Emotional Complications Abound in Start-Up Episode 10 as the Leads Need to Balance Professional Goals with Personal Hang-ups
I love that the truth revealed in episode 10 of Start-Up doesn’t get glossed over but also doesn’t get unrealistically compounded. Dal Mi learns that her pen pal Do San was actually Ji Pyeong but her biggest issue is that all the comforts she grew up with were manufactured and she doesn’t know if her feelings for present day Do San are real. She doesn’t magically develop feelings for Ji Pyeong, and why should she. She liked him from afar thanks to their letters but unless he comes clean that he wrote the contents sincerely even though the endeavor was at Grandma’s behest then there is no honest feelings between them from years ago. That Ji Pyeong likes Dal Mi now after getting to know here is also real, then it’s up to those three to start afresh with no pretense and see where the chips fall. In Jae I like for her no nonsense attitude and get shit down resolve but goodness she is such a bitch and I don’t now why she’s like that other than as a survival tactic. Episode 10 was a nicely bookend episode that got rid of the facade and primes the leads to barrel ahead with so many more challenges ahead, including Demo Day and Yong San’s revenge plot.
That Lee Bo Young cameo was the best.
I really liked Lee Bo-young’s cameo. Unfortunately, that was the highlight of EP10 because I could see the cracks in this drama.
Ratings: Pt1: 3.954%
Pt2: 4.352%
What I did not like about this episode is that Dosan still hasn’t gained a bit of confidence (we’re in ep 10) he’s still jealous of jipyeong and tells him not to butt in their business when he’s their mentor plus their friends blocking Jipyeong from talking to Dalmi, their CEO, at an important moment for their start-up when he’s their MENTOR! Then Dosan getting another plan B to not use the plan B from Jipyeong…boy life does not revolves around a girl. Thank god Dalmi is separating business and personal life!
I like Jipyeong and I’m glad they gave him another conflict apart from the love triangle. Right now I see a potential beautiful friendship between him and dalmi more than a love story. I gave up on the brotherhood between jipyeong and Dosan.
I hope Dosan will do things for himself also. Until now all he has done is for Dalmi. The essence of this character is Dalmi. So for me the only main lead is Dalmi.
I agree with you. I especially don’t like the part on blocking JP and having his own plan B. Honestly I am fine with DM ending up with DS or JP so long as the flow of story is logical. Also all the while I thought DS has also done certain things that made him deserve DM, but with the blocking and plan B, I now see DS differently. He just don’t have a ‘big’ heart. I would prefer fair play if DS is going to be the winner.
While DM and JP both can separate business and RS well, DS is the one who got it all mixed up. This is one reason why he has not being successful and not CEO material.
Dosan is diamond in the making. He needs to went through all the pains before comeout shining. And we are seeing his transformation now. After all he IS the male lead. Dosan best boy always putting Dalmi’s feelings first. I like how he is brave (knowing how much he loves her) to tell Dalmi to forget everything about him because it broke his heart to see her in pain. Also i like how he doesnt depend on JP anymore. Make his own Plan B. Yeah! Go Dosan! Go global! Lol It’s his own company and he can do whatever he can with it. Also Dosan always believing in Dalmi, always saying the right words to comfort her. I’m so excited to see Samsan Tech growth. The current timeline in drama is 2016, so i wonder if we gonna get time jump to 2020. I kinda want to see Dosan in Silicon Valley.. the revenge guy is Yongsan, not surprised. But i wonder why wait until demo day to confront JP. And JP is the target. Cant say i’m surprised..lol also it bothers me a bit Dalmi got no some sort of apology from two people who started the lie. I think it’s important, no? Anyway, let’s go on full start up mode. Both boys got fair chance now and it’s all up to Dalmi. Go go Samsan Tech!!!
I agree with you regarding Dalmi not getting an apology from Grandma and Jipyeong.
To be honest, I love the beginning of Episode 10, i was bawling watching the scene at the station. But towards the end, i started to get frustrated. Why is Dalmi seems to get mad and disappointed more towards Dosan compared to Jipyeong and Grandma? Grandma is the one who started all that lie. If she can be so forgiving and understanding towards Grandma, why cant she at least showed an effort to try to understand Dosan as well? Dont tell me all the love, affection and consideration Dosan had showered her now feels completely fake to her. Among so many things he did and said to her, none felt real? The unprofitable noongil that Dosan came up with and worked so hard for, all of that now become meaningless to her? I dont expect her to completely forgive and act like nothing happen, but the difference in her treatment towards Dosan and Grandma is so huge. For the first time, I feel disappointed in the writer. The character and story development that the writer has built in prior episodes seems to go out of the window suddenly. And this drama has veered too much into the love triangle. Why name this start up then?
she is more upset with dosan bc she cares about her relationship with him the most. grandma will always be her grandma, jipyeong is someone on the periphery of things–almost a stranger, but dosan, she was falling in love with. the sense of betrayal there is greater bc everything about their relationship potentially being a lie breaks her heart more than anything else.
It’s because she loves him. Hence the disappointment. Right now she is in confusing state. She’s only focusing on the lies. Which is normal reaction. Plus she got demo day to prepare. Her mind is in a jumble mess i must say. Which is why i love it Dosan noticed it and doing his best to bring confidence back to her. Dalmi doesnt need plan B. She has what it takes and she showed it during the pitch. Right now Dalmi associates the confidence Dalmi with Dosan. So when Dosan is fake, she thoughts herself also fake. I like their convo at the end, Dosan’s words comfort her and she smiled at him. She only needs time to process everything, once it’s cleared she’ll see who always there for her. She needs to deal with her past before starting with her future. *winks* but i think it’s gonna take 3 years…lol
You wrote it perfectly! People give way too much credit for Ji Pyeong bc of the letters from 15 years ago when he only started it to help grandma and perfectly moved on with his life. He actually started to show genuine interest in her after he realised Do San was falling for her and taking initiative. If I was Dal Mi, JP would be a complete stranger to me regarding deeper feelings related to the past, bc she was really invested in Do San from the start. Right now I’m team Dal Mi and I’m glad she didn’t cause an scene with her grandma and is more worried about her health and her career, bc the whole mess affected her confidence deeply and she started doubting her own competence. Do San has a lot of grow up to do and JP has to deal with his traumas and lack of sensibility to actually earn Dal Mi’s affection.
Overall episode 10 was good but some things that bothered were that essentially I wish that Halmeoni apologized to Dal Mi. Maybe she will do so next episode. I think the Yong-san story arc was predictable but contrived. I don’t think it serves any purpose in the narrative other than to give that extra character a character arc. But who knows…maybe it’ll all tie together in the end.
I don’t know why but I really could care less about the mother’s story line right now. It doesn’t seem plausible that her only and last resort is to work with her mother in law…meh on that. Also she freaking needs to apologize to her daughter.
I don’t like that the San friends blocked Ji Pyeong the mentor, from speaking to Dal Mi, the CEO on Demo Day. Like wtf lol.
I’m Team JiPyeong only because I like his character more. Successful, confident but basically a tsundere. I liked his backstory with the Grandma but this is no love triangle lol. I understand Dal Mi only has feelings for Do San and they’re end game but dammit I wish JiPyeong will at least try to put himself out there more in the upcoming episodes.
Kudos on Suzy and NJH for killing it in that waiting room scene. Shit looked like a legit real breakup.
Dalmi gave a chance to Dosan [nope, she literally squeezes herself to DS] because she believed it was her first love. She maybe would not have any interest of him if DS didn’t took the initiative to be with her on the party. Anyway, DS had his own fault cause he had many chances to pull out from the lies and he even orchestrate some stuff himself but I guessed he just deeply fell in love with DM. I just can’t take how he can be insecure and very hostile with Jipyeong esp when JP is acting as their mentor. I just love how DM can manage her personal and work stuff. Halmeoni should be the one to clear everything, she’s the one who orchestrated the letters and beg the older JP to find DS. JP never did say anything bad about DS to DM. He even defended DS acts and let DM know that DS feelings are real. He had also chances to tell the truth to DM even during the party but DS always beat him. Timing is always on DS sides coz I believe that it would always be Dosan-Dalmi end game. JP is there as their mentor not just in work but in personal life also and at the same time both DS and DM could be a potential family to JP like how halmoeni is to him. I hope that other characters aside from halmoeni would know the life background of JP and how he made his own name alone because people just see him as the rich and successful guy.
About the revenge thing, I believe Yongsan had mistaken JP to be the reason. The Director seems to know something.
I still have hopes for Injae like the 2nd FL prosecutor of ICHYV of same writer.
Jipyeong had been looking down on Dosan and said so many hurtful things. Yeah yeah,some peole may think that its necessary in business or whatever and feel like its not that bad. But for a sensitive person like me, i never like such comments or treatments and will try to stay away from that kind of people as it can be demotivating and spoil my mood. So i find Dosan’s treatment towards Jipyeong understandable. No, i’m not a kid, i have been a lecturer for so many years but this is me, im a sensitive person. I find it not weird at all that someone can commit suicide from harsh words, as revealed in the drama. Many of the korean celebrities who commited suicide were also due to the harsh words from netizen. Are we going to say that its completely their fault for not being strong hearted?
Agree.. the so called tough love only works if the two parties have close connection and bonds etc. If not it’s just harsh words. And harsh words can kill people. Take the lady CEO for example. You are a good mentor when u understand what approach can motivates your mentee. Dosan using those insult to improve himself more. But can i say i hate it when JP did that to him. He’s already has low self esteem…ugh JP reminds me so much of one of my superior at work. Glad i never directly work under him. *shivers* To be fair to JP, we still dont know the context of the revenge. So it might be a misunderstanding. I can see why JP being like that because of his childhood and has no one to rely except himself. I pity him.
How is it possible that people can comment on a drama and their first filter is if they are big fans of a certain actor?
The only thing that matters is the story. Like you were reading a book. The personal characters of the story. The characters qualities.
There is no doubt now that all the flaws of character in the lead male roles are on dosans side. All the tricks, posturing, pettiness self interest are his.
An impartial assessment of the qualities of the men put JP far in the lead.
An impartial assessment of the qualities put DS far in the lead tbh. KSH’s bandwagoners are conveniently blind to all the tricks, posturing and pettiness from their brand new oppar’s character. JP’s a bland copy paste of a hole kdrama male leads, just now he’s 2nd lead so the herd is following along.
Dosan is a blind copy paste of an a**hole kdrama stalker who will do anything to stay close (and stalk) the female lead. He will lie, he will cry, he will perform “ dramatics” like breaking the glass nameplate in the chairman’s office to impress the female lead, he will stop the mentor from helping the female lead which is supremely unprofessional. But just because he is the first lead the herd is following along
I love the drama but I feel like the romance part is a bit off. It would have been nice if the romance part was consistently builds up with episode 1 and that’s between Ji Pyeong and Dami.
It ain’t off, you’re just salty your oppar isn’t getting the girl
To be honest, I started watching this show because its focus was on “start-ups”. And it did a great job at introducing the audience to this field, in fact, I felt like I learned a thing or two about what NOT to do. They really focused on our love triangle here, but I hope they cut the mushy things so we can see actual growth in our characters. But, yes, I know it’s a kdrama lols. Do-san is a sweetie, he needs to stop helping Dalmi and stand on his own two feet. It’s about time.
Is Alex a friend or foe? Why did he now made offer to DS? JP had earlier size up Alex that he is interested in the company that makes profit not the one with more users (that is samsan tech). Why did YS suddenly confronted JP at this crucial Demo Day, when he earlier had every opportunity? Did someone just provided YS this info on JP and why now? If Alex is a foe, he will want to get their mentor out of the way as he knows their mentor who is sharp, will prevent him from doing harm.
Who is Alex? Is he the boy who was at the competition n whose answer DS copied? Did he found out and was like insulted that DS gave him the medal as DS said he does not need it?
Will JP looses his reputation and job to help DM DS and samsan tech?
I would like to know more of Injie and would like to listen to her explanation. DM always provoked her and cut Injie off when she tried to talk. As such Injie always turn cold with cold answers. Injie definitely loves and appreciate her biological father more than what DM thinks. I hope DM grows up a bit, listen rather than makes charges based on her assumptions.
When DM discuss with her grandma about starting a business, she talks about having a restaurant where no customer sits – food delivery and this was her father’s project which he had talked to her. The timeline now is 2016 – think food delivery has not started yet. DM had sailed without a map and has gone off course. It is wise to start a business where you have strong ability and knowledge and vision. DM strong ability is getting customers sales (was seen in coffee restaurant) and she has good leadership capabilities except for management skills and IT. JP helped her in knowing how to allocate funds she had received, help to get list of companies that give funds for charity. Gives his objections with facts and reasins. It is JP that help her to handle her role as CEO. For an IT CEO, ones has to know IT of which she does not have as seen in the drama it shake her confidence (the truth that DS is not the letter writer DS does affect her) Moreover, now she does not want to go to her mentor and the guys in samsan tech way of preventing JP is working against themselves.
Grandma has growing to do too. She should explain and apologise to DM and JP, she got them into this mess. She disagree to her son’s marriage and will quarrel if she stays with them. She should be a source of strength for them to work out things instead of quarrel. Hence she needs to realise how to be a good mother in law and likewise her ex daughter in law need to realise she is not a supportive and understanding wife.
I enjoy the way JP made his confession to DM and he even speaks well of DS. In writing, our character does show up, it would be good to see it does or not match JP’s character. JP maybe sound harsh but he is not insulting nor provoking nor manipulating. Injie’s stepfather is. Although he told DS that he is not CEO material (as can see his confidence level), JP did tell him a way out for samsan tech is to employ a CEO. DS also realised it too at the presentation by DM.
The triangle though takes up a lot of time, it does show the characters of all the leads, of their way of aim, handling matter from their character and view of success. For DS, success means win the girl (he mentioned to Alex) rejecting opportunity to work in a place where he can achieve a career. Now Alex knows what he wants but does he knows what Alex real motives are.
It was so refreshing to see LBY. I was like hummm why is she a con. Wish she could do a drama with KSH.
I am still enjoying the drama (book) and excited to see the development.