Ex-Girlfriend Club episode 11 recap

Side dish: When I was in Laos, I had an amazing sweet corn drink. This prompted me to do an internet search for a recipe, and this one might be it: How to Make Sweetened Corn Milk 🌽🍼.

Episode Recap

PD Kim Soo Jin (Song Ji Hyo) is drinking beer while contemplating her recent interactions with her boyfriend, Bang Myeong Soo (Byun Yo Han) and film director, Jo Geun (Do Sang Woo). Myeong Soo has made it clear that he does not like her working with Jo Geun. Unbeknownst to him, Jo Geun’s name is now on the short term lease for Soo Jin’s production office. Jo Geun has stated that he did it for her, though he did not specify if it was personal or professional reasons.

Jo Geun has discovered that their former financial backer has no right to Myeong Soo’s webtoon. Thus, he and Soo Jin can continue their movie adaptation. Soo Jin is so happy that she barely notices how unnerved Jo Geun is when she places her hand over his to work the mouse while reading off his monitor. However, Jo Geun leaves it up to Soo Jin whether they should proceed with the movie or not.

Soo Jin calls Myeong Soo about the good news, and he reiterates his wish to break off all ties with Jo Geun. Soo Jin decides not to reveal her working arrangement with Jo Geun, and hangs up on Myeong Soo to cover it up.

A suspicious Myeong Soo shows up unannounced at the production office, and finds Jo Geun and Soo Jin sitting close together, looking over a romance script. He promptly inserts himself between them then accuses Jo Geun of having ulterior motives for reviving the project. Jo Geun denies this, and the men proceed to have a staring contest while a confused Soo Jin watches on.

Outside the office, Myeong Soo plasters a smile on his face while Soo Jin apologizes profusely for hiding her work with Jo Geun. When Myeong Soo asks if she wishes to work with Jo Geun, Soo Jin is forced to admit that she does. Myeong Soo gives Soo Jin his blessing to work with Jo Geun. Later, he does the same with Jo Geun over soju and BBQ even after Jo Geun refuses to deny that he has feelings for Soo Jin.

With the help of his roommate, Myeong Soo researches Jo Geun online and confirms that he is a popular guy. His international appeal is reflected  in English language forums, and Myeong Soo is able to read enough to be bothered.

Ji Ah (Jang Ji Eun) returns early from a yoga retreat in response to frantic texting from the unemployed Hwa Young (Lee Yoon Ji) who is disturbed at the state of Ji Ah’s restaurant. Meanwhile, starlet Ra Ra (Ryu Hwa Young) has taken the role of a frumpy woman, but is still considered overweight by the director. All three women converge on Ji Ah’s restaurant to discuss their discontentment.

Soo Jin has just reinstated her colleague, Eun Hye in the production office when Myeong Soo shows up uninvited to claim a temporary work space. When Jo Geun asks why he wants to use this particular office, Myeong Soo simply parrots the reason Jo Geun gave for leasing the production office. Eun Hye and Soo Jin are in favour of Myeong Soo staying, so Jo Geun has no choice, but to bite his tongue.

Myeong Soo is secretly trying to entice Soo Jin to go out to dinner with him when Eun Hye proposes that all four of them go out for dinner together. While unemployed, Eun Hye received an allowance from her boyfriend, and Soo Jin acts envious, causing Myeong Soo to snap to attention. He casually tosses his credit card at Soo Jin, and is super pleased with his own generosity. Soo Jin is greatly amused, and Jo Geun is greatly annoyed.

Myeong Soo and Jo Geun are fighting over the grill when Eun Hye asks if she can introduce her racing model friend to Myeong Soo. Myeong Soo reveals to Eun Hye that he is dating Soo Jin, and Eun Hye instantly thinks it’s a prank. Jo Geun revels in the moment while Soo Jin fumes.

After dinner, Myeong Soo tries to reassure Soo Jin that they do not come across as platonic friends. Soo Jin jealously asks if he will meet up with the racing model, and Myeong Soo says he will since she is a fan, but leaves his credit card with Soo Jin as collateral.

At the office, the love triangle high jinks continue. Mutual feeding of cookies between Soo Jin and Myeong Soo is abruptly ended when Jo Geun sends her to a meeting. Jo Geun then stuffs his mouth with the cookies that Myeong Soo had waited in line to buy for Soo Jin. Jo Geun screams his delight at their tastiness.

Myeong Soo and Soo Jin meet up with the ex-girlfriends for dinner at Ji Ah’s. It is revealed that Hwa Young is being recruited by a rival of her former employer. The others question whether she is willing to make herself into a professional enemy of her ex-fiancé. Hwa Young redirects the attention to the good news regarding the movie. The women excitedly ask about the casting for their characters, and Myeong Soo encourages them to give their opinions to the director, Jo Geun. The next day, the ex-girlfriends converge on Jo Geun with their demands, and the director knows exactly who to blame for the barrage. Myeong Soo openly gloats while Soo Jin surreptitiously glares at him.

Hwa Young’s ex-fiancé, Young Jae comes looking for her at Ji Ah’s restaurant. His father has directed him to rehire Hwa Young rather than risk having her join their competitor. Knowing that Young Jae still does not trust her, Hwa Young decides to accept the offer, but at double what the competition was offering her, and for a promotion to Director, placing her in Young Jae’s position. He laughs in disbelief at her audacity.

Myeong Soo walks in on a casting crisis; the lead actor Soo Jin and Jo Geun had hoped for has accepted another, higher profile project. The investment review is the day after tomorrow, and without their lead actor as a draw, Jo Geun proposes that they use their eloquence to win the investors over.

Reviving the proposal means working overnight for Soo Jin and Jo Geun. Myeong Soo ends up staying to chaperone. Myeong Soo tries to play the supportive boyfriend, but looks uneasy as he watches the other two working in close quarters.

At the investment review, Jo Geun touts the romance genre as one that will yield the greatest profit for the smallest investment. However, the investors object to the scenario, claiming that Koreans don’t like to see strong minded women running amok (a possible dig at the low ratings for “Ex-Girlfriend Club”). Jo Geun defends these out-of-control women, claiming they just want to be loved like everyone else. This sentimental and weak argument actually seems to work on the investor.

Meanwhile, Myeong Soo and Eun Hye cannot even function due to anxiety. Myeong Soo decides to wait for Soo Jin outside the investment office with a bouquet of flowers. Thus, he is witness to Jo Geun hugging Soo Jin as they celebrate the success of their investment proposal. Myeong Soo marches up demanding that Jo Geun try claiming that he has no ulterior motives towards Soo Jin. She loudly denies that anything untoward occurred between them as Myeong Soo drags her away.

Soo Jin tries to convince Myeong Soo that Jo Geun does not have feelings for her. A jealous Myeong Soo is adamant about his objection to her working relationship with Jo Geun. Soo Jin accuses him of not trusting her, pointing out that she has worked with his ex-girlfriends, because she trusts him. Soo Jin becomes angry as she accuses Myeong Soo of being so focused on Jo Geun that he failed to even acknowledge her feelings and her hard won success.

Jo Geun goes to find cocktails and comfort with another unhappy bystander to the Soo Jin and Myeong Soo relationship, Ji Ah. She asks him what he finds so attractive about Soo Jin since she cannot stomach asking Myeong Soo the same question. Jo Geun points to Soo Jin’s alluring warmth. Ji Ah warns him not to get run over while being fixated, speaking from personal experience.

The next day, Soo Jin succumbs to her exhaustion and is confined to her bed. Jo Geun shows up at her sister, Soo Kyung’s home with a basket of fruit. Soo Kyung is sheepish at having previously mistaken Jo Geun for Myeong Soo, and openly snubbing him. She is encouraging Jo Geun to stay and wait until Soo Jin wakes up when Myeong Soo arrives. Myeong Soo receives a browbeating from Soo Kyung for being a lazy artist.

While Soo Kyung and her husband go to wake Soo Jin up, Myeong Soo and Jo Geun start an altercation in the living room, hushing each other all the while so that they are not found out. By the time Soo Jin is dragged out of the bedroom, Myeong Soo and Jo Geun are silently rolling on the ground like ferrets. When the men realize that they have been found out, they clutch at each other, trying to pass off their actions as bromance.

 

Comments

I was repeatedly distracted in this episode by numerous nagging questions:

• Was it simply a matter of dissolving her company that would allow Soo Jin to retain copyright of a project? It’s a rather neat conclusion to a predicament that caused so much angst.
• If Soo Jin is so confident in her ability to maintain a professional relationship with Jo Geun, why did she sneak around and lie to Myeong Soo? Does she really not know that Jo Geun has feelings for her?
• Did Jo Geun seriously try to convince investors to commit to his project, because everyone needs love?
• What does Myeong Soo expect Soo Jin to do when he gives mixed messages of disliking her working with Jo Geun, and then, playing the supportive boyfriend?
• How is Ji Ah still running a restaurant when she barely has any customers, and poses a health hazard with rotting food being served to the few diners she does have?
• While Ji Ah was having a pity party with Jo Geun, did she remember that she brought about her own misery by dumping Myeong Soo?

The most annoying aspect of the episode is how things essentially stay the same in the relationship between Soo Jin and Myeong Soo. Soo Jin still gives her career the majority of her attention and she slots in Myeong Soo when it is convenient. She claims to be working hard on the movie, in part, for Myeong Soo, but this claim disregards Myeong Soo’s repeat stance that he cares more about their relationship than the movie. Meanwhile, Myeong Soo still waits on workaholic Soo Jin, hoping that their time together will eventually come.

Thankfully, there were a lot of cute moments between Soo Jin and Myeong Soo to see me through. To answer Soo Jin’s question, yes, she and Myeong Soo do come across as platonic friends at times. I blame the writers for placing Soo Jin in a permanent state of distraction, and thus, not allowing for any intensity to develop between her and Myeong Soo.  I also liked that Hwa Young is no longer allowing herself to be punished by Young Jae, and she did not devolve into a screechy harpy at any point. The fight between Myeong Soo and Jo Geun alone made this episode worthwhile.

Finally, Byun Yo Han’s cute mannerisms are out of control. Here are a few reminders of his charm offensive.

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Ex-Girlfriend Club (구여친클럽)

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