Backstreet Rookie – K-Drama Episode 2 Recap and Review

The Missing Footage

Backstreet Rookie returns for another comedic hour of drama but also one that proves one thing – there isn’t much of a plot behind this one. Sure, the duo end up working together in the convenience store but beyond that there isn’t a lot of substance to this beyond the pair getting into different awkward situations from week to week. Despite that though, the show continues to deliver some amusing jokes peppered into the hour but not quite enough to help this stand out next to others in this genre.

Episode 2 of Backstreet Rookie begins at the convenience store as Dae-Hyun looks to berate Saet-Byul but she falls asleep on his arm. Her two friends manage to peer pressure Dae-Hyun into drinking with them and he passes out. Upon seeing this, her friends wake Saet-Byul up and she helps put Dae-Hyun down to sleep on the sofa inside. Only, he calls her Yeon-Joo in his sleep and that certainly doesn’t go down too well, prompting her to punch him in the face in jealousy.

Meanwhile, Geum-Bi heads to school drunk. The teacher there though gives her a drink and encourages her to head inside.

After Yeon-Joo’s deleted message frenzy in the middle of the night, Dae-Hyun wonders what she sent originally, prompting her to invite him out for dinner, while Saet-Byul awakens in the night and beats the teddy up, reminiscing over what Dae-Hyun said in his sleep.

While Dae-Hyun’s parents start to argue over a massage chair, Dae-Hyun remembers moments from the previous night where Saet-Byul’s friends mentioned how her kiss in the past was her first and only. This rattles Dae-Hyun, who finds himself struggling to fire Sae-Byul in the wake of her partying outside the store.

Instead, he has bigger fish to fry when Dae-Hyun runs into problems with the police for selling cigarettes to a minor. Despite clearly asking him for ID, the officer demands to see the footage but can’t remember the date. This prompts Dae-Hyun to begin sifting through the security footage one date at a time. After some time, Saet-Byul tells him to go home while his friend Dal-Sik arrives to take over the search.

Yeon-Joo rings Dae-Hyun midway through leaving and convinces him to sort her car out. As he arrives and helps escort the car in the recovery truck, he notices the student who bought cigarettes and rushes into the store to confront him. Only, he refuses to give up anything. Saet-Byul rings and distracts him not long after, telling Dae-Hyun he’s needed back at the store.

While he heads back, Saet-Byul confronts the college student and manages to find the date for the CCTV confirming he asked for ID – the 8th January. Rushing back to the store, she gives him the good news and the duo manage to find the footage. After this, Saet-Byul is made an official part-time worker but dances around her feelings with Dae-Hyun as they look to discuss her first kiss…but instead he spins it into her needing to refill the first column in the store.

With things looking like they’re on the right track going forward, Dae-Hyun and Saet-Byul both start dancing – with the former watching her on the CCTV footage while he does.

Backstreet Rookie finishes its first week with a fun but ultimately forgettable duo of episodes. There’s enough here to whet the appetite and keep coming back to see what happens next but it’s also a show that doesn’t have a whole lot of substance to it. Compared to its previous time-slot occupier, The King: Eternal Monarch, Backstreet Rookie doesn’t immediately entice you to jump in and watch the next episode.

There’s certainly potential here though but whether people will stick around and see this one through to its conclusion remains to be seen.