The Chair Season 1 Episode 2 Recap – The Faculty Party

Dafna and her friend park in front of Bill’s house. Dafna writes a note, sticks it in a box of pies, and leaves it on Bill’s front door. Back in the car, her friend tells Dafna she just gave her pie to a Nazi while showing her Bill’s Nazi salute video. Bill finds the pie and brings it to school, riding his daughter’s bike because his car is still in the shop.

Because a faculty soiree is happening that night, Ji-Yoon hires Vicky to babysit Ju Ju. Vicky says she’ll go to the restroom. While she’s in there, Ju Ju comes in and asks if she can see her vagina. This triggers Vicky, so she tells Ji-Yoon she needs to go. Ji-Yoon goes to his father’s house and tells him to take Ju Ju for the day.

Bill sets the pie on the table at the party, and Paul, the dean, finds the note. He tells Bill to be careful because the department is already hanging by a thread. Ji-Yoon finds Paul, who tells her he disagrees with what she e-mailed him – he does not like Yazmin for the Distinguished Lectureship. Ji-Yoon tells him they need that because they need more women of color, but he tells her she can do that as soon as one of the professors on the list gets out.

Bill makes Ji-Yoon smoke a joint. She was initially hesitant because she said there was a difference between legal and appropriate. Plus, she thinks she might be asked to do a speech later that night. Bill tells her no one asks the chair to speak at those things, so she gets high. He also tells Ji-Yoon that she is the chair, so she should give Yaz the Distinguished Lectureship if she thinks she deserves it. They make their way back to the party, and to their surprise, Paul asks Ji-Yoon to speak before everyone.

She gives a rushed speech about how the students are no longer interested in literature, which does not seem to please anyone. Her speech gets interrupted when she receives a call from her dad. She says he’ll call him back, but Bill tells her to take it because it might be important. She announces giving the Distinguished Lectureship to Yazmin, the first woman of color to receive it, and then ends the speech.

Ji-Yoon rushes to go home after his dad tells her that Ju Ju is missing. Bill goes with her, and they, together with Ji-Yoon’s dad, drive to look for Ju Ju. Ji-Yoon’s dad, speaking in Korean, tells Ji-Yoon that she should stop whatever she and Bill have because she can never compete with his dead wife. They see Ju Ju walking, and they stop. They get Ju Ju and then bring Ji-Yoon’s dad home. Ji-Yoon scolds Ju Ju and tells her that she should never run away from his grandfather. Ju Ju shouts and tells her that he is not her real grandfather and that Ji-Yoon is not her real mom. Bill asks if they like fried chicken to remove some of the tension. Ju Ju says she is starving, but Ji-Yoon tells him they must go back to the party. Bill disagrees, and they end up in a bowling alley. Ju Ju bonds well with Bill but avoids any touch from Ji-Yoon. Meanwhile, the video that shows Bill doing the Nazi salute spreads among the students.

They go home, and outside of Ji-Yoon’s home, while they’re still in the car and Ju Ju is sleeping at the back, Ji-Yoon asks Bill how he is so good with Ju Ju. She says Ju Ju Ju never runs to her and crawls to her lap. She tells Bill that she has always been worried about not being able to match with a kid, and now she wonders how Ju Ju matched with her. Bill comforts her and says that maybe Ju Ju’s birth mom believes she is a strong single mom, so she picked her. He says that he’d pick her if given a chance. Bill unfastens his seat belt, and Ji-Yoon gets the feeling that he’ll kiss her, so she quickly asks Bill if he’d like to take her car home and pick her up in the morning.

They both go out of the car. Ji-Yoon tries to unfasten Ju Ju’s seat belt, but it gets stuck, so Bill leans in to help. Close enough to kiss Ji-Yoon, Bill tries to make a move when the car moves on its own – they are parked on a downhill road. Ji-Yoon runs to the driver’s seat to pull the hand brake, but Bill’s foot gets run over before she can make it stop. Because of this, Ji-Yoon brings him to his house. She sets Ju Ju on his couch while she gives painkillers to Bill on another sofa. Bill tries to kiss her again, and she avoids it again. She says that he is not yet ready because he is still grieving. He says he is ready, but she says that if they are together, no one will take her seriously.

The next day, Ji-Yoon comes to her office and finds her phone on her desk with a note that says, “You left this.” She sees multiple texts from Lila asking her to give her a call due to an urgent matter. She calls Lila immediately but ends the call abruptly as Bill barges into her office. He is not yet aware of the video and has come to tell Ji-Yoon not to think twice about their relationship because now that she is the chair, she shouldn’t have to prove herself to anybody. He also tells her that he might be an asset to her. She is dumbfounded and is at a loss for words. A few moments later, they hear chanting from outside her office – a group of students is protesting with placards that say “Professor Dobson should go” and chants that there should be no Nazis in Pembroke.

Our Thoughts

Bill is good with Ju Ju, which is why it is sad that Ji-Yoon is still having doubts about their relationship. I mean, yes, Bill is grieving, but it looks like they already had something before Sharon died, so that might not be much of an adjustment. I think the dean is being mean to Ji-Yoon for not letting her decide what is best for her department, especially regarding the Distinguished Lectureship. I fear what the next episodes hold for Bill because the Nazi issue is no joking matter, and it looks like things have been taken out of context in his case. I hope this does not mean the end for him.