I NEED ROMANCE 3, EPISODE 6

In which literally everything is turned on its ear.

A warning to readers: there are spoilers from this point on.

In the last episode we saw Joo Wan staring in disbelief at the pair of men's shoes left there by Joo Yeon's sunbae, Director Kang, who spent a drunken night at their place. As if it could get any worse, Kang exits the shower, and Wan is not happy. It's unusual, and refreshing, to see him rattled by something. After breakfast Wan confronts her about it, and she catches a ride with the Director, knowing full well this would annoy Joo Wan. And it did. Hilariously so.

When she fails at work, she cries on Joo Wan's shoulder, not because she lost to Oh Se Ryung, not because people scoffed, not because her career hit a setback, but because Director Kang used to have a warm smile for her after every broadcast, but was cold to her after this one. Joo Wan realizes at that moment how Joo Yeon coped all that time, why she rejected his advances, why she wasn't heartbroken over her breakup -- she has been in love with the boss the whole time.

The tenderness between her and Wan is obvious, despite her chafing at it. They talk far more easily to each other than previously. He seems not so much a romantic interest in this episode (except in the beginning), but more an older brother, there to offer aid and comfort in dark times. He offers counsel when she talks about Min Jung's remarks to her. He carries her home and tucks her in, a turnaround from their childhood when she used to carry him on her back to get him to sleep.  I don't know what he'll do with this latest revelation. Will he step off? Or will he fight harder?

And Joo Yeon appears to have a new romantic interest: Director Kang???  She is curious about what her boss would be like as a lover. She imagines Kang and Se Ryung together, doing the things couples do. She even wonders if her boss laughs when he's together with someone. This puts a major kink in the idea of a romance between her and Wan.

Min Jung obsesses over finding gray hairs, to the point where she is plucking them from her head and leaving them on the desk.  Now, I can understand some of this -- nobody likes gray hairs. But leaving them on the desk? Ugh! I'd be afraid of finding those in my lunch if that were my desk. She is fixated on the aging process throughout the episode, and when she visits a doctor and he explains premature menopause to her, she melts down. She goes off on her teammates for their lack of sympathy, and in particular Joo Yeon, before storming out.

I have a problem with the fit that Min Jung threw; I just don't see why. I realize I'm entirely not the right person to analyze this, but I'm going to anyway. So there. Work is work, and home is home. Generally, in a corporate environment, you check your problems at the door. You're part of a team, you need to keep up a can-do attitude, and what counts are the results, not your effort in attaining those results.  And certainly not your feelings. I feel bad for her, aging is never easy, but I think resigning was uncalled for.

Jae Hee tries to avoid Woo Young after their kiss. But it doesn't work. He tells her it's not a big deal and that he wants it to be a big deal, leaving her terribly conflicted. He gives her a ride home to further confuse the girl, but she completely halts it to rejoin her boyfriend. Two-timing is never a good thing, and I hope she sorts it out soon.

At work, new conflicts are coming to a head. The girls are busier than ever with the upcoming broadcast. Hee Jae gets an autograph from Se Ryung and receives a supposedly trendy jacket from her as a gift. The other girls decide to use this jacket as the basis for their broadcast. Se Ryung and Joo Yeon have a disagreement about which clothes to use. They agree to disagree -- two separate broadcasts, they will each share responsibility. Min Jung resigns after melting down, and blasting her co-workers for their insensitivity. Joo Yeon's broadcast is on, and next to no sales are made. She has failed.

If you read the spoilers, or if you already watched this, you know. Some days, it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. About the only person who came out of this unscathed is Oh Se Ryung, and even then she was perturbed seeing Joo Yeon and Director Kang arriving in the same car.

This episode went off in directions I totally did not expect. Usually I kinda nod my head when a show or a movie does something completely prosaic, but this blindsided me. Obviously, everything you do affects your life in ways both big and small, but I certainly didn't expect things to fall apart the way they did. As I said, I'm a romantic. I want things to work between people.

The boss is still in love with Se Ryung, but professes not to be. He's been hurt by the little minx, that much is certain by his behavior. Woo Young is attracted to Hee Jae, and she to him, which leaves her completely flustered. What have we learned about two-timing?  Do I really have to go there? The trendy jacket that they noticed Hee Jae wearing was hawked in the broadcast, or at least something very much like it. Min Jung and Joo Yeon were certainly interested in it. Was this a set-up by Se Ryung, or just a coincidence? It certainly seems like an evil plot worthy of the [rhymes with "witch"] of the show.   
 
They keep changing this up, and I can't wait to see what future episodes have in store for us.

I Need Romance 3 airs Mondays and Tuesdays on tvN.

SEE ALSO: How much will NewJeans owe HYBE if they break the contract?