Agency: Episodes 5-6

7 January 25, 2023January 25, 2023

by quirkycase

Our unconventional executive continues making waves and testing the limits in her fight for power, while our office newbie chaebol struggles to learn the ropes and play on the same level as her executive peers. It’s nonstop strategic power plays, but if there’s one thing that can make our rivals call a time-out, it’s profit. So when a mysterious lucrative opportunity comes their way, they might just be willing to play nice.

EPISODES 5-6 WEECAP

Hanna’s arrival brings a whole new dynamic, and it puts the strengths and weaknesses of our rival executives on display. Chang-soo has the status quo on his side but struggles to adjust when people don’t color inside the lines. Ah-in, on the other hand, is much more creative – she’s already outside of the traditional structure, so she doesn’t have the luxury of following the rules. It’s a battle between innovation and tradition. They’re both clever and skilled, but their power lies in opposing forces.

Some of Ah-in’s bold moves, like dissing the chairman’s daughter in front of the whole company, might seem reckless, but as always, she has a plan. Byung-soo is beside himself with anxiety over this latest play, but Ah-in is cool as a cucumber. If she wants Hanna to see her value and align with her, she needs to bare her teeth.

Hanna is very underprepared for office politics and barely manages to hold back before unleashing her tantrum on Young-woo in the privacy of her office. She’s caught between wanting to prove her independence and wanting quick solves to all her problems. Hanna is used to being coddled, so the first thing she does is run to her grandfather for advice about Ah-in’s insubordination. He’s impressed by Ah-in and encourages Hanna not to lose out on recruiting the best as your people – don’t be jealous of your “servants” (yikes), but utilize their skills.

So when Ah-in comes to Hanna with a proposition, Hanna listens. Ah-in suggests they spin the anti-corruption move she made as something Hanna suggested. They can use it as an indication of Hanna’s future leadership ability as a changemaker, pitting her against her brother. Judging by Hanna’s intense lean-in, she is very into this idea. As always, Hanna looks to Young-woo before deciding, and when he can’t deny the plan’s merits, Hanna forms a tenuous alliance with Ah-in.

It’s telling that both Ah-in and Hanna have extremely loyal subordinates who have worked under them for years. Byung-soo and Young-woo are always honest with their bosses and don’t hold back due to fear. Just goes to show the importance of surrounding yourself with people who aren’t afraid to tell you what you need to hear, rather than what you want to hear. In the end, I have a feeling this is where Chang-soo will falter because he is sorely lacking in the loyal followers department.

He and Ah-in both try to woo others to their side, but only Ah-in is successful. While Chang-soo’s attempts to sway Byung-soo are, of course, a bust, Ah-in swipes Won-hee who’s excellent at her job but hasn’t been promoted because she doesn’t look the part of a trendy executive. Won-hee cries when Ah-in promotes her to Creative Director based on her skills alone, and she agrees to the caveat that she’ll need to continue working with Woo-cheol to keep tabs on him.

It almost immediately pays off because Won-hee catches him prepping some inflammatory posters to put in the lobby on Chang-soo’s orders. The plan is to bring in subsidiary marketing execs and make it look like employees are against Ah-in’s anti-corruption move with the advertising clients. Unfortunately for team Chang-soo, they’re a step behind and don’t realize Ah-in has gotten Hanna onboard her anti-corruption train.

Right after Hanna gives an interview about ~~Ah-in’s~~ her revolutionary move, she leads the reporters (on Ah-in’s instructions after she gets wind of Chang-soo’s plan) into the lobby where they and the marketing execs see a host of posters about the stupid anti-corruption move by an unqualified exec. Whoops.

Won-cheol doesn’t hesitate to declare he was only following Chang-soo’s orders, so now Chang-soo has to defend himself against the irate chairman’s daughter. Of course, he immediately throws Woo-cheol under the bus and makes it out to be his idea. No one really buys it, but they go along with it for now.

Thanks to this snafu, everyone now hates Chang-soo. The marketing execs feel set up, and Hanna is livid that Chang-soo would dare target her. And once the astute Young-woo works out that Hanna wasn’t the target, she’s livid that she got caught in the middle of Chang-soo and Ah-in’s fight. The only one having a grand old time is Ah-in who is living to see Chang-soo brought down a peg.

Amidst all the corporate drama, Eun-jung finally musters up the courage to hand in her resignation to Ah-in. Her resolve immediately dissipates when Ah-in counteroffers a promotion to Creative Director. Eun-jung doesn’t hesitate to rip up her resignation. The only problem is she can’t bring herself to tell her family, especially her son. So she lies. This is a horrible idea, and she knows it, but she seems like someone who lives in the moment and deals with consequences later.

In the meantime, she’s ready to enjoy her new title. Everyone but Woo-cheol celebrates the promotion of the actually skilled people Ah-in made Creative Directors: Byung-soo, Eun-jung, and Won-hee. Eun-jung bravely bounces her bubbly self into Ah-in’s office to give her a slice of cake and encourage her not to sequester herself in her office all the time – it’s lonely, and she has a team ready to help.

Her and Ah-in’s approaches to life couldn’t be more different because Eun-jung is all about feelings. After witnessing one of Ah-in’s panic attacks, Eun-jung is more determined than ever to bring her out of her shell. She reminds Ah-in that emotions are exhausting but worth it because life should be sweet sometimes. Ah-in acts grumpy as ever but does eat the cake.

Eun-jung may bring more than just sweetness into Ah-in’s carefully curated life. By happenstance, she runs into Ah-in’s mom who’s been loitering outside the office, hoping to catch a glimpse of her daughter. She asks some vague questions, not giving away her relationship with Ah-in, and is distressed to learn her daughter practically lives at the office.

In other news, Chairman Kim has a tantrum over the fact that the justice system is working surprisingly well – he can’t con or bribe his way out of a sentence, despite yelling at his lawyers and throwing money at people. Since they can’t manipulate the system, they decide to manipulate public opinion instead. They invite five agencies to pitch ideas for a new PR campaign. Only VC Planning and one other agency attend the meeting; no one else is willing to partake in this company’s mess.

Ah-in and Chang-soo attend on VC Planning’s behalf, and I just love how shameless Ah-in is. She not only makes Chang-soo chauffeur her to save gas, but she even settles in for a nap while he drives and sputters at her audacity. The truth of the matter is they know they need each other for this project, so they form a sort of temporary, tacit truce.

The project ends up being stranger, and more advantageous, than they anticipated. Both teams have a week to pitch their genius messaging ideas. Even if the winning team’s ad proves impossible to execute, they’ll still get to use the staggering budget on other ad campaigns. Plus, they won’t be held liable if the campaign garners negative reactions.

While they deliberate, Hanna decides to jump into the fray and “flirt” with Ah-in and Chang-soo a bit to find out who’ll prove more useful to her. Her (seemingly intentionally) ambiguous wording flusters Young-woo since it sounds like she’s trying to flirt with him. I’m anticipating a rich-poor romance down the line for these two.

For now, Hanna is focused on her new job and learning how to work her way to the top, chaebol style. She has the advantage of longevity since chaebols, she declares, are forever. We close on her telling Young-woo that once there’s a clear winner, all she needs to do is bring them over to her side.

As it stands, I’m not sure Hanna is ready to play with the adults just yet. She’s got potential, but she’s too immature and green when it comes to business strategizing. Regardless, my money’s still on Ah-in.

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1 jerrykuvira

January 26, 2023 at 12:14 AM

Take the job now, face the consequences later. I just hope Eun-jung doesn't have to resign from her job or she's forced to pick between her job and her family.

Even if it's for less than a year, I'm eager to see how Ah-in wrecks havoc or shakes the table on the greenhouse sheltered execs, and see how her holy unholy alliance with Hanna turn out to be.

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Bunny S.

January 26, 2023 at 2:31 AM

I also hope Eun-jung doesn't have to face that choice.
As for Ah-in, I want her to turn that greenhouse upside down.

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2 Bunny S.

January 26, 2023 at 3:05 AM

I love the dynamics between Ah-in and Han-na. Think about it, if Han-na takes Ah-in as a mentor, no one will manage to stand in their way. Two crazy women are more than any man can handle.

The whole running into Kwon in the lobby sequence was hilarious. I find myself laughing more whenever Han-na shouts. Hilarious. The banana milk was touching but Han-na you need to grow up a bit to survive. Tantrums don't solve anything.

I wonder what Han-na will ask them to do. It won't be as simple a task as who will manage to get the best offer for the Uwon group. Not when Han-na hates her sister-in-law's guts.

As for Eun-jung, I am so happy she got promoted. Perhaps, it will be a wake-up call, telling her not to give up on her dreams no matter what. Also, who knows? She might be the one melting the ice in Ah-in's heart and bringing her again to life.

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3 Kafiyah Bello

January 26, 2023 at 4:16 AM

My favorite part of episode 5 was the bus scene with Eun Jung and how everyone felt her pain. I appreciated that the drama gave her a tribe to both congratulate and commiserate with her. My favorite part of episode 6 was Eun Jung telling Ah In she isn't alone, even if she thinks she is. I just adore Eun Jung. Also Ah In fighting.

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Bunny S.

January 26, 2023 at 6:39 AM

I loved the bus scene too

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4 Pensola

January 26, 2023 at 9:08 AM

I think my favourite scene this week was where Ah-in spoke with Won-hee about the promotion and fashion. I do understand the importance of appearance during meetings or the like, but especially where we see the male workers wear more casual attire at times, it feels extra frustrating that she is held back for such a reason. The moment she started crying, I felt like there was a lot of baggage in her for her decisions. Perhaps she has personal, painful reasons to not wear makeup and dresses (I did feel like her scared tone when she asked hinted at there being some traume to it), or perhaps she just really wants to be comfortable when she works, but I think it was relieving for her to have a boss who did not pressure, did not ask, just stated the facts and then said "I will do something about it, just do your (new) job". Although Ah-in is greedy and ambitious, and not above using people like pawn, there is a side of her that is willing to support those in her charge. It could have been easy for her to say "I had to climb the latter following their social rules, and if I had to do it with blood and sweat and grit, and thus nobody is allowed to have it easier" (it feels at times like this is an easy habit to fall into in the workplace; just because it was like this when I was in X age/stage, does not mean it must always be like that, and it is sad when superiors/seniors use that as a reason to not do anything about a situation they are in charge of doing something with). Instead, Ah-in recognizes that it is not a fair rule, and it has kept potentials from their deserved positions, and will do something about it, yes, for profit, but still. I would rather have a boss who does their job and treats people fairly, than someone who is too personal and whose inaction thus makes work bad.

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5 korfan

January 27, 2023 at 8:15 PM

Hanna's right-hand man, Young-woo, was right in telling her that she should use her anger strategically. But who knows if she'll listen. As of now, she's prone to outbursts which is interesting, given that she does seem concerned about her online image. After this week's events, perhaps she'll think things through and dig in for the long game.