Filming for our writer’s variety show has begun, and we’re introduced to a whole new cast of characters. Competition and romance are the nature of the game, but our poor, truth-telling news anchor is an awkward fish out of water when it comes to both. Will the real him be enough to win over his cast mates, the audience, and — most importantly — our writer’s heart?
EPISODES 5-6
If the suspense of finding out the new concept for Woo-joo’s variety show is killing you, the wait is over. She turned her (ambiguous) previous idea into a — wait for it — dating reality show. Hear that? That’s the sound of me deflating like a balloon animal. Even when you exclude all the real dating shows that exist in the world and are left with only dating shows within K-dramas, Woo-joo’s idea is not as original as she was making it out to be. Certainly not race-through-the-city-to-find-Ki-baek-because-she-must-tell-him-immediately levels of excitement.
Then again, her eagerness for her new concept may have less to do with the dating backdrop and more to do with her main stars: Jung-heon and Ki-baek. She’s picked up on the fact that there’s tension between the former high school classmates, and she intends to exploit it in front of the camera. And to get Ki-baek on board with her little plan, she agrees to become his switch flipper with the added promise of potentially helping his career with his variety show debut. Ki-baek’s often put-upon doctor (repeat guest appearances from Kwon Yul) serves as the reluctant witness to their deal, sealed with a pinky-promise.
And so filming of the not-so-fresh dating show begins with the cast arriving — scripted, of course — one-by-one at the pension where they will all be staying for the duration of the show’s run. Joining Ki-baek and Jung-heon on Team Testosterone is a French cuisine chef, who is certainly no Chef John, and a men’s clothing designer. The four men are all vying for the attention of three lovely ladies: a swimmer-turned-TV-personality, a graphic designer, and a lawyer.
As you may have noticed, the numbers are imbalanced, leaving one man to be the odd one out, and initially that man is awkward Ki-baek, who doesn’t know how to charm the ladies — or the PD crew — on a good day. And because Ki-baek must play this real-world dating sim on expert mode, he’s all truth and no lies, as Woo-joo assures him his quirkiness will be refreshing for the camera. Is honesty refreshing? Yes, but when you can’t fudge the truth about your current unemployment status, it diminishes your appeal on the dating market — especially when everyone’s favorite son-in-law, Jung-heon, is your competition.
Ki-baek is immediately at a disadvantage against the other men who are not only gainfully employed, but more skilled at hamming it up for the audience. Behind the scenes, though, Woo-joo gives Ki-baek a crash course in how to win the hearts of the ladies and their viewers. It all boils down to three traits: victory (winning challenges), loyalty (picking one lady and sticking with her), and “yutori” (a flexible personality or relaxed mind).
With these three traits in mind, Ki-baek enters the first challenge: a mud wrestling match. Again, not an original idea, but it triggers the men’s aggressive need to win. And when the four men are narrowed down to the three that will compete with a woman at their side in round two, that competitiveness turns into a sense of protectiveness that naturally bonds the men and women — or so Woo-joo theorizes. I don’t see much of the protectiveness Woo-joo was talking about, but after Ki-baek loses to Jung-heon in the final round, Ki-baek and his mud wrestling partner, Ms. Former Swimmer, do form an alliance. Admittedly, their partnership has nothing to do with instinctive responses and everything to do with the fact that he overhears her breaking up with her boyfriend on the phone.
With this alliance, Ki-baek ticks off another appealing reality TV quality (loyalty) from Woo-joo’s list, but the real woman Ki-baek is loyal to is Woo-joo. When he overhears crew members speculating that he’s on the show solely because he’s sleeping with Woo-joo, his true protective instincts kick in to prevent her from overhearing the gossip. He grabs her hand, places it on his chest, and flips off his truth-telling switch so he can put on an act of pretending he and Woo-joo are only casual acquaintances to spare her reputation. (FYI: It’s very worth noting that he’s previously suffered through the awkwardness of telling the truth despite the hit he took to his own reputation, and it was only when Woo-joo’s honor was on the line that he took the initiative to regain his ability to lie.)
Even though Woo-joo doesn’t know that Ki-baek came to her rescue, she’s clearly starting to fall for our awkward hero. She simultaneously feels bad for him (when Jung-heon tries to break up Ki-baek’s alliance with Ms. Former Swimmer) and jealous (that Ki-baek gave the last of his parents’ rice drink to Ms. Former Swimmer instead of her). In the editing room, she also lingers on footage of him, a sign so obvious that even her bestie coworker, CHAE YEON (Kim Sae-byuk), calls her out on it.
As much as Woo-joo denies the truth, her feelings come to head when Ki-baek gets lost — and possibly injured — in the woods on the latest bonding activity for the contestants: a horror-themed walk through the forest. Woo-joo doesn’t hesitate to run into the woods after him, and her relief at finding him in one piece leads to her confession that he makes her heart flutter. (Omo!) However, knowing her own feelings jeopardize the show and her career, Woo-joo takes back her words and touches Ki-baek’s chest so he can’t tell her his feelings and sway her. The show is her priority.
Speaking of the show, it’s time for a surprise twist. Since the start of filming, the cast has been told that all members of Team Testosterone have something in common, and it’s an ongoing challenge for them to identify that mystery something. Winners of the various challenges are given hints as prizes, and eventually Jung-heon is the first to figure it out: all the men on the show have the same first love, MIN CHO-HUI (Han Dong-hee). And — surprise! — she’s joining the show to round out the numbers!
If you, like me, thought Woo-joo’s dating show concept was lame and unoriginal, well, it’s time to eat humble pie because this twist is pretty good — both for our K-drama and the dating show within it. As soon as Cho-hui walks on set, the dynamics change. The ladies immediately feel threatened, believing all men have a soft spot for their first love, and Mr. French Chef and Mr. Clothing Designer prove the ladies’ theory correct with the way the fawn over Cho-hui. Ki-baek and Jung-heon, however, are less enthusiastic given that their former high school love triangle brought about the end of their friendship. Plus, you know, there’s the fact that they both currently only have eyes for Woo-joo.
Now that Cho-hui has been added to the show’s cast, it’s time for her to go on a date with Jung-heon, the man who correctly guessed the show’s mystery. But wait! There’s more! In yet another twist, Cho-hui is given the option to select another person to join them on the date. And, just as Woo-joo predicted, she picks Ki-baek. While Woo-joo’s coworkers give her a pat on the back and commend her for her genius idea, she looks reserved and guilty. Very, very guilty. She knows she did Ki-baek dirty by exploiting the contents of his journal.
The show comes first, though, so after a hasty apology to Ki-baek, who tells her he’s fine — he’s totally not fine — the cast and crew head to a theme park. Unfortunately, the on-camera date does not go as scripted. It starts going downhill when the writing team joins Ki-baek, Jung-heon, and Cho-hui on a ride to make it appear less empty on camera. Woo-joo loses her grip on the safety railing, and Ki-baek unnecessarily comes to her rescue. Yeah, that’s a whole bunch of footage they can’t use.
The calamity continues when Jung-heon is cornered by a group of fans who start hounding him for selfies and other freebies. As the growing crowd of theme park goers closes around Jung-heon, his panic rises. Fight or flight is trying to kick in, but because he’s conditioned to be the guy who everyone loves, he freezes instead. No worries, Jung-heon! A well-timed sneeze triggers Ki-baek’s truth-telling ability, and he steps in to defend Jung-heon from his harassers.
Of course, there’s such a thing as going a bit overboard, so Woo-joo drags Ki-baek away from all the gawkers filming the scene with their cell phones. Once they’re alone, Ki-baek turns his truth bombs on Woo-joo and admits that he feels betrayed by Woo-joo’s decision to exploit his personal life for her television show. At the same time, though, he rationally understands that he gave her his private journal as inspiration, and he can’t entirely fault her for her choice. His truthful communication is wonderfully mature, and I adore how his inability to lie is used to highlight the complexity of human feelings and our ability to feel two dichotomous emotions at the same time. (Can you tell this drama is growing on me?)
I’m not the only one with a new appreciation for Ki-baek, though. His actions at the theme park made him a favorite with not only the crew but with Cho-hui. And just when you thought being caught in the middle of a love triangle between Ki-baek and Jung-heon was the only thing Cho-hui and Woo-joo had in common, it is revealed that they share a birthday — awkward. Well, maybe not as awkward as the look on Cho-hui’s face when she confesses her interest in Ki-baek, and he straight up ditches her to go celebrate Woo-joo’s birthday with her.
His impromptu surprise birthday party for Woo-joo is not — major emphasis on not — a confession. I mean, it totally is, but Ki-baek doesn’t say the words that they’re both feeling because he knows her career is riding on the success of this dating show. And if they say the words aloud, it complicates things. So instead of admitting their feelings, they eat spicy food, watch fireworks, and pretend that they aren’t crushing hard on each other.
Sounds like a perfect end to Woo-joo’s birthday, right? About that… It wouldn’t be a reality television show without some behind the scenes hiccups and drama, so when Woo-joo returns to the pension, she is met with chaos. Ms. Former Swimmer has unexpectedly left the show, which means they’re short one female contestant. But the show must go on, and that, dear Beanies, is how Woo-joo finds herself stepping in as Ms. Former Swimmer’s replacement.
Overall, this drama has grown on me with the same steady and natural progression of Woo-joo and Ki-baek’s romance, and — I don’t know about y’all but — I love the fact that Woo-joo is going to be in front of the camera now. She and Ki-baek may have agreed to hold back their feelings for the sake of the show, but now that they’re both a part of the cast that should theoretically no longer apply to the situation since finding romance is the nature of the game. What was an otherwise boring dating show concept is about to get super interesting now that Ki-baek and Jung-heon’s second love has entered the arena.
Of course, Jung-heon and Choi-hui are still around to cause conflict, but since last week, I’ve downgraded Jung-heon from a potential villain to probable nuisance. Choi-hui, on the other hand, seems kinda suss. Or maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part because, so far, she’s rather boring. She needs some spice, and I’m kind of hoping she’s the reason Ms. Former Swimmer left the show.
As much as I love the OTP’s progression this week, my new guilty favorite side-couple is Yeon and Ki-baek’s brother SONG EON-BAEK (Hwang Sung-bin). Dude rode in on a boat to deliver rice drinks to the cast and crew and just stuck around, silently performing menial tasks and making Yeon’s life easier. Clearly, his love language is acts of service, and this week, we saw him direct his love towards Yeon and Ki-baek. We all saw you grab that first aid kit and go stomping into the woods to save your brother, Eon-baek.