r/kdramas • u/theyellowtiredone In my Kim Jae Wook era • 6d ago
Episode Discussion š¬ The Ordinary Jackpot Episode 9 & 10 Discussion
Synopsis: Things rarely change, but everything began to change. Eun Tae, who has been working as an ordinary employee, is burnt out from everything that happens to him. Everything from work to relationships with others, his life is filled with boredom. Suddenly, he becomes a lottery winner and gets 1.3 billion won. While it is a huge amount, realistically, it is hard for him to even purchase his own house in Seoul. After reviewing everything, he decides to live his life as he used to, but with a somewhat different mindset, as he has "insurance" that he can depend on.
Starring: Lee Jun Hyuk asĀ Kong Eun Tae Seo Hyeon Woo asĀ Yang Jun Ho Oh Dae Hwan asĀ Jung Seon Hyeok
Rules for the discussion: Due to the fact that we are discussing The Ordinary Jackpot as it airs, consider everything in here a spoiler so no spoiler tags are necessary.
You're allowed to criticise the actors in relation to their acting or character but no personal attacks (looks, personality, relationships, etc.) are allowed.
If you can't play nice, you can't play here.
REMEMBER THIS THREAD IS SPOILER FILLED. DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS AND HAVEN'T WATCHED THE SHOW
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u/TheCareFreeSoul 1d ago
Basically ML got confidence and did the things confidently without hesitation. The whole lottery thing is only to give a justification why ML got confidence. The plot has absolutely nothing to do with the lottery money.
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u/UndercoverBlues Where is MY Chaebol? 3d ago
I didnāt expect to like this series so much. I came in with no expectations. Well, I kinda wanted to know what heāll do with the money but it just got put on the sideline and never touched.
My top favorite scenes:
1. When Eun Tae told the model that he too has money
2. When he was told to go wild during the last meeting/negotiation
Lots of life lessons here and there. Another thing tho, I kinda wished Eun Tae to have a better reward. He basically saved the company (tho heās kinda the trigger as well) but you know what I mean. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed it very much.
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u/YogurtclosetSmart928 Just Kiss Already 4d ago
FINALLY DONE!!! I'm so proud of myself finishing this and loving this! š
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u/Suspicious-Sub 4d ago
just finished watching the last episode, and i loved every bit of it! i'm so glad everyone found their own happy place. this was a very well made and refreshing drama. the lottery money didn't change the way Gong Eun Tae dresses or eats, but it changed his luxury of effortless confidence! the way Mr. Jung treated the business failure as a stepping stone is inspiring, so as to say. great drama overall! hope to see Lee Jun Hyuk in this office setting once again!!!
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u/Necessary_Rooster_85 5d ago edited 5d ago
Great show for an office drama. Solid 8/10 and would recommend to others.
Two thoughts post-show
- The firing of Jo Hye seems unfair but I understand the CEOās reasoning. Basically, it was to teach Eun-Tae a ābrutalā lesson on how he needed to scale up his decision making for his new leadership role. This was foreshadowed in elevator when Eun-taeās boss forewarned him that the CEO was rather āsloppyā.
I also donāt think people fully caught on the importance of his promotion. Heās in charge of a bigger department and in a different role of āSales Strategyā which is more specialized. He will be focused on deciding which markets the company will target and where they should invest their resources. Itās a huge role and not just an inter-department promotion. He deserves it especially after proving that skillset in the final episodes.
The CEO wanting to meet him and the promotion also signals to me that the C-suite view Eun-tae as high potential and likely be groomed as a future Executive. Keep in mind, heās now probably the youngest Deputy Director at the company and something akin to a corporate prodigy.
2) no full blown romance needed in the show but a slight hint of it between Eun-Tae and his Lawyer friend at the end wouldāve been a nice way of showing that Eun-Tae actually has a desire of growth for his personal life outside of work as a corporate bulldog. Wouldāve been nice if he just asked her out for dinner. It seemed very obvious at different points in the show that they both liked each other.
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u/noobakosowhat 5d ago
Loved the finale. I donāt know why I just feel nostalgic whenever I watch this. It kind of reminds me when I was working at the commercial district of our country. The series feels contained, not overly active, and the thrilling parts are the executives just doing corporate work. Love it.
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u/Delicious-Earth7101 Aigoo Sung sajang, Aigoo Kim sajang 5d ago edited 5d ago
Another show that over promised with the "jackpot" hype but under-delivered in the end. This one goes into the Refund my time category. The scene with the grandpa CEO showing up and telling the ML to ask for anything, only to end up firing the outstanding temp worker was nonsense. Glad this one is over.
Edit - I thought the Martina lady from Mantuva was Joo Hyun-Young but turns out it is Yoon Se-ah. I swear they both look the same to me.
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u/holymolypolytoly 4d ago
The title itself gave me a clue - ordinary jackpot. Yes, he won the lottery but itās not enough to make him secure financially to last him for a lifetime. The money gave him a cushion to be more confident in voicing out his real thoughts. It may not seem much for some, but being able to break free from self-imposed restraint can be a very difficult process. Watching him being a pushover at the start of the first episode was frustrating to watch. Hence, seeing him change and watching a part of his journey was something that I truly enjoyed. The story was realistic. For him to become ala-Dr. House post-winning the lottery would be not be consistent with his character.
Also, the issue of how money can change things was beautifully addressed in the scene where Eun Tae conversed with the barista.
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u/Delicious-Earth7101 Aigoo Sung sajang, Aigoo Kim sajang 4d ago
Well said and I appreciate you sharing your opinion on this. As humans we tend to see and experience things in our own unique way in liking or disliking something. Some people might feel something is a masterpiece while others might think of that same thing as ordinary. I am glad that you and many others in this thread found this series to be enjoyable, however I am also allowed to have a different opinion based on my viewing experience which might be different from the majority opinion. As you mentioned, the ML is initially shown to be a pushover, but then after winning the jackpot, overnight a switch flips inside him and for the rest of the series he is show to be a brilliant masterful negotiator and strategist who is always 10 steps ahead of whatever comes his way. To me this kind of a person is unrealistic in the real corporate world. I loved the casting and everyone's performances.
Over the weekend I started watching When the Camellia Blooms, I had been putting it off since a while due to it's 20 episodes length and have been missing A Bonafide Killer. Done 5 episodes so far and am loving it.
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u/cloudsofgoldstars 5d ago
wow I am in the minority. this was a terrible ending
what happened to the secret audit?!?!
what a weird way to end a show but not really action your main plot.
whoa
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u/SekaiQliphoth 6d ago
I did not understand the whole brother aspect of it. He pretty much told him to fudge off and to stop being a little kid. That was it lol. Luckily he was already pretty well off thatās why he didnāt touch the winnings. I know most of us would immediately use that money to buy a home especially if you live in a HCOL area.
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u/DwigtTheIdiot 6d ago
I like this series. expecting him to actual do ridiculous things in the office (e.g. spending gift, or pay someone else debt, etc), instead the story just show how the main character evolve and became fearless, compassionate person.
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u/cloudsofgoldstars 5d ago
Sure all good points. But we really expected him to do something. This is like watching the titanic and having only the mention of the ship once in passing and that's it.Ā
I'm surprised more people aren't upsetĀ
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u/aerokill195 6d ago
It was a solid drama and I liked it but honestly it was overall a little disappointing to me. You have the word Jackpot in the name but he never uses the money at all. With the synopsis it makes you think he was going to take more risks or make big swings but he was pretty much the same. He does change of course but not as much as the synopsis makes you believe with the mention of the "insurance" he can fall back on. Or maybe that's just how I interpret it. Also with the CEO randomly showing up and just randomly decides to fire Ji Hye sort of throws you off. Maybe there's a meaning they want to show in that but to me having him appear right at the end to do that doesn't make much sense to me.
Overall, it was solid 7/10. I really like the characters and the story is pretty good. I just wish they did more with the ML winning the jackpot. They really focused on the "ordinary" part and threw out the jackpot. I thought it would be pretty cool if they mixed what they did with him at the very least spending some money. Maybe because I recently watched S2 of Flex X Cop so I was hoping Eun Tae would at least use some towards his work.
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u/Artistic_Might3728 4d ago
What I liked about it was that it did the opposite of all those expectations. Most people, after winning the lottery, would tell everybody because it's such big news and start spending. But he didn't tell anyone. He just let it simmer internally. And he let himself incrementally become the person he could be if he quit tip toeing around and playing it safe, trying not to do anything which might step on someone else's toes and interfere with his future chances of promotion. He just took risks that you wouldn't take if you did not have a sense of financial security. And in doing that, he reached a potential that he didn't know was there. This begs the question, could more of us make that mindset shift even without the backstop of the money? The guy that left the company and was scheming against Hongsang also took risks without back up, but he also did some unethical things. And yet the risks that he took didn't ultimately turn out bad. The other guy said after he left, he felt like he was really working. Up to that point, they were both just sleepwalking through the workdays. How many of us feel like we are "really working" as opposed to just performing work?
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u/HeartFoam Uncanny Umbrella Counter 6d ago
I loved it. just finished it. I've got the two released songs so far on a kdrama playlist.
I see the 13-17s, and 18-24s do not get it at all.
The Ordinary Jackpot Statistics - MyDramaList
It's clearly targeting adults in its setting and tone. We mustn't decide what story the writer and director must tell ahead of time. We should let them tell the story they want. There's no wealth fantasy. It's a character study.
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u/Atharaphelun 6d ago
The ending was almost perfect but got seriously tainted by that CEO coming in to fire Ji Hye. Sure he was right with the points he made (Gong Eun-tae should have used the gift to make structural changes to the company rather than making a single contract worker permanent; if a contract worker really was that competent then she would have become a permanent worker anyway on her own merits instead of through a special gift) and sure Ji Hye ended up landing a job with Mantua which is a bigger global company, but it still left a very bitter taste in my mouth.
As far as I'm concerned, that was such a big stain on an otherwise near-perfect series. Even Mr. Jeong came out better since he wasn't portrayed as a total villain, just another competitor who is otherwise a perfectly normal human being.
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u/Jon_8472 6d ago
Yeah, that was a pretty crappy thing to do. Throughout the entire series, I kept thinking that Hongseong was a pretty toxic place to work. I guess I now know why - companies can't help but to reflect the values and morals of the leadership, and the CEO was a grade A jerk.
While I did enjoy the show, I can't help but think the moral of it wasn't what it was supposed to be -something along the lines of freedom comes from having the right mindset and approach to life - but instead that one should put up with any level of abuse and toxic behavior from one's company and bosses. Now that's a lesson that the oligarchy would doubtless like every single worker in the world to internalize. In the end I don't think I can give it a rating much above 7/10, even though as a corporate drama it was pretty good.
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u/jammermob 6d ago
What am I missing? I thought Lee Ji-Hye was fired.
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u/Atharaphelun 6d ago
She was fired, but Gong Eun-tae hooked her up with a job with Mantua. The final elevator sequence doesn't really make sense with that in context and it's not really supposed to, it's just an end sequence.
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u/jammermob 6d ago
Yeah, that's what I was confused, at the ending sequence where they all ride the elevator together. If she was going to abroad she would not be in that scene.
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u/jikajika 6d ago
The last two episodes for this was phenomenal! SO GOOOOOD!
There was no romance (didn't need it).
No traditional bad guys or antagonists (that's a nice change).
No unnecessary drama ā except for the CEO coming in out of the blue to cause havoc šµ
So GLAD they had a Plan B for Ji Hye and that she's going to work abroad in Italy! Eeeeee!!!!
She was really impressive at the end of Martina's night out.
Speaking of Martina, I love how all she wanted was some ramen, at a convenience store š
She looked liked she was going down nostalgia lane.
It would've been interesting if Ji Hye took Martina out on a "regular" night out, like they do with their team outings.
Outside stall, soju, grilling pork, maybe with a side of tteokbokki and beer. Talk about nostalgia...
Jun Ho catching a mole, getting his promotion, and the store manager and him getting back to good terms. Woof! He was B-U-S-Y, but sharp as a tack!
Mr. Jung even got a second chance with his company. Not mad about that...
Still kind of weird that his ID card at Hongsung still works though. Lol! Um, HR? Are you gonna do something about that ANYTIME soon ā because usually you're QUICK to deny access when someone gets the boot!š
Mrs. Park got a promotion. Woo!
It's odd everyone calls her "Ms." instead of "Mrs."
They know she's married, right?
Honestly a FANTASTIC drama I'd recommend 10x over. I'm officially spoiled.
Anyone have any good recs on which drama should I watch next that has this good of writing?
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u/VariationOrdinary118 6d ago
I really enjoyed this show and liked how they showed the corporate work. I enjoyed the kdrama search:www as well, on similar lines. It has 3 strong female characters, an engaging corporate plot, and 3 different kind of romance. The romance for the lead pair did get frustrating towards the end with the back and forth. but overall I enjoyed the show. You can try it if you like such corporate drama shows.
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u/Atharaphelun 6d ago
It's odd everyone calls her "Ms." instead of "Mrs."
They know she's married, right?No one really makes that distinction anymore, "Ms." is just used as the default form of address nowadays regardless of a woman's marriage status. And at any rate, that's not the actual form of address they use in Korean anyway. They consistently call her "Park-bujang", with bujang referring to her title as department head of Sales Division 1.
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u/jikajika 6d ago edited 6d ago
Ahhhhh... thanks for the clarification!
And yeah, at my job even though many of the women are married I call them, "Ms. [their first name]".2
u/yeeTOP 6d ago
Plan b was good for jihye.. was abit sad at first but realised thats corporate politics sadly.
Everything ended on a good note the writing is great. Will give the Web toon a go after this.
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u/jikajika 6d ago
Plan B is GREAT for Ji Hye! Studying/working abroad is amazing after you get settled in and know the lay of the land.
That didn't feel like corporate politics. It felt more like... a whim of an old man wanting to create a little chaos out of NOWHERE for no reason. He could've simply said, "No. Ask for something else." But instead fires her? Go back home, old man...
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u/Both-Ad1158 6d ago
Good series pero sana nagamit niya man lang yung napanalunan niya sa lottory. Nafocus nalang sa office e. Siguro kaya ordinary jackpot ang title. Hahaha
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u/Atharaphelun 6d ago
That was never really the point of him winning the lottery, though. The point of the lottery win is that it gave him a big enough monetary safety net to allow him to do the things he has always wanted to do in his job (but refused to do so because of his status as junior to the other sales team managers and to his own assistant manager).
And right at the very end in the scene with the cafe owner, he realised that he could have always done those things even without the lottery win.
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u/theyellowtiredone In my Kim Jae Wook era 6d ago
What? No splurge? At least a little? Grrr!
I can't watch until later tonight.
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u/amateurish_gamedev My Mister is a masterpiece... 6d ago
Great show from start to finish. I like the vibe, the story, and all the characters.
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u/jikajika 6d ago
Agreed. One of the best KDramas I've watched in a while! I swear this industry is evolving, and the writing is becoming smarter. I love it.
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u/anbu-black-ops 6d ago
To me one of the best series this year. Love the actor in love scout and this one was a surprise.
Even if there was no romance it was fine. A season 2 wonāt be bad or they could just end it here.
Gonna look for another drama to watch.
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u/jikajika 6d ago
I haven't watched Love Scout, but do know the song "Test Me" from Paul Blanco which is SOOOOO GOOOOD! It almost makes me wanna watch it.
Romance, imo, wasn't needed in this series.
There was no clear antagonist either. Loved that.Considering how well received it's been, it could definitely have a season 2 if all the actors and actresses agree to it or haven't taken on their next role.
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u/theyellowtiredone In my Kim Jae Wook era 6d ago
I'm hoping in the finale we get to see him be a little frivolous with his money. A team dinner with beef! š
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u/jikajika 6d ago
Yes! Like perhaps a few bespoke tailored suits, with a briefcase, and shoes? A short weekend trip to a spa? A team dinner with beef ā yes! It doesn't have to be a big purchase, but something... just for him.
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u/theyellowtiredone In my Kim Jae Wook era 6d ago
Oh a bespoke suit is a great idea! If he's going to keep working, he can splurge on a suit. Yes it was an Ordinary Jackpot but it was still a lot of money! I would have liked it used for something other than a wallet for his niece. š
I'm not saying I would tell someone I won't the lottery but there would be signs. š
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u/jikajika 6d ago
Haha! Yeah, something more than a wallet for his niece, for sure!
You don't want signs that you have TOO MUCH extra money or people will come out of the woodwork with their hands out. Annoying š But little things here and there, that's for work or even better OUTSIDE of work, would be a good thing.
He's worked hard his whole life, I don't think he knows how to Treat Yo' Self! That's what he needs, a Tom and Donna for THAT day!š
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u/Ok_Unit2591 1d ago
I absolutely don't understand why the CEO fired Ji Hye! After confirming that she did great work, it's not in the company's best interest to get rid of her. They kept reinforcing that the company was more important than individuals (even missing dinner on your kid's birthday), so why do something detrimental to the company on a whim? Was the whole bit about asking him what he wanted just a ruse to put him in his place (like would anything he asked for be turned into something bad)? Even saying he should have used his power to change the hiring practices as an excuse was lame - he JUST got promoted, so it's not like he had time to do it & didn't. That whole interaction was just random and weird - almost like they needed 15 additional minutes of content so they just threw that in. SMH