The Open Day
Black Dog returns this week with the same slow pace as the previous episodes. Despite that, the drama is still enjoyable as we witness how Ha-Neul deals with the difficulties she is facing which impresses her fellow colleagues. The mystery behind the corruption at the school is also a nice touch which definitely helps the drama become more intriguing as the episodes tick along. We begin with Ha-Neul as a little girl in a shop with her grandpa buying a dog. As she wants to choose a black one, her grandpa stops her because they are bad luck. We then jump to the present with Yeon-Woo offering his help to Ha-Neul because she switches classes with him and wants to return the favour. Before leaving, he gives her a USB stick and tells her to use it as a reference. The next morning, the principal speaks to the heads of department about his meeting from the night before with principals from other schools. It turns out that their school is the most unpopular one which worries the teachers. The principal then emails everyone in a bid to encourage them and make the school more successful. Using the material from Yeon-Woo’s USB stick, Ha-Neul delivers a successful lesson while Yi-Boon struggles with the new content. However, Ha-Neul feels guilty when she realises that Yi-Boon’s students haven’t learned anything. She then heads to her partner’s desk who berates her for changing the presentation. Ha-Neul decides to meet her halfway and suggests helping her with preparing for the open day. At the cafeteria, the short term teachers are worried about their future as their contracts haven’t been drafted yet and believe that it could just be for 5 months. Having overheard their conversation, another teacher reassures them, explaining that it always takes a while for the contracts to be ready. In the evening, Ms Park has drinks with teachers from other schools and ends up having an argument with a colleague from a prep school over the price they charge for college consultations. At the same time, Ha-Neul and Yi-Boon prepare their presentation for the open day. The next morning, some of the teachers are discussing the open day and are surprised when they realise that Yi-Boon will be leading the class. They then talk about her taking advantage of Ha-Neul as they know she wouldn’t have done much preparation. Before the open day starts, Yeon-Woo asks Ha-Neul why she ended up helping Yi-Boon. She replies that she needed to stop the power struggle as this would have ended up hurting the students in the long run. The lesson is a success thanks to Ha-Neul but unfortunately it’s Yi-Boon who gets all the praise. In the principal’s office, Ha-Neul has the opportunity to reveal she’s the one behind the presentation but again, she lets Yi-Boon takes the credit. This then results in a newfound respect from the senior teacher as we see them get on and work together. In the evening, Mr Moon tries to find out who’s behind the corruption at the school by posting a message on the forum for the short-term teacher website. Pretending to be someone who wants to apply at the school, he asks about the corruption and gets a reply from a teacher claiming to be at the school right now. This prompts him to rush inside to look for him. The next morning, Ms Park tells her colleagues that the admissions officer from Yeonhui University is coming that same day, which is a big deal as their students never get into that university. They then decide to come up with a plan to win him over. As he arrives and starts looking through paperwork, the teachers are not feeling confident which prompts them to organise a business trip to the college admission offices and invite Ha-Neul to come too which is where we close the episode. While the show is still quite slow, it does tackle the struggle students and parents face when trying to get into universities. Ha-Neul’s progress is the strongest point of the storyline and has been very enjoyable to watch so far. This week she manages to win over Yi-Boon which is no easy feat and surprises Yeon-Woo and the other teachers who are warming up to her. Ms Park’s character is quickly becoming one of my favourites, as we see how far she’s willing to go to help the school and their students; she’s the definition of tough but fair. Going forward, I have a feeling Black Dog will probably carry on being quite slow but with a decent story and good characters, this still should make this series worth watching.
