Agency (2023) Recap Episode 2

This hour gave me just what I’d hoped for and let us get to know Ah-in a whole lot better. The first episode showed us the cool, collected advertising professional; the second showed us the human underneath. She’s had a rough upbringing and has fought to get where she is while everyone told her she was unworthy. Thankfully, Ah-in doesn’t listen very well.

We see a softer side of Ah-in after she finds out that she’s been promoted to Chief Creative Officer. She’s uncharacteristically sociable and treats her whole department to dinner, chatting and getting happy drunk. She’s so happy when she gets home that, in a very unwise move, she tosses all her meds.

You know who isn’t happy? Whiny Woo-cheol, that’s who. He throws a tantrum to Chang-soo for not recommending him for the position. Chang-soo tells the man-child to shut up and wait his turn.

For now, it’s Ah-in’s turn to shine, and she is having the time of her life as VC Planning’s first female exec. She’s on the cover of magazines and giving interviews about how she fought her way to the top. SEO EUN-JA (Kim Mi-kyung), an ajumma working at a restaurant, catches Ah-in’s interview on TV and stares transfixed as Ah-in talks about growing up without parents and being raised by an aunt who didn’t want her. (I’m getting long-lost mom vibes from the mixture of longing, pain, and regret in her eyes.)

Meanwhile, corporate politics ramp up with a new player on the scene. VC Group (our ad agency’s parent company) brings back the heir apparent KANG HANNA (Sohn Na-eun), grooming her for an exec spot. The grand scheme is to use Ah-in to pave the way so no one will cause a fuss saying the chaebol family made one of their own the first female executive.

Hanna is the daughter of CHAIRMAN KANG, the man Chang-soo has been kissing up to for a higher position. Hanna has been in the States earning her MBA. Well, that’s a little misleading considering she delegates her coursework to her secretary PARK YOUNG-WOO (Han Joon-woo). Despite her excessive delegation, they seem to have a pretty good relationship. He’s blunt with her and certainly not deferential.

Hanna is a bit of a wild card. She likes to cause trouble, and it’s hard to tell where her allegiances lie or what her goals are. She’s entitled and sometimes lazy, but she’s also quick witted and potentially a lot more competent than she lets on. Hanna may be like a spoiled child, but she doesn’t seem unkind or callous. At least, not so far.

 

Ah-in gets her first taste of exec politicking when Chang-soo encourages her to hand over the ad campaign her team created to Woo-cheol. She agrees, even though anyone can see that Byung-soo would do a better job. At least Woo-cheol’s team isn’t all terrible. BAE WON-HEE (Jung Woon-sun) is reluctant to take the campaign until Eun-jung assures her it’s okay.

And then the bomb drops. Basking in her congratulatory flowers and calls, Ah-in is stunned when Chairman Kang’s secretary levels with her: she’s got one year before she’s ousted. They’ll set her up as president of her own small agency or as a professor – it’s her choice.

When Ah-in storms into Chang-soo’s office, he basically tells her she should be grateful for getting to spend a year above her station. His smugness and vindictiveness are on full display, and it’s infuriating. Unlike Woo-cheol who is childishly mean, Chang-soo is smart and cunning, making him a real threat.

Ah-in barely makes it back to her office before the panic attack hits. She drives home erratically enough that cops follow her. They and Ah-in’s neighbors watch as she frantically digs through the trash outside her apartment to find her pills. She calms a bit once she takes them and repeats to herself like a mantra, “I will not run away” while flashing back to her childhood abandonment.

Seeing her so vulnerable and shaken is rough. Ah-in always projects this image of confidence and strength, but she’s terrified and insecure underneath. Ah-in feels properly put back in her place, this latest setback a reminder that she’s just a poor orphan who thought she could make something of herself.

But Ah-in is nothing if not stubborn, and she is determined not to let these men win. She pushes past her anxiety and returns to work, even though word has spread throughout the agency that she’s just a fake exec with a pretty face. The other women at the company have already lost the brief hope they had that maybe a woman really could reach the top.

 

Byung-soo is livid and ready to let Chang-soo have it, but Ah-in stops him. Still, you can see she appreciates his loyalty. His first move wasn’t to ingratiate himself to someone else now that she’d fallen, but to check on her and acknowledge her effort.

Ah-in may be beaten down, but she’s not ready to give up just yet. Jung-seok warns her not to go head-to-head with Chang-soo since that’s how he was ousted, but Ah-in wants to prove she can succeed. So she marches back into the agency with a plan, recruiting loyal Byung-soo to fight by her side.

Her first move is to act meek and let Woo-cheol and his buddies think they’ve won. She pours them drinks and talks about starting over… then she uses her new exec powers to demote them the next day. HA. We close out the episode with a confident Ah-in waiting for the angry men to come to her.

 

Oh, I am ready to see Ah-in unleash her fury on her male colleagues who have been awful to her. Ah-in can run circles around them, so it’s maddening to watch them win so easily. Whether this is Ah-in’s villain origin story or she takes the semi-high road in dealing with them, I’m looking forward to watching this play out.

I’m also curious to see how Hanna comes into all this. Will she end up being an enemy or ally? I can see her going either way, but it’d be great if she and Ah-in were to join hands. I imagine the two of them could cause a whole lot of trouble.

I hope Ah-in’s whole team gets in on the action since she’s going to need all the help she can get. Chang-soo will be difficult to fight, but Woo-cheol isn’t the brightest bulb in the box and doesn’t seem popular with his underlings. I wouldn’t be surprised if Won-hee joins up with Ah-in’s team because she does not seem like a Woo-cheol fan, especially after his uncalled-for comments on her appearance. Really, I just need all the women in the department to lead a corporate revolution.