neul has, like, third billing and therefore I’m assuming he’ll stick around One International a little longer. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be biting my nails, worried now that since he’s reached his boiling point, he won’t be able to cool down enough to be truly humble. Because that seems to be the thrust of the lesson — Baek-ki is so determined to prove how amazing he is, that he isn’t willing to stop and learn about the basics. It’s more than just the rote material he learned in college or in his other internships — it’s about how the department functions in relation to their product and the rest of the company.

This is a lesson that Young-yi started to learn in the previous episode (and even though I still hate her team, I’m thrilled she’s showing them that she’s a good asset after all), and something that I think Geu-rae has been learning since the beginning. Well, he’s kind of had to, because he knows he doesn’t know anything, and therefore all he really has are the basics. Perhaps the reason that Geu-rae seems to be “so far ahead” of Baek-ki isn’t because he’s some kind of magical-pixie-wunderkind, but because of his baduk training, he’s already spent his life learning patience and the importance of spending time focusing on the basics.

Which is, again, why I’m so thankful that Chief Oh is his mentor, because Chief Oh forever values people over contracts. He’s not a perfect man — he drinks too much (ahhhh, I’m incredibly worried about his liver, especially with today’s fainting and nose bleed! Not to mention the ominous opening scene pointing out the importance of a healthy body for a healthy mind. Please don’t be foreshadowing; pleasepleaseplease don’t let it be cancer!). As much as he loves his family, he doesn’t treat them as well as perhaps he ought. But his entire motivation for doing well at work is his family, and he’s constantly fighting for his team, as well as standing up for the people who are genuine and sincere in what they do, despite what others might think.

In return, Chief Oh manages to bring hope to people who might worry that the world has become so jaded and cynical in this day and age, where everyone is chasing after profits and the bottom line. His disheveled hair and dark circles under his eyes may not seem the most inspiring, but he’s somehow a beautiful oasis in a culture where egos battle for dominance and ambition will do anything for just one chance to move another rung up the ladder we sometimes refer to as the “rat race.”

 
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