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Pegasus Market: Episode 1

Sometimes the craziest ideas turn out to be the most brilliant, but most of the time, there’s a reason why fish flavored toothpaste isn’t a thing. But not at Pegasus Market! In a world filled to the brim with zany people and ridiculous situations, this show is a hilarious ride from beginning to end. Hold on to your hats because there’s no knowing which way this story will turn next.

NOTE: This is just a first-episode recap.

 
EPISODE 1 RECAP

This is the tale of “Pegasus Market,” a supermarket in Gyeonggi-do with no resolve to do business. Scenes from the original webtoon flip on screen like a book until the final picture fades into the real world. Planted straight into a campaign rally, singer Kim Yeon-ja performs a rendition of her hit Amor Fati to support Candidate Kim, complete with backup dancers and a DJ.

After the mini-concert ends, Candidate Kim takes the microphone and promises his constituency to revitalize their city. He points ahead and vows to remove the biggest stumbling block sitting right in their city square: Pegasus Market.

An employee of Daema Group (henceforth DM Group) burns the midnight oil and stumbles across a rare, unlocked file on Pegasus Market. He calls over Manager Park to show him the strange charts and sales numbers which clearly suggest something odd happening behind the scenes.

Manager Park quickly silences the employee and warns him to ignore everything related to that store. Whatever its purpose, there’s only one thing everyone at DM Group knows about that place—it’s the grave site for careers.

The leaders of DM Group meet in the morning, and Director KWON YOUNG-GU (Park Ho-san) eyeballs Director JUNG BOK-DONG (Kim Byung-chul) from across the table. Everyone rises when Chairman KIM DAE-MA (Lee Soon-jae) enters the room, but the chairman frowns at the sight of Vice President Kim Kab’s empty seat.

Addressing the room of directors, Chairman Kim reminds them that DM Group’s motto is innovation: “Everything but your wife and kids should change!” He brandishes a red container and calls it the new item that will represent the future of
their company.

The container is filled with car wax, but not any car wax; it’s wax that grows hair! The directors all turn their heads towards the chairman and then at the presentation of “hairy cars.” Their expressions scream disbelief, and they all think to themselves that the chairman has finally lost his marbles.

However, no one seems brave enough to oppose, and Director Jung jumps up first to praise the chairman’s intuition. While everyone else joins in, Bok-dong slams the table and pushes back against the chairman’s crazy idea. All the directors hold their breathes, ready for an outburst, but to their surprise, the chairman chuckles.

In truth, the car wax was a test to find someone bold enough to speak up, and Chairman Kim clasps Bok-dong’s shoulders, calling him his righthand man. Unfortunately, Bok-dong’s moment of glory lasts for a mere ten seconds as Manager Park rushes in to inform the chairman of their competitor’s new, hit item: a car wax that grows hair.

Since Bok-dong lost him the car wax, the chairman appoints him to oversee Pegasus Market, and Director Kwon celebrates in his office. Manager Park congratulates him on becoming the next chairman, and though Director Kwon denies it, his smile belies his true feelings.

While Bok-dong’s demotion is good for them, Manager Park worries over the chance of Bok-dong uncovering their secret at Pegasus Market. Director Kwon waves aside his concerns since knowing Bok-dong’s personality, Director Kwon is certain that his rival will quit before accepting his new position.

In a small apartment, 29-year-old MOON SEOK-GU (Lee Dong-hwi) wakes up and gets ready for work. He lives by the motto that embarrassment is temporary while gains are forever, which translates to squishing himself onto an overcrowded bus to make it on time for work.

Over the last decade, Seok-gu devoted every waking moment to studying and preparing for a job, and after all those grueling years, he finally got a position at the largest company in the country: DM Group. He happily stands in front of Pegasus Market as its manager and enters with a pep in his step.

Contrary to his cheery attitude, the store’s atmosphere is downright dreary with bored or sleeping cashiers, missing shopping carts, and rotten produce. Seok-gu gets distracted by a fly in the mart, and chases it around futilely until he slips on a banana and crashes to the ground.

While Seok-gu groans in pain, Bok-dong walks up to him, and without even introducing himself, he tells Seok-gu to get ready for their meeting. Seok-gu’s confusion turns to awe when Bok-dong catches the pesky fly in one try, but his awe becomes outright admiration when he realizes who Jung Bok-dong is.

Seok-gu’s imagination runs wild as he envisions himself as a new leader alongside Bok-dong and the chairman, even picturing himself as “Lee Jung-jae” from New World. He excitedly greets the director, but the latter immediately cuts to the chase and asks about the missing items in the store’s inventory files.

Seok-gu can’t answer his questions since the main company files everything for the store, and his laissez-faire approach befuddles Bok-dong. Even more surprising is the fact that Seok-gu has been working as the manager for 387 days when his predecessors only lasted three months. Bok-dong compliments Seok-gu for being a “competent” worker and orders him to hire more people like him.

Bok-dong’s pen runs out of ink while he’s writing, so he chucks it. The pen goes flying towards a painting of Chairman Kim and lands right on the chairman’s nether regions to Seok-gu’s horror. Soon after Bok-dong leaves, Seok-gu cleans the office, but he gasps at what Bok-dong scribbled on his dusty pad: curses against the chairman as well Bok-dong’s desire to kill him.

Late into the night, Seok-gu makes a flier for new job openings at their store, but when he prints them out, a few fly out the open window. In town, struggling musician JO MIN-DAL (Kim Ho-young) comes home to find his wife worrying about their rising rent. He assures her that his band will succeed soon, but his promises of a house with a yard sound foolish to her.

He trudges out of his home with his guitar, and burden by his inability to provide for his family, he decides to give up his dreams. In the end, Min-dal can’t bring himself to throw it away, and ends up on the floor in tears. Breaking the mood, a flier slaps him in the face, and Min-dal sees the notice about Pegasus Market. Before he can keep it, the flier flies out of Min-dal’s hands and moves on to its next target.

Chauffeur CHOI IL-NAM (Jung Min-sung) swallows his pride as his young, drunk passenger berates him for being a driver and not holding a stable job. As the passenger continues his tirade, Il-nam finally snaps and yells at the young man to get out of the car.

Despite Il-nam’s outburst, he’s the one who gets dragged out of the car, and he finds himself abandoned on the street with one less paycheck. He stops by a convenience store when he receives a text from his wife, telling him not to push himself too hard.

Il-nam breaks into tears at the message, and eats his bread to stifle his cries. However, no one’s safe from the mood-killing flier as it smacks Il-nam in the face as well. He lights up while reading the notice for new employment, but just as before, the flier slips out of Il-nam’s hands and goes on its merry way.

The next day, both Min-dal and Il-nam arrive to interview for the open positions, and while Il-nam hands in his resume, Min-dal didn’t even bring one. Bok-dong asks for introductions, and Min-dal goes first. He explains his occupation as a singer but starts to go off on tangents until finally derailing completely. Min-dal sobs in front of the others, and calls himself a leech to his poor wife.

II-nam suddenly gives his introduction and describes himself as a loser. He gives his sob story about being fired and not finding a job afterwards, and in the end, the two of them beg for the position. They both try to sound more desperate than the other, and start adding ridiculous descriptors to their garbage-like status (“I’m nuclear waste!”).

Seok-gu attempts to bring reason back to the room, but Gangster OH IN-BAE (Kang Ho-suk) kicks down the door. He accuses the mart for selling spoiled fish which gave him food poisoning, but Seok-gu calmly explains that their store stopped selling fish a while ago.

In-bae changes his story, claiming that it was canned fish that gave him the rashes, but Seok-gu tells him to send his complaints to the company that made the product then. In-bae refuses to leave without compensation, but when things start to escalate, Bok-dong fixes everything with a simple phrase: “You’re all hired.”

Everyone stares at Bok-dong flabbergasted, most of all Seok-gu. He reasons with the director that two of them were just crying and the other wasn’t even here for the job, but no matter what Seok-gu says or does, he can’t stop the inevitable. All three new employees gratefully accept the offer, and for their first task, they voluntary fix the door that In-bae broke.

Seok-gu chases after Bok-dong and asks for a convincing reason why those nobodies were hired. As someone who worked to the bone to get this job, he doesn’t find this situation fair, but Bok-dong tells him that he is different from them since he’s in charge. A new presence in the store distracts them, and standing in the entrance is a man and child dressed in ponchos brandishing the store’s flier.

Vice President Kim Kab (aka, the chairman’s grandson) finally shows his face at the company and meets with Director Kwon to talk about Bok-dong’s reassignment. Despite his initial intimidating appearance, Kim Kab is a whiny brat who’s all bark and no bite. He worries about Bok-dong finding out their secret use of Pegasus Market, so Director Kwon suggests planting a spy in the store.

Interviews resume at Pegasus Market as Pielleggu, the leader of the Bbaya Tribe, and young boy Jjiae “interview” for the job. Speaking in short phrases, Pielleggu explains how he and his tribesmen came looking for work to send money back home, but faced discrimination. Verdict? Bok-dong hires all ten tribesmen on the spot.

Bok-dong comes home much earlier than usual and finds his son studying by reading webtoons. (It’s Yoo-jin!) Since he’s usually never home at this time, his wife doesn’t have dinner prepared, so Bok-dong skips it. He washes up in the bathroom but numbly stares at his reflection with the faucet on.

It’s payday for Seok-gu, and after calculating his bills and savings, he has about a quarter of his paycheck left to use for living expenses. After work, he dresses head-to-toe in black and dons a hat, sunglasses, and a mask to hide his identity.

He sneaks his way into the neighboring supermarket to buy steak and debates over buying the expensive or cheaper beef—ultimately choosing the cheaper one. As he leaves the store, the two cashiers from Pegasus Market find him in his dramatic getup and comment on how he sticks out more that way. Heh.

On his way home, Seok-gu notices a grandma selling vegetables on the street, and though she tries to sell him all her lettuce, he only wants a little. Knowing that she’ll stay out until everything is sold, Seok-gu buys all of it from her despite his initial protests, and his beef party turns out to be more of a lettuce one.

Mom asks how work is lately, and Seok-gu initially describes his new boss as strange. He changes his mind and calls Bok-dong over-enthused instead, and Mom reminds him to listen to his higherups rather than act stubbornly.

In a junkyard, Pielleggu and the other tribesmen gather around a fire and remember how difficult it was for them to get here. Now that they’ve finally become full-time employees after ten years of searching, they vow to work hard at Pegasus Market.

Seok-gu merrily walks to work when Director Kwon suddenly screeches in front of him with his car and orders him to get in. He offers Seok-gu a chance to work for him, and if things go well, he promises him a position at the main company.

The chance for a reassignment raises Seok-gu’s spirits, but he immediately deflates when Director Kwon tasks him with reporting detailed accounts of Bok-dong’s every action, including his poop. Seok-gu wonders if keeping tabs on his bowel movements is necessary but still agrees to the conditions.

After dismissing Seok-gu, Director Kwon gives his best evil villain laugh, but Seok-gu interrupts his moment since he has a question. He asks if he should keep the assignment a secret from Bok-dong, and Director Kwon stares at him utterly baffled. In voiceover, future Director Kwon says that he should have reconsidered their partnership back then.

The new employees are already working when Seok-gu arrives, and the Bbaya people have volunteered to act as shopping carts since the store doesn’t have any. The strange sight gives Seok-gu a headache, but despite the odd setup, the place is looking much nicer than before.

Suddenly, the store darkens and lights flash in the background as the Bbaya people break out into song and dance. The other employees nod along, and even Seok-gu involuntarily claps to the beat. Once it’s over, Pielleggu firmly tells Seok-gu that they’ll work hard.

Il-nam and Min-dal promise to do their best as well, and to Seok-gu’s dismay, even In-bae has showed up to work. He was assigned to the customer service center, and Seok-gu warily makes his way down to see him. An angry customer arrives before Seok-gu, and confident that Il-nam failed his duty, Seok-gu giddily chases after the customer. However, his face falls as soon as he opens the door.

The customer service center is remodeled as a monarch’s room, and In-bae sits on the throne dressed as a Joseon king. He speaks to the now-placated customer in old-time speech, and Seok-gu’s knees go weak when the customer replies in kind.

Seok-gu asks what happened to the customer service center, so Il-nam and Min-dal tell him that Bok-dong ordered the change. He also decided on a new store motto: the employees are the king. Hence, the new work uniforms which are red polos with kingly designs.

The day has barely started, and Seok-gu already sends faxes to Director Kwon describing Bok-dong as a sunflower who turns others into flowers, too. Enraged, Director Kwon rushes over to Pegasus Market and confronts Seok-gu about creating preposterous lies. Right then, Bok-dong calls Director Kwon’s name, and when he turns around, he sees that his archnemesis really is a sunflower. (I can’t… my sides hurt too much.)

The other employees are also flowers, including Seok-gu who simply beams at the director. Director Kwon asks Bok-dong what he is planning with all these strange people and things. With a smile, Bok-dong shares his diabolical scheme: turn Pegasus Market into a big bomb and drop it on DM Group to bring it to ruins.

 
COMMENTS

Holding true to the source material’s wackiness, this adaptation of a strange supermarket with even stranger workers is shaping out to be a hilarious riot. The humor is off-the-wall, and the translation from webtoons to dramas captures the heart of the original while capitalizing on the strengths of film. The jokes from the first few chapters of the webtoons are taken nearly word for word, but the addition of music and motion adds to the scenes, amplifying the humor in creative ways. Punchlines can be drawn out without dragging the pace, and gags can occur simultaneously in a moment without having to divide the screen. Alas, I have only seen the first few chapters of the original webtoon, so it’s hard to say how the show will compare to its source overall—but from this initial outing, it seems that the show’s creators are fans of the webtoon and know what made it popular.

Having said that, there is something about the original that I’m still wary about in the drama: the Bbaya Tribe. My initial reaction to the Bbaya people was one of uneasiness. South Korea’s entertainment industry’s rocky and insensitive history of portraying other ethnicities and nationalities provided me little comfort with how the show would treat a fictious group of people who are clearly supposed to be indigenous. While I can’t say that my worries are completely dispelled, I am more optimistic after this first episode that the show might not fall under the perpetual storytelling trap of thinly veiled racism and ethnocentrisms to garner cheap laughs. Pielleggu and his group are still odd, but within the context of the show, they’re no weirder than the other employees at Pegasus Market, Seok-gu included. Hopefully the show continues to portray the Bbaya Tribe humorously without mocking other cultures because, according to the fans and the creators, Pegasus Market wouldn’t be the same without them.

Truth be told, this show probably isn’t for everyone. It has a distinct brand of humor that is outrageous and head scratching. A scene will play out one way and then take a sharp left turn; but it’s these subversions of expectations that I love about the show. For example, we are introduced to Min-dal and Il-nam who are struggling in life, and immediately, the show throws us their sob stories. However, instead of lingering on their tears, the show takes us out of the moment by literally slapping the characters with a flier from Pegasus Market. The joke then continues as their sob stories are introduced again during the interviews. If this was a drama, Min-dal’s heartfelt confession could be seen as a touching moment, but not at Pegasus Market. Contrary to what other dramas might show, Min-dal’s earnestness is depicted as completely inappropriate, but what makes the scene so uproariously funny is how Il-nam joins in on the sob-fest to win over his competition for the category of “most desperate.” Add on to that Seok-gu’s growing anxiety and Bok-dong’s stone-faced expression and it becomes comedy gold. Yet what makes the show truly unique in its oddness is that the gag continues with the introduction of In-bae (the gangster from left field), and the final conclusion of Bok-dong hiring all of them is the cherry on top.

It’s not a stretch to call everyone strange in this show. The mere fact that hairy car wax is selling like hotcakes already establishes the rules of this world: things are weird but everyone eventually rolls with it like it’s not a big deal. There’s no typical “straight man” because, depending on a scene, someone will be the comedic foil in one but then in another, they’re the ones delivering the punchline. Take Seok-gu for example. He comes across at the observer—the one reacting to the ridiculousness of the situations orchestrated by Bok-dong (the master of the deadpan reaction)—yet Seok-gu is also the guy dressing up like a spy to buy steak at the competitor’s store and slowly going bonkers by the madness taking over his workplace. It’s really a credit to the actors that they’re able to pull off so many facets of these characters, and the comedic timing by everyone is great. Lee Dong-hwi and Kim Byung-chul are especially awesome, and whenever they’re on screen, they bring something magical to the moment that can only be credited to their charms as actors. Besides the acting, the director is also doing a phenomenal job, capturing the situational humor of the webtoon and making it work in the format of television. While comics control pace using space and layout, television has the ability to control time as well. The directorial choice to linger on a face or quickly cut to the next joke by adding someone to the scene sets the absurd tone of the show, and these temporal decisions add another dimension to the original story. Pegasus Market is definitely a different show from the usual crop of dramas, but it’s a fresh breath of (silly) air and a welcome addition to the landscape.

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@lovepark Thank you for recapping this hilarious show's first episode! My emotions were literally on a rollercoaster the entire hour. I was crying one moment with literal tears down my face and then I found myself laughing hysterically in the next moment, and the tears became happy ones. I even danced along a little to the Bbaya's song, which surprisingly somehow didn't seem out of place in Pegasus Market's world. It might be too early to say, but I want to call this drama gold.

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Thanks for the recap LovePark.

I enjoyed the first episode. I had several laugh out loud moment starting from when they start hiring and the whole musical number by the tribe.

I hope they maintain the quirkiness and goofiness throughout the drama, it will be a fun drama to watch.

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Yaaay! A recap! <3 Thank you!

I dunked on Pegasus a bit in WWW but I actually love all the jokes. And my favorite part about the sobstories is when opportunity literally slapped them in the face and cut the pity party short. LOL You’re right, the cast and direction really captured the weird tone of the webtoon. I’m hoping I’ll love it more next week when the stuff outside of teaser spoilers starts. :)

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If this were a different show someone would complain how it's impossible to convert a customer service area into a throne room overnight.
But I guess this show gets a plot-hole pass...

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@lordcobol,

I thought the same thing, especially as there was no indication of carpentry skills on the part of the three hard-luck applicants. But I don't care. After all the suspension of disbelief I've had to do in other recent dramas, I'll gladly grant MAGIC HORSE MART a dispensation or three on the grounds of poetic license. Not to mention what it has already done for my languishing funny bone.

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Just accept the magic... Clearly there is some in this story

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MAGIC HORSE!

It would be just wonderful if the writers gave us a “The Magic Horse and His Carrot Boy” spoof! They have more than enough staff, the dancing skills, the horse, and somewhere in that mart they have carrots.

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Please, please never let this même die.

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Ah ! I want to watch this ! It got me with hairy car wax ! 😄

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There's a certain 'realism' in the way Korean actors act their 'overdramatic' antiques, and this is why I see Koreans are likely to be more successful on translating a comic's wackiness to real life. x)
I'm not sure if I could get into it if it's a dorama adapted by Japanese from a manga. Ended up with this comparison as I feel this is the first kdrama with crazy comical characters, dunno if it makes sense, it's more like a crazy 'cosmic' character. They feel so out of this world xD
Other things to note: Part of the show felt so India-esque, the Bbaya tribe are probably a distant cousin of Oompa Loompa tribe from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, especially when they started to dance (didn't expect that at all lol), it's so GOOD.

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'overdramatic' antiques ???

Methinks an overzealous completion algorithm clobbered this post.

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My bad!! xDD

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Oh, duh, antics! I couldn't figure it out for the life of me until just now.

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@zanearaki,

The deadpan expression on President Jung's sunflower-petal-framed face just slayed me. Kim Byung-Chul was phenomenal in his face-offs against Namgoong Min in DOCTOR PRISONER, another master who has raised deadpan to a high art. I have no idea how these guys can keep such straight faces during such hilarious and/or intense scenes.

I was convinced that I was detecting a low-key spoof of Bollywood song-and-dance extravaganzas during the Bbaya ballet.

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I rarely said this outwardly but damn Kim Byung Cheol oozes sexiness in whatever he does, even in his deadpan mode x)))

"Kim Byung-Chul was phenomenal in his face-offs against Namgoong Min in DOCTOR PRISONER, another master who has raised deadpan to a high art. I have no idea how these guys can keep such straight faces during such hilarious and/or intense scenes."

OMG this one gets me every time!! xD
Especially that sunflower twist in the end. I can't believe I'm seeing this on my screen...

"I was convinced that I was detecting a low-key spoof of Bollywood song-and-dance extravaganzas during the Bbaya ballet."

And not even one bit I want less of these.

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In all that goodness you described, he's still single. Well xD

"Since you already admit how you find him sexy, I'd like to admit how he and Yoon Se-ah made me feel so giddy when I watched behind-the-scenes of Sky Castle. I almost shipped them. 🤣"

Ah... they must've fooled everyone with that chemistry. ><

"I don't know how to feel about his wife in Pegasus Market. But I don't want to dwell on it. There are too many fun moments for me to focus on."

I agree that even if one or two elements don't click, I somehow believe ignoring it wouldn't be so hard either way due to the intense absurdity on its scene-to-scene basis.

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@myrrhl,

Kim Byung-chul can be intensely charismatic. I'm thinking of some of his scenes when he's going toe-to-toe with Namgoong Min in DOCTOR PRISONER. His shark-like smile creeped me out but good. I haven't seen DESCENDANTS OF THE SUN or SKY CASTLE. He made quite an impression as the evil eunuch who incites the young king against General Kim Shin in GOBLIN. He was memorable as the resourceful Il-sik in MR. SUNSHINE. Alas, his characters in LOVE IN THE MOONLIGHT and RULER: MASTER OF THE MASK didn't register, but I wasn't paying close attention to the latter show. He played a Shilla spy in ONCE UPON A TIME IN A BATTLEFIELD, but I don't recall if he was one on the pair of Shilla spies who got tripped up by the Baekje shibboleth "geoshigi." I'm ticked to pieces to see what he'll be up to in PEGASUS MARKET.

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The Bbaya dancing did not strike me as being that that much like Bollywood (not enough color for one thing) but I too immediately thought of the Oompa Loompas. In any case the Bbayas certainly add something to the show.

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For a moment I thought I was transported to a different show during that scene..

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Part 1 of 2

@lovepark, I love YOU! <3 <3 <3

You just made my day! I've been hoping against hope that PEGASUS MARKET would be subtitled, let alone recapped. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! You're zzang!

I nearly jumped for joy when I found PEGASUS MARKET with subtitles. Sell my clothes, I'm going to heaven. But with your recaps, I now know I'll be clued in to the pop culture tidbits that I would have otherwise missed. I was wondering about the orange-clad singer and her song in the opening political rally scene, and bingo... all was revealed.

This is exactly the kind of play-by-play I needed as I watched TOP STAR YOO BAEK with its satoori and vintage music, and DAE JANG GEUM IS WATCHING. I haven’t seen the sageuk to which the latter refers. In the former, I wondered about the significance of the vintage Korean pop music (and pop star posters) in specific scenes. Often I was uncertain about tone, irony, sarcasm, etc., and could feel the wake of many a gag whooshing over my head in both those shows. Even so, I enjoyed them very much. But I would have enjoyed them even more had I known the context. Rest assured that all your careful attention to detail makes a huge difference in comprehension for those of us who don’t understand Korean.

Woo Hyeon cameos as Candidate #1 Kim Chi-ah. I wonder if we'll be seeing more of him later on. I suspect so, given his campaign promise. In fact, I have a hunch that we'll be seeing a gazillion cameos in the coming months. Mark my words. Is it too much to hope for visitations by Namgoong Min, Kim Jae-wook, and Kim Dong-wook?! ;-)

I am thrilled to see Park Ho-san and Kim Byung-chul in a comic romp after their recent excellent turns in the dark and disturbing GUEST and DOCTOR PRISONER, respectively. I couldn't figure out why Park looked vaguely familiar, and was shocked to realize he played the detective sunbae who had a near-fatal encounter with Park Il-do. Now he's playing a slimy executive with a pr0n 'stache. What a chameleon.

- Continued -

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Where should I go to watch this?

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Thank you very much!

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Hi @pakalanapikake. I'm two months late, but did you notice the food-related name of the candidate? When a drama starts out by having "Vote for Kimchi" I just know this is going to be a wild ride.

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Part 2 of 2

I just want to say that the shopping carts (was that a veiled reference to the Geo-in in REBEL?!) and the new & improved Joseon customer service department had me busting a gut. Yay for Secretary Yang Cheol of WHAT’S WRONG WITH SECRETARY KIM morphing into a gangster – and then into an excruciatingly-dignified monarch. The solemnity of the scene’s sageuk speech was inspired. I fully expected to hear "Your grace is immeasurable," and was rewarded with the formerly-irate customer's prostrate supplicant’s obsequious petition and thanks.

President Jung continued the royal allusion with his face-framing sunflower mask. REBEL viewers may recall from one of the musical performances for Yeonsangun that the sunflower is the king of the garden whose gaze loyally tracking the course of the sun across the sky makes it the epitome of loyalty. I’m not sure what Store Manager Moon Seok-gu’s pink carnation is supposed to symbolize, but it sure looks nice on him.

ROFLMAO at those snazzy kingly red polo shirts with gold trim and royal dragon roundels front and back for the employees. What, no winged caps?! I can just imagine the new line-item for "Employee Uniforms" in Pegasus Market's books. LOL.

I'll be back to comment more after I finish reading the rest of the recap.

-30-

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In between those two shows the actor who played Secretary Yang was the Reaper in HOTEL DEL LUNA.

I am not sure that the writers or producers of the show realized that Pegasus was a horse with wings. But the Joseon Customer Service Department is comedic genius.

The sunflower is also a symbol of justice precisely because it always turns to the light of the sun. My law school graduation ceremony was referred to as a Sunflower Ceremony- no caps and gowns were worn but during the ceremony one's spouse, fiancé or significant other pins a giant sunflower to one's suit.
I think that this is why President Jung is being a sunflower- he is out for justice. I think he is going to get it- but without hurting the innocent by destroying their jobs.

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@oldawyer OldLawyer,
That's so interesting about the Sunflower Ceremony. I had never heard of it before, probably because I'm from New Jersey. Thank you for mentioning this Texas tradition. It's really inspiring! ;-)
https://law.utexas.edu/student-affairs/graduation/sunflower-ceremony/sunflower-history/

With that as background, I can see what you're driving at re: President Jung's campaign against DM Group.

Oh, wow. I completely forgot that Kang Hong-suk played one of the convicts in DOCTOR PRISONER, which had elements of truly black comedy. I didn't see HOTEL DEL LUNA, but now that you mention it, I can easily imagine him as a grim reaper.

Regarding Chollima / Cheon-li-ma, I didn't realize that there's a long East Asian tradition regarding the winged "thousand-li horse" [400 km / 248.5 miles] capable of extraordinary feats of strength and endurance that is the local analogue of Pegasus. It has the additional specific connotation of "people with latent talent and ability" that is missing from the Greek version. Thus, Chollima is emblematic of excellence, which is the antithesis of the store's reputation with the public -- and even the conglomerate that owns it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chollima#China
Methinks that earnest Store Manager Moon is a "thousand-li horse" of a hardworking scholar whose native abilities have yet to be recognized and managed appropriately. The same could be said of the musician and banker-turned-chauffeur, too. Ditto for the neglected store. It is not appreciated hated with a passion by the town residents and at least one politician for some reason we have yet to learn -- which doubtless has something to do with the shady dealings of CFO Kwon and bratty Vice President Kim.

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Thank you for the information on the "thousand-li horse". The statue on top of the building now makes much more sense. And the people with latent talent and ability part even obviously includes the Bbaya tribe- who already have the store cleaned up and almost shiny compared to our first view of it.

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You're most welcome, @oldawyer OldLawyer! Pegasus didn't make much sense to me, either. But the thousand-li horse is an equine of a different color. ;-)

This is why I like to know the literal meanings of the Korean titles. Often they give a lot more insight into what the story is about than the English ones borrowed from foreign films, TV, or literary works.

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Bokdong’s utterly serene expression during the job interview and flower scenes was seriously sending me 😂 I knew Kim Byungchul would kill this role just because of how unintentionally hilarious he was in Sky Castle. I wish we could have two episodes a week! Thanks for the recap, @lovepark!

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😂😂😂 Just watched ep 1 and it's a hoot. I'm also uncomfortable with & wary about the treatment of the tribe but ep 1 well...It didn't do a good job but EVERYONE is so weird that they're fairly normal in the show (as lovepark points out).

Also I was rolling around in laughter. 😂😂😂 What's with this silly show?

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It does not appear that the Bbaya are treated any more disrespectfully than anyone else- this is more of an equal disrespect for all kind of show.

Sometimes a truly silly show is just what the comedy doctor ordered. Too many shows- and too many comedies- simply take themselves too seriously.

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Excellent point, @oldawyer OldLawyer. I have no problem at all when a show even-handedly lampoons everyone and everything, including itself. Equal-opportunity absurdity is my catnip. ;-)

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I knew Kim Byung-chul wouldn't dissapoint me!!!!I was afraid i would beseen like a mad women by my family while laughing sooo much it starting to be a feast of laugh and tears mingled together with the music in the background!!!This is gold!!!
The gold moments for me without any doubts were the Bbbya's song and dance and the King's Room(along with the lights surronding him),also topping Kim Byung-chul black face in all this crazy well he unleashed!

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He is very talented- I remember his character from GOBLIN

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Yay, a recap! Thank you, @lovepark, since I won’t have time to watch it yet. 💛

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I, too, was somewhat uneasy when the chief of the Bbaya tribe and his kid turned up for the job interview. Truth to tell, they reminded me of the cavepeople in the 60s prehistoric sci-fi sitcom IT'S ABOUT TIME. It's not much of a stretch to imagine the Bbaya as one of Arthdal’s outlying tribes. Fingers crossed that show continues to navigate a course of good, clean nuttiness without stooping to ethic slurs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_About_Time_(TV_series)

I love the spoof of department store employees lining up to greet the boss and customers at the start of the business day. Take that, MR. SELFRIDGE! Sporting their rhino-horn-shaped hats, the Bbaya tribesmen, with large wicker baskets strapped to their backs, flank the store entrance, and greet Manager Moon with the enthusiastic chant that informs the customer that they are the Pegasus Market “Cart Department.” For one small coin, a human “cart” will guide you directly to whatever you are shopping for. It's ingenious, and funny as hell. Kind of like self-driving cars, but "eco-friendly" and efficient. A woman comes in and places her money in the coin slot on the wristband of a "cart," and heads off to engage in retail therapy.

Watching the nefarious CFO Kwon enter the store is hilarious. He has to do the limbo to wend his way through the turnstyle formed by the outstretched arms of the 6 waiting “carts” – because he doesn't have a measly coin! His eyes bug out at a “cart” in action, and actual real live customers shopping. King Oh of the Customer Satisfaction Center strolls past, fanning himself while solemnly advising his subjects to wisely make their selections. He is a paragon of gravitas.

PEGASUS is turning into a saga of a bunch of losers and misfits who just need a break. I sense a lot of heart and warmth lurking below the surface. Although President Jung intends to exact vengeance on DM Group, he'll end up being a reluctant hero to his employees. I can already see why his crusade for revenge is going to blow up in his face. Pegasus Market may be the discount store where the employee, not the customer, is king. But rather than behaving like stereotypical Kdrama shop assistants who act offended when customers have the temerity to bother them, I bet that these grateful new employees are all going to act like benevolent despots, not tyrants, towards the patrons. They've been at the bottom of the heap, and know what it's like to be on the receiving end of abuse and bullying. Instead of following the usual Neo-Confucian form that is top-down and ignores the reciprocity between ruler and ruled, I bet they will espouse something closer to the original Confucian ideal. They'll act as kings who serve. LOL!

Kudos to Lee Soon-jae for a great performance. He was terrific in bad guy roles in LIVE and MONEY FLOWER. I’m hoping to see his comic side a la HIGH KICK 2. I can’t wait to see him butt heads with his grandson, who looks as if he’s wearing Dr. Evil’s...

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Oops!

I can’t wait to see him butt heads with his grandson, who looks as if he’s wearing Dr. Evil’s cat around his neck.

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When the chair was turned i actually believed for a moment he was holding a white cat jajja

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I love your reference the original Confucian ideal- where the educated man is a virtuous man, not a tyrant but a benevolent man who thinks about the good of all.

I have not read the webtoon but I suspect that our losers will end up getting President Jung his revenge- just not in the way he expected.

In the meantime- this is just so much fun. The Bbaya dance number was a hoot.

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Thanks, @oldawyer OldLawyer. The throne room scene had me in stitches with its sageuk spoofery. I think it was HAECHI that had the idea of king as servant of his people. The customer service scenario suddenly reminded me of it.

Hard-working, nose-to-the-grindstone Manager Moon is just such a virtuous man as you describe. He may be in over his head, but he is benign -- with a side of naive. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body.

I haven't read the webtoon either. But that's okay. I don't think it matters. This adaptation is well done, and stands on its own.

Speaking of hilarious dance extravaganzas, the movie ANTIQUE BAKERY had a surreal Busby Berkeley-esque production number that was quite entertaining.

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I like Manager Moon's character also- and his story actually fits the Confusion ideal: He totally dedicated himself to his studies in order to be prepared for his work- he is a Scholar. 200 years ago would have seen him in scholar's robes and wearing a wide brimmed hat.

Did you notice that during the interview the Bbaya boy (who may also be a priest or shaman?) gave Manager Moon a love charm? I think we get to meet our female lead in the next episode. More fun to come as our Upright Man becomes entangled with a woman.

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I have seen the first episode and it is very funny.

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I am really looking forward to a drama after a long time...please keep it up...first epi was perfect mixture of humor with bitter truth

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I shall watch this again. And probably more before Friday. I just loved this episode.

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I wish they showed more of Bok-dong's perspective. I sympathize with him for being kicked to the curb after years of loyalty to the company, but until he dropped the bomb on Director Kwon at the end of this episode, we had no insight into his thoughts. If only we had stayed with Bok-dong at home. It was not his fault Chairman Kim lost the hair growth car wax because Daema Group would have been too late pushing it to the market anyway. When Chairman Kim said there's no such thing as hair growth car wax, I thought he had made it up and those pictures were photoshopped.

I sympathize more with Seok-gu who feels like our main character because his story is in first-person perspective. He is so hopeful in wanting the best for Pegasus Market. My heart broke when Il-nam said to Seok-gu, "I understand that you might not like us" because even if the new employees have no experience, I know they will work hard especially the Bbaya Tribe who vowed to put their lives on the line for Pegasus Market. My favorite line was from the tribesman-cart "I love you, Customer. You made a wise choice." In-bae was so endearing when he did a 180 and thanked Bok-dong, "I'll work hard." I originally assumed the gangster was sent by Candidate Kim to force Pegasus Market to close down.

I love underdog stories, and Pegasus Market has just the right amount of wacky. The uplifting OST gives me all the feels. Thanks a ton for your recap and analysis of the webtoon, @lovepark!

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I think they did that purposefully to hide Bok-dong's motivation so he can surprise Director Kwon and the audience at the end of the episode (unless you spoilered yourself with all the teasers and stuff like me huhu).

But the show did have that moment when Bok-dong comes home and his wife and child feel like strangers to him. When the wife was surprised that he'd ask for dinner cos he never ate with them, she wasn't mad or anything, just surprised that he'd want to eat at home. I took that as a sad sign of how much of his life he dedicated to working for DM Group.

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Yep. She was surprised to see him in the daylight.

And I wonder if she knows about the transfer. Since she was shocked he was home, I am guessing not.

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I'm actually curious if the President actually sent Bok-dong to Pegasus Market as a punishment or sent him there because he suspects his nephew is doing dirty stuff with his company money and knew the one person who would find it beased on his personality etc...

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I'm hoping for this too! T_T How can you go from a benevolent President who encourages honesty and disagreement from your underlings to someone who pettily dismisses one of your co-founders to a failing branch?

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As someone who had a boss who is that petty, I can believe it.

It is all about saving face....theirs.

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I will be completely honest. I want to watch this show simply because it looks hilarious, I really need a show like that right now, but there is one thing that keeps bothering me and I hope that when those scenes arrive I am completely wrong. From the long preview there was a scene where it appears to portray the characters in get-ups from the middle east, for the sake of the show I hope those scenes are not offensive. While I am not from the that part of the world, we know that when korea portrays other cultures in their dramas it can either be a hit or miss. I am particularly worried since this is a comedy show.

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I read the original webtoon for this drama, there was nothing offensive about it, Jung Bokdong just wore an aladdin outfit, met an investor from the middle east and that's it, no mention of the culture. Though because this is the drama and from the teaser it looked like there will be another wierd musical number I really don't know..

I remember this particular episode from the webtoon and thought it was really funny. I don't want to spoil but I felt bad for both Seokgoo and Bokdong for different reasons in that episode haha..

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Thanks for the recap. I am definitely interested in trying this show. It sounds like it might be just what I need right now.

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I think my favourite part of this episode would be Seokgoo's report to Kwon Younggoo. The way he wrote the report really sounded like a poem someone totally smitten would write for their crush haha, it's no wonder Kwon Younggoo is furious, but it turned out he was only telling the truth.

I don't know how I feel about the ending though. Seokgoo in particular should feel alarmed after his boss' revenge plan to fail DM Group was revealed. For someone who's as dedicated to his work as Seokgoo I don't know how he would be fine to continue to work for Jung Bokdong, or was all of it in Kwon Younggoo's head and Jung Bokdong didn't actually reveal his plan in the middle of the store where almost everyone on the spot were watching? Or maybe he'll just decide to forget about it like how he did when he saw Jung Bokdong's paper that was full of curses to the Chairman .-.

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Actually I'm so unsure to watch or not this drama but I give a try mostly because my weekend was so boring and I don't have anything to watched and to do beside to clean my house (sorry for theTMI). For first 30 first minutes I don't think I will watch this drama but then started from the interview scene I laugh so hard especially for customer service and sunflower scene. I think this is for the first time I laugh so hard for.

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add:

I'm the only one that think Seok Gu's mum actually has passed away?

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There are several moments in this show where I giggled. But this moment really had me in stitches.

"After dismissing Seok-gu, Director Kwon gives his best evil villain laugh, but Seok-gu interrupts his moment since he has a question. He asks if he should keep the assignment a secret from Bok-dong, and Director Kwon stares at him utterly baffled."

That expression on Director Kwon's face was absolutely the best.

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I have not seen Park Ho San in a comedy before but damn if he did not nail it in this episode. Between that, the mustache and the avoiding the human carts...gold.

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I like the first episode because of its absurd humor. It had a Monty Python stitched skits together quality to the show. I just wonder how the show can keep up the intensity level of the first episode.

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I chose to start this over Vagabond and other new dramas. I think I made the right decision.

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I was very put off by whole Bbaya Tribe. I saw it as a parody of very poor taste of Indigenous nations across the globe, and mostly something that we shouldn't still be seeing on our tv screens in 2019.
Too bad, because I was actually enjoying the 1st episode otherwise...
:-(

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Except that the Bbaya are pictured as being very smart and literally competent at everything- as their song said they "can do anything". So, if anything, the Bbaya are really the opposite of what you suggest- they are a parody of that parody..

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Hello @oldawyer , I saw your comment and decided to push through the end of ep1.... and promptly breezed through until ep6 !
Thanks for the "nudge"! ! !

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And there are now nine episodes out for this show. I am going to really miss it when it is over.

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Please do a series reviw for this. Its really fun to watch.

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Amen

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