Summary
A much improved effort that excels when focusing on its main cast.
We recap the Netflix K-Drama series Behind Every Star season 1, episode 8, which contains spoilers.
Fortunately, episode eight was a big improvement for Behind Every Star. Adding in some fun elements of drama, the focus on the bumpy road for Method post-takeover was continuously intriguing, particularly given each employee seems to have their own unique take on what’s happening. It’s all a much-needed change of pace, one that should hopefully carry the show toward its finale without many more backward steps.
Behind Every Star season 1, episode 8 recap
After watching Hae-jun make his takeover of Method official, the business mogul claims to his staff it won’t be long until they’re the “best in the industry.” Then, he appoints Sunny Lim as manager of the strategic planning team, which has been formed that morning.
Of course, senior staff has reservations about this new team, so express their worries straight to Hae-jun. But the new Company President is more concerned with taking actor Kim Ji-hoon from Star Media to get back at Gi-bong for snatching away two of Method’s clients, so sets his new subordinates that very challenge. Later, Tae-oh and Je-in bicker about the difficult situation now facing Method, blaming each other, before the latter states she will be the one to poach Kim Ji-hoon.
While Hee-sun gets angry at the same director she threw a bag at, this time for her snarky comments about the actor allegedly dating Jung-don, Je-in begins to collect information on Kim Ji-hoon. Meanwhile, Eun-soo gifts Tae-oh items she retrieved from a shaman to help him with his luck in life going forward.
In the midst of Sunny Lim’s awkward introduction to Korean office life, Eun-gyul arrives. The rookie actor is told Director Lee Chang wishes to talk to him about a film role, though the youngster is more interested in finding out how his father is doing. “Let me know if something happens,” he tells Hyun-joo, worried that his dad passed out from overworking, yet still not quite ready to visit him.
As Hae-jun instructs Jung-don to leave Hee-sun to the junior agents from now on, concerned about what he’s hearing regarding the receptionist’s auditions (she gave the director a broken nose and concussion at her latest one), Je-in tries to comfort her friend. “Actresses that get into scandals with their agents are criticized brutally,” she says, trying to assure Jung-don that what’s happening now is for the best.
Following on from watching Je-in fail to successfully find Sang-uk when she spots him departing the bar she’s at, Hyun-joo assures the nervous Sunny of the kindness of Method’s staff when gifting her food. Here, it appears like the two are beginning a friendship.
The next day, Je-in decides to meet Ji-hoon at the gym he works out in. It’s an initially tense encounter, with the actor pointing out the “shady” behavior of being flanked during a workout, and then expressing his dislike of the trendy offering of “a new vision.” However, Ji-hoon starts to listen when Je-in points out she would have made his dismissal from Lee Eun-suk’s new show work out, as well as when he realizes Star Media has been rejecting roles for him on his behalf.
At a now non-compulsory staff meeting, Hae-jun asks why there aren’t any new actors at Method. He dismisses the staff consensus (they claim these young performers are seldom successful, require lots of effort, and cost lots of money) by stating it’s their job to make stars. As such, Hae-jun creates a Talent Development team where anyone – including inexperienced people – can apply for a position, with the business mogul encouraging Hyun-joo and Jin-hyeok to try their hand as managers.
As Hae-jun offers the senior agents a hefty financial incentive to recruit Kim Ji-hoon, Je-in shares the news of Matsumoto’s rebuffed casting offer to their target with her co-workers. “They chose Korean TV over film because they make more money,” she says of Star Media’s strategy, before enlisting the help of Won-jae (who she disguises as a Japanese casting director) in a bid to subtly prove to Ji-hoon offers were rejected on his behalf.
That night, Je-in is forced to knock back Sang-uk in favor of meeting with Ji-hoon, causing the agent to feel evident disappointment. Elsewhere, Hee-sun insists she stays as Jung-don’s client going forward, saying she’s moved on from her crush anyway, so the two shouldn’t care what others think. Additionally, Hyun-joo is discouraged from applying for a role in the Talent Development team by her father, who doesn’t want his daughter to feel “used.”
While Hyun-joo gossips about her colleagues with a curious Sunny, Je-in has a heart-to-heart with Ji-hoon about the actor’s ambitious plans to walk his own path upon exiting Star Media. It’s a warm conversation, though one which doesn’t necessarily suggest the star will be joining Method either.
The next day, Hee-sun is assigned to Director Ma, Je-in expresses her confidence in sealing the deal with Ji-hoon at the theatre, and Hae-jun gives the agent a dress to wear to show Method’s workers are “in a different class.”
However, things don’t go as planned. Just as Ji-hoon suggests a quiet meeting with Je-in, Gi-bong arrives, exposing his adversaries’ petty scheme in trying to convince the actor to join their company. “Before Method hits rock bottom, you’d better take care of your own actors,” he adds, disgruntled by the revenge plan enacted against Star Media.
Frustrated, Je-in subsequently opts to spill her drink over Gi-bong, then passes a message along to Ji-hoon that she meant what she said about him needing to move forward with whatever he believes is right. “You should cut ties with an agency that only thinks of you as a cash cow,” she states upon her exit, prior to an angry phone call with Hae-jun where she warns the new president about going on a “power trip.”
As Director Ma rushes off to deal with his wife putting the house up for sale, Jin-hyeok expresses his desire to have Hyun-joo become his assistant manager if he can get the top job on the Talent Development team. Concurrently, Je-in apologizes to a furious Hae-jun, who relieves the experienced agent of her duties because of her conduct. Yet this decision is quickly reversed when it turns out Ji-hoon has decided to sign with Method.
After Sunny brushes past Hyun-joo without a word, we cut to Hae-jun’s latest staff meeting. Here, he suggests Myung-ae becomes an advisor instead of remaining as an agent, believing he has little reason to keep her on board. Branding the experienced hand a “slacker,” this is the end of the road for someone who has been at Method since its beginning, to the disappointment of everyone else working at the company. Later, Sunny admits she used Hyun-joo’s intel to help Hae-jun make this sacking, but tells her to think of it as making a contribution.
Behind Every Star season 1, episode 8 ending
Following this, Eun-soo barges into Director Ma’s house in worry, only to find the man she believed could in danger relaxing in the bath. Tae-oh thinks the situation is humorous but is required to tend to wounds his trusted colleague sustained on her way to him. Then, to end the episode, the two slowly lean in for a kiss.
What did you think of Behind Every Star season 1, episode 8? Comment below.
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