Sold Out on You: Episodes 1-2
by Unit
Welcome to dramaland’s latest rom-com featuring a prickly farmer and a bulldozer home shopping host who is unapologetic about barging into his farm… and maybe into his heart as well.
EPISODES 1-2
We kick off with an introduction to our leading lady, DAM YE-JIN (Chae Won-bin). She’s a host at the home shopping network, HIT, and sells out every product she promotes. Ye-jin is also a celebrity in her own right, with multiple commercials and brand deals to her name. But Ms. Sold Out Queen doesn’t have an off button, and all her waking moments are spent thinking of the next product to sell. When I clock out of work, I just want to chill and watch dramas. But Ye-jin walks into her apartment — which is practically a museum of products — after a long day’s work, only to resume working again.
Ye-jin’s workaholic nature ruins her romantic relationship. And she gets another heartbreak when her prime-time slot is given to her rival host, JI YOON-JI (Park Ah-in). Yoon-ji successfully poached bestselling cosmetics brand, Beauty Song, and it makes more sense to assign the coveted time slot to a sure moneymaker. HIT’s director, DONG HYUN-KI (Shin Dong-mi), informs an upset Ye-jin that the only way to retake the time slot is to land a deal with L’Etoile, a French cosmetics brand. But Hyun-ki might as well have said “no time slot for you, hahaha!” in Ye-jin’s face, because our sold out queen does NOT sell cosmetics. She even has a clause in her contract to that effect.
Five years ago, Ye-jin promoted a cream on her debut broadcast alongside an actress, SONG MYEONG-HWA (Woo Hee-jin) — who staked her reputation on the product. But customers suffered serious side effects, and Myeong-hwa was forced to retire from acting amidst multiple demands for her to apologize to the affected customers. There’s clearly more to this backstory than we know, and Ye-jin still suffers from nightmares till date. Myeong-hwa also holds a massive grudge against Ye-jin, and she’d rather Ye-jin be fired from HIT if it were up to her. By the way, Myeong-hwa is the face of Beauty Song.
Ye-jin’s work predicament worsens her insomnia, and she eventually hits the maximum dosage of sleeping pills. Her doctor advises against continuous overuse of the pills, and suggests that she identify and resolve the root cause of her insomnia — which is most likely trauma from the cream incident. Ye-jin’s friend and teammate, producer UHM SUNG-MI (Park Ye-young), encourages her not to stress over Hyun-ki’s mandate to bring in L’Etoile, and assures her that the team has her back. But while Ye-jin is touched by the vote of confidence, she cannot in good conscience watch her team lose their jobs. She reaches out to L’Etoile. But her plan is to sign on the brand and leave the launch broadcast to another host.
Coincidentally, L’Etoile’s executive director, ERIC SEO (Kim Bum) has just arrived in Korea to renew a raw material supply contract with Gojeuneok Bio. Eric is turned down, but he won’t take no for an answer — especially when he suspects that Gojeuneok Bio’s CEO, KANG MU-WON (Yoon Byung-hee), might not be fully in charge of decision making in the company. Business smarts aside, Eric possesses a charming and playful vibe, and I grabbed my anti-second lead syndrome pills the second he showed up on screen! But I doubt the effectiveness of said pills when weighed against Kim Bum’s signature smile. It doesn’t help that Eric and Ye-jin have a past connection, and the man is totally whipped for her. Sigh.
Flashback to a rainy day three years ago, it was attraction at first sight for Eric when Ye-jin ducked under his umbrella. She agreed to his next-day lunch invite at a pastry shop. But rather than collect her phone number to fix a time for lunch, he left it all up to fate. Smh. Eric ended up waiting the whole day for Ye-jin, but she didn’t show up. And that’s exactly why you don’t tempt fate. Eric had to leave for France without seeing his crush. But now that fate has made them cross paths again, he is determined to make things work out with Ye-jin this time. Poor guy has no idea he’s on his way to join dramaland’s second male leads’ support group.
Despite the “please recognize me” written in bold font on Eric’s forehead throughout their meeting, Ye-jin doesn’t remember him. But he still agrees to sign the deal with HIT on the condition that Ye-jin works with L’Etoile to resolve their supplier issue. Ye-jin does her research on the WF-Mushroom — which is the raw material/key ingredient for L’Etoile’s La Fin essence — and she learns the mushroom is cultivated specially for Gojeuneok Bio. Ye-jin thinks L’Etoile might have a better chance of renewing their contract if they win over the owner of the mushroom farm, so she heads down to Deokpung village in search of the farm. This is where we meet our leading man, MATTHEW LEE (Ahn Hyo-seop).
Matthew or Mechoori, as he’s fondly called by the villagers (mechoori means quail in Korean, and it sounds like Matthew Lee), is the mushroom farm owner — and the secret co-CEO of Gojeuneok Bio! Matthew is at the peak of his youth in a village with an elderly population, hence he’s the go-to guy for all handyman needs. Assistance with livestock births, chopping wood, making kimchi, beehive removal, climbing rooftops to adjust TV antennas, transport services with his tractor, you name it. Matthew is as gruff as can be, and he swears each assistance he renders is his last. But he ends up acquiescing to new requests as they come. The man is right where he wants to be and he needs no saving. Lol.
Ye-jin and Matthew have their meet-cute in the middle of a one-way lane. And their back and forth over who has the right of way, is the first of many they’ll have this week. Ye-jin is forced to leave her car by the roadside when the rear wheel gets stuck in the soil, and Matthew unknowingly hits her side mirror when he squeezes his tractor past her car. Oops! A few squabbles later, Ye-jin spots the mushrooms at the back of his tractor and inquires about the farm owner. But Matthew is done with this extremely rude and full of herself lady in front of him, and he replies that the owner isn’t around. Ye-jin is forced to leave the farm when Matthew threatens to report her for obstruction of business. But that’s when she discovers her side mirror is broken! *cue her dramatic breakdown* Lol.
Ye-jin can’t wait for the towing company because she has to hurry back to Seoul for a live broadcast. She tries to hitch a ride with Matthew to the bus terminal, but he ignores her. It’s only when she crashes facedown into the road while chasing his tractor that he stops to pick her. And even at that, it’s the village’s matriarch, YANG SANG-GEUM (Go Du-shim), that makes him pull over. Heh. Despite her less than stellar first impression of Matthew, Ye-jin is impressed when he scolds the bus driver for driving off before the ajumma passengers are properly seated. She thanks him. And then he leans in close enough to fluster her… before merely pointing out that she’s seated in a priority seat. Hehe.
A few days later, Sang-geum asks for Matthew’s help ordering a product when she sees Ye-jin on the home shopping channel. Matthew uses his info to place the order since Sang-geum can’t remember her resident registration number — and he ends up winning the lucky prize draw for customers. Lol. Ye-jin appoints herself as the delivery person when she hears the winner is from Deokpung village, but Matthew refuses to divulge information on the farm owner and he makes her leave his house. Ye-jin ends up at Matthew’s house again in the process of chasing after one of Sang-geum’s chickens, and he legit reports her for trespassing. Thankfully, she has the dashcam footage of his tractor kissing off her side mirror, and his hit-and-run cancels out her trespassing.
Matthew threatens to file a complaint to HIT that Ye-jin used the prize event to gain his private information, and she’s forced to sign an agreement stating she won’t visit his house again. But Ye-jin shows up at the mushroom farm because the agreement isn’t binding on a property that isn’t Matthew’s. “If you want to chase me out, then call the farm owner and tell him to come here right now,” she says. Smh. Matthew ignores Ye-jin — who is soon captivated by the sight of him gazing adoringly at his prized mushrooms. She soon snaps out of her daze and asks when he’s getting off work. “When I think I’ve done enough,” he replies. Ye-jin also thinks she has done enough, and she leaves. But not before calling Hyun-ki to confirm that she will do L’Etoile’s launch broadcast herself.
Speaking of L’Etoile, there’s some yet-to-be-spilled reason why Gojeuneok bio won’t renew their supply contract. As a result, Mu-won suggests trying something again, but Matthew isn’t interested in whatever this something is. Matthew returns home to find Sang-geum’s chicken on his roof, and he belatedly realizes Ye-jin was telling the truth. As he prepares for bed, Mu-won blows up his phone with persuasive calls and texts. But rather than change his mind about the something, Mathew changes his phone number.
Meanwhile, Ye-jin — who’s sleeping over at Sang-geum’s place — settles in for the night after popping a set of sleeping pills. Next thing you know, she sits up in a hallucinatory daze (a side effect of the pill overuse) and dials a number. It rings for a while, and then someone picks. “Mom, why weren’t you picking up?” She cries. But it’s a confused Matthew on the other end of the line. Looks like Ye-jin’s mom’s number was reassigned to Matthew. Meaning her mom hasn’t used that number in a while. Meaning her mom is… I don’t know. Anyway, this is where our premiere week ends.
I’m so used to dramaland male leads being the ones with traumatic backstories, and I wasn’t expecting Ye-jin to be the PTSD flag bearer here. But I can almost bet Matthew also has a sob story tied to his non-use of his Korean name. Lool. A trauma sandwich? Let’s have it.
Away from the trauma, I don’t like that Ye-jin feels like a different person in Deokpung. Seoul Ye-jin might be a little eccentric when it comes to work, but she’s more grounded and less invasive than Deokpung Ye-jin — who’s bratty, annoying, and nothing like the professional host we know. I get wanting to play up the irritation at first sight between the leads, but there are better ways to do that than make Ye-jin act so obnoxious around Matthew. The show needs to find a balance that works between both Ye-jins.
Sold Out on You isn’t doing anything groundbreaking in general, but it’s still fun and I enjoyed the opening set of episodes. Hopefully, the plot doesn’t nosedive into blandness or some form of annoyingness as we proceed on.
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