Agency (2023) Recap Episode 5-6

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.