Entertainer: Episode 10

by LollyPip

What’s a little fish to do, when the big fish is determined to eat him whole? Things are coming to a head between KTOP and Ddanddara Band, and there are some pretty high stakes involved, both personal and professional. All our little fishes can do is trust the truth and hold on tight, and hope they survive the aftermath.

 
EPISODE 10 RECAP

Seok-ho finds Geu-rin waiting for him, but instead of going to her, he stops on the other side of the glass wall. Mostly to himself, he wonders what he’s doing here, then says softly, “Stay right there. Don’t come closer, Jung Geu-rin.”

He goes inside to accuse her of doodling on his drawing and making him come all this way, and she barks back, asking why he thought he had to come out here. Good point, I was wondering that myself. Seok-ho has no answer for that, so he just lies that that’s not why he’s here.

An employee lets them know that the site manager is delayed and won’t be back until tomorrow, and offers them a guest room for the night. Catching Geu-rin yawning, Seok-ho agrees to stay, but he goes out for some fresh air to clear his head — he can’t stop thinking of Geu-rin’s happy face when he showed up.

Frustrated when he hears that Geu-rin is staying out overnight with Seok-ho, Ha-neul complains to Yeon-soo, and Jae-hoon whines about being left out of all the fun. Min-joo arrives with food and notices Ha-neul’s bad mood, so like a good hyung, Yeon-soo ushers him outside for a walk.

They stop to rest, and Yeon-soo says matter-of-factly, “You like Geu-rin.” Ha-neul utterly fails at playing innocent and pouts, but he insists that he doesn’t like her and he’s totally not jealous at all.

Yeon-soo wistfully adds that he was a coward, which is probably why Chan-hee’s mother left him. He advises Ha-neul not to wait too long (to confess to her), or it might be too late.

Trying to avoid going to Geu-rin’s room, Seok-ho heads down to check out the site’s facilities, and he sits and pulls out the drawing that Geu-rin drew on, which he brought with him. He lets himself go all moony, smiling at the picture of himself in the rain, now with a bright green umbrella over his head. He makes a decision and texts Geu-rin that he’s leaving, wishing her luck with her meeting tomorrow.

CEO Lee complains to Joo-han about his stress lately, all because of Seok-ho and Ddanddara Band. Practically frothing at the mouth, he orders Joo-han to find a reporter and have them write a story about Ha-neul and his criminal background.

Geu-rin finally gets her meeting with the site manager, who is suuuuper weird. She kisses the statues and flirtatiously asks how old Ddanddara Band’s lead singer is, and it’s clear that she’s only booking the band because she thinks Ha-neul is cute.

Joo-han finds himself a shark reporter, who warns him that this is a very provocative thing to write about someone, so it had better be true. Joo-han assures him it’s the absolute truth, and claims that he’s only doing this because Seok-ho hurt CEO Lee so very badly by betraying KTOP.

Yeon-soo catches Ha-neul grinning when he learns that Seok-ho didn’t spend the night at the gig site with Geu-rin, hee. Ha-neul follows Geu-rin out and tells her that he’s going to learn to drive, giving her the puppy-dog eyes and promising to take her to see the blossoms.

Seok-ho is all business when Geu-rin tells him she booked the gig, and she pouts at him for leaving without saying goodbye last night. She thinks her drawing made him upset, but she’s mollified when he fibs that he had an early-morning meeting. He warns her not to play games with him anymore like messing with his drawing, though he’s not very convincing.

A call from an old editor friend has Seok-ho worried, and the two meet in person to discuss something that’s worrying the editor. He alerts Seok-ho to the fact that Reporter Park is in Busan covering a story that his lead singer is a molester, and Seok-ho admits that the record exists, but Ha-neul was framed.

The editor tells him that Reporter Park got the lead from KTOP, thinking it strange that CEO Lee would care about a rookie’s past. Seok-ho insists again that Ha-neul is innocent, but the editor can’t stop the story, and he just didn’t want Seok-ho to be blindsided.

Kyle is busted at his designated driver job when his latest client turns out to be Man-shik, and he makes Man-shik swear not to tell Seok-ho about this. Then Man-shik turns out to be a terrible tipper, ha.

Seok-ho decides that he needs to confront Ji-young directly, and enlists Man-shik’s help. She initially refuses to speak to Seok-ho until Man-shik oh-so-casually mentions the key chain, which scares her into agreement.

Seok-ho goes right for the throat, “Did you have to make your little brother do something like that?” She claims to have no idea what he means, and says that Kyung-soo said he lost that key chain, so she assumes he must have lost it in the house.

Seok-ho points out that he never said they found it in the house… busted. He tells Ji-young that she’s already standing in quicksand, and advises her to get out now if she wants to survive. Ji-young fires back that it’s Ha-neul who’s in quicksand.

Seok-ho gives her two chances, and tells her to turn herself in. Ji-young says she won’t, not even if he gives her one hundred chances, and leaves.

Mr. Byun offers to treat the band to dinner for booking their first gig, and this time Ha-neul notices Yeon-soo going all gooey when he invites Min-joo to join them. Meanwhile Min-joo convinces Man-shik to write three songs for the band, though he gripes that he’s only doing this for her.

He’s already got one song ready, but while the music is pretty, the lyrics really suck. I mean they’re reeeally awful. Seok-ho: “I’ve told you a million times not to write lyrics.” HAHA.

They all go to a fancy Chinese restaurant where Mr. Byun plays the big shot, though apparently the chef has been trying to get him banned, heh. He orders jjajangmyun for everyone, which is like going to a steak restaurant and getting everyone the soup and salad. They all complain, and poor Kyle looks like he’s going to cry.

Man-shik at least wants to get beer, and says they already have a designated driver right here… oops. That kills all conversation at the table, and Kyle looks ready to kill Man-shik.

Ji-young tries to do some damage control, and calls her brother to instruct him to tell anyone who asks that he lost his key chain a long time ago. Kyung-soo is terrified of being caught and punished, but Ji-young practically threatens him to keep his mouth shut.

Seok-ho learns that Ji-young’s parents have moved to Seoul, and he calls to ask if they would talk with him in person. He meets with her father and asks if he knows it wasn’t Ha-neul who attacked his daughter, telling him that he has proof that Kyung-soo was there that night. He thinks it’s possible that Ji-young had her brother record what happened, and Ji-young’s father remembers Kyung-soo getting a new phone because Ji-young took his old one.

To Seok-ho he says that he wasn’t there so he wouldn’t know, but Seok-ho notices that he’s working a hard-labor job — does he know something that makes him uncomfortable taking Ji-young’s money? Dad just asks about Ha-neul, and Seok-ho says he’s having a hard time.

He urges Dad to convince Ji-young to confess, since now that she’s an idol, public backlash could be huge if she’s found out. It will go easier for her if she admits her own wrongdoing. Besides, Kyung-soo must be feeling enormous pressure.

Though unsuccessful at getting any information from Ji-young’s dad, when Seok-ho gets back to the Mango office and sees Geu-rin, he smiles at her back for a minute before reigning his feelings in again. He sends her home to rest before their gig tomorrow, and assures her that he’ll be there in time to see the guys perform.

Late that night he sends Jinu a text, though we don’t see what the message says.

Ji-young’s father must believe Seok-ho, because he talks to Ji-young that night, asking why she got her little brother involved. He wants to know the real reason why she debuted so quickly, and though he doesn’t know the details, he knows that whatever she’s done is wrong.

Joo-han lurks outside Kyung-soo’s school to confront him about the key chain, and he obediently says that he lost it a long time ago. Joo-han doesn’t buy it, and threatens him and Ji-young if he find out they’re scheming behind his back. What a sleazeball.

Jinu calls Seok-ho to say that he’s thought about what Seok-ho suggested, and he says that he’s okay — that he’s rather clear his conscience this way. Seok-ho seems worried, but he says to himself, “It will all work out, Jinu-yah. For you, and for Ha-neul.”

Seok-ho is outside the boys’ gig venue, and he goes running at the sound of trot music. He discovers that the whole audience is made up of elderly people, and the boys all shoot eye-daggers at Geu-rin (except Jae-hoon, who naturally thinks this is so cool just because the trot singer is playing drums).

The site manager thinks it’s perfectly normal to have a band of young guys playing at an event for elderly people, but Geu-rin argues that this isn’t in Ddanddara Band’s concept. The manager just asks for Ha-neul’s autograph like a true fangirl, hee.

So the boys have no choice but to play, and as soon as Ha-neul starts singing, the audience begins to murmur restlessly. Seok-ho decides to do something and waves at Kyle to trot it up, and suddenly their song is a trot song. This is awesome.

After the concert, Seok-ho fusses at Geu-rin for not asking more questions about the event, while the site manager manhandles Ha-neul. But on the drive home he tells the boys to thank her for getting them the gig.

Ha-neul asks when Seok-ho will get his license back, worried about Geu-rin doing all the driving. Seok-ho says it’s the manager’s job, but Ha-neul leans forward to massage her shoulders anyway. So sweet, this boy.

Back at the Mango office, Seok-ho pulls Ha-neul aside to tell him that it’s Geu-rin’s job to drive, and to spend days away securing gigs. It’s going to happen a lot, so he may as well get used to it. He draws the line clearly — Geu-rin is Ha-neul’s manager now, not his noona. If he wants to express concern, he needs to do it within an appropriate context.

In a strange turn of events, the video of the boys playing their song in trot style is going viral on the internet. The boys all praise Geu-rin for getting them the gig, except Kyle, who says he’s on Seok-ho’s side.

The two go outside, where Seok-ho finally asks about Kyle’s designated driver job. Seok-ho says gently that even though Ddanddara Band isn’t famous yet, he’s still a public figure. But it’s good that he’s earning an honest living, and he tells Kyle to be patient just a little longer.

Though Ha-neul agreed to treat Geu-rin more like a manager, he can’t help but remember Yeon-soo’s words not to wait too long to confess. He goes looking at couple rings, and he’s shocked when the saleswoman asks for his autograph.

He realizes that he doesn’t have an official autograph yet, and soon all the boys are working on their own autographs (even Chan-hee, so cute). Geu-rin delivers the exciting news that they’re going to be on television in two days, and Ha-neul can’t help himself from making starry-eyes at her.

Seok-ho calls him late that night for a private chat, and tells him to listen closely. We don’t hear what he says, but whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to make Ha-neul very happy. Someone, whose face is in shadow, writes out the true story of what happened, and posts it online.

Reporter Park’s expose is scheduled to be published the day of the band’s TV appearance, but Seok-ho is sure everything will be okay. The band arrives at the station, and Ha-neul stands outside a dressing room, seeing that Ji-young’s group Twinkle is here today as well.

He goes inside and goes straight to Ji-young, sitting next to her casually. He leans in and says for her ears only: “There is only one person in the world that I want completely destroyed. That person is you.” He stands and cheerfully wishes her luck and leaves, and Ji-young screams in frustration.

Reporter Park whines when he sees that someone apparently told Mango about his story — he’s been scooped. CEO Lee sees the “confession” online, telling the whole truth about Ha-neul being framed, and his laugh seems more than a little bit unhinged. He talks out loud as if speaking to Seok-ho, saying that “you brought this on yourself.” Now Seok-ho can watch while Jinu goes down in flames.

The boys are more than willing to cancel their television appearance if Ha-neul isn’t up to it, which is so sweet, but he smiles and says that they knew this would happen. He’s fine if they’re fine.

Seok-ho says honestly that this may be their last performance, so he tells the boys to give it all they’ve got.

COMMENTS

I just love what a family this little ragtag group has become. They fight and disagree, but in the end, they’re unfailingly supportive of each other, no matter what. If someone stumbles, they pick them up, and they stick together when it really counts. Seeing the boys — even Kyle! — offer to cancel their big shot just because Ha-neul might be uncomfortable, made me all mooshy inside. I love stories about misfits finding acceptance, and this makeshift family really gets to me.

I purposely haven’t weighed in on the whole Seok-ho/Geu-rin romance thing in a while, because I’m still not sure how I feel about it, though it’s honestly not about their ages at all. I think it’s more because I feel all the emotion and chemistry coming from one direction, and none from the other. It feels as though Ji Sung is doing all the work, and Hyeri is just coasting along — not that she’s not trying, it’s just… I can see her trying. One of the worst things an actor can do is let someone catch you acting, and I catch Hyeri acting at least once an episode (if not more). I had the same problem with her performance in Answer Me 1988, that she just didn’t seem to be connecting with her leading men, though in that case it wasn’t as distracting because her character was written to be obtuse when it came to romance. Geu-rin is a little more world-savvy (not a lot more, but she’s not as protected and has seen some hard times), and at her age should have dated at least a little. So it’s disingenuous to have her be so completely unaware of the interest of not one, but two men she sees on a daily basis.

I think, if Geu-rin were at least a little bit aware of Seok-ho’s and Ha-neul’s feelings, even if just on a subconscious level, I would feel more like playing the shipping game (even recappers have ships, you know!). But because she’s so blank around both of them, it makes it less fun, and makes the “who will it be?” question become one of just deciding which guy would be less hurt if she didn’t choose him. In that case I’d have to say I would rather see her with Ha-neul, but if she ends up with Seok-ho I wouldn’t hate it. If Geu-rin has to pair up with anyone, I just hope the love triangle gets more interesting as the show goes on. And that Geu-rin starts noticing boys at some point — it’s well past time.

While I do think the show has improved since its first (very rough) week, and offers a lot of sweetness and heart, I still sometimes catch myself scratching my head over inconsistencies. Mostly surrounding the KTOP crew, who feel extremely undeveloped and one-note, as if their only purpose in life is to ruin Seok-ho and Ddanddara Band. It makes no sense, because professionally Seok-ho hasn’t been a threat for over a year, and so far, Ddanddara Band hasn’t been able to get anyone interested in their music to save their lives. It’s not as if Seok-ho found the Next Big Thing and is flaunting his success in their faces — I really think that at this point, Seok-ho would be happy to just be moderately successful with his boys and never interact with CEO Lee ever again. There’s that little mess regarding Jinu and Ji-young and how they framed Ha-neul, but that’s more personal than professional. So why does CEO Lee have it in for Seok-ho and the boys so badly?

And while I love how all of the band members are getting their time in the spotlight, the KTOP kids are woefully underdeveloped. I thought the show would start focusing on Jinu more last week, but then this week he seems to have faded to the background again. I want to care about him, but it’s hard when the show almost seems to be hiding him, maybe holding him back for some reason? I wish he were more of a presence, I want to feel for him and be scared for him, but it’s hard to do when we hardly see him. And Ji-young is barely an afterthought, so no that she’s finally part of the relevant story, it feels a bit jarring and awkward. We’ve barely seen her, and know almost nothing about her, so again, I worry that it’s going to be hard to feel anything for her as a villainous character (honestly, Ha-neul’s one threatening line was more terrifying than anything Ji-young’s done yet).

It’s very strange that a show that makes us care so much about some characters, almost seems to be getting in its own way regarding others. Let us see everyone in a more balanced way, so that we can care about what happens to everyone, not just the “good guys.” A villain still needs us to care if they’re going to feel like a real threat, even if caring means wishing for them to meet their own personal Truck of Doom.

 
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