The Chair Season 1 Episode 6 Recap – The Chair

During Ju Ju’s session with a psychiatrist, Ji-Yoon shares that her mom never wanted her to do household chores because she is going to be a doctor. She says she got engaged when she was 36, but things didn’t go as planned when her fiance got a job in Michigan. She says that after that, she buried herself in work, and soon, she got begged by universities to apply. She says that Pembroke gave her all that she wanted, so she stayed, but now she is afraid to show her face on campus because of the issue surrounding her and the gag order she’s accused of giving.

Ji-Yoon brings Ju Ju to school for her presentation. Ji-Yoon’s father comes with her instead of Bill.

During a lecture, Ji-Yoon asks her class a question, but they are more interested in what she has to say. A student says that some women in the academy pretend to be allies but are not doing the work. She says it’s not enough to insert a few people of color.

The IT guy gives Joan a pep talk before she goes into the Ethics and Compliance office to file a complaint. She finds the same Title IX coordinator she talked to before. The coordinator says that they merged Title IX and Ethics and Compliance. She says that when she started, she was offered $26,000, and then she found out that John was offered $16,000 more even when they began the same year. She says she wants someone to acknowledge what happened. The coordinator says that there is no one there from the 80s who can be held accountable. She asks Joan if she has talked to her chair.

Joan, Elliot, and John go to Dean Larson and tell him about their plan to have a vote of no confidence in Ji-Yoon’s leadership. Paul tells them that after Bill’s termination hearing, Ji-Yoon is going to recommend Bill be dismissed, and that will undo what they think of Ji-Yoon. He insists that they wait and see how the hearing goes.

Bill meets with a lawyer regarding his case. The lawyer tells him that since he is already considered a scandalous figure, he should move to another city of his choosing. She says that his ability to make a living is in jeopardy, which is not good because he has a daughter who needs him to afford college.

While preparing for the hearing, Paul tells Ji-Yoon that Bill’s case has become a reputational matter for Pembroke and herself. He says that the perception about her is that she is defending her boyfriend.

Ji-Yoon talks to Lila and tells her that what happened is not her fault. Lila tells Ji-Yoon that she wrote a statement in support of Bill. However, Ji-Yoon does not accept it and instead tells her to give it to the Dean. Ji-Yoon asks Lila if she’s okay with Professor Barron taking over as her dissertation adviser. “You’re putting me on a lifeboat,” Lila says. Ji-Yoon says it feels like it’s time she gets on a lifeboat. Lila asks Ji-Yoon if she has one.

Ji-Yoon cries in their bathroom alone, and she comes out and folds some laundry while still sobbing. In Korean, Ji-Yoon’s father tells her not to cry in front of Ju Ju because it will scare her. Ju Ju hugs her and tells her she’s not scared, also in Korean. They both gasp upon learning that Ju Ju does understand Korean.

Dafna knocks on Bill’s door. Despite Bill’s refusal to let her in, Dafna still comes in and sits on his couch. Bill tells her that he is old enough to be her dad, and whatever she thinks she feels for him is not about him. Dafna stops him and tells him she did not come there to fuck him. They both laugh when they realize what is happening. Dafna asks him if he is still with the same publisher, and she is wondering if he could read her first novel. While bringing out her manuscript, a copy of the Daily falls from it. Bill picks it up and sees the headline about Ji-Yoon and the gag order. He leaves and immediately goes out to see Ji-Yoon.

He sees Ji-Yoon and Ju Ju by the side of the road. Ju Ju hugs Bill and asks Ji-Yoon if he can stay for dinner. Ji-Yoon tells her no, and Ju Ju gets mad. She says that Ji-Yoon takes everything good about life, which is why it is no wonder that no one wants to marry her.

Bill asks Ji-Yoon if she’s okay. She says she is the face of totalitarianism on campus. Bill tells her that he met with a lawyer and that the lawyer said he could get a settlement if they tried to fire him and he sued them. He says that with that money, he can go to Paris and produce great works of literature. He says he has a plan, and that didn’t include Ji-Yoon. But then, he says that he thought, “Why can’t it?”. He tells her it would make sense for her to go after how they treated them. She says she cannot just run away because she has her father and Ju Ju. Bill says they can go as a family. She says she still loves teaching, so Bill tells her he’ll follow her anywhere. They kiss passionately on the side of the street.

“I have to fire you,” Ji-Yoon says suddenly. Bill stops kissing her and asks her when she will tell her. He asked her if she was providing evidence against him. She says that she’s being seen as complicit. Bill says she should not care about how she’s being seen but about doing the right thing with him. He says he’s already been hanging by a thread for a year, and she’s not helping him at all. She says did what he did to himself because he ignored her advice and dug and dug until they were both buried. She told Sharon she would be ashamed of him if she only knew how he used her death to be self-destructive.

That night, Ju Ju asks Ji-Yoon why she’s a doctor when she is not helping anyone.

The following day, the day of the hearing for Bill’s case, the committee asks him to present evidence to controvert the grounds for dismissal. He says that to be an English teacher, you must fall in love with stories and literature. He says that when you’re in the middle of a story, you’re in a state of possibility as opposed to whatever form of oppressiveness you’re in real life. He says that when you’re too in love with a poem, you learn something new and feel transformed by it every time you read it. This makes Ji-Yoon teary-eyed. She suddenly says that what they’re doing isn’t going to change the culture there. She tells Paul that she does not need to save her reputation. She questions Paul about what would happen if they fire Bill and nothing happens. She says that the faculty handbook states that the panel should be impartial, and she is not, so what they are doing is not a fair procedure.

During the English department’s meeting, Ji-Yoon tells her subordinates that the university thought it would be better to remove her, but they didn’t want another lawsuit on their hands, so she’s staying. Ji-Yoon carries on with the supposed plan, but Elliot cuts her off and tells her they’ve come to believe she’s not the best person to manage them. He says they are calling a vote of no confidence in her as a chair. They go around the table and end up with six for and five against, so Elliot offers his services as interim chair. “Oh, fuck no. I vote Joan to replace me”, Ji-Yoon says. She tells Joan that it’s a shit job but comes with an office.

Ji-Yoon continues to teach, and Bill finally reads Lila’s dissertation and shows it to his editor, Joan feels proud as she sees her name on the door.

Ji-Yoon sits with Bill on a bench. Bill tells her that she looks good and that not being a chair suits her. Bill tells her that she turned down the settlement, and he is currently fighting to get his job back because if he takes the settlement, no college will ever hire him again. He says he’s just got enough money to tide him until the end of the week, so he needs a job. Ji-Yoon jokingly says that she needs a babysitter, and bill says she cannot afford him. She says she pays $12/hour. He says deal.

Our Thoughts

Who would have thought The Chair would end with Ji-Yoon not being the chair? Ironic, but I agree with Bill; it suits her. I think Ji-Yoon is better off being out of the spotlight from the rest of her department, and Joan deserves to have her own time. I hope this means that Ji-Yoon and Bill will finally have more time to be together and maybe even to build their own family. Overall, this series teaches us to be more mindful of the sacrifices that such high positions in school or society require lots of sacrifices and involve lots of politics. It tells us to appreciate those who manage to be good at what they do despite these challenges and inspires us so that we might acknowledge that being in a position should not always be the end goal.