‘A Virtuous Business’ Episode 2 Implies A Dramatic Pivot Is Coming

It’s early days yet, but I suppose it’s worthwhile asking where A Virtuous Business might be going. There aren’t exactly an abundance of empowering female-driven dramas floating around, and Episode 2 proves this one has legs on that basis alone. But will that be enough? Will the ripe premise be able to sustain enough comedy and drama to fill ten whole episodes? Or, as implied by the ending here, are we heading into slightly different genre territory?

Time will tell, but for now, there’s plenty to discuss and the speculation might not be worth it until we’ve got a firmer idea of what’s in store.

Anyway, following on from the ending of the premiere when Jeong-sook caught her husband in bed with another woman, she does the obvious thing and gets very drunk, and then, though it’s somewhat less-than-ideal, bumps into Do-hwan again. I have no idea what this guy must be thinking at this point, but confusion must be a part of it.

Along with getting drunk, the other classic break-up solution is to keep busy, which Jeong-sook tries to do with Young-bok, whose husband take the revelation of their sales job totally in stride. Of course, though, products designed around wooing one’s significant other and keeping their attention focused on them so they don’t stray is… somewhat uncomfortable in this context. The sales pitch is a reminder of Jeong-sook’s worst nightmare.

And she remains financially unstable. The women are supposed to return all their earnings to the company so they can receive their salaries, but since Jeong-sook is caught short by her landlord, she ends up handing everything over to clear the rent arrears instead. If you’re thinking this might be a bad idea, so am I. So is everyone.

Better ideas follow. One comes from Ju-ri, who explains that she is successful because she tests all her products on herself so she knows how best to sell them. The implication of that is pretty clear for Jeong-sook, and let’s just say one thing leads to another.

And it works! With first-hand experience and a slightly tweaked demeanour, the group are able to sell a good helping of gear and go out drinking to celebrate – even Geum-hui, whose husband was not best pleased about the home sales revelation. Despite him playing up about a special, apologetic dinner to apologize to the chairman’s wife, Geum-hui rightly choose booze and the girls instead.

With their solidarity established, their first joint effort is to chuck a bucket of dirty water of Mi-hwa, the married woman Jeong-sook’s husband was having an affair with. Talk about starting as you mean to go on.

But consequences follow. When Geum-hui gets home, her humiliated husband is dismayed to find out she has been drinking, but she’s able to talk him down by showing off the lingerie she’s wearing, which sufficiently distracts him. This guy might be awful, but at least he’s still into his wife! And if he knows there’s this kind of upside, he’ll be much more inclined to support Geum-hui in her sales career.

A Virtuous Business Episode 2 ends with Do-hyun in an epilogue implying there’s a bit more going on here than we’ve been led to believe. After visiting Yeong-ja earlier to inquire about an apartment in the area, we see him poring over a noticeboard full of pictures. He’s investigating the town, and according to a phone call he has, he’s looking for something. But what? More to follow, I’m sure, in subsequent episodes.