Recap: Search: WWW Episode 5
We left off Episode 4 with Bae Ta Mi’s notifications going crazy and Park Morgan coming to rescue her from the prying eyes of the public. This recap of Search: WWW continues in episode 5 with more insight into the workings of the real-time search words and the lives of our main characters.
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Episode 5
The scene opens with Director Song(Jeon Hye Jin) at the bedside of popular actor, Han Min Kyu(Byun Woo Suk.) Director Song asks the young man if he’s disappointed to be alive. He responds that he has no confidence to face tomorrow. She reminds him that death will not erase him from the internet.
The next scene rewinds slightly from where we left off with Park Morgan(Jang Ki Yong) and Bae Ta Mi(Im Soo Jung.) We now see Morgan getting out of his car in front of Barro and looking around the street. He makes a phone call but gets no response.
A black and white montage shows us the quick progression that led to Bae Ta Mi topping the real-time search words. A story was leaked linking Han Min Kyu’s days as a bar host to an unnamed female executive at a popular web portal. Since Bae Ta Mi has so recently been in the news with her testimony in front of Congress, her name is the one people most quickly link to the story.
The color returns to the scene as it centers on Bae Ta Mi standing terrified in the cafe where she had been working peacefully.
At Barro
Scarlett(Lee Da Hee) demands to know how Tammy/Bae Ta Mi wound up on the search list. The team understands why Tammy’s name has been linked to the story, but don’t yet know if it’s true. Scarlett tries to protect Tammy from further scrutiny.
Meanwhile
Park Morgan has led Bae Ta Mi away from the cafe. They have found a quiet space to speak alone. Ta Mi places the blame on herself. If she had let them remove Han Min Kyu’s name from the search words, perhaps she herself wouldn’t be trending now.
Morgan tells her not to blame herself. She asks him if he’s just being kind by not asking her if the rumor was true. He says he just selfishly doesn’t want to know if it’s true that she once dated the handsome young actor.
She chuckles at his response and he asks her where she wants to go. He’ll take her home if she wants, or he’ll pack a bag and run away with her if she wants to run. But our girl is not one to run and hide. She knows exactly where she needs to go.
Unicon
Director Song and CEO Na In Kyung(Yoo Seo Jin) discuss the trending rumor. Director Song’s boss asks her if the rumored link to Bae Ta Mi could be true. Song Ga Gyeong answers that she knows the rumor is not about Bae Ta Mi.
Barro
The team discusses whether Bae Ta Mi’s name should be removed from the trending list. A regular citizen would normally be removed while a celebrity or politician would not.
When Tammy arrives at the office, the team has many questions for her. Is the rumor true? If not, they can remove the stories as defamatory. Has she come as Bae Ta Mi the trending search person, or as Tammy their boss?
Tammy tells her team that she’s there as their boss and she does not believe she has the right to be removed from the search results. She informs them that while the contents of the rumors are not true, the people have the right to search for her name. She apologizes for the inconvenience as the team prepares for a long night of fielding phone calls and drafting legal responses. Scarlett, however, is not interested in her apologies.
Park Morgan drives Bae Ta Mi to her apartment. They find it to be surrounded by reporters. Her phone continues to ping with notifications. Morgan takes it and turns it off before driving away with Ta Mi still in the car.
Millim Sound Studio
Morgan takes Ta Mi back to his company. He has an apartment inside, overlooking the office. He provides Ta Mi with a change of clothes and the things she’ll need for a shower. They make flirty small talk for a bit as Morgan offers to distract her with tales of his youth. Ultimately, a tired Ta Mi decides to take a rain check and lets Morgan tuck her into his bed before he leaves.
As exhausted as she is, Ta Mi is unable to sleep. She sneaks downstairs and begins to search herself on Morgan’s laptop. She reads many headlines, including ones reporting on Barro’s denial that the rumors connect to Bae Ta Mi. As she scrolls through, the internet suddenly becomes disconnected.
Morgan tells Ta Mi to go to bed, but she says that she can’t sleep either way. She wants to see it all and put it to rest. Morgan sits next to Ta Mi and asks her to let him go through it with her. Instead, the two just chat for a while.
Morgan apologizes to Ta Mi for quitting the job she had gotten him at Barro. He also apologizes for not telling Ta Mi that he had been hired back at Unicon. Switching the direction of the conversation, he asks her why she hasn’t washed her legs recently
So Ta Mi wacks him with a pillow.
Which leads to one of those famously long drama moments of closeness and staring into each other’s eyes.
Morgan confesses that he had an ulterior motive for bringing her to his home.
While Ta Mi is clearly tempted to make use of his offer of, er, distraction… She doesn’t want to unfairly use his feelings that way. She goes to bed and leaves Morgan alone and… something. Confused, frustrated, disappointed? It’s unclear what exactly he’s feeling, but he’s swallowing whatever emotion it is in almost audible gulps.
The next day
Bae Ta Mi’s name continues to trend in the real-time searches. And everyone she sees seems to be talking about her and staring.
The management at Barro discusses what they should do with Tammy after the damage she has caused the company. CEO Brian(Kwon Hae Hyo) is not interested in entertaining their thoughts though.
Brian argues that there is nothing wrong with a company speaking up for an innocent employee. They CAN do it so why shouldn’t they do it? He doesn’t believe that Tammy’s ‘scandal’ has damaged the company at all. In fact, he believes his public defense of an employee helps the image of their company.
When Tammy arrives at work, she tells Brian that she was able to sleep well knowing that he was fighting for her.
In the team office
Scarlett learns that Jenny(Ha Seung Ri) is working with the company’s security team. Bae Ta Mi’s name has dropped down to number eight on the trending search words list. Suddenly, the team all receive messages and run off to gather in the security office to meet with Jenny. They learn that the search word trend for Tammy’s name was artificially created.
Scarlett asks if Tammy can think of anyone who would want to do this to her. She answers that yes, lots of people hate her. She then continues to muse that it wouldn’t be so annoying if at least the rumor were true 😜
Scarlett tells Jenny to send the information they’ve uncovered on to the cyber investigation bureau. Brian stops Jenny and asks to speak with Scarlett and Tammy privately. He tells Tammy that in this, the company cannot protect her. If it gets out that real-time searches can be so easily manipulated, it really would damage the company’s reputation. Jenny overhears the conversation between her three superiors.
Outside the Barro building
Ta Mi finds a hoard of crazy Han Min Kyu fangirls waiting for her.
One rumor had suggested that Bae Ta Mi was the one who released the video of the young actor working in the host bar as revenge for his ditched Barro commercial. The fangirls are furious at her for causing their ‘oppa’ (yeah right, he’s younger than most of these women) to try and kill himself. Ta Mi is not someone who allows herself to be attacked without retaliation though.
She goes to her salon and gets her hair washed, and then finds some solitude in her secret, signal-less hideout.
In the signal-free zone
As she sits and thinks about everything that’s happened in the last day, Ta Mi’s sense of loneliness increases. Suddenly her phone rings. In that secret signal-less spot, Park Morgan’s phone call reaches her.
Morgan arrives to get Ta Mi. Rain begins to fall as he exits his car. Ta Mi sits unmoving in the rain.
Morgan apologizes that he is so lacking. He can’t help solve Ta Mi’s problem. Morgan can’t even offer her an umbrella. The only thing he can provide is his presence.
Morgan may not know to keep an umbrella in his car, but he does know about the important things, he says. And proceeds to remove his coat and rescue Ta Mi’s designer handbag. Realizing that she’s no longer alone, Ta Mi takes Morgan’s proffered hand.
The two retreat to a covered table at a corner store. Morgan buys a popsicle for Ta Mi and tells her it’s for her puffy eyes. He asks her why she was crying. Ta Mi replies that she was lonely. She tells him about how no signal has ever reached her in that secret spot and she can’t understand how his call was able to reach her there.
*That’s… That’s not actually how fish tanks work Morgan. They’re filled with water, not fairy dust.
At Unicon
Unicon has discovered the falsification of the keyword search as well. They come to the same conclusion as Brian did regarding turning the findings over to Cyber investigations.
It’s clear that the search was falsified to keep Song Ga Gyeong’s name from being connected to the anonymous female executive in the article about Han Min Kyu. CEO Na wonders who could have done it. She rightfully, but rudely, states that it’s not something Director Song could have done without her Mother-in-law’s permission.
Back in her office, Song Ga Gyeong muses over who it is that cares for her enough to keep her name out of the rumor mill.
Moving to a small cafe, we get a hint about Park Morgan’s background. A man, possibly his father, presents him with a cooler full of freshly caught fish to put in his freezer. They discuss Morgan’s move back to Unicon and comfortably joke with each other.
Nearby
In a car, Pyo Joon Soo(Kim Nam Hee) takes a phone call from Scarlett while sitting next to his other girlfriend.
The younger woman clearly already suspects his behavior. She accepts his excuses that appeal to her vanity.
Claiming a work emergency, Pyo Joon Soo drops his girlfriend off on the side of the road and drives off. But he happens to drop her off near the handsome and young Park Morgan. Morgan recognizes Pyo Joon Soo as the scoundrel Ta Mi told him was a two-timer. Pyo Joon Soon comes back to return a bag to the woman and finds her talking amiably to Park Morgan. When she asks how the two men know each other, Morgan decides to be brutally honest.
The young woman immediately believes Park Morgan that her boyfriend is two-timing her. Pyo Joon Soo asks her why she would believe a stranger she just met.
In a busy restaurant
Song Ga Gyeong dines with her husband’s family in a private room upstairs while the patrons in the rest of the restaurant complain about the long wait for food and the poor service they are receiving. Ga Gyeong’s in-laws bring up the search word manipulation while her mother-in-law makes comments about Ga Gyeong’s parents.
In the car on their way home, CEO Jang(Ye Soo Jung) makes phone calls manipulating politics. When she hangs up, Jang Hee Eun asks her daughter-in-law what her dream is.
At Barro
Jenny approaches Tammy with information that she found out about the person who performed the search word manipulation. Tammy is unsure what to do with the file she is given, but Jenny’s words stay with her.
The next day
Tammy speaks to Brian in his office and tells him that she is going to take the day off to go find out the truth behind the attack on her. Brian isn’t sure he likes the idea.
Ta Mi leaves the office and heads to the address she was given. She confronts the perpetrator who takes off running. Ta Mi tries to give chase, but she is out of shape. Luckily, back up arrives.
Cha Hyeon/Scarlett pursues the man through the neighbourhood jumping across rooftops, sliding over cars, and generally being a badass. Ta Mi catches up with them eventually.
Brian sent Cha Hyeon to support Ta Mi. They take the man back to his office to collect the evidence that they need. Cha Hyeon takes pictures of the illegal set up while Ta Mi finally finds out who was behind the set-up. They leave the office in worse condition than they found it.
Cha Hyeon offers to go with Ta Mi to confront the person who set her up, but Ta Mi declines the offer. She thanks Cha Hyeon for her help and leaves to find the office of a person she half expected but hoped it wasn’t.
Oh Jin Woo’s Office
Song Ga Gyeong’s husband(Ji Seung Hyun) makes small talk with Ta Mi despite knowing what she is there for. This is when we begin to discover the true levels of devotion that Oh Jin Woo has for his wife. Ta Mi makes the connection, realizing that he implicated her in order to protect his wife who was the real sponsor of the tabloid tale.
Oh Jin Woo provides Ta Mi with a bag full of money. She demands an apology first, which he denies her. The man reminds her that an apology won’t put food on the table. In the end, Ta Mi accepts the money.
As Ta Mi rises to leave the office, Song Ga Gyeong arrives. She stares in disbelief at her husband and former friend, realizing immediately what was going on. Ta Mi doesn’t know whether Ga Gyeong was a part of this or not, but she leaves the office with a parting barb.
The street below
Ta Mi makes a phone call, and shortly she is joined by Cha Hyeon and her trunk full of sports equipment. We already know that Cha Hyeon likes to hit things when she gets angry. Now Ta Mi thinks she’d like to try doing things Cha Hyeon’s way for a change.
The two women utterly destroy the car of the man who made Ta Mi’s life miserable in recent days. The car alarm blares as they continue to smash and dent every inch of glass and metal until suddenly a voice stops them in their tracks. Cha Hyeon is shocked when she realizes who the car belongs to, but Ta Mi is unfazed by Oh Jin Woo’s appearance. She calmly picks up the bag of money that he had given her and throws it back at his feet.
Final thoughts:
Things are really ramping up now. This final scene was so incredibly satisfying. I really love seeing Cha Hyeon and Ta Mi beginning to connect as friends as well as colleagues. Also, the layers of the relationship between Song Ga Gyeong and her husband are really beginning to peel back now to reveal so much more than just a loveless marriage to a cheating husband. The drama is a lot of fun and just seems to get better every week. Have you finished watching it yet? Let me know what your thoughts are.
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