Behind Every Star – K-Drama Episode 3 Recap & Review

Episode 3

Episode 3 of Behind Every Star starts with receptionist Kang Hee-sun rehearsing her lines for a play when veteran actress Kim Soo-min arrives at the Method Entertainment Headquarters. Hee-sun invites Soo-min to her play recital. The actress recalls her youth when she too participated in many places. Just then, Ma Tae-oh and Kim Jung-don arrive to greet the veteran actress.

The group is joined by Actress Seo Hyo-rim who is the daughter-in-law of Soo-min. The two actresses catch up with their respective managers. Inside Tae-oh’s office, he talks to Soo-min about a project where she plays the mother-in-law’s character. Meanwhile, Hyo-rim is also ecstatic when Jung-don gives her the script for an upcoming drama.

The two actresses are talking to their respective managers about being cast in a new show and leaving the office at the same time. While leaving the cabins, it is discovered that the two actresses were given the script of the same drama and that much like in real life, Soo-mi will be playing Hyo-rim’s mother-in-law.

Tae-oh and Jung-don have a group meeting with the two actresses in order to solve this goof-up. Tae-oh states that the writer does not mind having both actresses in the same drama and pins the blame on Jung-don for the goof-up. After bidding farewell to the actresses, Jung-don confronts Tae-oh about purposely lying to Soo-mi.

The two managers determine that they weren’t able to tell each other about the show for confidentiality reasons. Tae-oh states that the duo will have to set aside their differences if they wished to save the company. Meanwhile, Tae-oh is talking to a friend to have them hire Hyun-joo and Hyung-joo herself is looking at different job postings. She gets a couple of texts from Eun-gyul asking for them to meet up and talk but she ignores him.

At the agency, Eun-soo spots Tae-oh leaving behind an envelope for Hyun-joo on her desk before leaving in a rush. Eun-soo is curious about the envelope and tries to open it but Hyun-joo and the other employees arrive from their break. Hyun-too opens the envelope to read a VIP invite from Tae-oh. Jin-hyeok tells Jung-don that one of the writers was contacting them to get in touch with an Actress Kim Hee-sun that was working with them.

Jung-don calls the company to clarify that Wee-sun is not an actress with the agency and calls the audition off. Hee-sun asks Jung-don to let her audition once because she really wants to be an actress but the manager declines the request saying that she was a receptionist at the company so it was impossible for her to be taken on as a client since she can’t act.

Hee-sun claims that Jung-don made the assumption without even seeing her act and starts yelling at him in the office. He takes her to the copy room and tries to calm her down. Hee-sun is really heartbroken and designated but leaves the room handing him a ticket to her upcoming play.

She tells him that he sees her act before making a judgement about her talent and leaves the room. Jung-don gets a call from Hyo-rim who tells him that she does not want to work in the drama anymore. Hyun-too is at the agency where she looks at the VIP invite she got from Tae-oh. Eun-soo has a conversation with the new employee and confronts her about her relationship with Tae-oh for him to hand out VIP tickets to her.

Hyun-too blurts out that he was her father… father’s friend. Hyun-too continues to lie saying that she is the illegitimate child of a famous actor and wanted to keep the thing a secret from everyone in the office. Eun-soo wonders if Hyun-joo’s father was one of their clients but she points to actor So Ji-sub.

The tickets Tae-oh had given Hyun-joo were for the screening of a movie starring Ji-sub. Eun-soo concludes that since Hyun-joo had the same last name as the actor, she was his child. The next morning Jane walks into the office and spots a rather attractive male, Lee Sang-uk. She asks Jong-don about him and he reveals that Sang-uk was an employee of the National Tax Evasions office claiming that Late President Wang Tae-ja was trying to evade taxes when he was alive which is now being looked into.

Sang-uk asks for an empty office to work from and Jane takes him to one while trying to guess if she had met him in the past. He states that they hadn’t met before but their conversation takes an intense turn when their hands accidentally touch. Jane leaves him alone and asks Sang-uk to seek her if he needed anything.

The four managers at Method Entertainment worry about the sudden tax check and Tae-oh reveals that he knew Tae-ja used some of the company’s money for himself. Jane promises to look into it by befriending Sang-uk. She finds him struggling with the coffee maker and helps him out by flirting with him.

Actresses Soo-mi and Hyo-rim are in the elevator of the Method Entertainment office where it can see how Hyo-rim does not like it when her mother-in-law nags her about her outfits. She is overwhelmed by their ride on the elevator itself and asks Jung-don to have a meeting with her as soon as she arrives.

Inside his office, she tells the manager that she does not like how Soo-mi monitors every outfit, and accessory she uses and nags her about them. Hyo-rim claims that she cannot do this anymore but Jung-don claims that Soo-mi will be hurt if she finds out that Hyo-rim wanted to get away from her mother-in-law.

Jin-hyeok overhears their conversation and states that the only way out of this mess is to have Soo-mi quit the drama instead. Hyo-rim talks to the writers of the drama and throws a tantrum by saying she would only use items from luxury brands for her role. The writers agree to comply with her requests and she leaves the room in confusion.

Following that, Soo-mi has a chat with the writers where the mother-in-law tries to show that she is mentally unwell due to her age. Tae-oh drags Soo-mi out of the room and confronts her. She claims that she just did not like the role and did not want to turn it down thinking it would hurt Hyo-rim so she turned the act on to be taken out of the show.

Tae-oh claims that if she leaves the show, Hyo-rim will also be taken out of the show since it was a deal for the two to be signed on together. Jin-hyeok tells Jung-don about Soo-mi’s lie and how she is adamant about not working with Hyo-rim either.

Jung-don rushes to tell the writers that Hyo-rim’s tantrum was a lie in order to be taken out of the show. He reveals the truth to the writer and claims that she deserves a second chance. At the office, Jung-don confronts Tae-oh and discusses their situation with the two actresses.

They decide that the only way to save the company is to have both actresses work out their differences and work together. At the same time, Jane visits Sang-uk in his office and asks him where they had met before. Sang-uk reveals that he was the guy she dismissed on the dating app a few days ago.

Jane is shocked to learn who he truly was and tries to sway him by casually flirting with Sang-uk. He blows her off and asks her to leave his office. The next day, the director chats up with the two actresses, Soo-mi and Hyo-rim. The actresses start arguing and end up reconciling their differences all in front of the writer.

Hyo-rim claims that she is afraid she can’t live up to the expectations of Soo-mi and the mother-in-law shares how she has been rather harsh on her. The two managers, Jung-don and Tae-oh do not intervene in the conversation but the writer does. Soo-mi gets angry when the writer insinuates that she was jealous of Hyo-rim and starts pulling her hair.

Eventually, the two actresses gather at Tae-oh’s office with Jung-don. Soo-mi clarifies that Hyo-rim was not the reason why she backed out of the show but that the role did not match her interest. She promises to apologise to the writer and states that she only said yes in the first place because Tae-oh claimed that if she backs out, Hyo-rim will be removed from the show.

Tae-oh’s lie catches up to him and the actresses leave after finally reconciling with each other. Jung-don taunts Tae-oh for not listening to him when he wanted to stop the actresses from working with each other. In the elevator, the mother and daughter-in-law have a heartfelt conversation with each other.

That night, Hyun-joo is on a video call with her mother and is picking a dress for her VIP event the following day. At the screening, Hyun-joo runs into Eun-gyul. He asks her what she was doing at the screening and she lies that she was there with Jane. Eun-gyul hands her a drink and tells her that he will wait for her to come back to him.

Hyun-joo spots  Tae-oh with Play Entertainment’s Baek Gang-ho. He leaves the two to converse and she is confused. Gang-ho talks to Hyun-joo about hiring her but she claims that she was happy at her present job. When she tries to get away from him, he grabs her insinuating that Tae-oh sought after him to get her a job.

Gang-ho tries to touch her inappropriately and Hyung-joo throws her drink at him before running away from the screening. Tae-oh follows her around and asks why she acted out. Hyun-joo states that since no agency will now hire her, she is going to keep her job at Method Entertainment.

She tells Tae-oh that if he wanted to never see her, he should leave the company instead. Eun-gyul overhears the conversation. At the Method Entertainment headquarters, Jane and Sang-uk share the lift and she watches him drive off in the basement. Jung-don sees Jane there and asks to catch up with her but she leaves claiming that she had other plans.

Jung-don finds the tickets to Hee-sun’s play and decides to go watch it. He is initially bored by the play but when Hee-sun performs her monologue, Jung-don is moved. He looks at her in awe and starts to tear up during an emotional scene.

At the screening, he also spots Soo-mi and the two chat for a while. The veteran actress claims that she will now be trying to get a romance project because she wanted to experience what it is like being in love before she dies. Soo-mi envisions herself in a romantic play as he dances on stage.

Jung-don waits outside the theatre for Hee-sun to leave and compliments her acting. He praises her and mentions that he would like to manage her acting projects. The two leave to have a meal together.

At the same time, Tae-oh meets Cho Gi-bong from Star Media Entertainment.  Gi-bong offers Tae-oh a position at his agency with the condition that the manager brings all his clients from Method Entertainment into Star Media.


The Episode Review

The show aims to try and point out the chaos in the Entertainment industry and seemingly does so in a way. The episodes are featuring a lot of drama between actors and their managers showing how these agents usually manage their clients. The episodes actually drag a lot longer than expected and the show seems slow in comparison to other similar K-dramas like the recently released, Sh**ting Stars.

Hyun-joo’s secret is probably the only thing that was interesting in this episode and I am pretty certain Tae-oh is her father. This possibility makes me thankful that she and Eun-gyul did not kiss in the last episode because the entire show would become incestuous and unpleasant to watch.

The sexual tension between Jan and Sang-uk is palpable and I am sure the two will share some intimate scenes as their relationship progresses. Jin-hyeok’s character is hilarious and a treat to the eye but I wish for him to have a fun romantic interest in the show if his character is actually homosexual.

Previous Episode

Next Episode

Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!

 

  • Episode Rating
    (3)
3

Leave a comment