Race (레이스) is the latest K-drama addition to Disney+ Hotstar’s catalogue of Korean content, and it has been directed by Lee Dong-yoon and written by Kim Roo-ri. Starring Lee Yeon-hee as Park Yoon-jo, Moon So-ri as Goo Yi-jung, Hong Jong-hyun as Ryu Jae-min, Jung Yun-ho (TVXQ’s Yunho) as Seo Dong-hoon in the titular roles, the workplace drama premiered on May 10, 2023, with its first 2 episodes.
Race Episode 12 has a runtime of 62 minutes.
The closer-to-life workplace dramedy and its fun ensemble follow Park Yoon-jo’s drive and professionalism at a PR agency. Despite not pursuing a formal education, her undeterred work ethic is her biggest strength. After landing a job at a Korean conglomerate, she believes that she’s finally on her way to achieve great things until the truth of her employment is revealed and brings her down again. Nevertheless, she keeps treading on the same path, charting a journey to prove she’s right where she belongs and deserves to be. Yoon-jo’s Race will stand as a testament that hustling through hardships does make a difference and that one’s worth can’t be defined by their CV.
– Race Episode 12 Review Contains Spoilers –
Race Episode 12 Recap
Race episode 12 starts with Sun-tae celebrating with his team after his big promotion. When he comes home, though, he looks rather morose after entering an empty apartment. Meanwhile, Young-ho feels heartbroken after realising that his loyalty to the company has been rewarded in such a cruel way.
Meanwhile, Jae-min calls Yoon-jo over for a celebratory dinner at Utopia but is stumped to find Dong-hoon tagging along with her. As they chat, it becomes apparent that both men are quite competitive regarding Yoon-jo. Jae-min starts to list the things that she has done for him throughout the years, which makes her tear up and Dong-hoon very confused. In the end, Yoon-jo gets up and leaves, and Dong-hoon rushes after her.
A week later, it is revealed that along with Hoo-gil and Young-ho, even Chul-jun is leaving. It’s a bittersweet moment, but it’s made even more awkward when Yoon-jo comes in front of them, and it is apparent that they haven’t spoken to each other after Jae-min’s sudden burst of emotions at Utopia. Even Dong-hoon is overworking and fidgety, and he opens up to Hee-young that Yoon-jo refuses to speak to him much.
Yoon-jo tries to talk to Eun about her predicament, who tells her to just talk to Jae-min and then informs her that nothing is going on between him and the woman he was interested in (Yi-jung). She later meets Hee-young, and Yi-jung joins them for a drink, which ends rather sweetly.
Eventually, Yi-jung’s R&I Team continues their job of connecting the employees and customers with Seyong and also rebranding the company. Meanwhile, Yoon-jo tries to talk to Dong-hoon, but he asks her to look inside her heart and realise what she wants before having this conversation. Elsewhere, Jae-min laments not seeing Yoon-jo.
Also Read: Race Episode 11 Recap and Review: Convenient Conflicts Aren’t Enough
The next day, Ji-hyeon asks Gu-young to move out of the way so as to make way for change. Although Su-hwan is against it, Gu-young agrees to step away to explore other parts of life. Later that day, after locking eyes with Jae-min for a second, Yoon-jo breaks up with Dong-hoon, who asks her for some time before they can become friends.
That night, after their mother runs off with their security deposit for the house, Hae-jo gets emotional and runs away from home. In an effort to find her, Yoon-jo gets the devastating news that her grandmother has passed away. After paying her final respects and getting done with an emotional funeral, which also sees her on-the-run mother in attendance, she decides to move out of the house with Hae-jo.
Meanwhile, Yi-jung gets to meet her daughter and see a better future for herself after Yoon-jo intervenes. She thanks Yoon-jo for talking to Yoo-jin but tells her that she will be leaving Seyong. Yi-jung elects to help Yoon-jo advance in her career, which the latter turns down. She also gets things sorted with her ex and mentions that they should be civil for their daughter.
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Shockingly, Yoon-jo puts down her papers which shocks Eun-jeong and the team. Later that night, Yoon-jo tells Jae-min that she wants to study more and eventually get a better job with more money. Jae-min asks her to study in Korea and mentions that he is happy to have her here. He then promises not to bother her while she is studying… as a boyfriend… which takes Yoon-jo by surprise. After staring at each other for far too long, Yoon-jo smirks and tells him that graduating will still take 2 more years, and Jae-min promises to support her as a friend till then.
Race Episode 12 Ending
1 year later, Yoon-jo is studying and also doing some work with EarthComm. When Yi-jung comes back from her adventures with her daughter, she offers Yoon-jo and Jae-min a job at her new company that she has decided to start. They both wholeheartedly agree to start this new venture with her, energised thinking about what the future holds.
Race Episode 12 Review
Well, it’s the end of the workplace drama that really just makes everything simplified in the name of giving us a happy ending. However, even though I am a fan of happy endings, this seems entirely too convenient and easy, and an end acquired without any work doesn’t seem like much of a win. Either way, it’s an end regardless, for which I am happy.
Yi-jung’s storyline seems to be the most sloppily done one, although Yoon-jo’s life also seems like a mess that they swept under a rug and made everything pretty. It’s annoying watching Yoon-jo, especially, get run over by everyone around her and still do things for them. We want a strong protagonist whom we would like to look up to. Yoon-jo, unfortunately, doesn’t seem like that. On the contrary, she seems like a child who squeals whenever her mentor looks in her direction and laments and apologises for anything and everything.
Also, I hate where they left the romantic storyline at. The fact that Dong-hoon gets tossed aside is just shameful.
Race is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.