The Chair Season 1 Episode 4 Recap – Don’t Kill Bill

Ji-Yoon tells Bill that the school gave him temporary suspension because of what happened at the town hall and the altercation with the campus police. She says he is not allowed on campus, so he gets upset because the campus police are not his idea; it is the dean’s. He asks Ji-Yoon if she even defended him. Ji-Yoon gets upset and tells him that she has been dealing with students coming to her office crying. Their conversation gets interrupted when Ji-Yoon gets a call from Ju Ju’s school. Ju Ju gets suspended as well.

Joan finishes a class, and when all students have left, the IT guy comes and tells her that he has already hacked into RateMyProfessor.com. Joan said she could not be tangentially involved in anything illegal, but then she wanted to know who posted a bad review about her. The IT guy tells her that the reviews were posted from the Humanities library.

From The Pembroke Daily, Charlotte Lo tries to get some answers from Lila about the controversy surrounding Bill Dobson. Lila tells her that she cannot answer because her department chair does not want her to talk to anyone about the issue.

In Ji-Yoon’s office, students Dustin and Capri come to tell her that they know that the Poli Sci department has denied tenure to the only person of color in their department. They say they’re worried about Professor McKay and presented a letter signed by 320 students about the impact Professor McKay has had. They tell her they will take action if Professor McKay is denied tenure.

Ji-Yoon goes to see Elliot. She asks him about his tenure letter for Jaz is going. She tells him that she is currently a hotshot, having 8,000 followers on Twitter. He tells her that she should not judge Yaz based on her number of followers because Jesus only had 12. She says she does not want to pull rank but wants him to do it because it is the best for their department.

Elliot watches the students have fun during class and enjoy literature under Yaz’s supervision.

Back at home, Ju Ju and Bill decide to exchange assignments; Ju Ju writes Bill’s apology, while Bill writes hers.

Paul tells Ji-Yoon that Mrs. Whittenden wants her to read some of David’s books. He also tells her that David has happily agreed to take over Bill’s classes so that he will need Bill’s syllabus and lecture notes. She tells him that Bill is not just going to hand over his notes, but he tells her that she needs to take her role more seriously because she is the department chair, not Bill’s peer.

Later that night, Ji-Yoon comes home, and Bill prepares her food. Bill asks her when she needs him to be there the next day to take care of Ju Ju again. Ji-Yoon tells him that he does not have to do that, but Bill tells her that being with Ju Ju does not make him miss teaching, so he likes it. Ju Ju comes from her bedroom and asks why Bill left. She asks him to go to bed with her again.

While preparing for bed, Elliot tells his wife that Yaz does not teach the students. Instead, she wants to hang out with them.

The next day, Bill spends time with Ju Ju again. He prepares her food and teaches her in preparation for her upcoming presentation because she is the cultural ambassador for Dia de Los Muertos.

Joan comes to the library in disguise and meets the IT guy so they can catch who posts bad reviews about her. A few minutes in, a new post goes live, and they discover that the one who posted is inside the library because of the IP address. She scours the library until she finds a student typing. The student quickly walks out of the library, but Joan catches up with him outside.

Elliot experiences a problem while trying to run the copier. Yaz sees him and helps him. He gets the copies he needs but leaves the original on the machine. Yaz accidentally sees it.

Bill brings Ju Ju outside to play with water balloons to teach her the concept of air resistance and physics. While playing, Ju Ju runs towards the campus and tells Bill they should surprise Ji-Yoon. Since Bill is not allowed on campus, he tells Ju Ju not to go there, but she does not budge.

Joan confronts her student, Steve, about the posts. She loudly scolds him and tells him to stay out of her classroom. Other students are watching as this happens. After Steve walks out on Joan, the students ask Joan what she’s teaching next semester.

Yaz sees Ji-Yoon putting up an announcement about David Duchovny. She approaches her and tells her about Elliot’s letter. Ji-Yoon tells her that she will not let Elliot send it. Yaz asks Ji-Yoon why she let them choose David Duchovny for the Distinguished Lectureship. Ji-Yoon tells her that she gave them Duchovny so they can give her tenure. Yaz tells her she shouldn’t be pimping Duchovny and shouldn’t be asked to stand out. Ji-Yoon says she’s trying and feels like she has been handed a ticking time bomb. She says that Elliot still holds lots of institutional power and is insecure because no one takes his classes anymore. Yaz sarcastically tells her that she must be sorry for Elliot because he has been ruling the profession for 40 years.

Ju Ju continues to run towards the campus, so Bill has no choice but to follow her. A student sees him and tells him that he shouldn’t back down. Meanwhile, Ji-Yoon goes to Bill’s office to find his lecture notes so she can hand them to David. Bill gets inside the building while looking for Ju Ju and ends up in his office. He sees Ji-Yoon with his notes, and she tells him that the dean asked David to teach his classes while he’s on suspension. He says he’s not giving up his notes because those are his intellectual property. While they struggle to get their hands on the notes, Ji-Yoon realizes that Ju Ju is not with Bill. Bill suddenly remembers why he is on campus. They both run outside to find Ju Ju balancing herself while standing on a ledge. She says she wants to jump to Bill, but Ji-Yoon tells her not to. She does not budge. She still jumps to Bill. Ji-Yoon tries to get her from Bill, but she insists on staying with Bill. She even asks Bill to come for dinner. The three of them make their way to the car and leave together. Paul watches all these from a distance and shakes his head.

Our Thoughts

If only Ju Ju Ju knew how to listen, then Bill wouldn’t have been on campus when he shouldn’t be, and the dean wouldn’t think that something was going on between Bill and Ji-Yoon. I feel sad for Ji-Yoon because she is trying her best to ensure that Yaz gets what she deserves, but that means she’d have to give in to the dean’s wishes even when she shouldn’t. Life is just really unfair for her, which is just so sad. Ju Ju’s not being close and obedient to her adds to her daily struggles, and I can only imagine how difficult it is for her to balance her work and be a mother given these challenges.