Thank you for a great review @solstices! Do I spy with my little eye the hint of a LOVELINE (or TWO??)?? I was giggling like a school child when Jihyung was bamboozled by the idea that they’re might be something going on between Maeum and Junyoung and then squealed when we had the reversal of the usual ‘pulling someone out of the way’ trope and a flustered ML rather than FL. My conflict as to which one of the MLs I like better has intensified.

Okay but putting that all on the back burner (it’s taking an almighty effort to, but at this rate I’m going to look like I only care about romantic pairings in dramas and nothing else hahahaha) - I’m really loving this show for the kind of themes it’s tackling:

💜 Personal growth: Maeum is bright, chipper and a hardworker but she isn’t without flaws (just like the rest of us) and she’s been challenged considerably over the past few episodes. There have been times when she’s had to learn how to believe in herself more and also times where she’s been asked to reconsider her perspective and methods. What I like especially is the illustration of the fact that ‘personal growth’ isn’t linear nor does it come at the cost of sacrificing everything about yourself. There are times when Maeum taken on adapting to other ways of thinking and times when she’s drawn the line between understanding but not necessarily agreeing (like in the situation with Kwon PD). Likewise, when she’s feeling doubtful or unsure, it’s not a case of ‘get’s a pep talk, feels better forever’ situation - she’ll get up, trip & fall again and then get up again and keep going. And its lovely that she’s got a growing support system around her that will help her get back on her feet again every time!

💜 Entering the workforce: it’s really damn hard sometimes, and I appreciate that we’re shown that even the most confident or smart have their own insecurities and versions of imposter syndrome about whether they really can do the job/are qualified to/whether this is the right place for them to be.

💜 Changing dreams: reminds me (yet again) of School 2017, in a particular scene where a teacher asks ex- idol trainee student, who’s all sad and lost because he was either kicked out or dropped out, why we should limit our selves to thinking we can only dream once in our lifetimes. I think in the same vein, Maeum is a really good example of that idea that we can have more than one dream/one passion in life and that leaving a dream behind to pursue another doesn’t mean you’re quitting, have become a failure or that your life is over.

💜 Family: having to muster up the courage to tell your parent/s that your dream isn’t exactly in line with their dreams for you is really hard and that scene between Maeum and her dad was particularly poignant. It’s hard to convince them sometimes that, despite their best intentions, all you really need is their belief in you and the fact that you’re capable of setting your own course now. It’s a really tough...

I am so glad a theme was looking at things from different people's perspectives. That tou can't always look at your way of doing things as the only way. That doesn't excuse the jerk producer being a jerk though, I understand why he is different, but you can reject with compassion.

@solstices thank you for your weecap that captured the highs and lows of these episodes.

I liked the analogy of the artist going for a PD change as an emotional rejection akin to relationship break up and the need to see this as something that happens but doesn’t always have to be permanent shift. I am glad we are seeing more support and guidance for Maeum in her role as it’s a disservice to her and her artists if she is left to wing it unnecessarily.

I am glad that she finally got her dad up to speed and we saw why he was so determined to get her back in the game. I hope that he can work through his loss of his dream of gaining an Olympic medal through Maeum and can enjoy his daughter for who she is becoming in her new role. This theme of parents supporting their grown children in the scary world of jobs with uncertain futures was played out more than once. It was also good to see the growth of Daelyug and the important role of mentors like Eojin for mentees of all ages and stages of career.

It's nice to see how Ma-Eum and Jun-Young are different and confronting things. Each of them has strenght and weakness and they can help each other instead to try to fight against each other. It's nice to see that their work place accepted their differences and doesn't ask both of them the same job.

Except Producer Kwon (you is given too much latitude for my taste), the team is really nice. They really help their rookie.

Ma-Eum confrontation with her father was really sad. I was happy to see her mother talk to him, saying she didn't do anything bad and deserves her father's congratulation for her job.

So who is the mystery woman who lives (or haunt) in the Jun-Young's house?

I do like the relationship between Maeum and Junyoung: they so clearly help each other see the world from a completely different angle. The moment where Junyoung read the room so quickly when they went to visit the artists, and later explained to Maeum what she'd missed seeing and why that had led to her unwittingly insulting someone, was gold. And as other Beanies have said, having the FL as the confident, strong, but blundering-into-error character and the ML as the more emotionally intelligent, less confident character is a great move. I particularly appreciated how their colleague valued both their work styles, commenting that Junyoung's reluctance to manage his own artist at this stage was not a sign of weakness but simply reflected a different tempo in his development. Beautiful little moment.

I really enjoyed these episodes for the reasons mentioned in the weecap—the background behind Kwon PDs harshness and more of the role reversal for our newbie PD pair (I almost died with the motorcycle grab and spin). I knew there was more to Kwon PD because we were given a glimpse of him being a total fool for his daughter in previous episodes so I figured he couldn’t get a total baddie.

Another reason I enjoyed these episodes (and show in general) is it’s portrayal of Maeum. She tows the line and is sometimes in danger of crossing into “overly-righteous, think-before-he/she-acts in the name of justice” lead territory. I really can’t stand those types of characters and was almost considering dropping the show when she and Kwon PD were having their issues. Thankfully, the show stayed true and had Maeum learn and grow once again. Yay, show! Yay, Maeum! Yay, making boys hearts flutter with female chivalry!

Just binged through episode 5 & 6! I'm really loving how they are gradually giving us more details about who everyone on the team is as a person. Although, I still wouldn't give Young-bae a pass :( I appreciate that we got to know the reasons behind his actions, but that doesn't justify him using rookie artists as robots who spit out art.

Moving on, like others have commented I think I see the hint of romance blooming! Joon-Young and Ji-Hyung are definitely catching feelings for Ma-Eum! But so far Ma-Eum is in her own world and needs time to learn more about herself and the world before she can even think about romance.

I hope Pomme is alright. That security camera in her apartment and the parking lot scene gave some bad vibes.

I understand that Producer Kwon was burnt out and devastated by his professional and personal setbacks. However, his treatment of Seul-ah, as well as countless other rookie artists, is still completely unacceptable. I’m glad that Seul-ah eventually stood up for herself and rejected his abusive conduct, but she had to be fucking hospitalized in order to get there. The show still somewhat excusing his persistent abusive behaviour leaves a bad taste in my mouth. That man should not have this job, period.

That said, there is still a lot going for the show. I love both Ma-eum and Joo-young and their individual character arcs. Their budding friendship is such a joy to watch weekly and I like how they’re slowly influencing one another’s mindsets. And if they decide to make this relationship romantic (who am I kidding, this is dramaland) - which given Joon-young’s flustered reactions, they are - I’m in full support. They’re just so cute together, how could I not?

Now, who the hell is the woman in Joon-young’s house?? I really hope they don’t go with the hallucination explanation because the last thing this workplace slice-of-life drama needs is a dramatic left turn. And for reasons that should be obvious, I really, really hope it’s not a ghost or something equally stupid as that.

Even though I understand why PD Kwon acts the way he did in the last episodes because of his previous work experience, this is still no excuse for making a young artist work so long that she breaks down. My disappointment with the superiors was that they made excuses for this and did not influence PD Kwon to tone it down a bit.

I was all the more pleased that Seul-ah decided to pull the plug and told PD Kwon clearly that she did not want to go on like this.

I did enjoy this week when Jun-Young was caught between Ma Om and Pomme.. and they were both equally offended by him when he disparaged their cuteness/niceness...that a situation where you back out asap.
I said the first week and i'll say it again i smell a love triangle between our newbies and our deputy editor. I hope not, but this is drama land after all.

Sigh, the leadership in this department is so poor! The incident with the two bullies at the workshop should have been thoroughly examined, even if Ma-eum claims it is all her fault. I would have wanted to know exactly what she did and why, at least to prevent something similar happening again and to limit any possible damage.
Young-bae is known to be a rookie graveyard? And they leave that unaddressed? Highly unprofessional.

There are some very dark forebodings in the drama. The mysterious woman in the flat, the spy camera in Pomme's flat and rookie Dae-ryuk who really worries me. He clearly has some serious mental issues. He saw a shadow coming out of his grandpa's body and on the next day grandpa died - was it due to injuries inflicted by Dae-ryuk? I am not sure how to interpret this scene.

I love this show for it's honest portrayal of the human condition with all it's strengths and weaknesses. All the characters here seem very real and the studio is beginning to feel like home. I think KSJ is one of the most attractive actresses out there - her face is a kaleidoscope of emotions - and without being nearly as beautiful as some of our stars, she is completely engaging. I would love to see her dressed up in something other than baggy clothes - I love my Cinderellas! - I think her colleague would probably have heart failure! Also the whole background of Webtoons is fascinating. I read comics as a girl, but the whole Comic business in Korea seems to be a recurring theme and clearly Webtoons are for adults, not just children. Interesting!

The ruthless side of the business casts a long shadow in these episodes. Ma-eum’s bright spirit starts to harden with the backstory of producer Young-Bae. It did show that the other producers and director still don’t get the idea of being ruthless about getting marketable content and artists to boost sales. I was waiting for Jun-Yeong to tell them what needs to be done in order to turn the department around. But maybe he is too scared to risk his lifeboat in Gwan-Young. Adding a stalker element into the department woes seems a little overkill. The happy foundation story is going to make a hard turn toward sadness starting with Seul-A’s burnout and Shin’s inner demons.

I knew it would be hard to keep up the up-beat, smiley tone of the show throughout every episode, but it took a good moment of the camp quickly into bad places (fight between artists to abusive deadlines being accepted because that's being "a professional.")

I feel like everything I've wanted to say has already been said! HAHA.

That scene at the beginning of episode 6 where Ma-eum breaks down after breaking the news of her job to her dad really got to me. It was so relatable - I know that I've been there many times, just needing to hear from someone that "I did well", "I'm doing well", "I did a good job".

This drama continues to keep me invested in our characters because we understand each of them :)

Team Junyoung all the way. "Are you *really* okay?" fully converted me. Junyoung falling for her is so hilarious. She's not even the least bit interested in him Romantically. LOL. Poor boy.

Glad I'm not the only person starting to worry JY may have a ghost problem.

Honestly ended up thinking worse of PD Kwon (and the team) after those episodes than anyway sympathetic. And its gross that they thank him for being an exploitative donkeybutt so the rest of them can focus on passion projects. I don't quite understand how each PD isn't also trying to raise revenue, because yes passion projects are good but they should also have normal revenue making projects.

Which kinda fits with my question on what the team is doing to turn around their bad situation? The Big Boss doesn't look like she's being sympathetic anymore.

This drama is rattling along at a good pace. Kwon PD should not have been thanked essentially for burning out talented rookies. A very strange path to take in the story.
I'm enjoying the character development however, but I'd like a little more insight into our ML.
I love the flip over of tropes from ML to FL in relation to saving him from the scooter, lifting the heavy boxes and being completely oblivious to the heart flutters she is giving him. Hilarious.

This drama is definitely not light. Lacking in the humor department this time. There will be more dark and dramatic plots. The team will face worse problems and obstacles before they succeed. I did like the scene with Joon Young getting caught by Ma Eum and Pomme, heh.

Ma Eum was so sweet when she did that mini photoshoot displaying all her expressions and poses. Real cute.

I'm still curious about the world of webtoon artists and producers~ And I like Ma Eum and Joon Young a lot. They balance each other well.

I'm rooting for Dae Ryuk so much. I keep waiting for his big break! But his character arc is taking a while, eh? It was nice when he complimented Dong Hee. Even though he probably didn't explain or phrase it in the best way, it was a good scene when he tried to dissuade him from thinking negative thoughts. I'd like to see Dong Hee make his debut too.

I am curious about that woman in Joon-young's home. She is not real, right? I think no one else can see her.

While we are all busy about the supposed love triangle there is a fourth character who might develop a crush on Ma eum because of some obvious reasons. Our Dae-ryuk! The kind of attention she is paying to him plus the situation and apparent trauma he has and his dream to be a webtoon artist, it is no surprise if he falls for her.