Race (레이스) is the latest K-drama addition to Disney+ Hotstar’s catalogue of Korean content, and it has been directed by Lee Dong-yoon and written by Kim Roo-ri. Starring Lee Yeon-hee as Park Yoon-jo, Moon So-ri as Goo Yi-jung, Hong Jong-hyun as Ryu Jae-min, Jung Yun-ho (TVXQ’s Yunho) as Seo Dong-hoon in the titular roles, the workplace drama premiered on May 10, 2023, with its first 2 episodes.
Race Episode 6 has a runtime of 57 minutes.
The closer-to-life workplace dramedy and its fun ensemble follow Park Yoon-jo’s drive and professionalism at a PR agency. Despite not pursuing a formal education, her undeterred work ethic is her biggest strength. After landing a job at a Korean conglomerate, she believes that she’s finally on her way to achieve great things until the truth of her employment is revealed and brings her down again. Nevertheless, she keeps treading on the same path, charting a journey to prove she’s right where she belongs and deserves to be. Yoon-jo’s Race will stand as a testament that hustling through hardships does make a difference and that one’s worth can’t be defined by their CV.
– Race Episode 6 Review Contains Spoilers –
Race Episode 6 Recap
Race episode 6 starts with Yoon-jo finding her mother sitting in her car alone. She joins her, and they share their burden with each other. Meanwhile, Jae-min is out having drinks with Yi-jung and asks her why, in spite of saying otherwise, she has come back to Korea. Yi-jung wonders the same thing and thinks back to Ji-hyeon, telling her to join her in Korea in order to restructure the company and give it a new lease on life. However, the answer upsets Jae-min, who gets up to leave right after – but not before telling her that he is working at Seyong for her.
The next morning, Seyong comes out with a proper apology to the team for their careless response to the controversy, and it seems like people are also turning around when it comes to their feelings regarding Yoon-jo. However, Yi-jung gets called to Gu-young’s office and gets to hear an earful from them for admitting to everyone their wrongdoing. Instead of trying to explain herself, though, she simply makes an exit, leaving the two executives in the room flustered.
Elsewhere in the office, Sun-tae shifts Jae-min to Young-ho’s team out of nowhere, leaving even the team leader shocked. Chul-jun tries to talk to Sun-tae about it but gets bribed with talks of a promotion that leaves everyone to shut up about the issue. At his new desk, Jae-min finds himself stuck with Gi Dae-chun, who, it seems, isn’t too fun.
As this goes down, Yoon-jo is having the time of her life with the Celltics project’s meeting. However, it turns out that since Yoon-jo joined the team late, she is bringing up things that have already been dealt with. Fortunately for them, Dong-hoon’s excitement to see Yoon-jo in the team proves to be beneficial for Seyong, and Eun-jeong catches the drift pretty fast. She proposes for them to go to dinner together that day, and everyone enthusiastically agrees to it.
Interestingly enough, Eun-jeong seems to have taken a liking to Yoon-jo and advises her to remember her position in the office and work accordingly. She asks her to use her authority and to never apologise for suggesting changes since it might be difficult to be authoritative later on.
At the dinner, Dong-hoon brings up the dinner that he wanted to schedule with Yoon-jo and makes it very apparent that he wants it to be a date sort of setting. Yoon-jo catches that train of thought as well and mentions it to him, resulting in him turning red in the face. Jae-min also catches their little conversation and protectively asks Yoon-jo to be careful of Dong-hoon. Either way, the conversation steers to Jae-min getting transferred, and Eun-jeong is left frustrated that Sun-tae is retaliating because he took Yoon-jo’s side.
Also Read: Race Episode 5 Recap and Review: Yoon-jo Finds a Ray of Sunshine
Suddenly, Dong-hoon asks Jae-min why he took Yoon-jo’s side, and he mentions that it’s not a big deal and doesn’t concern him either way. He further tells everyone that he is ok with the change and is better off without the huge workload. However, his work seems to be a rather embarrassing downgrade.
Elsewhere, at the hiring meeting for the chief strategy officer, Gu-young and his team leave everyone seething with their ego and superior attitude. Ji-hyeon is left flustered and shares her past with Yi-jung, who tells her to focus on the present and do better. On the other hand, Yoon-jo learns that Dong-hoon will pick her up for the Celltics offline event that they have for work. In the car, she finds herself laughing when it turns out that Dong-hoon has brought a bevvy of coffees for her, and it’s clear from his face that he was clearly waiting for her excited reaction.
At the event, the two of them walk around a bit and go through everything when suddenly Dong-hoon is pulled into a video call with Tony from Traders. In the call, Dong-hoon’s English-speaking proficiency leaves Yoon-jo giddy, and he isn’t even trying to hide how happy he is for her to have witnessed that! Later on, she advises him not to overwork since it might project an incorrect impression of him to his colleagues, and he agrees with her. However, he assures her that he doesn’t usually pick his clients up – he’s just doing that for her.
Also Read: Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938 Episode 6 Recap and Review: Hong-joo is Kidnapped by a Demon!
The next day, Jae-min and Chul-jun talk about the CCO position and who is batting for whom to get the CSO position and what it might mean for the company. Meanwhile, Yoon-jo gives over the pop-up store survey and is disappointed with the results, now left wondering what to do regarding their products and how to improve everything. Meanwhile, Jae-min pushes off an unruffled dinner, having warned Yi-jung that they are having dinner at a Korean restaurant and, thus, wearing a skirt might be uncomfortable.
Race Episode 6 Ending
Either way, the conversation and the situation, in general, turn out not to be Yi-jung’s thing, especially when things start to become confrontational. It’s clear that the team is yet to accept Yi-jung’s speciality and role in the company as well as the change that Seyong is about to go through. Afterwards, Yi-jung and Jae-min have an honest conversation wherein he mentions that he feels hopeful that she is there at the Seyong.
The last scene shows Jeong Su-hwan entering the office, which leaves everyone shocked. He goes up to Yoon-jo and seems displeased with her report about the Celltics pop-up store.
Race Episode 6 Review
We have heard of Jeong Su-hwan, but now that his entry has come about, complete with the ominous music, I am curious to see what challenges he will bring forward in front of Yoon-jo. Or, who knows, maybe he will take a liking to her, and this will make her relationship with the CEO sour. Either way, it’s going to be an interesting ride.
Meanwhile, the promotion aspect will also be interesting to witness. With 4 people vying for a spot and the only woman in that team now pregnant, how will it play out?
I quite liked this episode; there was some light, fun moments that really helped to de-escalate the situation from the previous episode and gave us some small character backstories. I am still unsure where Jae-min and Yi-jung stand, or, again, maybe I am just in denial. Either way, it’s going to be thrilling from here on out, hopefully. Lovers of workplace dramas might just have a good cookie in their hands!
Race is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.