The anniversary countdown in The Trainee EP7 was genius!
It was such a fantastic visual to build up the tension and anticipation over the episode towards the climax of the rising issues in Tae and Ba-Mhee’s relationship and the moment the line would inevitably be crossed in Judy and Ba-Mhee’s relationship.
There was such a sense of inescapability about what was happening because of the ominous presence of the countdown clock. You knew from the start that shit was going to hit the fan by the end of the episode and that it couldn’t be avoided.
It wasn’t surprising when Ba-Mhee leaned in for the kiss. After feeling neglected and unappreciated by Tae, Judy’s kind words in her drunk and vulnerable state were inevitably going to lead to her seeking affection… even though she was wrong to do so.
I was gagged by Judy kissing Ba-Mhee back though! She’s the sober party in a position of authority who knows that Ba-Mhee is sad and vulnerable right now. HR should have an absolute field day with her here!
The reveal shots to show the stunned Tae and guilty Ba-Mee were excellent too.
The final use of the anniversary countdown as everything just spiralled away from them in the aftermath added more weight to the shock of the moment as well.
After the last few episodes this kiss felt expected, but the way the editing foreshadowed what was coming and built up the tension to the climax meant that the moment itself and the immediate consequences landed so well!! 👌
happy to have an offgun sunday show back on the docket but i can already tell this series is going to put a bee in my bonnet every week about late stage capitalism foisting its cancer upon all workplace cultures and turning things like internships from learning and exploratory opportunities to build skills and discover interests in a field, to an expectation of free/low paid but inexplicably pre-skilled labour. do you think ye olde blacksmith's apprentice showed up to the first day of the apprenticeship and the blacksmith is like "what do you mean you don't know how to shoe a horse?? that's so basic" no. the expectation of apprenticeship is that a newborn emptyheaded youngin with a vague notion that metal is cool shows up, and is taught how to blacksmith. the expectation is not that the young savant of metalwork turns up with a list of horses already shoed, including One Very Special One in the Royal Stable, and god would you please please please allow me to debase myself for you, o blacksmith? my resumé is just like the journeyman's!! this workplace culture is a modern invention!! they used to teach you things at work!!
[breathing audibly] i just think entry level should mean entry level, and that as much effort goes into gathering experience that makes people competitively hire-able, ability, opportunity, and luck also play a role. it is lucky to know your passion early enough to be able to groom yourself to competitiveness in a sharky field of work, but a person should be able to turn up for entry level positions/interning with an unabashed "i know nothing" as long as it's followed with an "and i'm ready to learn" and it is in neoliberalism's favour to allow work environments to cut their costs by eschewing the responsibility to teach. to train the trainee.
Nothing will sway me faster than a well-written reddit comment about someone's favorite trainee, because 76 threads and 3 hours later, I emerge from the boys planet subreddit convinced that bep1er needs to debut with 28 members