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'Hush' Episodes 1, 2: Will Soo-yeon's suicide serve as wake-up call for Han Joo-hyuk? Ji-soo's hatred grows

'Hush', another JTBC drama, has caught our attention and we cannot wait to see how the main characters will navigate life amid corrupt corporates and sold-out media houses
PUBLISHED DEC 13, 2020
Hwang Jung-min, Kyung Soo-jin in 'Hush'. (JTBC)
Hwang Jung-min, Kyung Soo-jin in 'Hush'. (JTBC)

'Hush' is the latest offering from JTBC starring Hwang Jung-min and Yoona. The show is set in the world of Daily Korea where City Desk reporter Han Joo-hyuk is considered a living legend. His exclusives and the stories that he broke are still followed by junior reporters who enter the field, however, he is not the same reporter that he was years ago. At the moment, he is assigned to the Digital Desk, nicknamed Trash Reporter for the clickbait headlines that he gives for the stories that go online, and is in general not publishing or investigating any stories.

At this point, he is introduced to a new set of interns that he is asked to train of which, one of them is his fan and another is his anti-fan. The former is Oh Soo-yeon and the latter is Lee Ji-soo. Soo-yeon has been following Joo-hyuk's work and was even inspired by him to become a journalist, but Ji-soo has a bone to pick with this reporter. For now, what we do know is that Joo-hyuk had published a story about the MBC Union with quotes from the leader of the union that had later been manipulated to suit the needs of the executives at Daily Korea. After this, the man who happened to be Joo-hyuk's friend ends up dying by suicide because he is also accused of getting bribed. Ji-soo is the daughter of this man and she makes her distrust of him clear from the very beginning. 

As the week's episodes end, a shocking twist makes it clear that this show is not going to pander to the tropes that other shows in such genre have pandered to. Soo-yeon is aware of the flaw in her application. All four interns made it through the selection process because it was supposed to be a blind test however, to be hired as a permanent employee would be difficult for her because she went to a college outside of Seoul. While the college is prestigious enough to work in a provincial city, it is not deemed worthy enough for Daily Korea. In fact, she is aware of it and has decided that this would be the last place that she would try. However, all her frustrations at failing to be hired by the main paper in Seoul has left her hurt and emotionally bruised. 

Yoona as Ji-soo in 'Hush' episode 1. (JTBC)

And at this exact time, she overhears a conversation between Joo-hyuk and his boss about how she should be removed from the permanent hire list. The reason that he cites is her college and it is unfair considering how she's the one who has scored high points with both the City Desk and Business Desk in the paper. What is worse is that the fellow interns also hear the conversation and to add to this, she is asked to take over the night shift on her last day by one of the senior reporters on the Digital Desk. Yes, this is the very definition of toxic work culture, and who in the industry can claim that this oppressive nature of ruling interns doesn't exist? So all of this ends up pushing Soo-yeon to take the decision of publishing her suicide note through Daily Korea's website and she jumps to her death. This happens in front of Ji-soo who was just about to give Soo-yeon company and in front of Joo-hyuk who wanted to comfort her with a coffee. 

This death will definitely serve as a turning point especially in Joo-hyuk's life because until this very moment, he had lived in guilt and forced himself to not forget the horrors that Ji-soo's father had faced. However, he hasn't moved on to correct the wrongs that were done in the past and it is Soo-yeon's death that will serve as a wake-up call. He remembers Soo-yeon's last words of how he had made the experience better for her and how he hopes to see him return to the reporter that he had always been and the need of the hour is for Joo-hyuk to return to the sincere, dedicated, and dogged sense of justice. However, will Ji-soo understand who was at fault for her father's death? Her intentions will drive this story.

'Hush' airs on JTBC every Fridays and Saturdays at 11 pm and can be streamed on iQiyi. 

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