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 9 has a runtime of 57 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 9 Review Contains Spoilers –
Race Episode 9 Recap
Race episode 9 starts with Jae-min thinking about Yoon-jo’s upcoming date with Dong-hoon and getting lost during work. She directly asks him whether he has anything to say to him, and everyone starts to joke about his situation lightly, leaving Jae-min huffing and embarrassed. Anyway, that is overshadowed by everyone’s anticipation for the big anonymous discussion event that Yoon-jo came up with. Although no one joins at first, soon they get a flood of visitors who start to share their issues with the company in hopes of finding a change.
However, just as they reach 300 people, the server crashes, and they aren’t able to get it back up again. The team feels disheartened, and it ends with everyone dispersing for the weekend. Elsewhere, Byung-man and Yeon-soo discuss who should be the CSO since Su-hwan is going off on his own. Meanwhile, Yoon-jo and Jae-min talk about his feelings for Yi-jung and she wishes that things work out between the two of them. Later on, Dong-hoon fixes the place for the date, and Yoon-jo excitedly rushes out to meet him.
She is left in awe at Dong-hoon’s push to do good work but, later on, lets him down easy and explains that she doesn’t see him romantically and agreed to the date to forget someone else. An easygoing Dong-hoon agrees to give her space and asks her not to worry about this, thanking her for being transparent with him.
The next day at work, Yoon-jo gets roped into Ji-hyo’s outright nasty schemes concerning the protein powder project. Yoon-jo feels uncomfortable with the prospect of ‘negative marketing’, realising that it would affect other people as well while serving their purpose. However, Ji-hyo assures her that she has already cleared it with Eun-jeong and that she is completely on board with it. Confused about her supervisor’s uncharacteristic behaviour, Yoon-jo uncomfortably takes her colleague’s word for it.
She meets a subcontractor, a former colleague from PR Joa, who comes in to remove negative comments and whatnot, basically to cover Ji-hyo’s tracks regarding the project. Both the women realise that what they are about to do is wrong, but Si-lang convinces her to turn a blind eye since her twins’ nanny’s salary depends on this job. On a positive note, Seung-hee gets chosen for the JP Morgan Conference, much to others’ annoyance. Unfortunately, she realises that the date of the conference is around her due date.
Also Read: Race Episode 8 Recap and Review: Proposals and Some Sucking Up For Jae-min
Unsure about their immoral act, Yoon-jo goes to Jae-min for advice, and he confirms that this is something people frequently do in order to cover their tracks. Yoon-jo wonders what they can do about this entire thing since she can’t bail on the project, nor can she become a whistleblower and tell Ang’s Bakery. Jae-min decides to take things into his own hands and goes to talk to some people to get some feedback about the protein powder.
However, the team is pushed to think about Ji-hyeon’s PR debacle, and the story shifts to them cleaning up her mess after she “insulted” a political candidate while out drinking with friends. Anyway, after the problem is solved, Jae-min and Chul-jun find out that Seung-hee is pregnant, but their happiness is replaced with awkward sadness when she tearfully tells them that because of her situation, she can neither go to San Francisco nor will she get promoted. Elsewhere, Si-lang and her team get busy spreading misinformation about protein foods.
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This results in such foods getting slammed online by influencers which results in Ang’s Bakery’s business plummeting. When Yoon-jo meets Dong-hoon over cup noodles, she is heartbroken to learn that not only is Hee-young working overtime to solve this crisis, one of the owners of the bakery has been hospitalised due to stress. Unable to take on the pressure, she divulges everything to Dong-hoon, resulting in General Manager An overhearing everything.
Race Episode 9 Ending
The next morning, Yoon-jo goes to the office and is intercepted by Yi-jung and Eun-jeong, who hand her something to watch. Meanwhile, Jae-min uncovers that Sun-tae asked Hoo-gil to falsify the test results. Eventually, it turns out that someone left a message on the customer review page about Seyong’s abuse of power and detailed Yoon-jo’s involvement in all of this. While the others are left dumbstruck at the revelation, Su-hwan takes up this opportunity and goes to Gu-young to show Ji-hyeon and Yi-jung the door.
Race Episode 9 Review
What an underwhelming episode. Race has gone from a tense workplace drama to a confusing mess of plot points that don’t really do anything to make you feel tense. I blame the female lead – the person we are to follow and root for is such a wet fish of a character that it is difficult to feel anything for her. In this particular situation, for example, when something immoral is happening behind your supervisor’s back, a truly good person will report the incident. Even if you are selfish, won’t you report it to save your back and get the project under your belt?
The problem with Yoon-jo is she is neither good nor bad. She is nothing; she just makes odd decisions that no one will make and then whimpers about why things aren’t going her way. It’s so annoying watching her be bullied by Ji-hyo because we know that the latter is going to slither away when the time comes. It’s annoying watching Yoon-jo and her constant face of displeasure.
Like, you know this small business will suffer immensely for this one very bad decision, and you just keep quiet because some woman can’t pay for her nanny. What is the logic behind this – you are disappointing your mentor, driving a business to the ground and doing something absolutely immoral for no discernable reason.
Moreover, it is very difficult to follow a woman when she tries to showcase that she is fighting for her right in a male-dominated field but at the slightest pressure, she will back down into a corner and be sad. In that sense, I like Yi-jung; at least she tries to do something about her work life, although she is completely rubbish in her personal life.
Either way, Race episode 9 is a confusing and boring episode that will annoy you to no end. And no, there is absolutely no moral dilemma for Yoon-jo here – there is a clear decision to be made here, and our lead chose wrong. Now we have to watch these people mop up a completely avoidable mess.
Race is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.