I shall watch it for now. 🎉🎉🎉😂

If the last non-romantic office kdrama you saw was “Misaeng: Incomplete Life” (2014), then it may be good to follow it up with “The Ordinary Jackpot.” I think they can be viewed as bookends. “Misaeng” is about a young intern learning to navigate corporate world with his diverse group of coworkers. “The Ordinary Jackpot” (TOJ) is about a middle manager who’s unlearning years of being a pushover in the office.

Both male leads in these kdramas have delayed developments. But in the case of Gong EunTae in TOJ, his 1.3 billion KRW (roughly $800K) windfall from winning the lottery empowers him to act like a “boss” for a change, instead of the wuss that he’s known to be. Though his winnings aren’t enough to purchase a home, much less to retire in Seoul, his new assertiveness allows him to foster a better relationship with his coworkers, and a better handle of corporate politics. In short, his “ordinary” jackpot enriches him in an extraordinary way. It’s “priceless.”

Crossing my fingers that this kdrama doesn’t go down the sappy route.

Episode 1. Blessed Are Those Who Endure

Episode 1 begins with a lofty observation by Gong EunTae (ET) that time is the universal equalizer of all. Whether you’re rich or poor, good or evil, old or young, time passes by with complete indifference.

ET realizes that, in every stage of his life, he’s labored long and hard. He’d been so convinced that working long hours and enduring hardship would lead to a better life. However, lately, he’s noticed that a change has come over him. He’s lost that fire, that spark. Over time, he’s become wearied, listless, and indifferent.

He can’t even get angry when he’s mistreated by:

the dry cleaner who lost his shirt and didn’t offer any compensation,
his assistant manager who berates him for handing over accounts they’ve worked so hard on,
his boss who pressures him to take on another failing company,
the store clerk who pushes him to buy a lotto ticket because the store machine isn’t working (then won’t even give him a 100 won plastic bag on the house after all that trouble), and
his brother who treats him like the Bank of Seoul but needs their mother to do the asking for him.

It’s high time that Lady Luck paid ET a visit.

Speaking of Lady Luck, in the epilogue of the show, ET’s female colleague hangs around in her office late at night, pretending to have lots of workload when she’s actually waiting for ET to finish work. Awww. Cute.

Episode 2. One in 8,145,060

I’ve got to give it to the guy. Though ET’s been infuriatingly passive at the workplace, his visions of rage-quitting are pretty violent, and hilarious.

It’s said that his odds of winning the jackpot are one in 8,145,060. But on the same day that he goes to claim his prize money, he encounters the other winner, an old woman. Lol.

Old woman: Isn’t it amazing?
ET: Pardon?
Old woman: They say the odds are one in eight million. Just yesterday, I thought I was the luckiest person in the world. But sitting here with another winner makes me feel like it’s not such a big deal.

But I guess, meeting the old lady is another form of good luck because he picks up something new from her.

ET: Have you decided what you’re going to do with the money?
Old woman: I’m going to get angry.
ET: Pardon?
Old woman: I’ve never really gotten angry in my life. I’ve put up with too much all this time. Maybe it’s time I started letting myself get angry. I think so.

And when it rains, it pours.

Later that morning, he chats with the barista at the coffee shop he patronizes, and he strikes a conversation with the man, too. Like with the old lady, he’s curious to know what the barista would do if he hypothetically won the lottery. The man also gives him a good idea to spend the money on what makes him happy.

I like that Lady Luck – in the form of statue holding a cornucopia overflowing with golden coins – is present in the room with him when he’s with these two people. It’s as if she’s giving her seal of approval and saying that these two individuals aren’t steering wrong. What are the odds of that?

In the epilogue, ET visits a real estate agent, looking for places “to generate stable rental income.” I think the agent is priming him to make a big investment on real estate, but he ends the discussion. He doesn’t trust the agent.

Episode 3. What I Believe In

At a team dinner, ET is asked what he believes in. He just professed to being immune to other people’s compliments or reprimands, so they’re interested to know what he considers trustworthy. In his mind then flash the numerous times he sat working hard at his desk, arrived early at work, and left late at night. Then, he answers with a smile.

ET: My past. I believed in the life I’ve lived.

His staff is awestruck.

GiTae: Wow! That’s so cool. Mr. Gong, can I use that line from now on?
Asst Manager: No! Don’t you dare!
GiTae: “My past.” “I believe in the life I’ve lived.”
ET: Don’t copy me. This is embarrassing.
Asst Manager: (teasing GiTae) You can’t believe in the life you’ve lived! You’ll get in big trouble!

In other words, ET believes in hard work. Or if we want to be biblical about this, “You reap what you sow.”

I think the whole point of this episode is to show ET’s new determination to fight for his Team 5. He realizes that because he’s been such a wimp and pushover, his Team were treated like a repository of all failing accounts/clients in the Sales Department. But once his Team members worked their asses off to turn around these failing accounts and made them successful, the other teams wanted to swoop in and claim these accounts as theirs. They didn’t share the workload, but they wanted a share in the rewards of Team 5’s labor.

In the epilogue, GiTae is supposed to be transcribing the minutes of ET’s client meeting. But he can’t help rewinding the tape and practicing one-liners from ET. He’s fanboying his boss. Lol. And to his utter embarrassment, the others catch him in mid-sentence.

Episode 4. Each Other’s Cause, Each Other’s Effect
(note to myself: there’s a typo the show here. It said Episode F on the caption. Unless “F” means something else in Korean…lol)

This is an interesting concept, and I’ll wait and see how it pans out. So far, the employees of this company have been working with these unhealthy attitudes:

a. They’re in a zero-sum game. Everybody’s competing against each other; one team’s loss is another team’s win; every man for himself.

But ET went to the Deputy Director and proposed a project for the entire sales division, and not just Team 5. This division project, if done well, could block the sales of their competitor (an ex-team leader like them).

b. They’re just an ordinary, unimportant cog in the wheel.

That’s why JiHye, the young contract worker on Team 5, suddenly began tearing up when she received praises from ET for the report she made.

ET then brought her to the rooftop to privately apologize that he didn’t realize sooner that she’d been working hard (and coming early, to boot) because she was anxious to prove herself and earn a permanent position.

ET: When a team delivers results, the team leader gains leverage. If that happens, I think I could finally put my foot down and say that, no matter what, you’re someone our Sales Team 5 can’t do without.

Then he handed her the work files she was working on.

ET: It’s the work you created. Keep it in your wallet. No matter how things turn out, it doesn’t change the value of the person who made this, does it? Don’t trust the company. And don’t trust me either. Just trust the value of Lee JiHye, the person who created it.

In short, everybody on the team has a positive or negative impact on the other members. No one can say that her efforts (or lack thereof) are insignificant or irrelevant. Even a small pebble can create a big ripple, and all that.

In the epilogue, JiHye is happily shopping for clothes. I hope she doesn’t develop a fangirl crush on ET.

That’s it for me. Let’s enjoy the show.