We Found You Lost
Episode 3 of The Believers starts with our entrepreneurs vetting monks they find online to fill the vacant position of a brand ambassador for their business responsible for pulling in the masses. They have pictures of different monks pinned to the bulletin board and handle the elimination based on the quality of their online videos and age.
They decide to go with what is trendy and choose a Thai-Korean monk named Dong-won. Win and Game take the responsibility of driving to the Monk’s current temple to talk to him while they leave the task of the flea market event to Dear.
Dear runs into Win’s mother at the market when handing out posters to traders, asking them to register for the event. Win’s mother invites her for lunch, and they talk about whether Win is hitting on her, to which Dear responds that Win does not know how to react.
A famous television show is on TV, and Dear seems to have some ideas from it. Win and Game arrive at the temple elsewhere, but it is impossible to make an appointment with Monk Dong-won. The receptionist tells them that the Monk has a waiting list months in advance, and the current group he is talking to has booked him for a week.
Game decides to befriend the women who have booked the Monk for the whole week, and they invite them to meet the Monk the following morning. However, when they show up, they find a different group of people and learn that the Monk has gone to Bangkok for a show.
The two prepare to sneak out and head to Bangkok when the voice of the Monk handling the morning preaching stops them in their tracks. His powerful voice and articulate speaking give Game goosebumps while Win experiences a peace and soothing he had never felt before. Therefore, they decide to change their target and approach the new Monk.
Win offers to help one of the temple goers, an old grandmother, carry her basket back home, and he learns about their target. His name is Monk Dol, and his teachings emphasise practice, making them easy and difficult to understand. The granny mentions that the Monk wants to build a Dharma Pavilion to attract younger believers, but the project has not started due to lack of funds, which gives Win and Game an idea of how to approach the Abbot and probably get Monk Dol to agree to their request.
Dear sends them a sample of the proposed building. The Abbot is impressed by their dedication and belief in spreading Dharma to young people. However, they must convince Monk Dol to leave, which is challenging. He is reluctant to leave the forest temple since he has grown up there and thinks that people who need to make merit should travel to the forest temple.
Win gets Monk Dol to reconsider his decision by telling him about the importance of spreading his teachings to people in the city who cannot afford to travel to the forest temple. He talks about not segregating city and forest temples since they all believe in Lord Buddha. They offer to help Monk Dol settle in his new environment without feeling bothered since spreading Buddhist teachings should be considered a good deed.
Monk Dol finally agrees to accompany them, and they head back to their temple to introduce him to the Abbot. The Abbot approves leaving the temple in Monk Dol’s hands for the three months he will be staying with them. Dear takes Monk Dol around the temple, showing him the construction site for the proposed Dharma retreat pavilion before handing him over to Note, who shows him his sleeping quarters.
Dear introduces a singing contest during the flea market days to bring in more people. Consequently, the team markets Monk Dol’s sermons online via social media through YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook Live, and he has started trending because of his soothing voice and practical preaching. His teachings emphasise that people doing what is required to get their hearts desired and not just making merits and wishes and waiting for miracles.
During the team’s meeting, we learn that the temple has started bringing in over 70,000 bhats daily from around 300 visitors. Dear asks about increasing their social media sites to include a podcast, and Win asks her to discuss it with Monk Dol. They plan to increase their daily earnings by 10 per cent to meet the payment required for their first payment.
Taeng walks into the room during their meeting, and they stop abruptly since they do not want to share the details. Taeng shows his greed by suggesting that they increase the parking fees and that the fees need to go into his pockets. Win agrees to his request as long as he adheres to the set limits to avoid trouble with the traders and the locals.
Monk Dol runs into Dear at the cemetery when he is making his meditation walks. He says he likes to walk through the cemetery because it is peaceful. He wonders why Dear is not afraid, and she says that she does not believe in ghosts but that life ends after we die. Dear and Mon Dol start a conversation, but it is not easy to understand Monk Dol’s mindset.
Meanwhile, Taeng splurges money at the karaoke bar and draws attention to himself. His friends say they do not have money since the police raided their businesses and arrested one of them. Taeng says he has a way to help them make money, and no one will bother them. His friends are quite interested in the idea he wants to share.
At the end of the episode, Win is on the phone with his mother when he notices a new monk arrive at the temple at night. After following him, he finds the new Monk talking to the Abbot, who introduces him as Monk Ekkachai. The Abbot tells him that if he needs anything, he should communicate with Monk Ekkachai.
The Episode Review
The episode builds on the suspense and mystery, adding complexity and unpredictability to the plot. Monk Dol seems mysterious, and it is not easy to understand his mindset and personality. Consequently, the episode introduces a puzzling dynamic between him and Dear.
Taeng shows his true colours; greed risks the entrepreneurs’ business model. Will he tell his friends about what is happening at the temple? The episode introduces a new character, Monk Ekkachai, whom the Abbot seems to trust.
Dealing with the Abbot has been easy since he is not invested in running the temple and delegates everything to Taeng. Will the new character threaten their business? The crisis seems to be building up, and we cannot wait to find out how the entrepreneurs handle it in the next episode.
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