"Riders: Get Tomorrow" Episode 9 recap

The opening portion of this episode involves no rickshaws whatsoever, as the three main couples just spend time with each other in varying capacities. I was actually all right with that, because exploring these character relationships on a one-on-one level ends up telling us quite a bit about these people that we didn't know, and which matches up quite well with what we do know. For example, Yoon-jae not only knows how to fight, he also lacks the sense to know when to stop.
Elsewhere Gi-joon acts so pathetic he actually manages to come off as kind of cute. Really- guys mooning over girls and then getting all mumbly and grumbly over perceived misunderstandings is a pretty common enough character trait, but I like how Gi-joon tries to explain himself. Even more intriguingly, so does So-dam. Watching Gi-joon and So-dam interact really raised my estimation of both characters, because they're making a genuine effort to not act like jerks.

The romantic element isn't the one I'm interested in here so much as the personal element. If we take a minute to ignore the general creepiness of a guy giving a girl a job because he wants to date her, Gi-joon is in fact being a good boss here by trying to smooth these interpersonal issues over instead of using his power position to act like a bully. Gi-joon appears to be better learning good management principles, not through actual rickshaws, but indirectly by interacting with So-dam.
In terms of romance, though, I do like Yoon-jae and Mi-ram together, because they're a couple that really knows each other. That is, they were in the romantic relationship that can't really disintegrate overnight short of their trying to be outright malicious to each other. And Yoon-jae doesn't want to have an antagonistic relationship with Mi-ram. On a basic level Yoon-jae really respects Mi-ram, as is demonstrated with the spoon analogy, and so too does she respect him.
I'm beginning to think that the main problem with "Riders: Get Tomorrow" is really just a bad title and questionable marketing. The drama definitely works better as general light romantic drama than it does as...whatever the drama's been trying to do up until now. The scenes just leave more of an impact. Like everything with the guitars, or Gi-joon's plan to try and smooth things over with his mother well enough to get the rickshaw business moving. While these scenes aren't exactly funny, they do explore the characters in such a way to make them intriguing and fun to watch.
Review by William Schwartz
"Riders: Get Tomorrow" is directed by Choi Do-hoon, written by Park Sang-hee and features Kim Dong-wuk, Lee Cheong-ah, Choi Min-I, Yoon Jong-hoon, Choi Yeo-jin, Jo Byeong-gyu and more.

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