Start-Up: Ep 8 The Meaning of Backup, Part 1

Shall we play “I Spy”?

Why don’t you list the different times you saw something “backed up” in this episode before reading my post? Then we can compare notes.

For now, I’ll give you five different usages of “backup.”

1.Youngsan backed up the files.

In this instance, to backup files means to copy a computer file and store it elsewhere for security.

That’s the definition used in the title, “Back Up: A copy of data stores elsewhere to prepare for when the original is lost.”

2. Back up can mean to provide proof or evidence.

Dalmi found two documents with JP’s handwriting. The two writing specimens could back up her suspicion that JP was her old pen pal, not Dosan.

In this instance, “to back up” means to prove or explain something.

3. But to back up can also mean to revive old feelings.

Hiro90 wrote this:

Ep 8, IMO shows Dalmi finding herself being reminded of her old pen pal through JP (the birthday, the handwriting) – aka, finding a “backup” of her feelings/fondness for old DS.

Dalmi asked JP when his birthday was, he said May 7. She was disappointed that it had passed already because she couldn’t do something to for him as thank you for his assistance. Then, it struck her that it was Dosan’s birthday, too. JP confirmed it. She looked pensive as he walked away.

Meanwhile, Dosan was watching their interaction from the balcony.

No doubt he was worried that Dalmi’s feelings for her first love would be rekindled if she was to find out who the old Dosan was.

This was a nice camera shot. Dosan was looking down at her. If the ground floor was to represent their past history, then Dosan could only hover and watch from the balcony, because he wasn’t part of the Dalmi’s and JP’s past.

Then, unaware that she was being observed, Dalmi stared at JP’s disappearing form. Unaware that he was being observed, JP kept walking away from her. I gathered from this shot that Dalmi was watching her childhood memories fade away, but from time to time, something from the past would remind her of the old Dosan. He was her first love after all.

Drama iyanla iyanla vanzant GIF - Find on GIFER

In this sense, the “back up” meant rekindling and reviving lost feelings. Thanks, Hiro90.

Before I forget… who’s this guy at the beach with Dalmi? Do we have spoilers? I don’t mind if he’s JP. At some point, she has to deal with this first love of hers. The sooner, the better.

4. To back up can also mean to promote and support.

At 24:00, Dalmi presented their app to the manager of the ME Group. The name of the company should have been a giveaway. lol. It was only concerned about “me” or their self-interest.

She said, “By combining image recognition and AI voice-processing, it becomes more convenient for users. If ME Group funds this service, we believe it would help enhance ME Group’s public image.” She was asking the company to back up Samsan Tech’s app because doing so would allow the company to demonstrate “superior” corporate virtues for the public.

Dalmi took JP’s advice well. JP told her that there were two kinds of big corporations with budgets to spend on “corporate social responsibility” (CSR). Ha. Before this weird acronym, this was just known as philanthropies. 

But then, people thought it was good to show that they’re holier-than-thou so they began calling these funds as “corporate social RESPONSIBILITY.” If for some good reason, you don’t support their company’s position, then YOU are being “irresponsible.”

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He explained, “The ones in blue are interested in the welfare of the handicapped. The ones in the red need to work on their image because of problematic owners, tax evasion charges, and so on. Bring that up, and they’ll listen.”

Based on Dalmi’s speech to the manager of the ME Group, ME Group belongs to red group. As I pointed out in my comments, while I find it commendable that JP compiled a list of CSRs to help her with her funding source,

“I made a list of companies that have a high CST budget for this year.” 

I found it incredibly irresponsible of him to FAIL to warn her of the pitfalls of linking up with these red companies.

Look: if a company needed to repair their image, then it must have done something unscrupulous in the first place. Yet, JP sent her to these “red” companies to beg for money, without briefing her or guiding her on how to spot and deal with unfair, shady, and exploitative offers from these “red” companies.

He sent Dalmi the lamb to the slaughter.

Or think of it this way… JP was like a parent allowing her child to go trick-or-treating at a house of a known pedophile.

Premium Vector | Little girl in angel costume with pumpkin basket for trick or treat on white background. happy halloween.source: freepik

Since Halloween is a day for receiving candies, the innocent child would be happy to take the bar of chocolate. She wouldn’t be prepared to defend herself should this pedophile suddenly attack her.

This Day in Disney History April 14th | Disney 52

Do you get that? JP was negligent. He told her to go to these red companies without fully disclosing to her the possible negative outcomes of reaching out to these companies. Dalmi was working with incomplete data.

5. To back up means to prepare an alternative or contingency plan.

JP told her to record her meeting with the Morning Group.

The recording is a “backup” plan or contingency plan because “there’s no telling what might happen. That’s why preparation matters.”

As a backup plan, she recorded the original conversations on her cellphone then presented them as evidence of Morning Group’s CEO’s duplicity in his dealings. She’s a smart girl.

Note: I’m not going overboard with praises for JP’s “quick thinking” here. Given a) his business acumen in this dog-eat-dog world, and b) his level of cynicism, I thought he SHOULD have ANTICIPATED that the Morning Group’s Chairman Won would do something shady. Why on earth would he expect such a man to show charity towards Dalmi when he mistreated his own stepdaughter-in-law? Didn’t he hear Chairman Won drool over the talent pool at Sand Box, saying that they could “take them and use them.”

JP’s early warning bell was triggered by that comment from Chairman Won, but he didn’t ACT upon it.

He already sensed that Chairman Won was a jerk, and knew Dalmi’s complicated relationship with Chairman Won’s family, yet he didn’t steer her away from Morning Group. He even included the corporation on the CSR list. Did he really think that was a good idea? Couldn’t he have predicted Dalmi’s reaction?

That was a no-brainer. Even Dosan, who wasn’t CEO material, immediately saw the CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

So JP’s last-minute warning to Dalmi was TLTL.

TLTL - "Too Little, Too Late" by AcronymsAndSlang.com

I hope he wasn’t expecting Nobel Peace Prize for that move. lol.

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****************

Five more later.

 

8 Comments On “Start-Up: Ep 8 The Meaning of Backup, Part 1”

  1. “Back up” is like a duplicate. Dosan & JP is a separate duplicate. Like how Halmoni refers to old Dosan and the now Dosan. We know they are not exactly the same but you know how when you make a back up of things, the back up remains the same. And then you continue on the current one you are working on that keeps changing.
    I felt the letter writing humanised JP and helped (or more like forced) him to see things from how he would have viewed the world. He was trying to be the kind Dosan they saw on the papers, making a duplicate of himself that isn’t really him but that subconsciously transformed him. I believe that made him to a better person he is now, hopefully.

    Dosan on the other hand tried to duplicate himself to be like JP in the letters but struggles to. Yet Dosan want to be successful like JP, not exactly duplicating JP but aspire to be similar to some extent. Like how JP tries to be what he thinks Dosan is as he wrote the letters.

  2. I just used the title translation: copy of an original for when its lost
    The title is obvious, right? We have two different people in Dalmi’s heart, despite her not knowing it. One we have her fantasy Nam Do San: her first love, her helper and her ideal guy. Two we have her real/’new’ Nam Do San: her helping hand, her partner, and the actual real version of her ideal guy. The original version in this definition points to Jipyeong. He’s the guy who she unknowingly fell in love with as Dosan. But the copy is Nam Do San. Because in episode 7 she admits she likes them both, but she’ll still choose Jipyeong’s Do San; he’s her first love, she finds her self caring and being grateful and indebted to him. The reason why Dalmi is so open and nosy with Jipyeong is because she felt indebted to him and grateful he was always helping her, and he didn’t need to. She automatically started to care for him and show up around him. But instead of seeing this as proof that Jipyeong is her endgame, remember her last words; She’s getting used to the new Nam Do San. Her feelings were being backed up/copied in two for two very different versions of Do San. She was being a bit hesitant in furthering their relationship because she noticed he was different; she didn’t know how to feel about it, but she still liked him (his hands). However, by the end of episode 7, the girl was hooked and in love again. That’s why she kissed him. She kissed him because of his actions that day.

    They were being copied without her realising it, she liked two Dosan’s in the same way. What this tells us is that she likes them both. Jipyeong and Dosan are still head to head because she refuses to give up on her fantasy and memories of her first love. But Back up also foreshadows that her original feelings are going to be lost, this is because she’ll find out the truth and be separated. I think from both guys. But because her feelings for original Dosan is actually copied and improved on, Nam Do San still has a chance to get her back. Basically, once she discovers her feelings, she’ll be confused because she likes them both. But her original feelings will be replaced by the copy.

    Another proof of how she’s backed up her feelings on New Dosan is when he asks her again in episode 8 why she likes him. This time she answers his hands first. Bare with me, let me explain. She grabbed his hands automatically as her answer, and she kissed it, instead of immediately mentioning that his old qualities were what she liked. The first time she answered this question, her heart was still on her fantasy Dosan, but now she’s realised that what she wants most of all about him are the current person he is and his hands. All he does for her as the current Dosan. She’s starting to care more about this version of him than the first version of him in her mind. It’s no longer just because she feels grateful and she cares about his past self, it’s because she’s attracted and falling for who he is naturally the more she spends time with his real Dosan self. Not the Dosan that is trying to please her or is trying to be perfect, she’s falling for him as awkward, dorky and nerdy Dosan.

  3. But I agree with you, back up also points a lot to Jipyeong. So they’re still head to head. We need time to see how they both change after the truth is revealed which guy will mature and be more useful. It can all change for all of them. Tbh I still see the clues pointing to Dosan as endgame but I can see how Jipyeong could catch up in the race.

  4. @pm3 as I rewatch this ep again I don’t see the relevance of Yongsan doing the backup. I guess it was more of the foreshadowing from Saha.

    Ep8 is definitely when JP started to like Dalmi for real. But as I rewatch the car scene I find it funny that the fans compare JP’s actions (adjusting the aircondition in the conf room and car, letting her sleep comfortably, buying the slippers, and writing down notes on the proposal) with that of Dosan’s. It doesn’t even come close in terms of level of impact or gravity.

  5. Yes.

    Yongsan was actually doing something good. He was backing up. And something that would come up as important to Dalmi in Episode 13. lol.

    I think JP didn’t WANT to like Dalmi. He threw away the plant so he wouldn’t be reminded of her… but what could he do? The plant returned to him so he decided to “give in,” take care of the plant as well as allow himself to like Dalmi.

  6. I take it back. Yongsan backing up their files is relevant during the ransomware episode. Bec the twins didn’t back up. Hahaha! Gosh I love it how everything ties together in the end.

  7. CSR I think emcompassed more than just traditional philantropies though. It sometimes include a company’s policy on their environmental impact, how they treat employees, etc. So the CSR term fits, though I’d agree corporate speak are frequently full of PR bs.

    As for JP giving DM list of CSR dept to approach without warning her the risk of working with these companies, I don’t think he was negligent in his duty. Normally if you’re getting funding from CSR depts, it’s like applying for a grant. So different from a working relationship that SST bid for later on. Where he is negligent as a mentor is not keeping in regular touch with his mentees, going as far as to avoid DM in this episode, making it harder for him to advice them on this significant deviation from their original plan. That he text DM to record the meeting is him belatedly doing his job as a mentor. I won’t give him any brownie points for that.

    In the scene where DM said she’d pick the old (fake) DS but there are moments when the new (real) DS makes her heart flutter – I thought she was finally falling in love properly. Her 15 year old first love is really just a crush, half of it in her head. While JP may have infused some of his thoughts & desires into these letters, they were reactive – like his birthday wish was triggered by what was on TV. So even if it wasn’t JP just editorialising Grandma’s words, it wasn’t the full JP that DM “fell in love” with. Love with a real person involves getting used to someone different from you & being touched by who they really are, not projecting your desires onto the words of others who because of the delayed nature of letters can’t contradict & correct your projection immediately. It’s lovely to see her having a satisfying grown up relationship rather than a sweet but ultimately bad for you girly crush. Move on from that outdated backup girl, you’ve made too much progress to revert to that old buggy backup!

  8. Wait!!! Is that another pen shot??? With the list of potential investors from JP?

    *Late to the party with no apologies!*

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