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Startup cast & character guide: where you know the actors from.

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Here's where people might recognize the StartUp  cast from. Headlined by Adam Brody and Edi Gathegi, the Crackle TV show explores what happens when a Miami banker uses dirty money to fund a progressive tech company.  StartUp was created by Ben Ketai, who previously developed the Crackle series Chosen, and co-wrote the 2018 franchise movie  The Strangers: Prey at Night .

In StartUp , Nick Talman (Brody) uses his father's money to financially invest in a new cryptocurrency business called GenCoin. When the young banker's financial moves pique the interest of a local gangster, Ronald Dacey (Gathegi), the two men decide to become business partners. Over several seasons, the GenCoin/Araknet CEOs are investigated by the FBI, the NSA, and underworld figures.

Related:  Silicon Valley Season 6 Finale Recap: How The HBO Comedy Ended

Alongside Brody and Gathegi, the  StartUp  cast features TV veterans like Ron Perlman and Addison Timlin. People who have seen  The Hobbit  movie franchise will immediately recognize Martin Freeman, while followers of late 2010s indie cinema may recognize Kelvin Harrison Jr. in a minor role. If there's a breakout star in StartUp , it has to be Otmara Marrero, who stars as the GenCoin mastermind, Izzy Morales. Here's a character guide to help identify the leading players in the  StartUp  cast.

Adam Brody As Nick Talman

Adam Brody stars as Nick Talman, a morally-conflicted banker who uses dirty money to develop a tech company. Brody starred as Seth Cohen on The O.C. and portrayed Derek in Single Parents . He also appeared as Daniel in Ready or Not and the superhero version of Freddy in Shazam!

Edi Gathegi As Ronald Dacey

Edi Gathegi co-stars in the  StartUp cast as Ronald Dacey, a Haitian-American gangster who forms a business alliance with Nick. Gathegi portrayed Laurent in  The Twilight Saga: New Moon , and Darwin/Armando Muñoz in X-Men: First Class . He also appeared as Matias Solomon in  The Blacklist and A.D. Singe in Briarpatch .

Otmara Marrero As Izzy Morales

Otmara Marrero portrays Izzy Morales, a tech entrepreneur who develops the cryptocurrency company GenCoin. Marrero portrayed Karen in the 2019 movie Clementine and Annie in Connecting . She had a supporting role in the award-winning short film Yoshua .

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Martin Freeman As Phil Rask

Martin Freeman appears as Phil Rask, a corrupt FBI agent. Freeman is best known for starring as Bilbo in The Hobbit movie trilogy. He also appeared as Lester Nygaard in Fargo season 1, Dr. John Watson in Sherlock , and  Everett K. Ross in Marvel's Black Panther .

Ron Perlman As Wes Chandler

Ron Perlman portrays Wes Chandler, a multimillionaire who funds Araknet and worries about losing $250,000 every month. Perlman starred as Vincent in the '80s series  Beauty and the Beast , and also portrayed the titular character in the Hellboy movie franchise. He headlined Sons of Anarchy as Clay Morrow and appeared in Hand of God as Pernell Harris.

Addison Timlin As Mara Chandler

Addison Timlin portrays Mara Chandler, Wes' daughter and Nick's love interest. Timlin appeared as Sasha Bingham in  Californication and Alex in Stand Up Guys . In the late 2010s, she starred in the movies Little Sister , Like Me, and Life Like .

Mira Sorvino As Rebecca Stroud

Mira Sorvino portrays Rebecca Stroud, a woman who claims to be an NSA agent but has secret motivations for investigating Araknet. Sorvino is best known for her Oscar-winning performance in the 1995 film Mighty Aphrodite , and she appeared as Jeanne Crandall in  Hollywood . She also starred as the heavily referenced Romy White in the 1997 movie  Romy and Michele's High School Reunion   and portrayed Dr. Green in  The Expecting .

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StartUp's Supporting Cast & Characters

A decent supporting cast can make or break a television series. The Crackle/Netflix show already has a solid main cast, but the supporting players can hold their own. Many of these faces have been seen in everything from  True Blood  to  Seinfeld . So, where does one know these members of the  StartUp  cast from? Here are the supporting players of the show and what else they've been in.

Ashley Hinshaw As Taylor

First up in the  StartUp  cast is Ashley Hinshaw, who plays Taylor — Nick's season 1 love interest. Ashley Hinshaw portrayed Casey Letter in Chronicle and Brigette in True Blood .

Kristen Ariza As Tamara Dacey

In the  StartUp cast, Kristen Ariza plays Ronald's wife, Tamara Dacey. Kristen Ariza portrayed Judy Smith in  Confirmation and Laura Cooke in Bosch .

Kelvin Harrison Jr. As Touie Dacey

Next on the list is Ronald's son, Touie Dacey, who is portrayed by Kelvin Harrison Jr. The character is the victim of a season 2 tragedy. Kelvin Harrison Jr. starred in the movies Luce and Waves . He also headlined the 2021 Netflix movie Monster .

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Tony Plana As Mr. Morales

Tony Plana plays Mr. Morales, Izzy's father. Tony Plana portrayed Ignacio Suarez in Ugly Betty , Devante Cano in Mayans M.C. , and Rafael Hernandez in the Netflix show  The Punisher .

Jocelin Donahue As Maddie Pierce

Continuing the  StartUp  cast list, actress Jocelin Donahue plays Maddie Pierce — a special agent from Washington D.C who assists Phil in season 1. Jocelin Donahue starred as Samantha in The House of the Devil , and portrayed Lucy Stone in Doctor Sleep .

Wayne Knight As Benny Blush

By far one of the most recognizable faces in the  StartUp  cast is Wayne Knight, who portrays Benny Blush. He's the owner of a pet store chain who invests in GenCoin during season 1. Wayne Knight portrayed Newman in Seinfeld  and Nedry in Jurassic Park .

Reina Hardesty As Stella Namura

Finally, the last member of the  StartUp  cast is Reina Hardesty, who plays Stella Namura. She's Izzy's former Stanford classmate who works at Araknet. Reina Hardesty played Aspen Fairchild in Greenhouse Academy , and Joss Mardon/Weather Witch in The Flash .

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StartUp Was Canceled But May Start Back Up

People who watched the  StartUp  cast from their early beginnings were saddened to find out that the show was canceled, but there may be hope that the series could return. The TV show had a three-season run, with many anticipating that StartUp  season 4 was in the works. After the third season aired in 2018, the show was unfortunately put on hiatus. While not officially canceled by the streaming service Crackle, it's safe to assume that the show isn't coming back on any time soon since nothing has been announced for a couple of years. However, there may be hope for the return of  StartUp  in the future. As of now, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is looking to buy the rights for the show from Netflix. The aforementioned company acquired Crackle, and now they have their eye on  StartUp  season 4. So while no one can expect to see a fourth season showing up on Netflix ,  StartUp  may not have bitten the dust just yet.

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• SR Originals

The Fangirl Verdict

Completely biased reviews and fangirling.

Review: Start-Up

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Designed to be light, easy and feel-good, Show tends to lean more simplistic than I would like, particularly in the areas of business and technology and how that all works. The characters took a while to grow on me, but I did eventually grow fond of almost all of them.

At the same time, there are definitely some stand-outs that endeared themselves to me early, like Kim Hae Sook as Gran.

Ultimately, Show manages to be uplifting and aspirational (if you can overcome the over-simplification of everything), and ends up being a reasonably pleasant coming-of-age – or rather, coming-into-your-own – kinda story.

PS: Most viewers have strong feelings about this story’s love triangle, but I didn’t.

THE LONG VERDICT:

There were two three main things that made me curious to check out this show.

The first is, everyone seemed to have such positive feelings towards this show, as it aired. The positive buzz alone was enough to make my drama antennae perk up with interest.

The second thing is, I soon realized that there was a fan war going on, with regards to the love triangle in this show.

From what I understood (from a distance, since I never actually dived in for a close-up taste), viewers were fiercely divided on the topic of who deserved to be this story’s male lead. You guys know I become very curious when a show is very divisive; I always wonder where I’ll land, when I get there.

The third thing, which doesn’t really qualify as a thing, really, since this happened after I’d started my watch, is that there was such an audible wail of frustration in the dramaverse around what Show served up in episode 10, that I became very curious about that as well, and I also wanted to know how I’d feel, when I got there.

Which ensured that no matter how I felt about this show, I would at least watch up to episode 10, ha. (For the curious, I have a spotlight on episode 10, in the final stretch of this review.)

In the end, I can safely say that I didn’t love this show as much as most of you guys did. I feel rather disappointed about that, actually, since this is written by Park Hye Ryun, who also wrote  Dream High , Pinocchio, I Hear Your Voice and Page Turner , all of which I really, really enjoyed.

While this was instant love for many of you, this was more of a slow burn for me. It wasn’t until Show’s final stretch, that I actually found myself enjoying this show more. How odd, eh?

OST ALBUM: FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE

In a watch experience where I often found myself floundering a bit, in terms of finding a viewing lens that worked best, I realize that the music in this show did a fair bit of heavy-lifting, in getting me to engage with our story.

There’s Track 1, Future, which is breezy and uplifting, that signals that our underdogs are working hard and making progress, and there’s Track 2, Day and Night, which is poignant and measured, with a slight singsong quality to it that tells me we’re at a bittersweet juncture of our story; these tunes really helped to amplify and elevate my watch experience.

I found that on average, the music affected me more than the characters themselves. Music really is so important in the making of a good drama, and the music in this show, is very decent indeed. Unfortunately, I can’t say that any of the songs actually stood out to me in a special way.

Here’s the OST album, in case you’d like to listen to it while you read the review.

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS & THE VIEWING LENS

You’d probably have gathered by now, that I struggled to find the right lenses to help me maximize my enjoyment of this show. I learned some of this a little late, but here’s all that I’ve gathered, in terms of the best way to manage expectations and your viewing lenses, for this show.

1. Our characters sometimes (oftentimes?) do things that aren’t very nice.

Remembering that they’re flawed people helps.

2. Thinking of this as a coming-of-age – or, as I prefer, a coming-into-your-own – kind of story also helps.

3. This show has a very simplistic view of how business and technology works.

In essence, it feels like this world and its story were imagined by a group of teenagers who have yet to actually work in the real world. Keeping that in mind, and being able to roll with that, helps as well.

For the record, I had limited success, particularly with this area.

I’m guessing that this is because,

(a), large chunks of this are basic things that anyone who’s worked in the real world ought to know, vs. something very specialized like medicine or law, which most of us wouldn’t know a lot about, and

(b), the business setting isn’t simply a backdrop against which our OTP falls in love; our main story IS about young people coming into their own in a business environment.

This makes the overly simplistic business world extra striking and stark, because our characters actually grapple with obstacles in this world, and it almost feels like the obstacles crumble like paper mache props to the touch.

But, if you’re able to do better than I did in rolling with the simplification of how business and technology works in this world, I do think that you’d have a good chance of enjoying this show more than I did.

4. Because this drama world is so simplistic,

..the payoffs don’t have a lot of oomph to them. The obstacles that our characters encounter aren’t mountains, even if our characters might sometimes think that they are.

Rather, they’re more like molehills that we slide over quite easily, like traffic humps on a road. So, while the simplification makes Show a pretty easy watch, it also means that it doesn’t manage to be a very satisfying one, either.

STUFF THAT WORKED OUT TO PRETTY ALRIGHT

I’m starting here, with the stuff that worked out to okay, because this is where our main characters land, for me. There are things that I liked more, which I’ll talk about later in this review.

Suzy as Dal Mi

I have to confess to feeling a little wary while starting this drama, because I had not enjoyed the last thing I’d seen Suzy in, which had happened to be Uncontrollably Fond .

That, and the fact that Suzy isn’t exactly famous for being an excellent actress.

Admittedly, there are times in this show when I found Suzy’s delivery cringey; mainly, these are the parts where Dal Mi is written to act a little crazy, drunk, &/or theatrical, like in episode 1, where she laughs like a crazy woman at the bus-stop. Those scenes felt forced and awkward, to my eyes.

Other than that, though, I’m happy to say that Suzy’s delivery of Dal Mi lands pretty well for me, for the most part. In fact, there were a number of more serious and grounded moments, where I thought Suzy did a nicely solid job.

Sometimes I found Dal Mi too impetuous, but I also did see a good number of qualities in her that I liked. Overall, I found Dal Mi pretty solid, as our female lead.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1. I feel like I don’t know Dal Mi very well so far, but she does strike me as someone who’s led by her heart, who’s mostly upbeat, and who can be quite impulsive.

The way she grabs the mic at the forum and poses her question to In Jae (Kang Han Na) feels rather impulsive and kind of rude. But once it becomes clear to me that she and In Jae are sisters, I feel like I can give her a pass on this, since there is a lot of personal history driving her behavior.

E2. I like the idea that Dal Mi is good at her job. The way she takes over the cafe while it’s overrun with impatient customers, is very impressive, and she shows a savviness that I enjoy.

E2. There’s another facet to Dal Mi that we learn, and that is that she’s consistently scared to get her hopes up. There’s the way that she doesn’t dare to hope too much for a permanent position, for fear of being disappointed.

And there’s the way she doesn’t open the music box that her dad (Kim Joo Hun) had given her, for fear that the music box won’t work, or that she won’t like the music.

This fear of being let down likely stems from how Life has dealt her multiple disappointments in life, so I think one of our story’s big arcs is likely to be around Dal Mi learning – and daring – to hope.

E5. I like how quick Dal Mi is, to understand the potential benefits of Samsan Tech’s machine learning technology. Considering her lack of traditionally sought-after specs, her idea to use machine learning to prevent forgery is very smart and very savvy.

She’s also the first one to nudge Do San (Nam Joo Hyuk) in the direction of rebuilding the network, which turns out to be the missing link that the team’s been searching for.

Also, she does a fantastic job of the presentation, and it’s really quite gratifying to witness the surge of applause that she receives from the audience.

This does line up with the nugget of information we get this episode, that Dal Mi had qualified for a good college, but had given it up so that she could work odd jobs in order to buy Gran (Kim Hae Sook) a truck.

It’s really hard to qualify for a good college in Seoul, so Dal Mi really is highly intelligent. She’s also one to put others before herself; dropping out of college in order to earn money for a truck for Gran, is no small deal.

On the downside, I felt underwhelmed by the reveal at the end of the episode, of how Dal Mi had persuaded Sa Ha (Stephanie Lee) to join the team.

Her spiel is all about how hard she’ll work, with nothing really extraordinary or special about it, and that doesn’t seem impressive to me, honestly.

E6. I did enjoy seeing Dal Mi gather her courage to rock her CEO swag and take control. I like that she comes across as firm but reasonable.

I don’t know if I agree with Ji Pyeong’s (Kim Sun Ho) belief that you can’t be a good person and a good CEO at the same time. I do get where he’s coming from though, in that there are definite challenges to be faced.

I feel like Dal Mi’s going to surprise him, with how (I think) she’s going to find common ground between the two.

E7. So far, I am mildly fond of Dal Mi. I like her passion and her heart, and I can see how it niggles at her, to even attempt to put money first to apply for the Morning Glory project, even though she finds the practical reasons compelling.

However, the way she jumps to the conclusion that In Jae’s success is due to Chairman Won’s (Uhm Hyo Sup) connections, shows her prejudice.

In light of that, I actually felt a small measure of satisfaction at Dal Mi’s dismay, when Chairman Won and his son Sang Su (Moon Dong Hyeok) treat her unprofessionally at the meeting, putting their personal connection front and center.

I feel like this might be a good lesson for Dal Mi, to see what In Jae’s been dealing with, and to realize that perhaps she might’ve been too quick to judge her sister.

E8. I like how Dal Mi’s so passionate about doing something for the visually impaired community, even before she learns that Gran will personally benefit from NoonGil.

I really appreciate her compassion and empathy for the people who will benefit from the development of NoonGil.

In moments like this, when Dal Mi’s bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed passion proves to be more “right” than Ji Pyeong’s jaded experience, I have to confess to experiencing a vicarious sort of thrill.

It’s idealistic and simplistic, yes, but that’s how this show rolls, and this is one instance where I’m able to roll with it.

E8. While I can appreciate Dal Mi’s desire not to burden the team with money matters, it does strike me as rather shortsighted of her to withhold the money issue from them, even after the team has uploaded the app.

To me, that crosses the line from being considerate, to being uncommunicative and unhelpful.

E8. The plot twist, that Dal Mi has incriminating recordings of her meetings with Morning Group is satisfying to watch, but I do have to say that this means that Dal Mi’s earlier tearful statement to In Jae that she’s going to make a fool out of herself in front of Chairman Won, doesn’t ring quite true.

I know that this was a purposeful misdirect, but I do feel like the twist could’ve still been pulled off, without that misleading statement by Dal Mi.

Still, I did find it quite satisfying that Dal Mi managed to solve the money issue, by beating Chairman Won at his own dirty game. And it’s also good to know that Samsan Tech’s money troubles are a non-issue now.

E14. I appreciate that Dal Mi is the kind of CEO who doesn’t shift blame. After the ransomware incident, she’s fully cognizant of the things she could have and should have done to prevent the incident, and accepts full responsibility for it, even though no one is actually blaming her.

I like that, even though I think she beats herself up for it rather excessively. That.. could be calibrated.

[END SPOILER]

Nam Joo Hyuk as Do San

Despite watching this in my own bubble, far away from the fan wars, I did hear that some viewers thought very poorly of Do San as our male lead, and Nam Joo Hyuk’s portrayal of him.

For the record, I didn’t love all of Do San, and what I did like of him, I didn’t take to that quickly. However, Do San did grow on me as this story’s male lead, and in spite of the fact that I didn’t like some of his more impetuous decisions, I also found positive qualities in him to like.

As for Nam Joo Hyuk’s portrayal of Do San, I do think Nam Joo Hyuk does a very solid job of the role. In defense of Nam Joo Hyuk, I don’t think that it’s Nam Joo Hyuk’s delivery that leans awkward and stilted; it’s the character of Do San that’s written to be awkward and stilted.

Having now seen Nam Joo Hyuk in a variety of roles (like Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo , The Light In Your Eyes and The School Nurse Files ), I do think he’s grown quite a bit as an actor since his Surplus Princess and Who Are You: School 2015 days.

Where before I’d thought of him as being quite green and stiff, I now sincerely think that Nam Joo Hyuk’s got a nice acting range. And I do think that he applied that acting range in an appropriate manner, in portraying Do San as a character.

E2. Do San strikes me as somewhat the opposite of Dal Mi, in that he’s passionate and idealistic, and he dares to dream. He puts his money where his mouth is, and is doing his best to make good with his image recognition software startup – but he’s failing hard, when we meet him.

It’s not that nothing gets him down – that woeful knitting scene on the train is proof of that – but the fact that he dares to dream in the face of obstacles, is something that Dal Mi doesn’t have right now. I can see how Do San might be able to help light Dal Mi’s ability to hope again.

What an odd quirk, though, that Do San knits. Given that he’s a techie who’s all about A.I. and other computer-related geeky things, it’s quite amusing to me that he finds solace in knitting.

That’s so.. low-tech? But it is another form of geekiness, so maybe it’s not so out of place after all?

E3. I am trying to find the endearment in Do San’s character, though. I’m telling myself that he’s a geeky dork, and that his bashful wonder at finally being noticed by a girl is a cute thing, and that things like feelings and hormones cloud our judgment and lead us to make stupid decisions.

Right now, this is a work-in-progress; I know in my head that this is probably how I should feel about him; the feelings themselves haven’t landed quite yet. But they might, given some time and further plot development.

E4. Do San might not be cut out to be a CEO, but I like how he picks up immediately, on the difference between Dal Mi’s and In Jae’s offers.

And I like that he’s able to articulate that difference to Yong San and Chul San (Kim Do Wan and Yoo Su Bin) right away, so that they make an informed decision. He’s right; there’s a key difference to hiring a CEO, and getting hired by a CEO. I hope they’ll have reason to be happy with their decision soon.

E5. It’s interesting to me that in the inter-splicing of scenes in the opening of the episode, where Do San and Dal Mi talk about their ambition, Do San’s ambition and greed has to do with wanting to win Dal Mi’s heart, but Dal Mi’s ambition is everything to do with work and proving herself as an entrepreneur.

For Do San, whom we learn has always learned to hang back and let others go ahead of him, from the time he was a little kid, this is a pretty big statement. He’s finally found something where he’s unwilling to hang back; he’s finally found a burning desire to push himself ahead on, and that’s Dal Mi.

E5. While I’m cognizant of the fact that Do San likes Dal Mi and that is likely coloring his decisions, I also can’t help but appreciate how he defends her to the rest of the team, when her educational background comes into question.

He also defends her right to present on the team’s behalf, when the boys request him to do the presentation instead.

And when Chul San says that he can’t look, because Dal Mi appears so nervous that the presentation might crash and burn, Do San doesn’t take his eyes off Dal Mi for a second. Somehow, this little detail really appeals to me.

He’s decided to support her, and he doesn’t flinch, even when the going seems shaky. I like that.

E6. While I instinctively think well of Do San for wanting to tell Dal Mi the truth, it occurs to me that he ends up lying in the end, anyway. Dal Mi now knows the truth that Do San isn’t a hotshot CEO, and in order to make that reveal work, Do San ends up lying to Dal Mi that he and Ji Pyeong are as close as brothers.

And then at the end of the episode, when Do San makes a deliberate step towards telling Dal Mi the whole truth, including the stuff about the letters, he runs in an unexpected roadblock in Gran, and ends up going along with the lie, all over again.

Still, intentions do count for a lot in my books, so I still do think well of Do San for wanting to get the truth out there.

E6. Do San is a little more blunt with Ji Pyeong, which isn’t the most pleasant to see, but given how condescending Ji Pyeong has been with Samsan Tech, in telling them that no one would want to invest in them etc, I can see how this would’ve resulted in an accumulation of some level of resentment on Do San’s part.

No one likes being talked down to and dismissed, after all, yes?

E7. Even though I am with Do San on the idea that Samsan Tech shouldn’t work with Morning Glory, it’s such a ridiculously inappropriate thing to do, to smash Chairman Won’s nameplate as a response. It makes him look like an impetuous gangster, really, and I don’t like that at all.

There could have been many other saner choices that would’ve demonstrated qualities like presence of mind and self-control, but no, Do San had to become violent. That’s just.. completely unacceptable, particularly in a business setting. What the heck was Do San thinking?

All that said, I do like that Do San’s idea for an app for the visually impaired is a passion-driven project, inspired in part by his conversation with Gran.

E9. Sure, Do San and Dal Mi have a relationship now that feels sweet, but if the truth doesn’t come out, it’s only going to fester in Do San, the way his spontaneous, impulsive cheat during the Math Olympiad 15 years ago, has festered, and eaten away at him for literal years, robbing him of self-confidence, making him feel like an imposter, and gnawing at his conscience, until it killed almost all the joy he had in life.

And I appreciate that Do San learns from his mistakes, and attempts to tell Dal Mi before she found out about it. Even though he ultimately fails, it will be something that he will learn from, no doubt.

E9. I especially appreciated Nam Joo Hyuk’s delivery of Do San’s building dread and discomfort, and his eventual horror, grief and disbelief. I thought that was nicely done.

E12. As for our epilogue, where we see Do San mournfully recreating his own version of Dal Mi’s experience of walking in the rain and sailing off without a map, I do rather like Nam Joo Hyuk’s delivery of Do San’s angst in this scene.

I feel quite convinced that Do San is feeling utterly lost and miserable, and is in a lot of emotional pain. Nicely done.

Kim Sun Ho as Ji Pyeong

I feel like I might be risking the wrath of a million fangirls and -boys in saying this, but I did not manage to warm very quickly, to Ji Pyeong, as a character.

I did grow somewhat fond of him by the time we wrap up our story, but it wasn’t all that easy a journey for me, to get there.

It’s my personal guess that a lot of Ji Pyeong’s appeal (for the fans who loved him, and loved him early) has to do with Kim Sun Ho’s personal charm.

The reason I say that, is because there are actually multiple instances in our story, where I found Ji Pyeong’s behavior objectionable. In my head, if the character is displaying objectionable behavior, and yet, the fans still love him (or her), it must be the actor’s appeal that’s doing the work of drawing the fans.

I will say, though, that by the time I got to the end of the show, Ji Pyeong had managed to endear himself to me, and more than I’d expected too. Not bad, after all.

E2. I can feel Show peeling away Ji Pyeong’s Good Boy image, to show us a little more of his cut-and-dry, calculated business side. We’d glimpsed a bit of this, when younger Ji Pyeong (Nam Da Reum) thought Gran had taken his money, and raged at her with many hurtful words.

Now, we see how dismissive he is about new ventures that his staff shows him, and how he almost refuses to see Gran without an appointment, until he realizes it’s Gran who’s there to see him.

I don’t dislike Ji Pyeong; certainly, Show’s done a good job of making him appear sympathetic, with his story of orphaned hardship. I can just.. feel Show stripping away some of the glow, and giving that glow to Do San.

E3. Ji Pyeong not wanting to disappoint Dal Mi, to the extent of seriously considering continuing the ruse, is a rationalization-in-progress for me. I get that he wants to help Gran, and I also get that he seems to like Dal Mi and therefore all the decision-clouding mechanisms apply, and I also get that he feels conflicted about it all.

It’s just a pretty dumb ruse, from where I’m sitting. I need to muster up more empathy for our characters, I think. 😛

E4. It’s pretty poignant that Ji Pyeong’s wish, had been to play Go Stop with lots of friends and family; it just goes to show how lonely and isolated he’s been all his life.

And even though his wish comes true in a very tangential, almost random sort of way, it’s still nice to see him smile and have fun, in spite of himself.

E5. I’m quite amused at how awkward and nervous Ji Pyeong gets around Dal Mi. It’s quite a contrast to how confident and assertive he otherwise presents himself to be, as an influential venture capitalist.

E5. I think I’m supposed to like Ji Pyeong more, but the way he literally takes the shirt off Dong Chun’s (Kim Min Seok) back so that he can appear in a Mentor capacity in front of Dal Mi, while leaving Dong Chun shirtless in a public place, is not cool.

I felt uncomfortable and embarrassed for Dong Chun. Maybe Show is playing this for comedy, but I didn’t find it funny. And this made me think less of Ji Pyeong. He’s very nice to people who are important to him, like Gran and Dal Mi, but he’s otherwise brusque and dismissive, and that doesn’t make him look very good.

E6. I’m mildly amused at Ji Pyeong’s hapless reaction to being chosen by Dal Mi as Samsan Tech’s mentor. I realize that – so far, anyway – no matter how grumpy Ji Pyeong is, he comes across as essentially quite harmless. His angst is mostly internal stuff, that sometimes gets manifested externally.

But even when it gets manifested externally and he gets all cantankerous, he still comes across as quite benign.

E9. Ji Pyeong wanting to come clean with the truth to Dal Mi is not a bad thing. It’s just that the way he explains it, it sounds self-centered and impatient.

Instead of not wanting to deceive Dal Mi, Ji Pyeong’s more concerned with how he likes Dal Mi, and how this is unfair to him because he wants her for himself. That’s honest, but also, not very endearing.

The love triangle

This is THE thing that got a fan war going in earnest; fans were seriously divided over who they thought made the better match for Dal Mi, or rather, who deserved to be this story’s male lead.

I was really curious to see where I landed with this one, and now that I’ve watched the entire show and come out the other side, I’ll say two things:

1, I definitely didn’t have strong feelings about this love triangle like everyone else did, and

2, I’m with Show on this one; in the end, it does seem to me that Do San is the better match for Dal Mi.

It did take me some time to arrive at any sort of conclusion, though, because I found myself having very little in the way of feelings towards both our male leads.

For good chunks of our story, I found myself feeling nothing much in particular for either character. Weird, yes?

My conclusion is that I found both characters flawed enough that it bothered me. There were many occasions when I found both male lead characters lacking, and I didn’t care enough to actively ship Dal Mi with either of them.

I also found it quite annoying (rather than funny, as Show actually intended), when Ji Pyeong and Do San engaged in any kind of petty rivalry for Dal Mi’s affections. It just all seemed very small-minded and childish.

Ultimately, though, I came to see that the person Dal Mi truly is drawn to, is Do San, and I feel that Show does a nice job of exploring that, so much so that I didn’t have any issues with Dal Mi and Do San having a happy ending as our main couple (I’ll talk more about that in my next section).

For now, I’m just going to unpack some of my thoughts around this love triangle, as I had them, over the course of my watch.

E1. First of all, because I’m already aware that writer-nim also wrote Dream High, the similar treatment of the opening really jumps out at me. Dream High was also a story where we don’t meet our male lead until quite a bit later, and we spend the time getting to know our second male lead instead.

The effect of this, is that it sets us up for Second Lead Syndrome – and I’ve heard that the SLS potential is strong in this one. Now that I’ve seen episode 1 for myself, I can certainly see why.

For a start, Ji Pyeong’s backstory is a sympathetic one. He’s effectively ejected out of the orphanage with some money but nowhere to go, when he’s still in high school.

That’s enough to tug at my heartstrings on its own, but then there’s Nam Da Reum who plays him with so much youthful bravado mixed with so much poignance and heart.

It’s clear that beneath the bluster, Ji Pyeong’s deeply grateful to Gran for taking him in when he had nowhere to go, and basically adopting him as her bonus grandson.

Ji Pyeong would’ve been stuck and his potential for growth, completely stunted, if it weren’t for Gran’s spontaneous big heart, and he knows it.

E2. Just like how we followed that flower petal’s long journey to Do San’s head at the end of our last episode, I feel like we’re doing a slow pan of our drama world this episode, to shift our focus from Ji Pyeong to Do San.

It’s not instantaneous, but I can feel our focus slowly changing to be more Do San-centric.

I currently still feel more connected to Ji Pyeong, because we’ve spent a lot more time understanding his context, but I do expect Show to help me feel more connected to Do San, soonish.

E7. This show makes me feel like a fickle person; I keep vacillating between liking each of our male leads a little more, and then liking them less, and I seem to alternate between which of them I prefer as well.

One minute, I find myself softening towards Ji Pyeong, and the next, I’m rolling my eyes at him.

Same with Do San. Do I really need to pick between them?

When Ji Pyeong grumbles good-naturedly about being Samsan Tech’s mentor, and then smiles to himself as he answers Dal Mi’s 400 questions anyway, I find him endearing.

But when he’s throwing out the plant she gave him, and ignoring her calls, and petulantly trying to stop Do San from telling Dal Mi the truth, I don’t find him endearing anymore.

But then he goes and puts special plant food in the plant that he’s now decided to keep, and I find him endearing again.

As for Do San, I like that he desires to be honest with Dal Mi, and I also like how he shows concern and even tearful compassion for Gran, even though they’ve technically just met. But, I didn’t like it so much when he stepped in to try to prevent Ji Pyeong from staying for dinner at Dal Mi’s house.

That felt presumptuous and rude. And, for the record, even though Show meant this for comedy, I wasn’t particularly amused when Do San and Ji Pyeong competed in petty ways to show Dal Mi and Gran how helpful they could be around the house. At that point, I just kinda wanted to clunk the two blockheads together, ha.

E12. I was honestly very taken aback when Do San punched Ji Pyeong, and I was also quite shocked that Ji Pyeong – who, being older, should’ve technically known better – actually punched him back, resulting in a bloody brawl between the two.

I’d been growing fonder of Do San these past few episodes, but this is the second time he’s gotten violent when things didn’t go his way.

That doesn’t reflect well on him, I feel. I don’t know if Show is trying to demonstrate to us that he’s passionate and full of fire, but I seriously think that he needs to fix this habit of his.

This is not how you do business. Unless you’re in the mafia, maybe.

And as a mentor, Ji Pyeong really shouldn’t have hit Do San back. I feel like this warrants expulsion from Sandbox, coz what kind of a mentor would allow himself to get involved in a fist fight with his mentee? Or anyone at Sandbox, for that matter?

E13. Ji Pyeong starts to gather his courage to make some kind of confession to Dal Mi, because, of all things, Yeong Sil tells him that he’s a fainted-hearted pitcher who will essentially lose out if he doesn’t act soon.

I mean. If Ji Pyeong only thinks of acting on his feelings for Dal Mi because an A.I. device prompts him to, I think that already bodes poorly for him.

And, despite being galvanized enough to want to take action, Ji Pyeong doesn’t actually manage to do anything about that confession this episode.

Which, again, does not bode well for him.

This is one of Ji Pyeong’s big flaws. Even though he sees himself as superior to Do San in many ways, he, unlike Do San, doesn’t have the gumption to take the risk to act in the moment.

E13. The way Ji Pyeong pushes Do San back into the lift, saying they need to talk, is not cool. Ugh. Why can’t these people behave in more businesslike ways?

Do San’s done nothing to offend Ji Pyeong, and yet, Ji Pyeong shoves him back into the lift, by pushing on his chest. What?

And, even if Do San had done something to offend Ji Pyeong, that’s just not ok. And it’s especially not ok, given that Ji Pyeong is a senior executive at Sandbox. Ji Pyeong is right; he’s not a good boy.

E14. While I appreciate the additional context we get this episode, that Ji Pyeong’s actions towards Do San are driven more by his desire to give Dal Mi space to cry undisturbed, and less by his jealousy towards Do San, I maintain that pushing someone on the chest, particularly unprovoked, is not cool.

It’s also not cool that he lies to Do San about his relationship with Dal Mi, and I’m only mildly mollified that he calls Dal Mi right after, and ‘fesses up, because essentially it doesn’t fix anything, since Dal Mi is under the mistaken impression that Do San is leaving Korea anyway and therefore it doesn’t matter.

Even though I understand that Show is painting Ji Pyeong as a flawed character who struggles with his decisions and doesn’t always like what he says or does, I find myself struggling to warm up to him.

I mean, I don’t hate him; I just don’t love him the way so many other viewers seem to. I just find him.. ok. Maybe this might change in Show’s final two episodes, so I suppose it ain’t over til it’s over.

In this episode’s big misunderstanding, I feel sorry for Do San. He’s been given a wrong piece of key information, and as a result, he endures so much angst, under the mistaken impression that Dal Mi’s moved on and is dating Ji Pyeong.

Dal Mi & Do San together

I wouldn’t say that this OTP rocked my world, but I did come around to their appeal as a couple, and I thought Dal Mi and Do San were well matched.

And at no point did I think that Dal Mi would be better off on her own or with Ji Pyeong, which I think says something.

It did take me a while to feel completely comfortable about this budding relationship, though, and that’s because of Show’s premise, that Do San is brought into Dal Mi’s life on the basis of a lie. The longer this lie went on, the more it niggled at me, and the more I found it difficult to just throw myself into rooting for this pair of lovebirds.

This means that when it came time for the lies to fall apart – and for our characters to go through the tears and gnashing of teeth that went with that – I was actually glad for it, because it meant that finally, this relationship wouldn’t be built on a foundation of lies.

What this also means, though, is that by the time I was fully behind this couple, Show was already past its halfway point.

Which.. really, is a little late, by kdrama standards. But still, better late than never, yes?

E2. It’s quite a stretch that Do San and his friends would be able to own one decent suit among them, but Do San’s glow-up is pretty cool, and his Cinderalla-esque entrance to the ball – er, networking event – gives us the desired fairytale effect.

And of course, Nam Joo Hyuk cleans up nice; that was never a surprise, heh.

E4. I am kind of relieved, really, that the ruse falls apart this episode, for the most part. That is, Dal Mi now knows that Do San isn’t a hotshot CEO; she just doesn’t know that he wasn’t the one who’d exchanged letters with her while she was growing up.

It’s not the whole truth – yet? – but it does bring us closer to the whole truth, and I’m glad about that.

I’m also glad that Dal Mi doesn’t hold it against Do San. Without asking him about it, she concludes that he must have created the false image because he’d wanted to impress her, and she cites to In Jae how she herself had often wanted to impress other people – mostly In Jae – as well.

I think that’s a very empathetic conclusion, and I like Dal Mi a little more than before, because of this.

I can appreciate Do San’s growing discontent with the hotshot CEO ruse. As he grows to like Dal Mi more, it troubles him that the version of him that she likes, is a facade that’s been created to facilitate a lie.

I like that he asks Dal Mi why she likes him; it means that he’s trying to find a grain of truth in her feelings for him. He wants to know that she likes him for him, and not the him that’s part of the fabricated lie.

Unfortunately, the only thing he has to hold onto, is the fact that Dal Mi likes his big hands, ha.

What I think is happening, though, is that Dal Mi is attracted to him – maybe partly because of the knight-in-shining-armor way in which he’d swooped in to save her in her moment of need – and is doing a reverse-engineering thing, when he asks why she likes him.

I think that a lot of the time, this is how attraction works; you may not have a strong reason to be attracted to someone. You just are, and then when you’re asked why you like that someone, you then look for reasons to justify your feelings.

I think that’s what’s happening here, and I think that’s why Dal Mi will continue to like Do San instead of Ji Pyeong, when she finds out that it’s Ji Pyeong who had written to her, and not Do San.

E4. Dal Mi’s quite a confident girl, I must say. She’s the one who uses a line on Do San about his big hands, and creates the opportunity for their hands to touch. And then when Do San is too shy and awkward to actually hold her hand, she goes for it, and holds his hand instead.

She may be afraid of getting her hopes up, like we see in the previous episode, but she’s also quite bold, when it comes to going after what she wants or likes.

E5. Do San’s despondent because the only thing that Dal Mi seems to genuinely like about him, that has nothing to do with his fake history as her pen pal, is his hands. But we see that Dal Mi is sincerely taken with his hands, because of what they represent, to her.

She may not have had this context when she first made the remark about his hands, but the memory of how he’d extended his hand to her instead of In Jae, when he’d asked her to be Samsan Tech’s CEO, genuinely thrills her.

It’s caused her to love his hands even more, even as he sinks into a bit of a funk because he can’t seem to shake the idea that all she likes about him, are his hands.

I actually like the idea that Do San is building new and valid shared experiences with Dal Mi, during this hackathon.

All the pen pal history might be fake, but this experience, of surviving the hackathon together, and getting selected for Sandbox, is real and true, and has nothing to do with his fake history with her.

The excitement that Dal Mi expresses in response to him telling her that they made it, is real and true too, and so is the hug that she gives him.

This feels like the budding of a valid connection, and I feel a sense of satisfaction for Do San, because this is affirmation that he wants and needs.

E6. I like the fact that titles don’t seem to mean all that much to both Do San and Dal Mi. Ever since Do San gave up his position of CEO, he’s seemed t fully embrace that idea that the CEO position isn’t for him.

And now, Dal Mi’s happy to give up the CEO position – as well as the shares that Ji Pyeong feels she should own – for the greater good of the company. I like that.

E7. I have to admit that my heart swooned a little, at the emotional and passionate way Do San grabs Dal Mi’s face and kisses her back. At the same time, it still niggles at me that Dal Mi still thinks that Do San is her pen pal and first love from years ago.

I appreciate that we get that voiceover from Dal Mi at the end of the episode, where she concedes that she’s a little sad that the Do San she knows now, sometimes feels like a different person, but that sometimes – and this is important – he makes her heart flutter.

I think that tells us all we need to know about who Dal Mi really is drawn to.

She might have fond memories of the Do San from the letters, but it’s this Do San in the flesh that’s causing her heart to race, and inspiring her to reach out and kiss him.

Still, I do think it’s important that we get this lie out in the open and deal with the fallout, because even though I’m convinced that Dal Mi is drawn to Do San rather than Ji Pyeong, a relationship that includes a lie in its foundation is bound to end up in trouble, yes?

E11. I rather like how Show demonstrates how Dal Mi knows that she likes Do San, by priming us with Sa Ha’s pronouncement that after observing both guys for a while, Dal Mi will have an aha moment.

We then witness that aha moment, as Dal Mi wakes up in the old Samsan Tech office, to see Do San sleeping in front of her, which is when she plants an indirect kiss on his cheek.

I found this moment quite sweet. I also appreciate the clarity that this represents to us as viewers.

E12. I don’t think Dal Mi did a very nice thing, by breaking up with Do San on his birthday.

She might think that it’s for his own good, but the way she goes about it, pretending that this is a birthday celebration, and ignoring his attempts to talk about the situation with Samsan Tech, then breaking things off with Do San, telling him that he’s making her miserable, is just not cool.

E14. I am not hot on the bike trip idea (I kept worrying that Do San would be run over by a Truck of Doom, especially when he got more and more exhausted from cycling), but I appreciate the idea that it’s not the destination that Do San is cycling for, but the experience.

I can buy that Dal Mi is determined enough to talk to him, to seek him out, but I’m admittedly underwhelmed by the fact that she doesn’t actually say what she’d gone there to say, and just.. falls asleep, sitting upright, so that Do San can put her head on his shoulder.

Hrm. I rationalize that she’s that tired out from the journey, but surely we could’ve had her say her piece at some point, after she’d gone to all that trouble of seeking out Do San?

Dal Mi & In Jae’s relationship

I’ve put the relationship between Dal Mi and In Jae here, because in principle, I liked the idea of this pair of sisters being placed side by side at Sandbox, and given a chance to work through their years of misunderstandings and differences.

In principle, I also did like the glimpses we see, that underneath the rivalry and barbed remarks, they really do care about each other.

I think I would have enjoyed this more, if Show had spent a bit more time exploring the grudging sisterhood and the growing mutual respect and understanding between them.

I felt that there was a lot more potential to this, than what Show chose to explore.

STUFF I LIKED

Kim Hae Sook as Gran

Gran is, hands-down, my favorite character in this drama world. She’s just so wholesome, loving and kind. It’s like she sees all of our key characters as her babies.

I just loved Gran for her big heart, and her all-encompassing gruff love for not only her own grandchildren, but basically any kid that had the good fortune of crossing paths with her.

I love how Gran always had love to give, and never seemed in danger of running out of it, even when her own circumstances evolved and life became more challenging for her.

I loved her relationship with Dal Mi, but if I had to pick one relationship of Gran’s that really got me in the heart, it’d have to be her bond with Ji Pyeong, which I’ll talk about in the next section.

Kim Hae Sook is amazing, and she brings Gran to life in just the most effortless, elegant way.

I always felt like I could see the various layers of Gran’s feelings and thoughts, in any given moment, and that made me feel so connected to her; more so than our main characters, even.

Suffice to say, I loved Gran, and I’d watch an entire drama with her as the main character.

E4. My heart goes out to Gran, because Dal Mi’s excitement over new business venture ideas reminds her so much of her late son. How hard it must be for Gran, to see Dal Mi walk in her father’s footsteps, knowing how hard and risky the journey is, and how that journey had ended for her own son.

There must be a great deal of worry and fear in Gran, as she sees Dal Mi embark on a similar journey, and yet, she does her best to muster up a smile for Dal Mi, who’s so excited to do this.

I have to admire Gran for not putting her foot down and asking Dal Mi to give up the idea completely. A lesser person would do that, but Gran clearly doesn’t want to clip her granddaughter’s wings. She’s such a good person.

E6. What is this about Gran losing her sight, though??

Noooo. I don’t want anything bad to happen to Gran! I comfort myself that at least it’s not a terminal illness, but STILL.

E7. While I’m in-principle not in favor of lying, the way Gran explains herself and her desire to see Dal Mi smile brightly for as long as possible, I can’t help but feel like I understand Gran’s rationale.

If she were to tell Dal Mi the truth, Dal Mi wouldn’t be able to smile as freely, and that ultimately would make Gran’s last memory of seeing Dal Mi, a sad one.

To this end, I can understand Do San agreeing to Gran’s request; I don’t know if I could’ve said no, in his place.

E8. Kim Hae Sook does such a great job, showing us Gran’s struggle with nuance and poignance.

That little snippet of Gran struggling to punch in her passcode at her own front door, broke my heart. And Gran’s cautiousness as she tiptoes around the topic of NoonGil as Dal Mi describes it to her, says so much about how scared she is that Dal Mi might find out her secret.

I did enjoy the scene where Dal Mi comes home to find Gran struggling to clip her fingernails, and then breaks down in tears, while helping Gran. I think Suzy did a nice job of this scene; I felt Dal Mi’s sadness and her compassion for Gran.

Additionally, Gran’s small attempts to smile, amid her own tears, even as she pulls Dal Mi into her arms, really tug at my heartstrings.

E9. Gran steals the show with her restrained expression of Gran’s fears.

There’s something elegant about it, and yet, she manages to drain Gran’s face of color, and inject a haunted look in her eyes, that says, without so many words, just how nervous and anxious Gran is feeling about everything. Really wonderfully done, and so affecting.

Gran & Ji Pyeong together

Even though the relationship between Gran and Ji Pyeong isn’t the main focus of our story, as far as I was concerned, they were our other OTP, aside from the main loveline.

It’s true that Ji Pyeong is presented as a flawed character with a lot of emotional baggage and a very prickly shell. But, Gran is so wonderful and so loving, that she basically has enough love for the both of them.

I was consistently moved by Gran’s compassion and grace towards Ji Pyeong; even at his most unlovable and his most undeserving, she never loved him any less.

She never blamed him when he was mean to her, and she never wavered in her care for him, regardless of what he’d said or done. How amazing and wonderful is that?

Gran basically loved Ji Pyeong to wholeness, over the years, and against his will, and I love that. ❤️

E1. The part of our story where Ji Pyeong lashes out at Gran, thinking that she’d taken the money that he’d earned by trading under her name, and then Gran giving him a pair of shoes at the bus terminal, telling him to come back if he ever finds himself with nowhere else to go, is the stuff of heartaches, but it does drive home the fact that he and Gran are basically like real family.

He might have gotten the complete wrong idea about her and said some terrible things, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s his Gran, and she’ll always be there for him, if he needs her. Blubber. This relationship really gets to me, and I really want more for Gran and Ji Pyeong, now that they’ve reunited in the present.

I know that our main focus is probably supposed to be the relationship that will form between Dal Mi and Do San, but to be honest, I really only care about whether Ji Pyeong and Gran make up properly, and get to be together again. Coz this is the relationship that’s got my heart, right now.

E2. I love the way Gran’s welcomed Ji Pyeong into her heart, with few questions asked and no hesitation whatsoever, plus she forgives him so readily, even after he spits out such hurtful words to her.

I can just imagine her taking Do San under her wing as well; she’s just that motherly and warm.

It’s little wonder that Ji Pyeong’s smiles around Gran are the sweetest, most guileless things (so much little boy about it, truly – in the very best way), and it’s also little wonder that he’d go out of his way to grant Gran the favor that she asks.

E5. It’s so heart-tugging, the way Gran says that she wishes she could’ve met Ji Pyeong earlier, so that she could’ve been there for him.

Augh. That’s so wistful and poignant. I wish Gran could’ve met Ji Pyeong earlier too.

E9. I do appreciate that Ji Pyeong’s consideration for Gran overcomes his own feelings, and he decides to defer to Gran instead, and even texts Gran to tell her that he will go to Seonju to retrieve Dal Mi’s letter, and give it to Do San.

Gran is right about Ji Pyeong; he’s nicer and more decent than he thinks.

E12. One of the scenes that really stands out for me this episode, is when Ji Pyeong goes to see Gran and she hugs him as he cries. It’s clear that he’s very disappointed in himself, and blames himself for the fact that Gran won’t be able to depend on NoonGil.

I love that Gran just holds him and rubs his back. Also, here in this moment, I feel the most compassion and empathy for Ji Pyeong than I’ve felt all series long.

The Samsan Tech boys

I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the Samsan Tech boys’ goofy antics when they’re together, just being all-around dorks.

They are such a bunch of dorky, lovable goofs, that I often couldn’t help but laugh out loud at their antics on my screen.

Like in episode 6, when their eyes looked like they were about to explode out of their heads with joy at the hi-tech desks in their new office (that was some great PPL, by the way).

And then when they went berserk at Chul San’s mishap with the rancid milk, and then made up loudly with tears and sighs of relief like the big emotional goofballs that they are.

And then there’s the way Yong San and Chul San run in the rain together, in episode 9, like the dorks that they are. Tee hee.

I’m glad that Show allowed our Samsan Tech boys to stay goofy, silly and adorkable all the way through to the end, even after they’d left their humble beginnings behind.

Once a dork, always a dork, eh? I luffed these boys. ❤️

The Samsan Tech Team

Aside from the original Samsan Tech boys themselves, I also enjoyed the Samsan Tech team, with the addition of Dal Mi and Sa Ha. Even though there are some initial teething issues, I liked watching them become comfortable and happy working together.

The eventual team spirit that they develop, where they sincerely like working together and just want to be together as one team, is one of my personal highlights of the show.

Kang Ha Na as In Jae

Given that our story sets up In Jae to be our second female lead and Dal Mi’s rival for success and approval, I’m surprised to find that among our younger characters, I found myself liking In Jae in the most organic, consistent manner.

What I mean to say is, unlike our main characters, I didn’t find myself having to find ways to rationalize her behavior in order to make her more likable to my eyes; I just.. liked her, quite well. And quite consistently too.

In Jae isn’t perfect by any means, and there are times when I found her choices a little bemusing as well (which I’ll mention in the spoiler section), but by and large, I found myself appreciating her strengths, like her general sense of calm control, her work ethic, her presence of mind, her forward thinking, and her ability to operate effectively as a CEO.

Also, I think, in a drama world where I often found it difficult to accept the way work and business is portrayed, In Jae’s groundedness felt familiar and appealing to me.

E1. With the way Show is presenting In Jae, I think I’m supposed to dislike her, what with her distancing herself from Dal Mi and acting rather snooty, now that they’ve met again in the present.

But there’s something about the way In Jae expresses that she’d experienced doubt about her decision, that makes me feel like she’s got insecurities too, that will likely become clearer later in our story.

E3. It’s rather poignant to me that In Jae’s life is far from as comfortable or successful as she makes it out to be.

Beyond the high-flying, globetrotting image that she projects, she’s actually insecure about her position in the family as well as the company. Stepdad taking the opportunity of her leaving the country, to oust her from her position as CEO in the company, so that he can give the position to his son, is really low.

In this moment, I feel sorry for In Jae. She’s worked really hard for a very long time, in order to earn her position, both in the company, and in the family, and in one fell swoop, Stepdad has demonstrated to her that it all means nothing.

I can see why this might drive her over the edge to just give it all up, and start over on her own. I’m surprised to say that I feel most organically interested in In Jae’s arc at the moment.

E5. I find it odd that In Jae would agree to use the handwriting sample data for her team’s project, on the flimsy reasoning that it’s the same data set that Samsan Tech is using, and it’d be nice to crush them for turning her down.

I hadn’t pegged In Jae for being that kind of petty person, whether it’s about proving her worth to Samsan Tech or to Dal Mi in particular, so this feels out of character.

I would expect her to choose something that she objectively thinks is beneficial to her team. This handwriting data set feels random, in comparison.

E7. The way Chairman Won cuts off his wife’s credit card in an attempt to control her is not cool. That anecdote that In Jae references, where he’d starved their family dog in an experiment, is ABSOLUTELY heinous.

And the way he clearly is out to make use of Samsan Tech’s solution, without actually engaging them to do the work, is disgusting.

In the light of all this, I actually find myself rooting for In Jae, because she’s overtly rejecting Chairman Won and all the so-called benefits that come with being associated with him. I love that she doesn’t mince words either, in turning him down.

Plus, In Jae admittedly is doing very well as a CEO, with her thinking about the big picture even in the post-presentation commotion, to network with a judge and ultimately land an important deal for her company.

E8. I like that In Jae’s happy to have moved out on her own, even though it’s to a small apartment. And I like how calm she stays, through everything.

Even when she’s telling her stepfather in no uncertain terms that she will not work with him, like in our last episode, she doesn’t lose her cool, and I like that.

E14. I get that In Jae marching over to Morning Glory to confront her stepfather and stepbrother is to to make her displeasure about the poaching of the Developer Twins (Kang You Seok and Joo Bo Young) known, but I did feel like this scene ended up making her look pretty powerless, like there was nothing she could do to change what they’d done.

I don’t know if going over there to confront them was the wisest thing to do. Maybe it would have been better to just ignore them, as if their antics weren’t worth her attention?

Special shout-out:

Kim Joo Hun as Dal Mi and In Jae’s dad

Even though we barely see Kim Joo Hun as Dal Mi and In Jae’s dad, he really made a deep impression on me, with the little screen time that he was given.

I’d say that this was credit both to the heart-tugging narrative arc he was given, as well as Kim Joo Hun’s kind, earthy, earnest delivery of the role.

E1. The story of Dal Mi’s dad was basically heartbreak on wheels; I sensed that his story wasn’t going to end well, and with him careening about, trying to make good with his business venture, it felt like I was just waiting for an accident to happen.

It’s almost par for the course, that he’d die while doing his best for his family, given the way he’s so desperate for a breakthrough that he’d run to a business presentation instead of the hospital, after getting hit by a car.

It also blows my mind somewhat, that it wouldn’t occur to him to see a doctor, with the head wound and the nosebleeds, followed by the lost of control of his right hand.

I rationalize that he probably is just that used to putting himself last, and I also rationalize that it’s for the sake of out story, because if his business had gone well, Dal Mi would be in a better place in the present.

I will admit that it definitely tugged at my heartstrings, to see Dad collapsed and presumably dead in the empty bus, clutching the bag of fried chicken that he’d bought for Dal Mi because she’d asked for chicken.

Even though my brain recognizes this as a melodramatic trope, this does get me by the heart; I am sorry for Dad, who’s worked so hard that he’s lost himself, literally, and I’m sorry for Dal Mi, who’s now presumably lost both parents. 💔

Chul San’s loveline with Sa Ha

This loveline is introduced relatively late in our story, but I just wanted to give it a shout-out because I’m so happy that Chul San gets a loveline, the endearing goof that he is.

I thought Show did a good job teasing out Sa Ha’s growing interest in and affection for Chul San, despite her aloof ice queen facade, and I was particularly pleased to see that, post-2STO, Sa Ha’s interest in Chul San, and her recognition of his appeal, was definitely growing, in spite of her efforts to deny it.

Yeo Jin Goo voicing Yeong Sil

I just wanted to say, Yeo Jin Goo’s voicing of Yeong Sil is hilariously on-point.

Yeo Jin Goo is the perfect choice for sounding perfectly polite, while providing aggravatingly useless answers most of the time, ha.

Also, in this drama world where so many of our characters start out lying to each other, I found straitlaced Yeong Sil, with his growing bouts of droll sass, refreshingly honest – and quite amusing.

Various spots of funny

Not all of the Funny in this show worked for me, but I wanted to mention my favorite spot of funny, which occurs in episode 3.

I loved the silly genius of Do San and Ji Pyeong pretending to have a hotshot important conversation at the networking event, while actually exchanging lyrics from the national anthem.

It’s ludicrous, but I can totally see it working with Do San, because it gives him something known to hold onto. Also, it’s so darn funny. 😆

STUFF I DIDN’T LIKE SO MUCH

The sudden revenge arc feels out of place [SPOILERS]

Let me be blunt: I really, really did not like the revenge arc.

While it’s around, the revenge arc sits very weirdly in our story, with Yong San being all dark and vengeful one minute, and cheering his Samsan Tech chums on, the next.

The entire way this arc is written into our story is far from organic and demands a whole lotta suspension of disbelief (more on that, in the spotlight on episode 10).

The overall treatment of the revenge arc is just very strange. I mean, entire dramas come out of a desire for revenge, but in this case, Show whips it out of nowhere in episode 10, then gives it token amounts of screen time from time to time, and then it gets resolved in episode 14, with Yong San concluding that he’d just needed someone to blame.

And so, we get a truce between him and Ji Pyeong, with Ji Pyeong conceding that he’d probably been harsher than strictly necessary, with Yong San’s brother.

This entire thing lands rather lamely, in my books, but given this arc came out of left field, I suppose I am grateful that it didn’t end up taking over our main narrative. Silver linings..?

Logic stretches [SPOILERS]

E3. I’m all for Dal Mi quitting her job since that company wasn’t treating her right, but I’m not sure I get how she can apply to Sandbox, since she doesn’t yet have a company? If she can apply, then Samsan Tech should have had no problems applying either?

E4. I’m curious as to how Dal Mi knew that Stephanie Lee’s character Sa Ha is a lawyer, since the run-in at the bookstore is apparently their first meeting?

E5. I don’t really understand how the voting of the judges at the hackathon works. In a room full of judges, Alex (Cho Tae Kwan) says that he hasn’t cast his vote. And he picks Samsan Tech.

How does his single vote carry more weight than all the other votes in the room combined? Or are we supposed to believe that his little spiel about Samsan Tech convinced most of the other judges present, to vote for Samsan Tech?

E8. Are the rules around guide dogs different in Korea?

Because, from what I understand, you’re not supposed to attempt to pet a guide dog, because it distracts the dog from its job and therefore puts its owner at risk.

I was therefore quite distracted by the fact that not one, but three people, are shown petting the blind lady’s guide dog, at the beginning of the episode.

E12. It’s a slightly odd direction, I feel, to have Dal Mi apply to work in In Jae’s company, and I also find the execution rather weird.

Show presents Dal Mi as being bold and spirited, but I personally find it presumptuous of her to show up at the interview, without having first applied for the job.

She doesn’t have an appointment, and assumes that In Jae and her team will give her an interview right away, without prior notice.

That’s.. not very professional, and quite rude, honestly. I am rationalizing that Show is doing this for dramatic effect, but it’s hard to shake the niggling feeling in my head, that if I were the hiring manager, I would absolutely count this behavior against Dal Mi.

Clearly, I need to let go of some of my real-life expectations of business and how things work, while watching this show.

E14. The main arc for Dal Mi this episode, that she either get the Samsan Tech boys on board, or lose her job, feels very specific, and rather extreme, even though I take In Jae’s point that as Cheongmyeong Company’s CEO, Dal Mi should be the one who has a good opinion of the company.

After all, if she can’t have a good opinion of the company, how does she expect to lead others to have a good opinion of it?

I get that. I just feel like this all or nothing, hire-the-boys-or-lose-your-job conflict jumps over a lot of other worthwhile considerations, that would absolutely be taken into account, in a real business context.

For example, surely there are other worthy developers in Korea besides our Samsan Tech boys?

And also, surely there is room for behavior correction for Dal Mi, without having to risk losing her job?

Some of the funny lands cringey

The instance of cringey Intended Funny that sticks out most in my memory, is that clip of Do San dressed like Steve Jobs.

Ack. It never gets less cringey, no matter how many times Show shows it to us. 😝

THEMES / IDEAS

E5. The idea that the same thing can mean very different things to different people.

E5. The idea that is voiced by Dal Mi, that if you want to bear good fruit, you can’t have sunshine every day; that rain and snow is important too. That’s a good metaphor for personal growth, and it’s also a very positive and healthy mindset to have.

E11. I like the emphasis on a clean slate, where honesty is valued and prioritized. The fact that Dal Mi and Do San’s relationship had been built on a lie had always niggled at me, so the fact that they agree to forget everything and start over from scratch, feels fresh and liberating to me.

And I like that all the events that have gone before, are clearly serving as lessons for them. I like how Do San resists the pressure from his team to falsely inflate Samsan Tech’s accuracy rate in order to compete with In Jae Company, and chooses to be honest instead.

E11. I enjoy the underdog-making-good sort of theme, and this episode, it was gratifying to see Samsan Tech win the grand prize at Demo Day, against the odds.

It does feel like Show is serving up a very simplified version of how business and technology works, but the idea that underdogs can succeed even while going against the flow, is too feel-good to pass up.

E11. This episode, I like the emphasis on moderation, since I’m a big proponent of moderation myself. I like the idea that even as technology pushes forward, there needs to be a balance with pacing itself, so that it’s manageable for all levels of users.

E11. I also like the idea of the team wanting to stick together and create something new together, even after their stint at 2STO. Found family wanting to stick together, and therefore making a new reason to be together?

That’s definitely something I can get behind.

SPOTLIGHT ON EPISODE 10 [SPOILERS]

So I have to admit I approached episode 10 with a bit of morbid curiosity, because I’d heard how upset this episode had made people.

Given the fact that I’m not deeply emotionally invested in this drama despite my best efforts, I can safely say that this episode didn’t rile me up the way it did others. I also think that this unexpected emotional distance affords me the ability to be reasonably objective about how well – or how terribly – Show did, with this episode.

Generally speaking, I feel that our narrative proceeded in what I felt was a reasonable manner, except for the reveal at the end, that Yong San is at Sandbox for revenge. This felt like Show’s attempt at a Big Twist, intended to blow our minds and shock our jaws to the floor.

My problem with this, is that it doesn’t really make narrative sense.

The fact of the matter is, the boys started Samsan Tech without actually making Sandbox a goal of theirs.

Sure, it would have been nice if they could get in, but the boys accepted that the way Samsan Tech was going, it just wasn’t the profile of start-up company that Sandbox was looking for.

If Show is trying to tell me that Yong San got into Samsan Tech with a view to taking revenge for his brother, when realistically, Samsan Tech wasn’t even going to be considered for Sandbox, then that’s the most half-baked, lamest revenge plan I’ve ever heard.

The alternative is that Yong San wasn’t intending to take revenge, but when Samsan Tech made it into Sandbox, he decided that this was his opportunity to take revenge for his brother. That’s also really lame. I mean, who takes revenge as an afterthought?? 😆

All in all, Show’s direction with the revenge thing is a fail in my books, unless Show is able to surprise me with a much more solid explanation.

Also, if this revenge thing is going to rob me of the dorky goodness that is the Samsan Tech boys being adorable goofs together, I’m going to be quite peeved.

Aside from this one plot point fail, I find the rest of the plot developments reasonable, given how our story’s been developing, up to this point.

It makes sense to me that Dal Mi’s hugely upset at the boys lying to her, and I can’t fault her for not wanting to spend more time with either of them than absolutely necessary.

In fact, I respect her for hanging in there and doing everything she can to be a good CEO, despite the pressure from the upcoming Demo Day, and the frustration of not understanding all the technical terms that the rest of the team tends to throw about.

I also wanted to say, I find Suzy’s delivery of Dal Mi’s downheartedness quite nicely done.

I actually really like Nam Joo Hyuk’s portrayal of Do San’s angst, in the wake of the truth being outed.

His guilt, mortification, chagrin and general distress is well-played; I feel like I can see all of these emotions oozing out from Do San, just from the way he gets so awkward around Dal Mi, all shifty-eyed and awkward body language cues. Nicely done.

And, I appreciate that Do San feels all those things, because I think it shows that beneath the deception, he is a decent person.

He’d agreed to an ill thought-out ruse, and gotten emotionally invested, and then had found himself entangled in a web of lies that he’d desperately wanted to cut himself off from in increasing measure, the deeper he’d sunk into the quicksand of a romance built on a lie.

Even though most drama fans don’t enjoy the angsty stretch of the drama where the OTP gets torn apart, it makes sense to me that Do San and Dal Mi spend time apart right now. Things are too messed right now for them to reconcile quickly or easily.

And, it also makes sense to me that Do San would want so desperately to not have to rely on Ji Pyeong’s Plan B, that he would agree to a stint in Silicon Valley, for the independence that it offers.

As for Ji Pyeong, I think it’s fair that he gets to tell Dal Mi his side of the story, and tell her how he feels about her.

I actually like that he is upfront and tells her everything – even things that paint Do San in a better light, like how Do San had asked Dal Mi to be Samsan Tech’s CEO of his own accord.

Given that Ji Pyeong sees Do San as a romantic rival, this is pretty upstanding of him. He could’ve easily let Dal Mi assume the worst of Do San, but he chooses to tell Dal Mi that there was sincerity in a number of Do San’s actions.

I also appreciate that Ji Pyeong confesses his feelings to Dal Mi without expecting an answer from her. How Ji Pyeong continues to manage this situation remains to be seen, but for now, I feel like he’s acting in a reasonable way.

I felt really bad for Chul San when Sa Ha pretended to like him. I know it was to drive home the point that Dal Mi has every right to be angry with Do San for lying, and it was very effective, but poor ol’ Chul San must’ve suffered, having his hopes stoked so high, only to be dashed so hard.

Poor puppy. I’m glad that he later asks Sa Ha not to play with his feelings again.

This request feels somber and serious, and I’m glad that Sa Ha looks rather uncomfortable in response, because it’s true that she hadn’t been considerate of his feelings, when she’d tricked him.

Even though Do San doesn’t show up for Dal Mi in the suit that he’d worn to the networking party, he does show up for her in the way that he’d done then, when she needs it most.

When Dal Mi’s arguing with In Jae about the fact that In Jae stole her sandbox memory, and finds herself at a loss for words, it’s Do San who steps in like that knight in shining armor, to tell it like it is.

He effectively calls In Jae out on her lack of confidence, and effectively puts an end to the argument, which Dal Mi had been floundering to hold her own in.

I’d say that this showing by Do San is even better than the time when he’d showed up at the networking party; I hope Dal Mi realizes that.

I also appreciate how Do San later tells Dal Mi that if it makes her feel better, they can pretend that nothing ever happened between them.

This is a big deal for him, since we know how much he likes Dal Mi. The fact that he offers this to her, shows that he cares more about how she feels, than about his own feelings.

The best part about this scene, is how Do San ends by telling Dal Mi that Samsan Tech would’ve never made it this far without her.

In a situation where he might literally lose the relationship that he’s been so desperate to hold onto, he chooses to affirm the value and validity of her work and her efforts. I really like that.

Lee Bo Young’s cameo is written in in quite the random fashion, but I like how Show ties it together at the end, by having Ji Pyeong sit down for a drunken rambling session with her, only to have her recommend the same thing she’d recommended to Dal Mi – that he get the help of his ancestors.

Ha, this made it quite funny. So, well-played, Show.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE PENULTIMATE EPISODE [SPOILERS]

Well, whaddya know. For a show that’s been firing up my emotions in such a.. minimal way, I’m kinda shocked, really, by how much I enjoyed this penultimate episode.

It’s very gratifying to see our crew do so well in the temporary permit test, to the consternation of their Morning A.I. competitors. T

he flustered horror of the Morning A.I. people, particularly that of the Developer Twins, was pretty delicious to witness, especially once they realized that the Cheongmyeong team didn’t actually simply run with the solution that the Developer Twins had left behind.

I felt like I could practically hear the twins quaking in their boots with anxiety and anger, at the thought that the Cheongmyeong team actually had a better solution than theirs. Muahaha.

Given how well the permit test goes, and how Cheongmyeong clearly has a better system than Morning A. I., I can understand why In Jae thinks it’s worth putting in a bid for the smart city’s self-driving platform.

Also, from what we’ve come to understand of our characters, I’d kind of expected both Ji Pyeong’s conservative response, and Do San’s go-for-it mentality.

I do think it’s notable that while Ji Pyeong gains satisfaction from convincing Dal Mi into accepting his point of view, Do San tells Dal Mi that ultimately the decision is hers to make, and that he’ll support that decision, whatever it might be.

On another note, I liked the fact that Sa Ha’s looking at Chul San with newly appreciative eyes, fueled by the gushing heart-eyes comments from his vlogging fanbase. Tee hee. I just love the idea that while Chul San’s all focused on work now, Sa Ha finally has an awareness of his appeal as a man.

Muahaha. I love that the tables have turned.

I liked less, that Sa Ha asks Chul San to stop vlogging, since that’s something that he enjoys, but the dazed discombobulation that we see from Chul San, when he realizes that Sa Ha isn’t pranking him about liking him like she did before, is so precious. Chul San is adorable. 😍

On the downside, I didn’t like so much, the silly-jealous behavior that we see from Chul San right after. I know it’s meant to be funny, but I really preferred it when Chul San had no idea that he’d become cool in Sa Ha’s eyes.

One of our key scenes this episode, is of Ji Pyeong and Do San have a tipsy heart-to-heart talk in Do San’s house, when Ji Pyeong shows up there with the money plant, intent on exchanging it for Dal Mi’s letters.

I thought it was very poignant, the way they admitted to each other that they actually envied the other. Ji Pyeong blurts out that he’d seen Do San on TV with his parents after winning the Math Olympiad, and had envied his life, while Do San confesses that he’s envied Ji Pyeong for being Dal Mi’s first love, and for being the one who’d sent her the letters; both of which are Dal Mi’s given reasons for liking Do San, but neither of which actually apply to Do San.

Do San angsts that the only thing that is true about him, that Dal Mi’s said that she likes, is his hands.

This is such a great example of how we envy other people without really ever knowing what they’re thinking. The grass may look greener on the other side, but it’s all a matter of perspective.

I love that the next morning, Ji Pyeong is won over by Do San’s request to pack some kongjaban for Ji Pyeong, because Ji Pyeong had pointedly told Dal Mi in the elevator, that he likes kongjaban.

Ji Pyeong had clearly meant that as a jibe to make Do San jealous, and he never expected that Do San would actually take that information, and use it kindly. Aw.

It’s very bittersweet, to see Ji Pyeong then bite the bullet and point Do San in the right direction, with regards to Dal Mi’s feelings.

While it might seem like a stretch to some, that Do San is so clueless about people and relationships sometimes, I actually can believe it – because my mom is the same way. She’s the same as Do San, in that she’ll take what people say at face value, often missing the subtext.

As it turns out, Do San really had had no idea that Dal Mi might actually still like him.

That moment, when Ji Pyeong sits in his car with the letters and the money tree, and tells himself that this, after all, is enough, is very poignant.

It’s painful for him, definitely, but I also see this as needful. Dal Mi clearly doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, and it’s time for him to come to terms with that.

This feels like a growing up moment for Ji Pyeong, and the pain that accompanies it, a growing pain of sorts. It hurts now, but it will definitely add to his substance as a person, going forward.

As for Do San and Dal Mi, we finally get confirmation of what I’d known in my gut from the beginning; it had never been about the hands. Dal Mi just likes Do San and is drawn to him, and there doesn’t need to be a reason for it.

I’m glad that now Do San is finally cognizant of it, because it seems like a weight is literally lifted off his shoulders, as he moves in to kiss Dal Mi. Dal Mi tells Do San that she wants to bid for the self-driving platform, and the crew moves full force into prepping for it.

Over at Morning A. I., our quasi-villainous father and son pair scheme to bring Cheongmyeong down by leaking news of the ransomware attack to a news portal.

Honestly, though, I’m not too concerned about this, because I’m convinced that the Developer Twins were behind the attack, and therefore I’m sure this sabotage attempt is going to come back and bite them cleanly in the butt. Chomp.

THOUGHTS ON THE ENDING [SPOILERS]

Show serves up a finale that’s mostly sunny and feel-good, and I found it quite pleasant and enjoyable, overall. Given my somewhat mixed feelings during my watch, I’d count this a win.

I’d fully expected that Morning A.I.’s attempt to bring down Cheongmyeong Company via that dirty reporter would fail, but I’d thought that this would actually take up most of our finale screen time.

Show had different ideas, as it turns out. Instead of spending lots of time dealing with this arc, Show concludes the takedown attempt within the first few minutes of our finale, and then spends the rest of the time giving each of our characters a feel-good wrap-up.

I can’t say I dislike the idea, since I would rather have this, than spend most of our time watching our crew fighting against Morning A. I.

One of the wrap-up arcs that I found most important this finale, is the scene between Gran and Ji Pyeong, when Gran goes to visit Ji Pyeong at his apartment.

I love that Gran basically breaks through Ji Pyeong’s defenses and tells him to stay in close touch whether he’s doing well or otherwise. Most importantly, I love that she hugs him and tells him that it’s ok because she’ll be there for him, as they both cry.

Aw.. This is truly what Ji Pyeong needs most: the comforting assurance that he is not alone.

I also like the idea that Ji Pyeong takes Gran’s words to heart – to do something nice for someone worse off than her – and channels that towards helping orphans coming out into society, via a start-up headed by Yeo Jin Goo, no less.

I chuckled at the reference to Yeo Jin Goo’s voicing of Yeong Sil, when Ji Pyeong says that he’s investing because he likes the young man’s voice.

On a more serious note, though, I think that this is exactly the kind of thing that would help Ji Pyeong overcome any lingering demons he might have, around his tough childhood and his just-as-tough coming-of-age. He’s going to do for others, exactly what Gran did for him, and that’s pretty darn perfect.

We also finally have some closure between Ji Pyeong and Dal Mi, where he tells her that there’s no need to apologize or to thank him.

He acknowledges that he’d benefited from the letters too, and he also acknowledges that Do San’s the better man, for going to Dal Mi the very day he’d read the letters, vs. himself, who didn’t go to Dal Mi even after 15 years.

That’s the most gracious we’ve seen Ji Pyeong, and I like the grounded peacefulness in his expression, as he expresses this.

I also like the little arc of Sa Ha proudly introducing Chul San to her sister, as her boyfriend. Aw. After Chul San’s felt so sheepish about being inadequate as a boyfriend, this is just what he needs, to boost his confidence about how Sa Ha feels about him.

Our Samsan Tech boys receive notice that their old office is being taken over by new tenants, and go to have a last look at their old space.

I really like the poignance of them seeing their old selves in the fresh faces of the new team, and I also like the sense of achievement, of seeing how far they’ve come, when juxtaposed with quasi-visions of their old selves.

Our boys look so successful and accomplished next to the new team, and they also look wiser for the journey.

I thought it was bittersweet for them to bid the old place goodbye, while they hugged and cried.

I’m glad that when Do San apologizes for being a lousy CEO and therefore wasting their time, both Chul San and Yong San basically tell him he’s a fool for thinking that way, and they all cry and hug it out, with blubbered words of affirmation and promises to treat each other better.

Aw. This bunch of goofs are my favorite thing in this show. ❤️

In Jae gets notice that her application to have her family name legally changed back to Seo has been approved, and she finally goes to see Gran, to share the good news. The way Gran tearfully hugs her, is so moving.

There isn’t a single word of blame uttered, for In Jae taking so long; only glad tears and watery smiles. I thought this was nicely touching.

As Cheongmyeong Company prepares to scale up their business, Director Yoon expresses interest that SH Venture Capital invest in Cheongmyeong, and appoints Ji Pyeong to represent SH Venture Capital in this matter. Ji Pyeong tries to get out of it, but to no avail.

I can understand Ji Pyeong’s reluctance to get involved, since he’d once told Do San unequivocally that his company wasn’t worth investing in, and now, he’ll have to eat his words by offering to invest in (essentially) the same company.

I really do like where Show goes with this, though. Finally, we’re no longer hampered (too much) by Ji Pyeong’s and Do San’s egos clashing. Instead, we finally get some honesty between them, that Ji Pyeong sincerely thinks that the company is worth investing in.

I also like that Do San is able to express so clearly, that he’s happy to receive the investment, because now, it’s no longer an act of charity.

I love the eventual handshake and hug that we get between Ji Pyeong and Do San, to the extent that I feel like this might actually be the second most important loveline in our story, aside from Ji Pyeong’s loveline with Gran, heh.

We end with a flashforward to the present day, and we see that Do San and Dal Mi are still heading Cheongmyeong Company, and they appear to be doing well.

Via the selection of photographs displayed on their workstations – which, by the way, are situated side by side – we revisit many of their old memories, and also see that they’ve made some new ones.

One of the more notable ones is of Chul San wearing a beanie, with Sa Ha’s arm around him, implying that Cheongmyeong did win the bid for the self-driving platform after all, and they’d kept their respective promises – of Chul San shaving his head, and Sa Ha coming clean about who her boyfriend was.

Aw. And, go team!

The other notable photographs show Do San and Dal Mi on their wedding day, looking happy and content.

Aw, that’s sweet too.

I’m only a little surprised that Show chooses to relegate an event like a wedding between our OTP to a simple set of photographs, rather than, say, a whole narrative arc, but I do like the implication of this – that this really never was about the romance, after all.

Rather, this story was always more about daring to dream big, and having the courage to overcome your limitations in order to become the best self that you can be.

And, I must say that it is quite a satisfying note on which to leave our characters, as we see them doing well, even as they continue to strive to live their best lives.

THE FINAL VERDICT:

Rather too simplistic and therefore lacking in true emotional heft, but still works out to be an  easy and feel-good watch.

FINAL GRADE: B

WHERE TO WATCH:

You can check out this show on Netflix here .

GETTING AROUND GEO-RESTRICTIONS

If you’re geo-restricted, a VPN service would help you get around that. Not only does it provide online safety, it also gives you access to lots of great geo-restricted content.

I personally use NordVPN. You can find my review of NordVPN here .

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* This used to say 73%, but because NordVPN’s changed the way it calculates the discount, it now says 60%. BUT, it’s the same great price, starting from US$3.29 a month!

An article on why it’s not illegal to use a VPN to access legal streaming content can be found here .

PATREON UPDATE!

The next drama I’ll be covering on  Patreon, in place of Start-Up, is She Would Never Know (Sunbae, Don’t Put On That Lipstick) . I guess I’m in the mood for a bit of noona romance, heh. I’ve taken an initial peek, and so far, I find that I’m liking this one very well! 😄

If you’d like to join me on the journey, you can find my Patreon page  here . You can also read more about all the whats, whys, and hows of helping this blog  here . Thanks for all of your support, it really means a lot to me. ❤️

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Appreciated very much jy’s character. Him beinf cold on the outside and soft on the inside was esablished as part of his character. In his interactions, he was pretty much within the line. The simple fact, as anyone that dealt with high performance environments with large requests and many applicants, is that most of them are not worth a second look, and you focus on who can make the cut. I think this is the case for auditions (I believe they went for a gordon ramsay master chef vibe), it certainly is the case for tech interviews (faangs prefer to not hire someone that meets the bar over hiring a potentially unqualified candidate). See peter thiel quip on the startup scene for context: if the talk about ml, <insert buzzword>, run for the hills.

Did not feel too negatively affected the few words he tried to actually impede his rival (the elevator scene was more to avoid him distuebing her, he took back what he said, and in the headband parking lot scene he did not even go with his initial challenging script… Pretty tame, perfectly understandable. The scene before being discovered when he said he wanted to tell them the truth was also understandable.

In all these cases, he acted differently, and his feeling were perfectly relatable, it’s not really fair to blame him for not having any desire or negative emotion, when in the end he controlled himself in terms of his actions (too much… I would have not been against him *not* retrieve the letter for do san). Basically, this in faulting him for not being a perfect (would he be?) robot without emotions. I would say the self sacrifice he showed was already too much -that was the rather unpalatable side… All is fair in love and war, and he was too decent for his own good, apparently stalking is the way forward -jocking, but only partially, since do san following the female lead after she asked for space wad *not* comic relief like the t-shirt theft scene or the “I am too socially inept to understand basic banter” do san scenes-.

Personality wise, I very much prefer someone normal than an unrelatable, fake goody two shoes who is perfectly sacrificial with a martyr/savior complex. However, while finding him a more interesting male character, I honesly would have rather liked him with in jae than with the maon female lead. I feel that could have let everyone have a happy ending of sorts, and that it would have not have been too forced post timeskip -certainly less force d than the other two startup side character’s romace, which had even less chemistry despite more screen time-. Not saying that the latter relationship bothers me, just that I was not into it.

Ultimately, I an not saying that the basis for this was in the story. I am saying that it was an obvious direction that the writers did not pursue. This is connected to a broader point about considerations on the characters’ relationships and the writer’s choices being separate issues. Sure, the main female lead pined after do san after 3 years, and the second male lead did not make a move. The letter plot device was set aside. I wouldn’t conclude anything about the main pairing base don that. They were “a better match” because thr writer mafe them so: when do san asked himself why they couldn’t move on after three years after having known each other for mere months, when he couldn’t remembwr soldiers he spent years with, I found that a good question, which would have deserved an actual answer instead of being retorical… The implied reason is “twuw lwve”, the actual reason is “bad writing”.

Can’t really agree on the fight bit. One of them was the assailant, the other acted in self defense. I don’t really see what him being a mentor means in this context. They are both adults, and not that far apart in age, not sure what the relevance of being slightly older is. They are not in school. He was attacked and retaliated proportionally. I did not find that inappropriate at all, but rather well within his right morally and legally… Sure, he defended himself in front of an opponent that attacked him first, unprovoked… As opposed to what, let himself be beaten? Do san was certainly not in the mood for words. If someone should have been expelled it would have been do san, who was not in the position to complain anyway, having thrown the first punch and made a request of the person he just assaulted.

The shirt scene was meant as a joke, and was innocent enough. Him being grumpy/tsundere is also soet of tongue in cheek. Him being dismissive in random startups is perfectly fine for the vc scene, which is something anyone with even the slightest exposure to that world would be able to appreciate. Bs and buzzwords, a lot of wasted time.

One thing that disturbed me and that was *not* tongue in cheek was the assault on in jae by the worker. The guy was not thrown in jail after having been stopped from.attempting ro beat her. When she saw him she did not sue him. Basically, the message that passed was that it was ok for him to attempt to beat up a woman without consequences because he was upset.

You have mentioned that you were curious as to how Dal Mi knew that Stephanie Lee’s character Sa Ha is a lawyer, since the run-in at the bookstore is apparently their first meeting. I believe Sa Ha is wearing a Lawyer’s Badge that time.

I started watching this show on the very strong recommendation of a younger female friend of mine and I can see why she liked it. The show is, as you say, light and breezy with a triangle being the core of the show. I saw your “B” rating and I thought, can’t be too bad but I have to say the show was a shaky “C” for me and the FF button helped me finish it. I agree with the overall thrust of your comments but I took a more negative view, maybe I’m the wrong demographic for the show.

While light and breezy, I found the show superficial and shallow and the rivalry between the two male leads was a total non-event, it was very clear who Dal Mi would end up with and once one is no longer very interested in the love triangle, and how it would play out, there is very little left in the show. What saves the day for me are the secondary relationships, Granny with Ji Pyeong, the Samsan boys, Chul San with Saha (I recognized him from CLOY, liked him here, also liked Saha character).

When one creates a show based on fantastical elements, like Goblin, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho etc, as a writer you have a lot of latitude to develop the storyline within parameters you set. So you can create an immortal Goblin who will be “saved” by the Goblin bride who can see the sword in his chest and so on. However, when you set the show within a human everyday environment, while you can take some liberties with the realism of the storyline, you can’t stray too far or the show runs the risk of being dismissed as totally unrealistic. Start Up crosses that line for me. One example, to expect a high school graduate like Dal mi whose experience is a number of part time jobs, no matter her abilities and enthusiasm, to even enroll in Sandbox, much less to manage a team of techies without even a basic understanding of what they do, and in three years become a successful CEO??? The goblin is more believable. And this is only one example. I don’t think it’s intellectual snobbery on my part, I can buy Dosan making it big, there are real life examples of tech superstars even though there are many more failures than successes.

I was not aware of the Team Dosan and Team Ji Pyeong battles when the show was being aired so this may account for the somewhat erratic and lazy writing. Situations are developed and then just glossed over, you never get the sense that the struggles are intense and almost life and death, they seem serious and then they’re not. The revenge arc, really??? Maybe a fault of the digital world and the difficulty of conveying heavy emotions within that construct? Maybe the fault of the actors and the director and writer?

I was not a big fan of the OTP, first time I’m seeing Bae Suzy and she seemed kind of flat to me, Nam Joo-hyuk was okay in that he was meant to be a brainy, dorky character but I still couldn’t feel him though I really liked him in The Light in Your Eyes. I actually liked Kim Seon-ho in his role the most though I found it illogical that his character would let 3 years go by and not pursue a relationship with Dal Mi and only try to do so when Dosan showed up. In those three years since Dosan left Korea, he’s grown up, Dal Mi has become superwoman and Ji Pyeong has stayed the same, it’s like time fast forwarded and the sophisticated, intelligent, blunt talking Ji Pyeong has been promoted to a Director but he inexplicably is stuck in the same life rut.

After re-reading my comments, I’m wondering whether “C” was too high a rating, lol.

Quite disappointed with this show, honestly. The whole premise was always going to leave me feeling awkward and lukewarm about it (both male leads lying about their identity will always be at least a little bit irritating). I just don’t think I could take it seriously, nor could I see it as feel-good. Then, the switch from the second lead to main lead gave me serious SLS whiplash and made me feel like I just wasted a lot of time and feeling on that guy (because I know second lead would loose and I was now forced to follow this “new” main lead). Ultimately, I didn’t care much about the main love story (partly because it was too transfixed in the always on-going start-up business) and thought the Mom’s divorce, the Revenge and the Cheating sideplots were really a waste of time. I liked the characters quite a lot in their nutshells, but never found scenes that felt like they really shined in my eyes (other than cute or funny scenes). Even if quite simple, I enjoyed a lot more than I thought the feel-good about their start-ups. And I thought the Sister and the Granny were the most interesting parts of the drama and wished we could have focused on them more. They really helped me keep watching the show. The acting was pretty good (even Suzy, though I did find her acting to be sometimes too gimmicky in less serious scenes, but maybe that was the direction she was given)

But then, the 3 years skip was just the finisher for me. It’s a personal pet peeve of mine, but this show made it worse than I thought possible. It felt cheap, tropey and 110% unnecessary for the drama and absolutely selfish from the FL. Why break up? You can still date apart (especially considering his work probably does not require him to be there in person at all times). He could fly in every other week. Or she can come live with him there anyway (since she had no job, she was well-off now and joining her sister was not a really convincing move from the writers). She breaks up with him on his bday in the most ruthless way because she feels sad and ashamed about HER situation. She only thinks about herself and we’re supposed to think she does care about the guy? She could still send him there and not let him go. And the 3 years skip was basically a reset where there was no actual character development, but somehow everything will go back fine because the drama wants a happy ending. Still, the two sisters got fooled in the most obvious way by the most obvious crooks. They lucked out with no plan because 3 engineers they knew somehow came back right on time. The couples go back together because time has passed and so they now have more confidence in themselves… but still, as couples, they didn’t grow an iota and we’re not shown they’re ready to face actual non-work-related issues. None of their previous issues are properly addressed (they’re mentioned and then quickly ignored as if it never really was a problem in the first place). And as for the confidence, they show us they look more rich and apparently more competent, but FL falls into a pretty unprofessional self-hatred loop (even casting her own company as not good enough) and the engineers start to make rookie mistakes by starting a start-up with no actual thought put behind it. The feel-goods really fell flat to me after the time skip (except everything about the side couple – this was pure joy).

So I think your verdict is pretty on-point (even if I would lower my personal rating of the show to a C+): “Rather too simplistic and therefore lacking in true emotional heft, but still works out to be an easy and feel-good watch.”

This is a very solid and addictive show. I loved it: A typical comedy of errors evolving into melodrama. The “sandbox” start-up setting, as a place to offer young entrepreneurs a safe space to learn and flourish, was very interesting, I thought, as it gave the story plenty of jeopardy and excitement. I know zero about the business world, so that’s perhaps why I found everything about this backdrop believable. generally I don’t expect kdrama to portray a profession realistically, regardless of the genre. There was an internal logic in the world depicted here and that was all I cared about.

What made this drama special for me were the three main characters and their dynamic. I loved the heroine’s ambition, her tenacity and her gumption. I absolutely loved how the shortcomings of both hero and rival played in the story: how Do San was so clueless at first, not too dissimilar from the high school boys I myself teach lol… it was endearing to see how unprepared Do San was to engage with the metaphors/similes in Dal mi’s letters, and yet how well he used them (the Tarzan metaphor) when explaining his own field (AI and coding) to Dal-mi… It is an early sign of the character’s potential to grow socially and emotionally. It also hints at why Dal-mi falls for him and not for Ji Pyeong: Do San engages her, communicates with her, and inspires her from the get go, and he does this with the respect and generosity of an equal. On the other hand, Ji Pyeong communicates with her as a mentor and as a superior. This power imbalance is necessary in Dal mi and ji Pyeong’s relationship, but it is what ultimately kills their romantic future: it is not Ji Pyong who gives Dal mi the confidence (the “wings”) she needs to blossom, but Do San with his unyielding nurturing support towards her, with those “big hands” (another symbol representing the “sand box” idea). Do San’s “big hands” , firmly gripping Dal mi’s while he “rescues” her from her sister’s intimidation the first time they meet, represent the reason why Dal mi cannot help falling for him. I think the show delivered all these feelings and elements very well. I completely fell for it!

The actor who played Ji Pyeong is simply amazing and I’m not talking about looks here… His performance was humorous, sensitive and very layered. Making Ji Pyeong an “almost” leading man was definitely by design, in particular at the beginning, when Ji Pyeong is presented as this sophisticated, caring man while Do San, the bona fide leading man, comes across as clueless and dopey… Ji Pyeong was clearly written to make us root for him: his solitude, his sad background, his affection for Dal-mi’s grandmother, his guilt and need to repay an emotional debt, his slight “Pygmalion complex” (as he, the author of those letters he knows were so formative and decisive in Dal-mi’s early life, ends up becoming infatuated by her). Ji Pyong is sympathetic in spite of all his harsh comments and inelegant behaviour. There is something tragic about him that makes us care for him.

I take the violent outbursts of our male leads as indicators of their frustration in the usual kdrama fashion: Men who are “blinded by anger” when their woman is threatened. Sure, it is a shorthand and clichéd trope used with the aim to tickle our amygdala and make us swoon, but what can I say, I like it… You don’t see this kind of thing in modern western drama and, in many ways, I miss it a little. I lament the fact that too often people are not given the tools to differentiate the rules governing fiction from those governing reality. Taking fictional content too literally hinders our understanding and appreciation of it. Do San’s breaking that name plate is not only showing us he’s a passionate defender of the woman he loves, but also that he does not respect the authority of a man who abuses it. It is interesting to add here that Don San is also the kind of man who has no pride and will kneel in front of the abuser and weather the humiliation for the greater good.

Probably my least favourite thing in this drama is how Dal-mi doesn’t cop on to the lie about the letters… i feel it would have been more interesting if she put two and two together and confronted both guys about it. The angst surrounding the discovery was a bit tedious and excessively overplayed.

Hellooo KFG!!! I had genuine reasons to like this show…I really had, and it fell flat for me. For starters, I quickly picked up on the selfish, shallow and opportunistic side of Dalmi from the initial episodes, when she immediately latches onto Dosan at the first sight, to ‘start their own business’ , without knowing the first thing about AI (or having a passion for it). The fact that she makes it sound and look SO easy to be a CEO just one random day, really irks me. I kept hoping the writers will make her into a strong independent woman, who decides to ditch the boys in the end and open up her own Uber-Eats (with Halmeoni & Mom, no less) and fulfill her Dad’s dream, but nope!! She is so self-absorbed, even the fact that she likes Dosan, is about how his hands comfort her and make her feel, and not ONE thing about him as a person. Heck.🙄😒

Secondly, as a puritan, I still like to believe that people start their own businesses because they wish to retain their autonomy, and to work for themselves.💕 Acqhires are usually the last resort for any young Start-up, because they know they’re talented enough, they know their product is good enough, but they failed to secure investments which would allow them to maintain their own sovereignty, and hence decide to be ‘absorbed’ into a Big-Tech.. I have never heard of an accidental acqhire.🙄😒 Yet, the show would instead have me believe a group of young, passionate and hot-blooded developers and entrepreneurs are easily deceived so easily by 2Sto into an ‘acqhire’ after being offered a questionably high offer value? That, and the fact that they never once over the 3-years had a single conversation regarding a backup plan for SST to get back into the game together. Sigh. This, to me is very much of a fantasy-genre occurring (like a soul-swap) that the show could absolutely not me convince me of, lmao! [No WAY those guys made it into Sandbox AND still ended up getting tricked into an acqhire!] 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ What this also does, is unintentionally or not, paint a very ‘unappealing’ picture about the eponymous Start-Up & its people: they get duped easily by big money ; and their egos are bigger than their passion towards their own Start-Up which prevents them from making plans to get back together. I wish they hadn’t compromised character integrity & intellect , their work ethics and professionalism (they didn’t read the contract thoroughly enough) just to fuel a mandatory time-skip required of a romance drama.😒

I do acknowledge my own technical background, the fact that my friend-circle from college consists entirely of people who ARE like Dosan, and the fact that my own brothers have their own Start-Up which has followed SST’s success trajectory (garage-office & no-pay days to incubating other start-ups)… has negatively impacted my reception of the show, and such flaws won’t affect a majority’s viewing. I wish the team did better research though, because some of the plot-points were just TOO dumb to fly, had they got consulted industry professionals.😁 The show took a completely different trajectory to what I anticipated ever since Scruffy-Dosan who knitted scrubbies disappeared. And Dalmi’s character rubbed me in such a wrong way, especially since my brother is now married to one of the co-founders (she is presently their CFO, and I planned on virtual-watching this with her… good thing, I didnt!) 😝

Ugh, onto happier things… The ‘MONAYYYY’ clip is seared onto my brain and retina, it was cringey but hilarious! The show setup had really nice potential; while the FL was the common thread, I was happy how BOTH MLs got their individual backstories & their characters weren’t written (initially) to revolve around her. JP’s habit of verbally lashing out at people and immediately regretting and apologizing swiftly, is quite reminiscent of someone I know,🤣 hence I was more forgiving of his character & his candidness felt really refreshing. The show however, could not give us a single character that is out rightly lovable. (nope, not even Halmeoni, though I wish we could cancel half of this show just to spend more time with her. Even Halmeoni X HJP wasn’t fully realized, imo)😭 I have seen KSH before, and his character here is such a Fairy Godmother to Dalmi, I can’t help but imagine KSH prancing about in a pair of wings!! kkkk…… 😂This is my first NJH-drama, and he’s a pleasantly good actor. I liked him in Josee too & he’s adorable in WFKBJ (I’m mid-way waiting for the swoon to kick in)… 🥰he’s an eternal college-boy in flannel shirts, even if he physically ages out of these roles! 😊😍

And so here we are. A story, that in my view needed to be about the sisters, their mother and Gran. I did drop it after episode 10. The writers could not interweave what needed to be spliced effectively regarding the relationships the way you have crafted the telling of the story throughout your review. I think I was expecting a certain level of maturity re the story too. I thought Suzy did very well and, well Gran (as we know) was superb. Still, on with the show and I must say, LUCA has started well and Lee Da Hee is showing another great side to her acting.

It’s good to see that you came out of this one with a B score, which is pretty solid 🙂 You already know that I am in the camp that loved this one. We actually had a lot of similar observations and thoughts, it’s just that I enjoyed those elements more.

Of course, I loved the fun and breezy nature of the drama, and I loved most of the characters who were a joy to watch. I’m usually not into business/office type dramas a lot as I find the topic boring, but that’s where this drama worked for me with it’s more “light” business focus. I actually really enjoyed all of the tech stuff, which was a pleasant surprise 🙂

I got on board with Dal Mi and Do San right away, so I was able to fully enjoy the romance (those shipping wars were some serious business though! 😂 ). Ji Pyeong was never a contender for the romance side for me, and I purely liked his personal journey and relationship with Grandma.

This drama just made me feel good, which was really nice. Luckily, it continued my streak of success with this writer 🙂

Apparently, I’m also a rare person who has loved Suzy from the first time I saw her and actually think she’s a good actress. Of course, she’s improved since her early Dream High days, but I’ve always liked her and think she’s really great now. She’s so endearing, and I can always connect with her characters. Ah well, you know how it goes, we like what we like 😂

I was waiting to read your review before venturing into this drama. I dislike Suzy’s acting and I dislike simplistic dramas even more, so I think I’ll give this a miss. Perhaps someday I’ll finish one of Suzy’s dramas. Thank you for helping me to decide that this drama was not for me.

This is gonna be intense. A lot to say. A lot to do.

The whole drama fails from episode one. The initial concept of lying to Dal-mi was an ridiculous decision to make, especially for a grown woman like Gran and an intelligent adult like Ji-pyeong. It seems like it doesn’t take much forethought to understand it will fall apart and hurt Dal Mi more than help. I can sympathize with Gran’s desire to see Dal Mi happy while Gran can see her, but in hindsight that is a pretty selfish and cruel way to make someone smile. And I can’t imagine lying on such a large scale to a close family member of all people. It makes a little more sense of Ji-pyeong because I can see how he would feel justified in following Gran’s wishes for her granddaughter. From his perspective I can understand doing it knowing it wasn’t a good idea. But of course he’s still inconsiderate of Dal-mi.

But perhaps more importantly, why even lie?! Oh no! The person you’ve been writing to is a very successful business man, just like you had hoped…. so lets go get this other kid who has literally no recollection or connection of a 15 year relationship beyond his name AND is not the hotshot tech mogul you need. Like what?My goodness, just lie about the name. I know Ji-Pyeong is an executive at Sand Box, so In Jae knew who he was. But it seems like it’s be much easier to pretend that Dal-mi was secretly dating Ji-Pyeong all this time and he had just used an alias in his letters. Ji-pyeong would surly do it if not just for Gran. This alternative would be a white lie to deceive the “enemy”, In Jae, instead of a huge, orchestrated lie to deceive the person you care about. As Dal-mi, I’d find it much easier to accept that Ji-Pyeong’s name isn’t Do-san and that Gran asked him to write the letters than to accept the lie they actually tell. Plus, I’m no drama writer, but I can see that direction leading to a much more heartfelt and light-hearted drama as I believe it was intended to be. It’d be much easier to accept Do-san as the male lead if Dal-mi had just found him and his company out of curiosity. Or better yet, that fate led them to meet at sand box! Then we wouldn’t have to sit through this sticky lie that just leaves a bad taste in your mouth and prevents any real endearment to the male leads.

Even if Gran had just told Dal-mi the truth about the whole letter thing, and Dal-mi decided to forget showing off Do-san to In Jae. Would’ve been so much easier and believable. But I digress.

As for Do-san, while he certainly has the most innocent reason for initially going along with it, he ends up being the most deceptive and reaping the most selfish benefits from the lie. He also ends up lying to her face the most of anyone. Sure, it nice that he sometimes wants to tell her the truth, but… he never does. Its hard for me to appreciate his good intentions when his actions prove his selfish will to sustain their current relationship always outweighed his respect for Dal-mi’s right to know the truth. I don’t really care if Ji-pyeong told him not to. Do-san had every opportunity and right to tell her. And even if you attribute this flaw to lack of guts, I can’t see wanting to be with someone who doesn’t have the guts to tell you the truth. Unlike Do-san, at the very least Ji-pyeong and Gran didn’t manipulate the lie to lever their relationship with Dal-mi. In fact Ji-pyeong poignantly chose not to even though he could have used the truth to his advantage (not to say it wasn’t inconsiderate of him to continue the lie at all).

I thought the show really underplayed how hurt one would expect Dal Mi to be in that position. The entire plot was rooted in this lie, and the resolution was “forget it happened”. Maybe I’m a terribly vengeful person, but if I were Dal-mi I would not be “forgetting it” anytime soon. I found it very odd how immediately forgiving Dal-mi is when she uncovers the lie (especially when she had to find out for herself). She shows an inkling of expected despair in the end of episode 9 and the beginning of episode 10, but all that passion quickly dissipates into unexplained understanding and blind forgiveness.

What the show completely misses, is that I can’t imagine not being at least a little peeved at Gran. Gran of all people knew better, and I can’t get over the idea that she’d do that to her own grandchild. Even 5-year-old kids can understand that lying leads to more lies and eventually someone gets hurt. And Gran never really take much responsibility for having orchestrated the whole thing. Hard not to love her, but kinda dick move, Gran.

Beyond Gran, I can understand pushing feelings aside for the sake of the company, but how could Dal-mi not be absolutely romantically done with Do-san? I didn’t interpret him as a truly mean or cruel person. It’s obvious that he got in over his head and made some childish mistakes. And while there’s little reason not to forgive him… why would you marry him? How could Dal-mi trust him again? Like Dal-mi is cute, successful, kind… I’m pretty sure she can find someone who didn’t lie to her to months on end. I know that’s not really the point of these dramas, but it just feels so unrealistic and odd. And especially when it’s not like Do-san was THAT charming. Nor did he handle the fall-out very well. He asks her to forget as though his actions won’t forever have consequences. She’s not gonna forget, and she would be stupid to forget. While you could see this “clean slate” as a nice gesture, it seems more like proof he has yet to learn actions have consequences. The slate is not clean, babe.

Idk what all this Ji-pyeong v.s. Do-san online drama was about or whatever, but I do think Do-san ended up being a flop. Ji-pyeong wasn’t much better but at least he seemed to have some self-awareness. That being said, I do understand the show very much so displayed Dal-mi as having more of a connection to Do-san, so it makes more sense they end up together. But why she leans towards him in the first place is still kinda a mystery to me.

Long story short: the whole thing shoulda been Gran and Ji-pyeong’s story. That was the only aspect of the show that captured and maintained a genuinely heart-warming feeling.

I couldn’t make myself finish this one. And after reading your review, I realize that I don’t like too much any of the characters, and the writing was kind of bad: Dal Mi has it too easy, to climb and become a millionaire CEO… I get that she’s intelligent and proactive, etc. but it takes a lot more than this to get to a position where you are selected to run a company. Do San is kind of annoying and too obsessed with Dal Mi for my taste, leaving other important things on the side. Ji Pyeong seems inconsistent and capricious, not having visited Dal Mi in 15 years but suddenly he can’t stand other guy pursuing her. Grandma is the final responsible of the whole letters’ mess….I could go on. I just tuned to watch my beloved Joohyuk but not even him can make me got through the whole thing, and I also lost interest due to the fan war, I mean, I don’t care who’s best, it is up to the female lead to choose who’s she falling in love with, it was pointless and ruining any online discussion about the drama.

Hello dear Kfangirl, i just want to let you know that i am the biggest fan of your reviews ☺️ i am new to the kdrama world and the first kdrama i watched was Boys over flowers on october 2020.Since then, i never stopped watching kdramas. Nowadays, most of my choices were based on your reviews. i ended up enjoying the shows you loved (coffee prince, Pinocchio, Because this is my first life…). i also watched shows only after reading your reviews and i ended up enjoying them so much (Still 17, i am not a robot, A witch’s romance). The funny thing is i also disliked Suzy in uncontrollably fund and i wasn’t ready to watch her in another show. I also read in your blog that you are unlikely to give while you were sleeping another chance. I wish you would change your mind because it is an amazing kdrama and suzy and Lee jong suk had a very amazing connection that is hard to find in others shows. i am pretty sure that you’ll end up loving it like i did. Great review for start up!! you really clarified my mixed feelings about it. Thank you so much for your hard work!!

Oh, the writer of Dream High? Never knew that. I love DH but not Suzy as an actress. So, I dont watch this. On the side note, I think in DH the supposed male lead is Taecyoen but since KSH win many heart and better in acting so at the end he got the gal. Correct me if I’m wrong. At that time kdrama still in live shooting mode so the script can be change. Thank’s for the review coz I thinking if I want to watch this or not since it was so popular and got curious with all Kim Sun Ho story on my twitter feed. I guess it’s not the one for me.

Hi Kfangurl I mostly agree with you in that the show was just so so in the end, although it did leave me with a smile on my face. Seeing that I really loved the first 4 or so episodes, I felt a little bit let down. It brought out all the right emotions for me up until that point, because I cried hard and laughed hard and I liked all the main characters.

I know you didn’t much care for this scene, but at the end of ep 3 where they did the acceptance of their award in that video, I laughed so hard, I thought my stomach was going to burst into little tiny pieces. I had to watch it twice because I couldn’t open my eyes through half of it the first time😆. And I’m a bit like you in that many k-drama attempts at comedy doesn’t really fall right for me, especially some very embarrassing things, but unexpectedly this fell right.

Anyway, I like to read reviews and comments on shows while I’m watching and pretty much from the start people adored Jipeong and while I liked him plenty, I just didn’t understand the hysteria. People were also so awful to poor Dosan and ‘bullied’ him so much in some comments sections that I think I started liking him more than I should have 😆and usually I’d read a few comments and leave, but it sucked me in a little and I’m not very proud of saying it 😆

Anyway. Thanx for great review as always.

The show’s hype that BZ as female Steve Jobs and Sand Box as Korea’s Silicon Valley had my expectation high above the clouds only to crash because of a poorly crafted love story of a silly girl and know-nothing boy whose characters are stretched by the writer to suit the pre-determined story ending Throw in the triangle of a timid boy who did nothing in 3 years and made by the writer to cram up very late to fight for his girl. I think the show did not add a feather to Suzy’s cap. Moreover, the director allowed Suzy to be outshone by Stephanie Lee when they walk alongside each other. The director overlooked the fact that Stephanie is a beautiful trained model who can stride gracefully as a queen, thus eclipsing the female lead.

This is the funniest thing I read all day. Thanks for making me laugh.

Interesting review. I am happy now that I didn’t watch this show. Definitely not my style.

Hahaha haha lucky you

First let me get this out of the way. The revenge arc was bad and made no sense at all. Dalmi demanding to be interviewed was pretty bad too.

Second, im a guy my views may be different from most.

I think team dosan vs team good boy wasnt about who gets the girl. Its about who comes out on top between the two. The girl is just a device to incite even more division between the 2 camps.

Dalmi would be fine even if she ended up single.

Every clue/cliche/situation in the kdrama book was shown to tell you that dosan would end up with dalmi. Literally everything. So from the very first episodes i knew dosan and dalmi would end up together. One lies to get closer to the girl. One lies to get closer to girls grandma. Eh? Kdrama veterans spot that a mile away.

And i think lots of people are sick of that.

And the writer knew that. So what does writer do? Create two opposing camps of viewers! Many of which flipflop depending on the episode. Lol.

On one side, a guy who has “everything” – fame, money, power, han river apartment.

On the other side, a guy who has “everything”-loyal friends who can stand smelling korean bbq for years while not getting paid, parents who will bankroll your company with their savings,creative cousin who will give you fancy business cards, big family that will show up at parents house for creative cousins video masterpiece.

One guy had “nothing”-no family, lives alone, talks to speaker,wants to play cards but no one’s there, best and only friend is old woman going blind.

And one guy had “nothing”-no money, no direction, no sucess, sleeps on office concrete floor.

The writer then puts situations where you remember what dosan or ji-pyeong does or doesnt have and you side with one or the other.

In the end you root for whom you feel more empathy for.

Ugh, you hit the nail on the head!!!!! The fact that there are two camps, isn’t because one is a ‘first’ ML and the other is a ‘second’ ML. It is quite evident from billing order who is who. It is also quite evident from the actors’ respective portfolio who is who. The show was disappointing because the writers invested equally on both the men by setting them up as characters with a greater story to tell (about success, about learning the lessons of life, family, togetherness, friendships, etc), without it being about the girl or who’d end up with her. [most writers will refuse to spend effort on a guy, whose character wouldn’t end up with the FL, and this wasn’t the case with Start Up]….🙄🙄

Like you said, viewers could pick a camp, depending on which side they related to more, or empathized with more…..and this had nothing to do with a typical ML/ SML case of who would be Dalmi’s man. 😬

Yet to understand the hype surrounding this show. I liked the first episode and got really excited. Thereafter it was downhill…since I don’t like to give up on shows – I FFed and watched through most of it – the business world depiction was cringeworthy. I felt Suzy looked haggard – the chemistry between the two boys seemed better. Absolute waste of a setting which had potential – lazy writing. The love between sisters to animosity – i am yet to wrap my head around it. and then back again to being sisters and co-workers….Whatttt? meh blah

Really good review! I mean, maybe that’s confirmation bias speaking, because broadly speaking I pretty much agree with everything you say. I may have bumped the overall grade up to a B+, personally, just because “breezy and feel good” is not to be despised, but…maybe not.

For instance: I’m with you in that I wasn’t really all that invested in the love triangle, and I only got intimations of the raging fan war through the stray soompi.com or koreaboo.com article that I happened across. I was probably mildly leaning toward Han Ji-pyeong at various points, but it’s fine with me that Dal-mi ended up with Do-san, and I’ll even concede that they may well make a better match.

I also agree that Grandma–Ji-pyeong is the real MVP relationship in this show, anyway. I loved their interaction and relationship from beginning to end, and was much more emotionally invested in it than any of the lovelines. I went searching for clips to add to my own write-up, and then ended up getting all blubbery and teary-eyed again just watching their final meeting in episode 15…

I loved Kang Ha-na as In-jae, and although I get why, I’m a bit disappointed that as a secondary character she inevitably didn’t get as much development and screen time as I would have liked. KHN is now on my list of “actresses to watch,” and as I see she’s been cast, along with Hyeri, in this year’s upcoming “A Fearful Cohabitation,” well…I wouldn’t normally be that interested in another gumiho story after just finishing “Tale of the Nine-tailed,” but I will probably have to at least give it a look.

Anyway, if you’ll forgive me, here’s my conclusion from my own write-up:

“So, romance and main tech plot aside, what made this show worth watching was the other relationships, and in particular the family reconciliations. I was rooting hard almost from the beginning for a sister reconciliation, and we did get that, even though it was understated and didn’t get as much time as it deserved. Then as well there was the mother-daughter-grandma-mother-in-law reconciliation, which we also got. And finally, grandma and good boy Ji-pyeong, which was great pretty much all the way through. So in the end, qualified thumbs-up. I mostly enjoyed this, and would recommend it without too much reservation.”

IOW, it didn’t blow me away, but I did enjoy it.

As a viewer of kdramas on the younger end, I’m mostly surrounded by opinions of kdramas from fellow teens and young adult. As I was scrolling through my tik tok feed, I would keep getting videos that were completely obsessed with this drama…I started wondering if we were even watching the same thing. To be honest I would not have stuck with this drama as long as I did if it weren’t for my man Joo Hyuk and because I really wanted to see my dream OTP together (Nam Joo Hyuk and Bae Suzy)…I think I was in the drama phase again where I will sit through a whole show for an actor I like but I think this ended that phase. There were incredible amounts of hype around this show, and huge second lead syndrome, but I just could not understand behind Ji Pyeong as the one to end up with Suzy. I mean c’mon if it takes three years and an A.I. fortune teller to confess your feelings I don’t think you’re the one. (I lovedddddd Reply 1988 and this drama doesn’t even come close for me, but this sort of reminded me to Jung-Hwan hesitation to confessing to Deok-Sun. btw this drama left me in a complete wreck I was very much team Jung Hwan but I think it depicted a very important lesson in having to take action for the things you want).

Anyways, I completed the show but it was just very lack luster to me. I was happy that they ended up together but I felt as though there was a weird lack of chemistry, mostly to the way the plot was written. She immediately liked him from the get go, but then when they would meet at Sand box it was like nothing happened. Similarly with the kiss, and the next day idk. After a while the business and whole tech thing fell flat for me, I definitely agree with your earlier remarks that the issues they faced didn’t seem to be large obstacles, and in effect didn’t have much payoff. I was really excited for this review, as usual, and clicked immediately when I saw you posted on your Instagram; I’m glad that many of the thoughts I had for this show was similar to yours. As for what happened in episode 10, I think I just pretend that it was all a fever dream and it was not real. Or else I probably wouldn’t have continued it. Chul San’s loveline really kept me going in the final parts, and also that kiss scene on the roof ahhhh.

Here is a little piece inspired by Start-Up:

https://soundcloud.com/snow_flower_piano/sailing-without-a-map

Beautiful ❤️

I would describe this show as Bildungsroman (coming of age) Lite. I don’t have an insider’s knowledge of the business world in general and IT in particular, but I thought that everything seemed too easy. But I did like the optimistic tone of the show, and the characters too. Do San and Grandma were my favorites.

Well Fangurl – I watched E11 to the end through your eyes at Patreon. You did bring a new perspective which I knew you would do.

I am glad I dropped at E10 and now I will tell you what the final straw was for me – the revenge arc was just so bad | silly | out of left field I just could not take it anymore. I was also deeply bothered by all the lying in this drama. So may characters – so many lies. Those two issues are what drove me to drop – I was not for or against either of the male leads. I just really felt that overall the writing was quite bad. So disappointing when the initial 4 episodes were so, so good. Dear me!

Anyway I am glad I dropped when I did as this was definitely not my cup of tea. However, I am happy for all of these folks that really enjoyed it. Anytime a drama is enjoyed I am happy for the drama and the drama watcher. Just because I really did not like this does not mean other folks could not love it.

Great review and a great perspective Fangurl. I never missed one of your Patreon posts on this drama. In fact, I had an abundance of interest in them and read each one as soon as it came in my inbox. 😄 It was soothing to read these. It took a little of the sting of this drama out. Thanks!

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South Korea

Review: netflix k-drama “start-up,” from a silicon valley insider’s perspective.

Learn what an actual startup veteran thinks of Netflix K-drama "Start-Up," which stars Bae Suzy, Kim Sun-ho, and Nam Joo-hyuk.

By Richard Yu , 30 Oct 20 02:26 GMT

Accelerators, venture capitalists, and founders—K-drama Start-Up ‘s synopsis enthralled me, since I’m a Silicon Valley native who’s worked for actual startups like Uber and Stripe. This Netflix original K-drama stars Bae Suzy as Seo Dal-mi, a hopeful entrant to the startup world. Alongside her, Nam Joo-hyuk plays Math Olympiad champion and fellow startup aspirant Nam Do-san; Kang Han-na plays Dal-mi’s older sister Won In-jae, who also aspires to break free of her stepfather’s controlling grasp by founding her own company. Kim Sun-ho ‘s investor character Han Ji-pyeong rounds out the main cast.

However, despite the drama’s name and the promises its synopsis makes, Start-Up doesn’t stray too far from stereotypical Korean drama tropes. Yet, it lends prominence to a growing part of South Korea’s economy, and a world that offers South Korea’s youth better opportunities than a traditional chaebol career may afford. So what exactly does this series look like from a tech insider’s perspective?

[ Read: Netflix’s “Vagabond” Stars Suzy in an Entertaining Conspiracy Thriller ]

What’s an accelerator? Is it the pedal that makes your car go faster?

Let’s start with what Start-Up gets right. At least at a high level, the series correctly portrays basic facts about how startups work, and accurately uses technical terms to portray software development.

Nam Do-san’s company, Samsan Tech, works on image recognition software. True to how image recognition software sometimes experiences flaws in real life (or in American TV shows about startups ), Samsan Tech’s computer vision platform labels Nam Do-san’s father’s face as a “toilet,” resulting in a humorous beat-down.

Samsan Tech’s shabby headquarters also capture the essence of many startups’ first offices. Nam Do-san and his two co-founders work out of a cramped room with spare furnishings and poor lighting, not unlike the mythical “garages” that many Silicon Valley startups spawn from.

At least in its first four episodes, Start-Up makes a good effort to introduce audiences to various tech industry concepts. Beyond the realistic portrayal of Samsan Tech’s circumstances, the drama also explains how accelerators work, through the fictional “Sandbox.” Audiences also see Dal-mi’s father pitching his idea (essentially, UberEats ) to investors, while Dal-mi herself pitches a concept not too different from cloud kitchens to her grandmother. Viewers who actually work in the tech industry will find these references mildly amusing, while viewers from outside the industry will appreciate recurring text overlays that explain concepts like “ angel investor .”

However, the drama still chooses artistic license over accuracy in many cases. Some characters incorrectly refer to Amazon as a venture capital firm, and the series considerably simplifies the process of applying to enter an accelerator. While these inaccuracies will make Silicon Valley insiders cringe, at least Start-Up generally gets the spirit of tech entrepreneurship right.

[ Read: Korea Drama “Love Alarm” Shows How Social Media Harms Teenagers ]

Victim of K-drama Tropes?

Despite all this, Start-Up struggles to distance itself from the typical tropes that plague Korean dramas. While this will please stalwart K-drama fans, it limits the show’s ability to attract more diverse audiences.

Without revealing too much, the drama’s first four episodes already build the foundations of love triangle centered around Dal-mi. Nam Do-san and Won In-jae also both have disapproving parents to prove wrong, while Han Ji-pyeong stumbles upon childhood linkages with the other characters. While startup cofounders sometimes date each other in real life ( nor is it uncommon for investors to romantically pursue female founders ), Start-Up seems to center around these romantic relationships rather than the startups themselves. Amidst the #MeToo movement and numerous sexual harassment scandals in Silicon Valley , Western viewers may find this conflation of romance and entrepreneurship  more disturbing than touching.

That said, Start-Up is not unlike how previous Korean dramas like Hotelier or Midas employed similar tropes to great effect. In Hotelier , Bae Yong-joon plays a private equity shark seeking to buy a failing hotel; he gets into a love triangle with the hotel’s general manager (Kim Seung-woo) over a hotel worker (Song Yoon-ah). In Midas ,  Jang Hyuk plays a rockstar lawyer who climbs his way up the ladder in the world of M&A , with a corresponding love triangle to boot. Both series were produced in an era where finance and professional services were the dominant paths for talented young people to work their way up in the world.

Therefore, it’s actually quite notable that Start-Up occurs in the world of tech companies, rather than in high finance. That the series highlights the startup scene is emblematic of a modern South Korea aspiring to become a world-class home for innovation . Indeed, contemporary South Korea has a number of successful tech startups , and the nation’s flagship internet company Naver operates the preferred chat app in Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Thailand . Alongside Search: WWW , Start-Up shows young South Koreans that the tech industry is a path towards upward mobility in their lives.

When I first heard about the series, I had hoped Start-Up would be South Korea’s answer to HBO’s Silicon Valley . While I was disappointed by the series’ initial direction and over-reliance on typical K-drama tropes, I’m hopeful that the drama will actually expose young people in South Korea ( and beyond ) to the possibilities that tech startups afford. K-drama tropes aside, Start-Up manages to ground itself in an approachable and spiritually authentic portrayal of the tech world.

[ Read: The 11 Best Korean Dramas on Netflix ]

Start-Up (Korean: 스타트업) —South Korea. Dialog in Korean. Directed by Oh Choong-Hwan. First released October 17, 2020. Starring Bae Suzy, Nam Joo-hyuk, Kim Sun-ho, and Kang Han-na.

We reviewed Start-Up based on the first four episodes available on Netflix . New episodes of Start-Up start streaming every Saturday and Sunday on Netflix worldwide.

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TV Review: ‘Startup’

Sony's Crackle debuts a disposable cyberthriller starring Martin Freeman and Adam Brody

By Sonia Saraiya

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There are four sex scenes in the 54-minute pilot of “ Startup .” The drama, from Sony’s streaming platform Crackle , follows an unlikely group of collaborators in Miami who band together to develop a digital currency (akin to the real-life Bitcoin). But this particular founding story is riddled with crime — from the fraudulently obtained funds that comprise GenCorp’s seed money to the crooked FBI agent trying to get his own money back.

This is a weak spine for quite so much fornication, but six-and-a-half minutes in, there’s already two sex scenes; by minute 13, the third. In the first scene of “Startup,” a prostitute/party girl draws a rich old man to a private room so that she can show her assets to the camera. As an act of (presumed) audience’s desires coming to life, the FBI agent walks in and settles down in an armchair to watch, as the nubile nameless woman rides the mostly clothed old man.

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“Startup” is a hacking thriller grafted onto an action movie, primarily so that Martin Freeman can walk around menacingly while speaking in an unsettlingly bland American accent. Freeman is the FBI agent — and though one cannot laud his choice of roles, he plays Phil Rask with unsettling repressed anger, a lot of it tied up in resentment towards women. Perhaps that is why episode three opens in a brothel. But it’s also that “Startup” is playing with pornographic imagery because it assumes that is what makes a drama “prestigious,” when in fact it is padding its episodes with pointless, male-gazing sex scenes because it doesn’t know what else to do with all the time it has to fill its 10-episode order.

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The odd thing, too, is that Freeman, as the show’s Big Bad, is largely superfluous. The prestige drama tropes swirl around him — antihero! repression! good cop gone bad! — but the actual story seems to run in the other direction. It’s with Nick (Adam Brody), Izzy (Otmara Marrero), and Roland (Edi Gathegi) that the cross-cultural founding of GenCorp emerges, and each supporting character offers different strengths to the plot. Brody is charmingly well-cast as the perpetually clueless guy who mostly succeeds with his good looks; Gathegi is a thrilling performer adding dimension to the thankless role of “thug”; and though Marrero isn’t quite as compelling, her character at least comes part and parcel with a loud and dysfunctional family that is more fun to watch than 90 percent of the rest of the show.

When “Startup” manages to leave its sex scenes behind and gets to creating storytelling around largely unexplored territory in the cinematic universe, it is its smartest and most compelling. The Cuban-American family dynamics and the status of Haitian immigrants in Miami are intriguing; even the cybercurrency babble is at least educational.

Unfortunately, those moments of interest are sporadic. “Startup” otherwise meanders forward with all the grace of a sex-starved teenage boy, skidding from the exotic to the illicit — strip clubs, gangs, prostitutes, cocaine, semiautomatic weapons, and the vaguely rendered imagery of “hacking” — all accompanied by a score that anticipates every major moment with jumpy, excitable strings.

It seems clear that “Start Up” wants to be a kind of “Mr. Robot,” but in the attempt reveals that the USA show’s success isn’t about a collection of buzzwords but about vision and style. “Startup” is by contrast a show with barely a modicum of inspiration. It’s only necessary viewing if you’re curious to see how many drama tropes can be crammed into one show before something vital has to give.

Drama, 10 episodes (3 reviewed): Crackle, Tues. Sept. 6. 60 min.

• Crew: Executive producers, Ben Ketai, Tom Forman, Andrew Marcus, Ray Ricord, Gianni Nunnari, Shannon Gaulding
• Cast: Martin Freeman, Adam Brody, Edi Gathegi, Otmara Marrero

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What is StartUp about?

By diana nosa | may 10, 2021.

Netflix is full of series that allow our imaginations to run wild as we place ourselves in the shoes of a kingpin in charge of some illegal practice. From  Breaking Bad ‘ s Walter White to  Ozark ‘ s Marty Bryde to  Narcos ‘ Pablo Escobar, these characters live a life of thrill as they do whatever it takes to build an exuberant empire, and it looks like we have another kingpin joining the ranks.

Nick Talman from the series  StartUp  is certainly a force to be reckoned with and his story is full of that money laundering action that keeps us at the edge of our seats.

StartUp has managed to climb to Netflix’s Top 10 trending list, which means it’s definitely a great series to watch. We tell you everything you need to know about the series and more right here.

The series journeys the lives of a banker, a hacker, and a thug who come together to create a business where they can get money quickly via cryptocurrency. The trio has everything it takes to pull themselves out of the hard-knock life of poverty, but with family, careers, and their lives at stake, are they willing to give up everything and go all the way?

More on the official synopsis down below:

"An attempt to launder stolen money finances a cryptocurrency that puts entrepreneurs in business with a corrupt FBI agent and a Miami gang."

The cast of  StartUp  is filled with some pretty familiar faces of actors and actresses with  Sons of Anarchy  actor Ron Perlman playing Wes Chandler, Adam Brody playing Nick Talman, Edi Gathegi playing Ronald Dacey, Otmara Marrero as Izzy Morales, Kristen Ariza as Tamara Dacey, and  Sherlock  actor Martin Freeman as Phil Rask.

See Martin Freeman and the rest of the cast in the official trailer of  StartUp  right here:

All three seasons of  StartUp  are currently available to stream on Netflix, and you definitely don’t want to miss this action-packed, suspenseful series.

Next. Netflix is adding 23 new movies and shows this week. dark

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‘StartUp’ Review: Martin Freeman Carries Crackle’s Bitcoin Drama To the Bank

Ben travers.

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Startups may be a risky entrepreneurial venture, but Crackle has done everything it can to protect its investment. In “ StartUp ,” some shielding is for the best — like the casting of respected character actor (and fan favorite) Martin Freeman — and some damage a quality product, like the overt sex scenes uncomfortably forced into far too many scenes. Yet unlike the young channel’s first dramatic offering, the disastrously ineffectual “The Art of More,” the choices driving “StartUp” seem to be well-intentioned — and the growing pains could disappear over time.

Slowly coming together over its first few episodes, the characters populating Ben Katai’s (“Chosen”) second series aren’t the easiest to identify with, but they’re not quite antiheroes either. We first meet FBI Agent Phil Rask (Freeman) when he walks silently into a hotel room while a couple is having sex. Without saying a word, he sits down and watches them until he’s noticed. An intimidation move meant to swing the impending negotiation in his favor, some of Phil’s decisions are as justifiable as they are unpredictable. Others — like when he beats the shit out of his own car — are either heavily metaphoric or only there to keep us guessing.

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But then there’s Nick Talman (Adam Brody), a small business loans financier in Miami whose father can’t stop getting him in trouble — and dragging his son into it. This time, dear ol’ dad convinces Nick to hide soon-to-be-laundered money for a few days, and that may be as morally iffy as things got for the money savvy youngster if Izzy Morales (Otmara Marrero) hadn’t walked into his office with a pitch for GenCoin, a new digital asset and payment system protected from global economic forces that’s also — conveniently — untraceable. Seeing an opportunity in Izzy, Nick invests the money in her startup (get it?) and, well, things get complicated from there.

That description doesn’t even tie-in the fourth member of our core ensemble — Ronald, a Haitian gang member looking to do right by his ostracized community and struggling family — but his involvement feels like the biggest stretch anyway. There are moments early on that feel a bit extraneous, and a few too many conversations explaining how GenCoin works do damper the excitement a tad. Katai’s consistent solution to this is to throw naked, writhing bodies on the screen, but “StartUp” finds its best rhythm once the pieces are in place — no gimmicks needed.

By the time Phil strides across a helicopter pad on a rooftop in downtown Miami, “StartUp” does just enough right to merit continued viewing. Even if we don’t get nearly enough snark from the King of Quips, Mr. Adam Brody, the touches of levity give the impression Katai knows some of this stuff is just for fun. Moreover, he earns the more serious scenes because they’re balanced between a few chuckles and a few thrills.

Guiding the way is Freeman, an actor often cast as the straight man who’s given even more meat to chew on than when he discovered his inner demons of “Fargo.” For as outrageous as Phil can come across, Freeman finds a common theme in his madness: resentment. Phil has some unresolved issues with his father and ex-wife, both of which surface in his job more than he may even realize. But Freeman knows it, and his assurance keeps the character from spinning out of control.

Brody, who serves as a producer as well, hits the right marks in one of his few purely dramatic roles. A typical go-to for comic relief, Brody does, at times, feel like he’s holding back a bit of the old energy — a joke or a smile when he shouldn’t be doing either — and if Freeman wasn’t so good as the ruthless and mysterious Agent Rask, one might wish Brody had been given a shot at the part.

Gathegi is the second most impressive of a cast without any bad apples. The “Blacklist” and “Justifed” guest star carries an appropriate saunter to his tough-as-nails gangster whose family life, for once, doesn’t feel tacked on or contradictory. Gathegi earns those quiet moments with equal force and complimentary characteristics to the battles he fights on the streets. Ronald may not fit in just right after three episodes, but the show has proven it can pivot just enough to make perceived problems disappear.

“StartUp” isn’t the prestige TV series Crackle needs to break out on the streaming scene, and sometimes it feels like it’s trying to hard to fit a predefined standard, throwing in “grittier” bits without establishing purpose. Freeman, though, is something to see (especially for fans), and there are just enough memorable moments to keep “StartUp” out of the red.

READ MORE: ‘Queen Sugar’ Review: Ava DuVernay’s OWN Series is Frustratingly Familiar

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A Lot or a Little?

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Parents need to know that this movie includes very strong language and tense and emotional moments. One of the great strengths of the story is the way in which a group of people from very diverse backgrounds and cultures works together with great loyalty and commitment.

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Exceptionally diverse group shows dedication and loyalty.

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What's the Story?

Jehane Noujaim's documentary follows the ups and downs of Kaliel Isaza Tuzman's Internet start-up venture. The filmmakers were sure the company would be a sensational success. Instead, STARTUP.COM chronicles a spectacular business failure. Tuzman goes into business with his high school best friend, Tom Herman. Tuzman will be the CEO and Herman will be in charge of technology at govWorks.com. From 1999 to 2001, govWorks went from eight employees to more than 200, and then down to none. They raised $60 million and ended in bankruptcy. Events are filmed not just in the office, but in the bedroom, the gym, the car, in a pizza parlor, a company retreat, etc. We see sides of their personal lives and arguments over priorities and presentations. A competitor visits the office and then there is a mysterious burglary that appears to be espionage. Finally, we see the almost unbearably painful moment when the friendship is shattered by the business, as Herman leaves and then tries to return only to be formally terminated. At the end, though, Herman tells Tuzman that "I had a great time over the last year and I love you." And we see from the end credits that they are still in business together – using their expertise to advise distressed dot.coms.

Is It Any Good?

In finding one story to tell among 400 chaotic hours of footage for this enlightening film, there were probably a million options. The story the filmmakers chose to tell is the story of the Herman/Tuzman relationship and the way that the very qualities that made the two men good complements for each other ultimately led to catastrophe. Maybe it is because their access to the principals of the firm was extensive but they were not allowed to film the backers or board, so the story they told was determined by the pictures they had to show it. Maybe it is because the filmmakers were women, so they saw the story with a Deborah Tannen-esque yang to Tuzman's testosterone-driven yin.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how we make choices when our work and professional lives conflict. At one point in this movie, Tuzman, under intense deadline pressure, calls for an all-weekend meeting. Herman refuses, saying that he promised to be with his daughter. Families should talk about what happens next, and what they would do in that situation.

Movie Details

• In theaters : May 11, 2001
• On DVD or streaming : May 11, 2002
• Cast : Kaleil Isaza Tuzman , Kenneth Austin , Tom Herman
• Directors : Chris Hegedus , Jehane Noujaim
• Studio : Artisan Entertainment
• Genre : Documentary
• Run time : 107 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : strong language
• Last updated : June 13, 2024

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Photo via StartUpCrackle/Facebook

‘StartUp,’ Adam Brody and Martin Freeman’s streaming crime drama, is all sizzle

It’s junkfood viewing all the way—and we all need some empty calories..

Eddie Strait

Posted on Sep 6, 2016     Updated on May 26, 2021, 2:27 am CDT

Some shows take a while to get going, with their bloated character introductions and glacial plot development. Others open with an FBI agent sitting bedside, while a couple has sex, before trying to extort the man for nearly $2 million. StartUp , the new hour-long series from streaming service Crackle—home of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee —falls into the latter category.

The titular startup is an online currency called GenCoin (think Bitcoin ), created by wunderkind Izzy (Otmara Marrero), funded by financier Nick (Adam Brody, who also executive produces). He got the money from his dad, who launders money for the kind of people who need money laundered, including Haitian gangster Ronald (Edi Gathegi), who got his money from the neighborhood gang fund. StartUp is a show about people badly in over their heads, whose need for the money at the heart of the plot drives them far off the courses they thought they would be on.

The GenCoin trio of Nick, Izzy, and Ronald has a fun dynamic on paper. Brody is right in his wheelhouse as Nick, a rich guy whose closest brush with danger is letting the parking meter run over a few minutes. Brody’s as affable as ever, playing Nick with a calm demeanor that turns into nervous energy at the first sign of trouble. As Ronald, Gathegi gives the show’s best performance. Think Stringer Bell from The Wire , another famous fictional gangster who wants to bring some legitimacy to criminal activity. Gathegi commands the screen simply by staring people down. He uses stillness as well as Ronald uses a gun.

Ronald’s aspirations of doing something honestly clash with his natural impulses to assert dominance, and it’s a dynamic that’s volatile and captivating. The brains of the operation is Izzy, most confident behind a keyboard. She lacks the corporate experience of Nick and the criminal confidence of Ronald, but is marked by her desperation to prove that GenCoin can do what she says, show her parents that she’s not wasting her life, and prove that she can be more than what she came from.

Looming over the group is Agent Rask (Martin Freeman), a Vic Mackey type who’s comfortable operating on either side of the law. Rask is a collection of bad cop clichés, but he later becomes unhinged in a way that drives proceedings forward. There’s a controlled chaos to Freeman here, one that’s up and down. To Freeman’s credit, Rask doesn’t come across as a total cartoon; but he’s not able to salvage some of Rask’s more outlandish bits. (The eye-rolling, opening sextortion scene for starters.)

Through five episodes the show’s trajectory isn’t all that dissimilar from GenCoin, which is to say it’s bumpy getting off the ground. It eschews the slow-developing plotting of many major dramas, but despite the fast pace out of the gate it still takes a few episodes to hit its stride. It’s trying so hard to impress that it initially comes off as abrasive: How else to describe a show that boasts three sex scenes in the first 15 minutes? Yet the fireworks do enough to keep you strapped in.

The show stumbles when it goes sincere and aims for prestige dramatics. The damaged father-son relationship from Nick is generic at best. But that pales in comparison to the home life of Izzy, who is constantly at odds with her mother. It leads to arguments punctuated with lines like “I let him come in me for a year, so don’t tell me about sacrifice!” 

On the opposite end, Ronald has a relatively happy home, but trouble is brewing as his oldest son becomes more involved with gang life. Their territory in Miami’s Little Haiti is being threatened, so Ronald feels the pressure from both parts of his life; Gathegi’s struggle to reconcile the two in his performance is heartbreaking.

Despite the immediacy of the show’s interests in digital currency, and showing the effects of rampant white-collar crime, it’s hard to pinpoint a prevalent theme that resonates. That’s why the show doesn’t rise above its genre trappings. But five episodes you’ll give in to the action and pulp: It’s junkfood viewing all the way—and we all need some empty calories. 

StartUp premieres on Crackle Sept. 6. Stream all 10 episodes for free .

*First Published: Sep 6, 2016, 4:46 am CDT

Eddie Strait is a member of the Austin Film Critic Association. His reviews focus primarily on streaming entertainment, with an emphasis on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and other on-demand services.

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The friends are named Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman. Their idea is so compelling that Tuzman quits a job at Goldman Sachs to move to the Internet. The story starts in May 1999, when instant Web millionaires were a dime a dozen, and ends in January 2001. The documentary's last shots were filmed only three weeks before it premiered at Sundance, still wet from the lab. As an inside view of the bursting of the Internet bubble, "Startup.com" is definitive. We sense there were lots of stories more or less like this one.

To film this sort of doc, you need access. The movie has it. One co-director, Jehane Noujaim , was Tuzman's Harvard roommate. She's also the cinematographer, and her digital camera has access to startlingly private moments. The other director, Chris Hegedus , has worked on such insider docs as " The War Room ," the story of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. She co-produced that one with D.A. Pennebaker, the legendary documentarian, who is also the producer this time.

When the film begins, the new company doesn't even have a name. They settle on govWorks.com. Tuzman and Herman make the rounds of venture capitalists, and it's obvious that Tuzman is the expert pitcher, while Herman, more technically oriented, drives his partner crazy by bringing up bright ideas in meetings on the spur of the moment. Tuzman lectures him to stay on message. Dollar signs dance before their eyes. At one point in Boston they're offered $17 million but lose the deal when they can't get their lawyers on the phone.

Meanwhile, of course, there's the problem of actually writing the software. It would seem to me that paying parking tickets over the Internet would involve basic programming skills plus cosmetic packaging, but no, apparently it's rocket science: Eventually govWorks.com has 200 employees working on the site, and still Tuzman despairs that it's not good enough to be released to the public. How does a guy like James Berardinelli open one of the best movie review sites on the Web all by himself, and 200 people can't figure out how to collect parking tickets? Berardinelli even writes his own reviews.

Famous figures float in and out of view. The partners smile from the covers of business magazines. Former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson turns up as a consultant. Tuzman appears on TV sitting next to Clinton, who chairs a summit meeting on the Internet. Meanwhile, Tuzman and Herman, under enormous pressure, go through girlfriends and beards. Herman grows his beard and shaves it off so many times that the filmmakers finally photograph him in front of the mirror with a razor, just to explain the continuity errors. And Tuzman's girlfriends complain that he pays them no attention: "Just a call is all I ask," one says. "A simple call saying you're thinking of me, you're busy, but you miss me. That would keep me going for two weeks." She disappears from the film; her replacement also finds Tuzman a moving target.

There are setbacks. The govWorks office is broken into. Files are stolen. But that's not as big a problem as the disappointing software, and then comes the dot-com meltdown that dries up funds just when the site is turning the corner. On the day govWorks was sold to a competitor, we learn, it landed the big New York City contract.

Noujaim's camera catches painfully intimate moments as the two old friends argue, split, and Herman leaves the company; in an age-old security ritual, he is "escorted from the building" and guards are told not to readmit him. Today, I learn, Tuzman and Herman are back in business together. My guess is, they could make it this time. The Internet is fundamentally sound. The bubble had to burst to correct its crazy over-valuation. Now that sanity has returned, bright guys like Tuzman and Herman can find more opportunities. All they need is another great idea. And better software.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Startup.Com (2001)

Rated NR Unobjectionable, But Intended For Mature Audiences

103 minutes

Directed by

• Chris Hegedus
• Jehane Noujaim

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Start-Up – K-Drama Episode 11 Recap & Review

Demo Day: Part 2

Episode 11 of Start-Up begins with Demo Day as Alex is cornered by Shin Jeong and Shin Hyeon. They both proposition the idea of joining 2STO. Moments later, Do-San shows up and tells him he wants to take up the offer given before.

It’s an intriguing turn of events and one that sees Do-San turn around and leverage his position by telling Alex he’ll sign on if the entirety of Samsan join too.

“I’m not a philanthropist.” Alex says matter-of-factly, telling him that the twins are already fine acquisitions.

Meanwhile, Yong-San grabs Ji-Pyeong round the throat and tells him, with tears in his eyes, that he hopes Ji-Pyeong would remember his brother.

As he walks away, Ji-Pyeong does some research to find out exactly what’s going on. Sifting through the files, he finds mention of Dong-Su and upon seeing his face, we jump back to Demo Day in 2011 to see Dong-Su completely scrutinized and battered verbally by Ji-Pyeong. He single-handedly destroyed his prospects and even called his business a fraud. Now Ji-Pyeong seems to realize who he is and looks on in shock.

The big day arrives and both In-Jae and Dal-Mi prepare for what’s to come. In-Jae hands over some anxiety pills to her sister but Dal-Mi has grown so much that she doesn’t need them anymore. However, In-Jae may need them given she’s going to go up first on stage.

Both Sa-Ha and Chul-San take their respective colleagues aside and discuss the bubbling conflict between Do-San and Dal-Mi. They’re worried that this could completely undermine the company while the subject mostly revolves around exactly who has captured Dal-Mi’s heart.

The Plan B offer is then brought up with the San boys, with Yong-San interjecting and backing up Do-San. He doesn’t want it either but for very different reasons. Because of this, everything rests on them passing Demo Day and securing an investment. There’s no second chances now and everything hinders on this one performance.

They’re not the only one though, and with no Ji-Pyeong in sight Sun-Hak is forced to begin this big day with the pitches. First up is In-Jae who discusses her big plan to try and prevent crimes using CCTV. Or Guardian’s AI to be precise. Their accuracy rate is impressive, something that Samsan start to worry about.

Interjecting in the midst of all this is a familiar voice of Seong-Hwan from the audience. He suddenly stands up, irate that he’s about to lose his job thanks to the tech In-Jae is developing. As the staff manhandle him, they eventually let him go long enough to allow him to ask his question. He wants to know about the human implication of this tech, especially as it would mean many people being without jobs.

Remembering what Sun-Hak mentioned before, In-Jae ignores the financial reasoning and looks at the technological advancements of the world. She wants to make the world a better place – an answer that mirrors what Do-San wants too.

Seong-Hwan’s impassioned speech gets through to a lot of people, including Do-San who struggles to hold back tears in the wake of him and his Father disagreeing. He steps up though and embraces his son; a warm gesture to know that despite their differences, they’ll still be family.

On the back of this, Alex from 2STO offers his expertise to become their global partner. However, he’s also deciding on another team too. That team of course, being Samsan.

With no Ji-Pyeong in sight, Samsan prepare for the inevitable as their time arrives. With the whole world watching, Dal-Mi delivers her confident pitch with the visually impaired app they’ve designed. Using Yeong-Sil as their AI companion, Dal-Mi does her best to take on the questions from the panel of judges.

The subject of accuracy obviously comes up and they decide to be honest, sticking with 92.4%. As the team of judges look disappointed, Do-San speaks up and mentions that their lack of accuracy accounts for a smaller app size.

The companies clash again, this time with InJae’s company back on stage again for another showdown. In order to see which one is right, Alex decides they should hook up their apps to the same computer and test both accuracy and app size.

It’s a home run for Samsan, who completely show up Injae Tech in a change of fate from what we saw earlier in the season. They win Demo Day and take in the 50 million won investment. On the sidelines, In-Jae tellingly applauds them for a job well done.

All this time though it was Ji-Pyeong’s strict lessons that helped them overcome their hurdles and win Demo Day. Only, Ji-Pyeong doesn’t feel like celebrating. Sun-Hak shows and mentions Dong-Su and how he needed to be harsh back then. Overcome with guilt, Ji-Pyeong is way too caught up by what Yong-San said to listen.

When Dal-Mi heads home, she finds her Mother there waiting for her. Unhappy that Won-Deok brought her back, she tells Dal-Mi to try and forgive her, especially as her life hasn’t been as easy as she suspects.

Meanwhile, Do-San heads home and listens to his parents talking about him and Dal-Mi’s potential relationship. As they discuss crossing the line, Do-San suddenly interjects and reveals that actually he heard everything.

Dal-Mi phones Ji-Pyeong and he congratulates them on a job well done. She tells him it’s all because of him and he does his best to take it on the chin. He eventually tells her he’s out on a trip with friends and hangs up. Only, she knows he’s lying and winds up leaving porridge outside his door for him.

Back at Sand Box, Alex presents the long-winded contract for the team to sift through and work with. Alex offers 3 billion won too, going on to give them plans to work in Silicon Valley for that length of time during the hand-over.

They agree to discuss this over time but when alone are ecstatic at their good fortune. However, that’s quickly dispelled when they realize Samsan will be no more. In the lift though, Alex comments to his colleague how this is going to be a smooth transition.

Later that evening, with no more lies and deceit between them, Do-San takes Dal-Mi to his real office. Only, the door is wedged shut and he struggles to break in. Chul-San bursts out with Sa-Ha and things certainly look suspicious.

Sitting together, Sa-Ha quickly interjects and mentions how it’s not what they think and proceeds to explain their convoluted story for being together. Do-San and Dal-Mi obviously don’t believe them though.

When Yong-San shows, all of them sit together and discuss their plans for the future when they head to Silicon Valley. While others have lofty dreams, Dal-Mi pitches the idea of teaming up for another innovation in the form of a self-driving system that can be funded using their 3 billion won investment.

Sitting together, a wonderful montage (Run is such an absolutely banger of a track) kicks up and start pitching their idea, working all the way through to sun-up.

This good mood is completely squashed when Ji-Pyeong shows and learns that Samsan are about to sign an acquisition not an investment. Sensing that all their hard work could be undone, Ji-Pyeong believes Alex has an ulterior motive.

That seems to be in the form an “acquihire” which is basically acquiring a start-up company for the sole purpose of recruiting their staff not the product. This puts the app in jeopardy given that talent comes in the form of taking the engineers and disbanding their team.

Unfortunately the deed is done and the contracts are signed in full by both Do-San and Dal-Mi. Oh no…

The epilogue cuts us back to the moments before Do-San awoke and found pen all over Dal-Mi. She looks at Do-San and remembers moments with Sa-Ha where she questions quite who has her heart.

She simply tells her to watch Do-San and Ji-Pyeong and eventually she’ll have an “aha” moment. As she kisses her hand and then his cheek… she smudges pen all over him which explains where it came from.

The Episode Review

With filming now officially over for this Korean drama, there’s no more changes to the script coming up. Of course, in true K-drama fashion the script can undergo some changes over the course of the 16 episodes but now it seems the writers are confident enough to follow through with whichever ending they’ve chosen.

So… is it Do-San or Ji-Pyeong that Dal-Mi chooses? Or is there a curve-ball here in the form of neither? It’s certainly an intriguing prospect and the screenwriters are clearly self-aware of this – especially during this episode where most of the time this triangle is kept at arm’s length.

With Ji-Pyeong out the picture, his influence and know-how is proven to be incredibly useful for Samsan when the team read through the contract (apparently) and unwittingly agreed to a hasty acquihire. This really does mean that the app’s future is in jeopardy and judging by the preview for tomorrow’s episode, will almost certainly spill over in the worst way possible.

That’s good because this second half has just started to seem a little contrived. The goo-goo eyes between Dal-Mi and Do-San felt off completely and it seems their conflict has all but been forgotten about.

And what of In-Jae and her company? Now that she’s failed Demo Day what’s next for her character? Could we see her reconciling with her sister again? And do we really believe Sa-Ha and Chul-San’s story about the rucksack?

That’s to say nothing of Yong-San’s brother, the out of character way Dal-Mi signed over her rights while forgetting her Grandmother (she’s looking at cars and the next big project) and Ji-Pyeong’s woes that aren’t really addressed.

There’s a lot of questions hanging over this one and very little time to start wrapping things up. Given the preview for tomorrow, all eyes now turn to episode 12 which promises to be quite the dramatic affair!

• Episode Rating (3.5)

7 thoughts on “Start-Up – K-Drama Episode 11 Recap & Review”

Worried about do-san

I have stopped watching. Am i just reading the recaps because i am attached to the story of HJP

The korean concept of submitting 1/2 a story and then start shooting is as ass backward as their society. Its to common to see good openings and crappy endings now days. Writers should be held responsible for doing a good job on the beginning but also responsible for when they turn in 5th rate work after its started being broadcast. This particular writer should have their head shaved.

Such a disappointment. Started off great with promising storyline, went downhill the moment they focused on the love triangle. Arguments that claimed this is more than just a love triangle.. story about the business is only 20% in each episode. Most of the time it was about Do San battling with his insecurities and trying to impress Dal Mi, as well as Dal Mi daydreaming about her relationship.

I thought Kdrama is done with love triangle arch and wasted scenes with the lead(s) being sentimental like walking aimlessly at night or under the rain with sappy background music, seeing that most dramas I watched recently have none of these, but apparently the writers are still stuck in 2010.

I hate the revenge story-line. Call me biased but I hate how they were trying hard to portray HJP as the villain to when he tried his best to protect the naive kids in Samsan Tech by delivering the harsh truth. Should he be like Alex then, appeared nice and friendly but manipulated the company in the end?

Honestly, watching the latest preview for ep.13 where the writer still hang on dearly with the love triangle arch even after the time leap, I guess it is time for me to stop watching the drama. After all, since the start of ep.11, I’ve been fast forwarding most of Dal Mi n Do San scene, I noticed there were nothing much left to watch anymore. I guess I’ll just be reading recaps from now on just so I can confirm the predictable ending and the writer lack of development since dream high.

The way story is unfolding ut seems like. It will be no wonder to see tbis drama come from The best drama to the worst drama.

At this point we can clearly see how the writers has fk up a very promising drama. I continued to watch until ep 10 and that was the last straw on the camel’s back. There is really too much flaws and loopholes that the writers didn’t address or just character changes that seem too sudden. It’s legit a complete mess. Stoped watching too, a complete let down.

No comment, I have stopped watching

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15 of the best business & startup movies to watch on Netflix

Currently there are over 4,000 movies available on Netflix. Nevertheless, it can be hard to find some good business- and entrepreneurship-focused films within this massive catalogue.

Are you looking for some exciting business movies to inspire and entertain you? In this article we’re introducing you to 15 of the best business and startup movies that are currently available on Netflix. From biopics to fictionalized accounts of real events, these films offer a wide range of perspectives on what it takes to succeed in the world of business.

The Founder

An American biographical drama about Ray Kroc, the man who transformed McDonald’s from a small family-run hamburger chain into a global fast food empire. The film traces the early history of McDonald’s, starting with the story of the original founders, brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald, who developed a revolutionary fast food system in the 1950s. It then follows the involvement of Kroc, a traveling salesman who saw the potential in the McDonald’s system and convinced the brothers to allow him to franchise their restaurants. Kroc eventually took over the company and expanded it into a multi-billion dollar business, but at the cost of his relationship with the McDonald brothers and his own personal integrity.

The Social Network

This movie tells the story of the creation of Facebook and the legal battles that ensued after its co-founder Mark Zuckerberg was accused of stealing the idea from his former classmates. The film follows Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) as he creates Facebook in 2004 while studying at Harvard University. The movie also explores the legal disputes that arose between Zuckerberg and his former business partners and friends, Eduardo Saverin (played by Andrew Garfield) and the Winklevoss twins (played by Armie Hammer and Josh Pence). “The Social Network” received widespread critical acclaim and was a big commercial success. It was nominated for several awards, including eight Academy Awards, and won three, including Best Adapted Screenplay.

Fyre – The greates Party that never happened

A documentary film about the Fyre Festival, a failed music festival that was supposed to take place on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma in April and May 2017. The event was marketed as a luxury music festival with top-tier musical acts and luxurious accommodations, but it quickly turned into a disaster as attendees arrived to find a chaotic and poorly organized event with inadequate food, shelter, and other basic necessities. The film, released in 2019, explores the background and events leading up to the festival, as well as the aftermath and the legal consequences for the organizers. It features interviews with former employees, contractors, and attendees, as well as footage of the event itself and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the planning process.

An American biographical comedy-drama about Joy Mangano, a self-made millionaire who invented the Miracle Mop. The film follows Joy’s life from childhood to adulthood, as she struggles to overcome various challenges and setbacks to achieve success and build a business empire. The movie also stars Robert De Niro as Joy’s father, Edgar, and Bradley Cooper as Neil Walker, a struggling executive who helps Joy launch her business. “Joy” was inspired by the true story of Joy Mangano, who became a successful entrepreneur despite facing numerous obstacles and challenges. It was a commercial and critical success upon its release, and Jennifer Lawrence received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Joy.

The Great Hack

A documentary film about the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the political consulting firm harvested the personal data of millions of Facebook users without their knowledge or consent, and used it to influence political campaigns around the world. The documentary explores the impact of the scandal on politics, privacy, and the role of technology in society, and features interviews with key figures involved in the story, including former Cambridge Analytica employees, whistleblowers, and journalists. The film was directed by Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim, and was released on Netflix in July 2019. It received generally positive reviews from critics and was nominated for several awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special.

The Pursuit of Happyness

An American biographical drama film starring Will Smith as Chris Gardner, a struggling salesman who becomes homeless with his young son (played by Smith’s real-life son Jaden Smith) while trying to build a better life for himself. Based on a true story, the film follows Gardner’s journey as he tries to overcome numerous challenges and setbacks, including financial struggles, homelessness, and discrimination, while also trying to provide for his son and pursue his dream of becoming a stockbroker. Despite facing numerous obstacles, Gardner eventually achieves his goal and becomes a successful financial executive. “The Pursuit of Happyness” was a critical and commercial success upon its release and received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for Will Smith’s performance.

A biographical drama movie which is featuring Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc., and chronicles the early years of his career, from his days as a college dropout to the launch of the Macintosh computer in 1984. The film follows Jobs as he co-founders Apple with Steve Wozniak (played by Josh Gad) and becomes involved in the personal computer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. It also explores his relationships with key figures in his life, including his business partner, his family, and his colleagues at Apple. “Jobs” received mixed reviews upon its release and was a commercial disappointment. However, Ashton Kutcher’s performance as Steve Jobs received some praise from critics.

The Big Short

A biographical comedy-drama movie based on the 2010 book “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine” by Michael Lewis and tells the story of a group of investors who profited from the housing market crash of the late 2000s by betting against the mortgage market. The film stars Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt as the main characters. “The Big Short” was a critical and commercial success upon its release and received numerous accolades, including five Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Christian Bale’s performance. It was praised for its portrayal of the events leading up to the housing market crash and its explanation of complex financial concepts in a way that was accessible to a wide audience.

A comedy-drama movie starring Robert De Niro as Ben Whittaker, a 70-year-old widower who becomes an intern at a successful e-commerce company run by Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway). The film follows Ben as he adjusts to his new role as an intern and becomes friends with his younger colleagues, including Jules. Along the way, he offers guidance and support to Jules, who is struggling to balance the demands of her career and her personal life, and helps her realize the importance of work-life balance. “The Intern” was well-received by critics and was a commercial success upon its release. It was praised for its charming performances and its heartwarming portrayal of the relationship between Ben and Jules.

The Wolf of Wall Street

A biographical crime/comedy film based on the memoir of Jordan Belfort. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort, a New York stockbroker who becomes involved in corrupt and fraudulent activities in the 1990s. The film follows Belfort’s rise to success as a stock broker and his subsequent fall from grace, as he becomes involved in securities fraud and money laundering. It also explores his relationships with his colleagues, his family, and the authorities, and depicts the excesses and excesses of the Wall Street culture of the time. “The Wolf of Wall Street” was a critical and commercial success upon its release and received numerous accolades, including five Academy Award nominations. It was praised for its performances, especially DiCaprio’s portrayal of Belfort, and its depiction of the corrupt and decadent world of Wall Street.

Boiler Room

A business/drama movie about a young man named Seth Davis who becomes involved in a questionable, high-pressure stock brokerage firm called J.T. Marlin, which recruits college students to sell overpriced stocks to unsuspecting investors. As Seth becomes more involved in the firm and its sketchy business practices, he begins to question the ethics of his actions and the consequences of his involvement. The film also explores Seth’s relationships with his colleagues, his family, and his girlfriend, and the impact that the firm has on their lives. “Boiler Room” received generally positive reviews upon its release and was a commercial success. It was praised for its performances and its depiction of the cutthroat world of high-pressure sales.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

An adventure comedy-drama directed by Ben Stiller and starring Stiller as the titular character, Walter Mitty. The movie is based on the 1939 short story of the same name by James Thurber and tells the story of Mitty, a daydreaming magazine employee who embarks on a journey of self-discovery and adventure after his job and his personal life are threatened. The film follows Mitty as he travels to various locations around the world, including Greenland, Iceland, and Afghanistan, in search of a missing negative for a photograph that he believes will be the cover of the final print issue of Life magazine. Along the way, he encounters a variety of characters and challenges, and learns to embrace his true potential and live in the present.

Startup.com

A documentary film about the rise and fall of the internet startup company govWorks.com. The film follows the experiences of co-founders Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman as they try to build and scale their company, which aimed to provide an online platform for government services, during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. “Startup.com” chronicles the challenges and setbacks faced by the founders, including financial and management issues, as well as the impact of the dot-com bubble burst on their company. It also explores the personal and professional relationships between Tuzman and Herman and the effect that the demands of running a startup had on their friendship. The film is considered a classic of the dot-com era and a cautionary tale about the risks and challenges of starting a business.

A techno-thriller based on Eggers’ 2013 novel of the same name. The film stars Emma Watson as Mae Holland, a young woman who lands a job at a powerful and influential technology company called The Circle. The film follows Mae as she becomes more and more involved in the company and its products, including a new social media platform that allows users to share all aspects of their lives online. As Mae’s involvement with The Circle deepens, she begins to question the ethics and consequences of the company’s actions and the impact that its products have on society. “The Circle” received mixed reviews upon its release and was a commercial disappointment. However, it was praised for its performances, especially Watson’s portrayal of Mae, and its exploration of themes related to privacy, surveillance, and the role of technology in society.

A crime comedy film directed by Chris Addison and starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson as two con artists who team up to take down a tech mogul. The movie follows the two characters as they try to pull off a series of elaborate scams and schemes in order to get revenge on the wealthy businessman who wronged them. The film also features a supporting cast that includes Alex Sharp, Ingrid Oliver, and Dean Norris. “The Hustle” was released in theaters in February 2020 and received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances of Hathaway and Wilson and the film’s entertaining and amusing plot.

• Boiler room
• business movies
• entrepreneurship movies
• Netflix movies
• startup movies
• Wolf of Wallstreet

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20 Best Startup Movies for Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2024

• Startup Resources
• Movies for Entrepreneurs

Last Updated: December 22, 2023 By TRUiC Team

Being an entrepreneur is challenging, often requiring you to go above and beyond and work harder than ever to achieve your biggest goals and dreams. You’re working towards building a company that fulfills your ultimate vision and transforms your marketplace or industry, and that’s never an easy feat. 

To stay inspired and see how other founders overcame their challenges, you may consider watching business movies for entrepreneurs that show the entrepreneurial journey from start to finish.

From the Social Network to the Pursuit of Happyness, we’ve listed several startup movies that’ll help you reset your frame of mind and refresh. All while taking in some valuable lessons, strategies, and tactics that you can potentially emulate in your own business.

Top Business Movies for Startup Founders

In order to help you stay inspired and get some ideas from other entrepreneurs who were once in your shoes, we’ve compiled a list of the top business movies for startup founders to watch. No matter which movie you decide to start with, you’ll be able to snag some valuable lessons and reflect on your own journey. 

Even though it may sound cliche, entrepreneurship is truly a journey that matters far more than the destination. How you overcome challenges along the way, how you build your team, and how you provide valuable solutions to your customers or clients will make a massive impact on your life and make you a better entrepreneur in the long run. 

Now it’s your turn – turn on one of these entrepreneurial movies and start reflecting on how you can improve your business strategies to achieve your desired growth and profitability.

1. Startup.com (2001)

• Directors: Chris Hegedus, Jehane Noujaim
• Stars: Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, Tom Herman, Kenneth Austin
• Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video

During the height of the dot com era, when web millionaires were seemingly on every corner, two friends, Tom Herman and Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, decided to make their fortune on the internet. “Startup.com” is a story of inspiration and motivation to build your dream as an entrepreneur and a cautionary tale with an inside look at the bursting of the dot-com bubble.

"Startup.com" is great for any entrepreneurs who want to follow the journey of two co-founders and see all of their struggles and difficulties close up. For many startups, their journey closely resembles that of the govWorks.com team, even though the fate of their companies might see better days than Herman and Tuzman.

2. The Startup Kids (2012)

• Directors: Vala Halldorsdottir, Sesselja Vilhjalmsdottir
• Stars: Trip Adler, Alexa Andrzejewski, Mike Butcher
• Where to Watch: Amazon, Vudu, Roku

"The Startup Kids" is a documentary about young entrepreneurs who founded companies such as InDinero, Vimeo, Dropbox, Soundcloud, Kiip, and Foodspotting. Created by two Icelandic women, this movie offers a first-person experience into the lives of young founders who are making their dreams happen and bringing their visions to life. 

If you’re an entrepreneur who is currently building your business from the ground up, or someone who has dreams and ambitions to acquire funding and start building a successful company, then "The Startup Kids" will give you a unique perspective and opportunity to follow several entrepreneurs from companies you may have heard of, or even used in your own life. For inspiration and strategy, this is a great movie for every startup founder to watch at least once.

3. Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999)

• Director: Martyn Burke
• Stars: Anthony Michael Hall, Noah Wyle, Joey Slotnick
• Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Roku, Xfinity, MSN

"Pirates of Silicon Valley" follows two of the most influential “geeks” that ever made their way into business and the tech world – Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. This is a movie about the birth of Apple and Microsoft during the 1970s and how the founders grew their companies into some of the most influential and important businesses in the world. 

Even though your startup is likely on a much smaller scale than Microsoft or Apple, getting a unique view into the lives of prolific entrepreneurs is always a great way to level up your own thinking process, learn from their mistakes, and see firsthand what it took to build corporations on such a massive scale.

4. Generation Start-Up (2016)

• Directors: Cheryl Miller Houser, Cynthia Wade
• Stars: Dextina Booker, Kate Caitlin, Avery Hairston
• Where to Watch: Amazon, Peacock TV, Vudu, Tubi TV, Apple TV, Roku

"Generation Start-Up" is an inspiring film that tracks the lives of six young entrepreneurs from Detroit who go through struggles and daily challenges to bring their business dreams to life. If you’ve ever wanted to see what it’s like to be an entrepreneur in America who is willing to put everything on the line to build their vision, then this is the perfect documentary for you. 

You’ll see the risk-taking, challenging moments, and successes firsthand and may even get some inspiration from the drive and vitality these young entrepreneurs have daily. While the journey isn’t always easy, it is well worth the effort in the long run, especially if you’re someone who knows that building a business is something you want to do in life.

5. Something Ventured (2011)

• Directors: Daniel Geller, Dayna Goldfine
• Stars: Bill Bowes, Herbert Boyer, Po Bronson
• Where to Watch: Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Prime Video

"Something Ventured" is a film that shows how venture capitalists and entrepreneurs changed our world by funding and building companies such as Apple, Atari, and Cisco. These companies, founded at the very beginning of the internet and technology age, paved the way for entire industries, including microprocessors, biotechnology, and personal computers. 

If you’re a startup founder who wants to see firsthand how fearless individuals put their blood, sweat, and tears into transformative companies, "Something Ventured" is the perfect movie for diving deep into entrepreneurship, innovation, and companies that completely transformed our lives just a few decades later.

6. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

• Director: Alex Gibney
• Stars: John Beard, Tim Belden, Barbara Boxer
• Where to Watch: Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Sling TV, YouTube, Apple TV, Vudu

"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" is more of a cautionary tale than an inspirational story of entrepreneurship and success. While it seemed like a successful enterprise from the outside, a plethora of corrupt and faulty business practices from within eventually led to Enron’s demise. 

At one point, Enron was the seventh-largest company in the United States, yet it declared bankruptcy just a short year later. This movie is the perfect example of what not to do as a startup founder and entrepreneur, especially in regulated markets like energy and electricity. 

Enron’s downfall was ultimately caused by greed, manipulation of brokerages and banks, gaming California’s deregulated electricity market, and instances of corruption. For a dramatic film that takes you through the fall of a major public company in the US, this title delivers.

7. Steve Jobs: One Last Thing (2011)

• Directors: Sarah Hunt, Mimi O’Connor
• Stars: Bill Fernandez, Robert Palladino, Dean Hovey
• Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, PBS

"Steve Jobs: One Last Thing" is a documentary and biography about Steve Jobs, as described by his colleagues, fans, friends, and rivals. This film reflects on the life of Apple’s co-founder, including excerpts from interviews with Jobs not long after his cancer diagnosis and Bill Gates. 

As a startup founder, hearing about great entrepreneurs from their friends, family, and colleagues is a great way to get deep insights into how they acted, their personalities, and what made them tick. Apple is a company that has transformed the technology industry as we know it today, and getting a deeper understanding of the life of Steve Jobs is something every entrepreneur can benefit from.

8. Print the Legend (2014)

• Directors: Luis Lopez, Clay Tweel
• Stars: Chris Anderson, Bruce Bradshaw, Craig Broady
• Where to Watch: Netflix, Roku, Amazon Prime Video

"Print the Legend" is a documentary about innovation and bringing 3D printing technology to homes and industries worldwide. As an entrepreneur, watching this film is a surefire way to get inspired and begin pondering some strategies and tactics for bringing innovation into your business.

This documentary follows the 3D printing revolution and looks at the challenges these startup founders faced when trying to bring this technology forward, even with all of the deniers and unbelievers. Even though your industry is likely not 3D printing directly, you can still take lessons and insights from this film and apply them to your own industry, helping you spread innovation in your own space and fearlessly adapt new technologies, products, and solutions to the old or “traditional” ways of operation.

9. Ctrl+Alt+Compete (2011)

• Director: Brian Giberson
• Stars: Joanne Lang, Mark Gilbreath, Josh Sookman
• Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Apple TV, Xfinity

"Ctrl+Alt+Compete" is a documentary that follows young entrepreneurs in the rapidly growing technology industry as they seek to change the world by solving problems and building their startups from the ground up. This film follows Mike Maples Jr. of Twitter, Tim O’Reilly of the Web 2.0 Summit, Nolan Bushnell of Atari, Felicia Day of The Guild, Tony Hsieh of Zappos, Veronica Belmont of Tekzilla, and Cliff Bleszinski of Gears of War.

This documentary truly captures the amount of work it takes to take an idea and turn it into a real physical product that solves problems in the marketplace. If you’re looking for “the story behind the story” of entrepreneurship, "Ctrl+Alt+Compete" provides an excellent perspective.

10. The Social Network (2010)

• Director: David Fincher
• Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake
• Where to Watch: Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, Apple TV

"The Social Network" is a movie that details the story of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his journey toward creating one of the world's most popular social networking sites. This film won three Oscars and is the perfect film for any entrepreneur or startup founder who wants to mix some entertainment, drama, and inspiration all in one. 

The plot follows Zuckerberg, a Harvard undergraduate student with a particular knack for computer programming. He begins using his skills to build what would ultimately become a social network for college students and eventually grow into something billions of people use to communicate with their friends, coworkers, family, and colleagues. For an immersive experience that walks you through what it took for Zuckerberg to achieve staggering success and become the world’s youngest billionaire in history, this is a classic entrepreneurial film that won’t disappoint.

11. Jerry Maguire (1996)

• Director: Cameron Crowe
• Stars: Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Renee Zellweger
• Where to Watch: HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV, YouTube

"Jerry Maguire" is a fun film for startup founders and entrepreneurs that follows a sports agent (Cruise) as he has a moral epiphany and is fired as a result. He decides to test his new philosophy and become an independent agent, even though only one athlete believes in him enough to stay with him through the turbulence. 

Before all of this, life was good – Jerry Maguire was a very successful sports agent who had the respect of his peers, noteworthy clients, and a beautiful fiancee. Now, as he finds himself going out on his own and rebuilding his reality from the ground up, he has to endure the challenges and hardships of life that he never had to face before. 

This is a great film for startup founders, as it shows how vital perseverance is when picking yourself up and pushing forward, no matter how difficult the situation might be.

12. Wall Street (1987)

• Director: Oliver Stone
• Stars: Charlie Sheen, Michael Douglas, Tamar Tunie
• Where to Watch: Paramount+, Sling TV, Vudu, Roku, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube TV

The original "Wall Street" film, directed by Oliver Stone, is a classic movie of ambition, greed, and the main character’s desire to work his way to the top. Bud Fox is a young stockbroker willing to do whatever he needs to make his way in the big city; he ends up enticing corporate raider Gordon Gekko into mentoring him by providing insider trading information and becomes embroiled in various underhanded schemes and greedy endeavors as a result.

As he’s tied up in the mess he created, Fox starts to question where his loyalties lie and whether or not he’s willing to pay the price for his dream of quick riches.

13. The Founder (2016)

• Director: John Lee Hancock
• Stars: Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch
• Where to Watch: YouTube, Apple TV, Tubi, Google Play Movies, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu

"The Founder" is a film about Ray Kroc, the salesman behind the massive enterprise we know today as McDonald’s. Through a combination of ruthlessness, persistence, and ambition, Kroc took the innovation of two brothers who created their own fast food eatery and used their ideas to build the largest restaurant chain in the world.

Even though every single one of our stories is unique, as entrepreneurs, we’ll often be faced with some of the same challenges Ray Kroc faced when building companies into successful endeavors. If you’re looking for an interesting film about a prolific entrepreneur, give "The Founder" a watch when you have the opportunity.

14. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

• Director: Gabriele Muccino
• Stars: Will Smith, Thandiwe Newton, Jaden Smith
• Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Apple TV

"The Pursuit of Happyness" is the story of a struggling salesman and his son and how he built himself up and started a life-changing professional career that significantly improved their quality of life. 

This film is based on a true story about a man named Christopher Gardner who was invested in selling medical devices known as “bone density scanners.” Due to their high cost and similarity to regular X-ray machines, these devices didn’t sell as well as Gardner had initially hoped. He works hard to make ends meet but eventually finds himself out on the streets with his son. 

After working through a number of challenges and difficulties, he manages to land a position as a stockbroker and changes his and his son’s lives forever. 

"The Pursuit of Happyness" is a great film for entrepreneurs and startup founders, specifically because it dives into the challenges of building something from nothing and overcoming obstacles and adversity.

15. Moneyball (2011)

• Director: Bennett Miller
• Stars: Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, Jonah Hill
• Where to Watch: Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play Movies

"Moneyball" is a story about Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane and how he assembled an incredible baseball team with a shoestring budget through computer-generated player analysis — a brand new innovation. 

Beane uses statistical data to sniff out “sleeper” players that others overlook but have amazing skills hiding behind the curtain. Even though his budget was incredibly tight, he could find a competitive advantage that put his team above the competition and turn baseball upside down in the process with his innovative ideas. 

Entrepreneurs often face similar challenges, where innovation comes from a constraint or hindrance that eventually ends up working in their favor. "Moneyball" is a great film to watch for entertainment purposes, but it’s also an excellent movie for entrepreneurs who want to get inspired and begin innovating in their own respective industries.

16. The Big Short

• Director: Adam McKay
• Stars: Steve Carell, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Brad Bitt
• Where to Watch: YouTube, Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video, Pluto TV

"The Big Short" is a biopic based on a true story, or rather, three parallel true stories at once. Set in 2008, the film centers around Michael Burry, a Wall Street hedge fund manager, who discovers the instability of the US housing market. Burry bets over $1 billion against the housing market. What ensues is a wild ride through a devastating economic crash and how the gamble paid off – at a price.

This is one of the best business movies that skillfully demonstrates corruption and cunning while introducing creative educational tidbits from unexpected sources. With various cameos and several instances of 'breaking the fourth wall,' The Big Short is a successful and entertaining portrayal of a pivotal moment in modern American history.

17. The Wolf of Wall Street

• Director: Martin Scorsese
• Stars: Leonardo Di Caprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie
• Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, YouTube

By successful film director Martin Scorsese, "The Wolf of Wall Street" is based on the true story of Jordan Belfort and his rise and fall from success.

The movie begins in 1987 when Jordan Belfort – once a promising Wall Street broker – takes on an entry-level position at a brokerage firm. It isn't long before Belfort sets out to make his stamp on the business world by founding his own firm off of Wall Street. As success grows, so does greed, white-collar crime, and a myriad of illicit activities that lead, eventually, to Belfort's downfall.

This is a wild tale of greed, addiction, lust, and money – lots of it. Not only is this one of the best entrepreneur movies to demonstrate what not to do when building your business, but it is also highly entertaining and will keep you engaged all the way through.

18. Glengarry Glen Ross

• Director: James Foley
• Stars: Al Pacino, Alex Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Jack Lemmon
• Where to Watch: YouTube, Pluto TV, Tubi, Peacock

Based on an award-winning play, "Glengarry Glen Ross" is one of the best business movies to learn one of the most important skills in the business world — sales.

The story follows a New York City real estate office. When the salesmen are informed all but two of the top salesmen will be fired at the end of the week, pressure, competition, and desperation begin to build. This movie teaches some valuable lessons in sales, what to do and not to do, as well as skills for navigating the high-pressure nature of sales.

19. Thank You for Smoking

• Director: Jason Reitman
• Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Adam Brody, Rob Lowe
• Where to Watch: YouTube, Vudu, Google Play, Apple TV

"Thank You for Smoking" is a satirical film based on a book by the same name by Christopher Buckley. The film is about a tobacco lobbyist, Nick Naylor, and his personal battle between fatherhood and promoting harmful products.

The character ricochets between the drive to be a great role model for his son while being the face of Big Tobacco. And, to make things more complicated, a sentor-driven anti-smoking campaign threatening the career he's built.

Notably, the firm's executive producers include Elon Musk, Max Levchin, and Peter Theil. This is more of a business movie, less of an entrepreneur film, that masterfully portrays the sometimes inharmonious balance between values and success.

20. Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened

• Director: Chris Smith
• Stars: Ja Rule, Billy McFarland
• Where to Watch: Netflix

"Fyre" is a documentary film about the infamous luxury music festival that never was: Fyre Festival. This documentary by the same name is one of the best business movies for entrepreneurs as it provides a look into the true story behind one entrepreneur, fraud, and failure.

Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland's cautionary tale demonstrates the consequence behind failing to deliver on promises – especially after taking on investment.

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FTC Chair Lina Khan on startups, scaling, and ”innovations in potential lawbreaking”

FTC Chair Lina Khan was the youngest person appointed to her position when she assumed the job in 2021. But once her term ends in September –  after which she’ll…

Albedo takes Earth observation up close and personal from very low Earth orbit

Satellite imagery startup Albedo is preparing for its up-close-and-personal debut. Albedo’s first satellite will take to orbit next spring as the company looks to turn the commercial Earth observation industry…

Tempus rises 9% on the first day of trading, demonstrating investor appetite for a health tech with a promise of AI

Tempus, a genomic testing and data analysis company started by Eric Lefkofsky, who previously founded Groupon, debuted on Nasdaq on Friday, rising about 15% on the opening.  The company priced…

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A comprehensive list of 2024 tech layoffs

The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has already seen 60,000 job cuts across 254 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the…

Startups Weekly: Clash of the AI titans, and Europe is firing on all cylinders

Welcome to Startups Weekly — Haje’s weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Hold…

Pitch Deck Teardown: Kinnect’s $250K angel deck

How well did the company do telling its own story in the form of its angel pitch deck? Let’s take a look.

Arc now features a live calendar button to help you stay punctual for meetings

The Browser Company’s Arc, a web browser that aims to have a less cluttered user interface, launched a “Live Calendar” feature to ensure you never miss a call or run…

Meta pauses plans to train AI using European users’ data, bowing to regulatory pressure

Meta has confirmed that it will pause plans to start training its AI systems using data from its users in the European Union and U.K. The move follows pushback from…

Brave integrates its own search results with its Leo AI assistant

Privacy-focused search engine and web browser company Brave Software is integrating search results into its Leo chatbot. Search results are based on the Brave Search API and Leo is integrated…

Enveda raises $55M to combine ancient remedies with AI for drug discovery

For centuries, people chewed willow tree bark to relieve pain, but scientists at chemical firm Bayer didn’t isolate its active ingredient until the 1800s and eventually patented its modified version…

We’re about to learn a whole lot more about how the human body reacts to space 

We could be entering a renaissance for human spaceflight research, as a record number of private citizens head to space — and as scientists improve techniques for gathering data on…

Former NSA head joins OpenAI board and safety committee

The high-profile addition is likely intended to satisfy critics who think that OpenAI is moving faster than is wise for its customers and possibly humanity.

Tesla shareholders vote yes again to approve Elon Musk’s $56B pay plan 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has secured enough shareholder votes to have his 2018 stock option compensation package approved. Shareholders also approved the company’s decision to re-incorporate Tesla in Texas, moving…

Apple gives developers a way to nominate their apps for editorial consideration on the App Store

From a new Nominations dashboard in App Store Connect, developers will be able to create their nominations, either one by one or by uploading a spreadsheet to nominate apps in…

What StepStone’s $3.3B venture secondaries fund tells us about LPs’ current appetite for venture

StepStone raised the largest fund dedicated to investing in venture secondaries ever, the firm announced last week. This fundraise doesn’t just say a lot about StepStone’s venture secondaries investing prowess,…

Spotify announces an in-house creative agency, tests generative AI voiceover ads

Spotify announced on Thursday that it’s venturing further into the ad space with its first in-house creative agency called Creative Lab, helping brands create custom marketing campaigns. It will also…

Here’s everything Apple announced at the WWDC 2024 keynote, including Apple Intelligence, Siri makeover

The TechCrunch team runs down all of the biggest news from the Apple WWDC 2024 keynote in an easy-to-skim digest.

Tesla shareholders sue Musk for starting competing AI company

Tesla shareholders are suing CEO Elon Musk and members of the automaker’s board of directors over Musk’s decision to start xAI, which they say is a competing AI company, and…

Apple’s Spotlight Search gets better at natural language queries in iOS 18

With the Core Spotlight framework, developers can donate content they want to make searchable via Spotlight.

Tesla and its fans waged an unprecedented battle over Elon Musk’s $56B pay package

It’s all part of an effort to say that, this time, when the shareholders vote to approve his monster $56 billion compensation package, they were fully informed.

Tesla shareholders to vote today on $56B pay package

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Kirsten Korosec…

GPTZero’s founders, still in their 20s, have a profitable AI detection startup, millions in the bank and a new $10M Series A

GPTZero’s growth and financials made it one of the AI startups ruthlessly pursued by VCs. And Footwork’s Nikhil Basu Trivedi won the deal.

Here are the best WWDC 2024 features you missed

Apple announced a number of new features and updates onstage during its keynote address at WWDC 2024, including updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, VisionOS and the introduction of Apple Intelligence.…

WhatsApp adds new features to the calling experience, including support for 32-person video calls

WhatsApp updated the video calling experience across devices on Thursday by introducing screen sharing with audio support and a new speaker spotlight feature. It’s also increasing the limit for video…

Amazon says it’ll spend $230 million on generative AI startups

To sweeten the pot, Amazon is pledging that startups in this year’s Generative AI Accelerator cohort will gain access to experts and tech from Nvidia, the program’s presenting partner.

Picsart partners with Getty Images to develop a custom AI model

Picsart, a photo-editing startup backed by SoftBank, announced on Thursday that it’s partnering with Getty Images to develop a custom model to bring AI imagery to its 150 million users. The…

After the Yahoo News app revamp, Yahoo preps AI summaries on homepage, too

Yahoo’s AI push isn’t over just yet. The company, also TechCrunch’s parent, recently launched AI-powered features for Yahoo Mail, including its own take on Gmail’s Priority Inbox and AI summaries…

Unigrid wants to make batteries cheaper and safer using sodium

Sodium-ion isn’t quite ready for widespread use, but one startup thinks it has surmounted the battery chemistry’s key hurdles.

LinkedIn leans on AI to do the work of job hunting

LinkedIn is launching new AI tools to help you look for jobs, write cover letters and job applications, personalize learning, and a new search experience.

Court halts Byju’s second rights issue as $200M fundraise falters

An Indian court has restrained Byju’s from proceeding with its second rights issue amid allegations of oppression and mismanagement by its shareholders.

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‘House of the Dragon’ Review: Waiting for the Fire Breathers

The second season of HBO’s very successful “Game of Thrones” prequel gets off to an earthbound start.

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By Mike Hale

Diplomacy versus violence. Dignity versus unbridled passion. Duty versus the selfish desire for revenge.

Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be about dragons?

HBO sent critics four of the eight episodes of the second season of “House of the Dragon,” its “Game of Thrones” spinoff. For three and three-quarters of those four hours, we are in one of this highly rated fantasy franchise’s less interesting regions: the land of the medieval civics lesson. Small Councils meet. Allies are recruited. Rivals for the throne strut and fret. When battles do start to break out, they take place offscreen.

The two shows (based on the novels of George R.R. Martin) have traditionally used palace intrigue leavened with sex to fill the gaps between expensive scenes of mass violence and close-up dragon action. But nearly half a season is a long time to wait for the flames to fly.

“Thrones,” which ended in 2019 after eight blockbuster seasons, compensated with the epic scale and sadistic frisson of its treachery and debauchery. It also had one great performance, by Peter Dinklage as the noble dwarf Tyrion Lannister, and big characters stylishly played by actors like Lena Headey, Charles Dance and Jonathan Pryce. And its dragons were truly terrifying beasts.

“Dragon,” for all the money HBO has reportedly spent on it, is a more buttoned down and drab affair, a condition that carries into the second season. Besides Eve Best as the dragon-riding matriarch, Princess Rhaenys, and Ewan Mitchell as the fearsome Aemond, no one in the cast rises far enough above the show’s general level of dogged professionalism to make a significant impression. And when they do appear, its dragons look and sound more domesticated.

The new season begins with the truculent alpha Targaryens, Rhaenyra ( Emma D’Arcy ) and Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), plotting in their respective castles. Rhaenyra, the rightful heir to the Iron Throne — it’s just easier to use the jargon — is in exile with her uncle-husband, Daemon (Matt Smith). Her half brother Aegon sits on the throne and governs like a petulant child, to the consternation of his mother, Alicent (Olivia Cooke), who was Rhaenyra’s best friend until she married Rhaenyra’s father, the previous king.

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