Unlock the Boss: Episodes 5-6

by mistyisles

Things get a little dire this week as our team hunts down answers and makes a new alliance. With very few clues and a ticking clock, they’ve certainly got their work cut out for them.

 
EPISODES 5-6 WEECAP

Having secured In-sung and Se-yeon’s payment, Ma-pi attempts to beat a confession out of their assailant. They know who he is — NAM SANG-WON (Byun Jun-seo), an employee in the Silver Lining sales department — but he won’t tell them much else.

The interrogation is cut short by the police, who received reports of a disturbance. The attack is written off as a disgruntled employee attacking his new boss, and only Ma-pi and Sang-won are kept for further questioning due to their prior records.

Silver Lining’s employee records don’t reveal much about Sang-won — and what little information there is turns out to be false — so In-sung asks his best friend JUNG HYUN-HO (Yoon Byung-hee) to stake out the police station and alert them when Sang-won leaves.

The plan works perfectly, until it doesn’t. Hyun-ho follows Sang-won to the subway station, but Sang-won shakes him off and heads back outside. In-sung arrives just in time to give chase, and almost catches Sang-won at the exit. But he has to choose between keeping hold of Sang-won or saving a baby stroller from tumbling down the stairs, so of course he saves the baby.

What with Sang-won on the loose, In-sung decides he and Se-yeon need a bodyguard who can help with their search. And hey, Ma-pi may be unsavory and a violent criminal, but at least they know he’s not working with Sang-won, so Ma-pi gets the job. It’s not long before he’s rolling his eyes and stepping in to take over from In-sung and Se-yeon’s amateurish attempts at tracking Sang-won down. Like when no one answers their knock at Sang-won’s apartment, Ma-pi scales the outside wall and shouts through the window (meanwhile In-sung assures everyone on ground level that things are under control and they don’t need to call the police).

Se-yeon, understandably, isn’t a fan of Ma-pi joining their team. And she’s not the only one — Sun-joo’s home staff give him major side-eyes and biting comments about his uncouth appearance and rough background (apparently, before he started racking up criminal records, he was a promising up-and-coming young boxer).

In-sung tries his best to mediate, but after a failed attempt at treating Ma-pi and Se-yeon to a friendly team dinner, he realizes that may not be the best approach. He later apologizes privately to Se-yeon for putting his wants over her comfort, admitting that there’s someone he has no desire to reconcile with, too.

In the midst of all the sleuthing, Min-ah’s birthday arrives. The whole family (that is, In-sung, Min-ah, Se-yeon, and the nanny and butler, plus Ma-pi) goes camping to celebrate. It’s mostly a happy time, though it doesn’t make up for the fact that this is the first birthday of Min-ah’s that Sun-joo has missed. In the past, even when he had to work late developing BARO 4.0, he at least managed to run home just before midnight to wish her happy birthday and give her one of the many letters her mother wrote in advance from her hospital bed.

After the others tuck in for the night, Se-yeon and In-sung sit by the fire for a heart-to-heart. In-sung tells her about his dream to become an actor, which started when he got the chance to fill in for a child actor in a locally filmed movie. When he asks about her dream, she hedges around the question. But later she explains that her dream of owning a hotel was shattered when her mother had a stroke and she had to get an immediate high-paying job.

Next it’s Sun-joo’s turn for a heart-to-heart with In-sung. (And side note, I’m really hoping the running gag about In-sung unintentionally setting up memorial tables for Sun-joo is just a joke and not foreshadowing!) Not being there for Min-ah is really weighing on Sun-joo, as is not knowing whether catching the person who attacked him will be enough to restore him to his human form.

Min-ah wakes up while they’re talking and tries on the extra earbud In-sung left sitting on the picnic table. Hearing her father’s voice makes her burst into tears, as she can’t understand why he’s not coming home. This both breaks In-sung’s heart and strengthens his resolve to bring Sun-joo back, no matter what.

Speaking of broken hearts, Mi-ran’s father, the former chairman of Bumyoung Group, passes away. During his hospitalization, Mi-ran has been Acting Chairwoman, but now the position must be officially filled, either by her or by Young-geun.

Mi-ran knows she’s at a disadvantage against Young-geun’s influence in the company, so she takes a gamble. At the groundbreaking ceremony for a new Bumyoung Construction project, she pulls In-sung up on stage and announces a launch date for their collaboration project, a self-driving car — which definitely isn’t ready to launch yet. Meaning In-sung and Sun-joo will have to make it happen anyway, or fail to deliver on the promise she’s made on their behalf.

Meanwhile, the search for Sang-won finally yields one clue: every time he’d gone out with the Silver Lining hiking club, Sam-soo was also present. In-sung tries to catch Sam-soo off-guard by bringing it up in casual conversation, and when that doesn’t work, he and Sun-joo come up with an elaborate plan to swap Sam-soo’s glasses for AR ones that make it look like Sun-joo is sitting in the car with him. Sam-soo figures out the gimmick pretty quick, but In-sung follows up with a warning: what happens when the person Sam-soo is working for decides he’s too much of a liability and it’s time to cut him off?

That spooks Sam-soo well enough. After calling the mysterious person to ask for proof that they’re trustworthy (a rookie mistake), and discovering that Sang-won has been murdered, he asks In-sung to meet him alone after dark. When In-sung arrives, he finds Sam-soo’s car full of gas and Sam-soo dead from a staged suicide. The police show up moments later, and they agree with In-sung that foul play has occurred. Then they arrest In-sung on murder charges.

But don’t worry — this week isn’t all doom and gloom. The romance is picking up steam, starting with a game of hide-and-seek that places In-sung and Se-yeon nose-to-nose under a blanket. And when In-sung gets his first CEO paycheck and buys gifts for his parents, he envisions buying out whole racks of fancy clothes for Se-yeon and calling her “Baby.” In reality, he settles for a shirt to replace the one she loaned him. Though he looks ready to confess his feelings then and there, he falters when she assumes it’s just a replacement and not a gift.

Still, she’s more touched (and smitten) than she lets on. And for good reason! He has a way of bringing out her more playful and vulnerable sides, and they make a fabulous team — especially when a little improv acting is in order.

 
RELATED POSTS

• Premiere Watch: Unlock the Boss, Connect
• Attempting to Unlock the Boss with Chae Jong-hyeop and Park Sung-woong
• Chae Jong-hyeop becomes CEO for Park Sung-woong in Unlock the Boss
• Can Chae Jong-hyeop save Park Sung-woong and Unlock the Boss?
• News bites: December 3, 2022
• News bites: November 26, 2022