Stakes are high, and our three cleaning ladies strike again!
The recent episodes of Cleaning Up are filled with highs and lows. Yong-Mi, In-Kyung and Soo-ja are stuck in a loop wherein every after huge opportunity, they stumble upon misfortunes. Lots of money raked in thanks to their devious plans. However, their money also slips from their hands in the blink of an eye.
Nathan Llantos watches Cleaning Up on iQiyi
Episode recaps: First Look
Writer’s verdict:
What Has Transpired So Far in Cleaning Up?
Narrowly escaping from getting caught by Director Yoon for removing the wiretap in the vents, Yong-Mi discovers a lie that she was scraping off gum from under the desk.
All the while, the maintenance team arrived in the office to find the bug they had placed. This caused the audit team, Geum Jan-di (Jang Shin-Young), to launch an internal investigation rather than inform the police.
This was to save the company’s reputation, or so she led her team to believe. The last thing the pair heard was to buy the stocks of a 3D printer company. Yet they only listened to the name of the employee overseeing the company, not the word itself.
Family Troubles Continue
Feeling hopeful about their money, In-Kyung is considering getting a loan for her coffee truck. On the other hand, Yong-Mi applies for a different company.
Unfortunately, both failed to accomplish what they set out to do. While occupied with the meeting, Du-Young picks up Shi-A from school. They run into his father, who decides to run off his daughter.
Devastated, Yong-mi scolds Yeon-A for not picking up her sister, which later transpired into an argument between the two, leading to Yeon-A leaving and staying with her dad.
Subsequently, Yong-Mi decides to take a risk and try to repurchase stocks, this time for the 3D printer company. Using the help of Soo-ja, they infiltrated the office of the mentioned handler and printed the necessary files while she was scurrying away.
However, Yong-mi forgets her flash drive containing her children’s photos on the desk. Ultimately the risk pays off, and the company they stock the company they invested in soar.
The Odds Are In Their Favor… For Now.
As circumstances arise, In-Kyung discovers the hidden-phone of Director Yoon and hands it to Yong-Mi. The trio snooped around the phone and contacted Lee Yeong-Sin (Lee Mu Saeng), pretending to be Tae-Kyung’s partner, hoping to know what company to buy stocks from. Wary, Yeong-sin insists that Yong-Mi meets with the Captain first before discussing further business.
Later, the Captain revealed that Jan-di was also a member of their circle of inside traders. Luckily, she did not recognize Yong-Mi immediately.
Moreover, Yong-mi was tasked to determine which company the board of directors would merge with and from whom to buy stocks. For this information alone, she will be given 30 million won.
With the help of a friend, who was also a cleaner in the company’s building, Yong-mi could determine which company the board of directors voted on.
A New Accomplice slash Inconvenience
While all this was happening, the audit team determined that classified information was printed and found the hard drive with the photos of Yong-Mi’s daughters. Jan-di eventually pieced together the clues by looking up the alias Jin Yeon-ah, Yong-Mi’s daughter’s name. The same name she used during the meeting with the Captain, thus revealing her true identity.
Rather than reporting to her associate her discovery, Jan-di was curious and wanted to see what Yong-Mi would do. However, she asked for half of what Yong-Mi would receive by providing her acquired information. Blissfully enjoying still the money she earned, it did not take long before misfortune struck again.
The landlord of the apartment Yong-Mi was renting found out that she was also renting the attic without her knowledge. Therefore, the landlord immediately demanded they pack their things and move out. Hence, Yong Mi was desperate to keep her home. She and her friends moved swiftly to determine which company the board voted for. Despite doing so, however, Jan-di still demanded half of the 30 million won, leaving the trio only 5 million each.
Running Out Of Luck
The 5 million won that will remain was not enough to pay off the landlord’s demands to pay for the apartment. Even more desperate, Yong-mi returned to her old gambling habit. As a result, she ended up losing all the money she earned, leaving her unable to pay for their house and buy stocks from a company that would surely profit.
After a few days, Yeong-sin invites Yong-mi for dinner with a business proposal. Trouble at the reception caused Yeong-sin to get upset at the receptionist. However, Yong-mi stepped in and told off Yeong-sin to show compassion and understanding to the working class.
To continue their business date, Yeong-sin decided to go to an old restaurant where he has close personal ties with the lady owner. However, they soon see the owner collapsed on the floor upon arriving. Yeong-sin seemed shocked at what was transpiring even while in the hospital. Yong-mi never left his side.
In the end, Yong-mi was offered to partake in short stock selling, a more risky activity than she is used to now. Therefore, she turned down the offer immediately. It did not take long for Soo-ja to puzzle together that Yong-Mi was unhappy and that she did not buy her share of the stocks and gambled all her money away.
Cleaning Up Mid-Series Musings
A Penny For Some Thoughts
Cleaning Up has its own charms. In fact, if you like watching something that is casually nerve-wracking then this one might be your cup of tea. Although the comical twists and turns of the series are quite predictable, it is still loaded with fun and exciting moments. Moreover, this plot revolves around the pros and cons of the stock market.
So if you are interested in that, maybe you can pick up a thing or two from watching this series. Cleaning Up in a way has substance. Despite the arguably many times, the main character Yong Mi is annoying, she represents a portion of the struggling single mothers. Not only does the series tackle the hardships of minimum wage earners, but this also depicts the root cause and consequences of gambling and reckless behaviors.
In fact, Cleaning Up shows why there are people who cling to the hopes of fast money. Additionally, the series shows what happens to the characters who dream of having better lives yet try to achieve it using unsustainable and inappropriate means.
Where the Story Heads To?
Hello Misfortune, My Old Friend
All the while, her domestic life was also crumbling. Despite reconciling with Yeon-A, she was again upset at her mother after discovering a poker chip in her room. This was clear evidence that she was back to gambling.
On the other hand, Shi-A stole a brooch pin from one of the mothers she was playing with. This made Yong-mi contemplate how she was raising her children. Once again, reaching a difficult position in her life, Yong-mi calls Yeong-Sin. She promptly accepts the offer of conducting short stock selling.
After a few days, Yeong-sin invites Yong-mi for dinner with a business proposal. Trouble at the reception caused Yeong-sin to get upset at the receptionist. However, Yong-mi stepped in and told off Yeong-sin to show compassion and understanding to the working class.
Meanwhile, Yeong-sin decided to go to an old restaurant where he has close personal ties with the lady owner. However, they soon see the owner collapsed on the floor upon arriving. Yeong-sin seemed shocked at what was transpiring even while in the hospital.
Yong-mi never left his side. In the end, Yong-mi was offered to partake in short stock selling. A more risky activity than she is used to doing. Therefore, she turned down the offer immediately.
The Highly Coveted Phone
Out of the blue, Tae-Kyung returns to his office to retrieve the burner phone he left. But to no avail, since it was already in the hands of Yong-Mi. He is panicking because the phone holds sensitive conversations about illegal activity. Moreover, Tae-Kyung employs the help of Jan-di, who does not take long to figure out who had the phone.
Desperate to retrieve the phone, Jan-di confronts Yong-Mi in the men’s bathroom. But to make matters worse, she is spotted by a fellow audit team member. Thus, the two made it seem like Jan-di was abusing the cleaning staff for not doing their job correctly.
Soon after, she corners In-Kyung and threatens to give her to the police for keeping the phone and obstructing the investigation. Because the phone was used as leverage, Jan-di demanded that she hand over the phone to her without Yong-Mi’s knowledge.
Meanwhile, Yeong-sin invites Yong-Mi to dinner once again to discuss their scheme of short stock selling. The goal was to get to know one another better and build their relationship. Yeong-sin even bothered to cook a particular dish himself and humored Yong-Mi by playing the piano together.
100 Million Won… Gone!
Later, he handed her 100 million won to put into a company. She was instructed to split the money into two bank accounts to avoid suspicion. Ultimately, Yong-Mi put half the money in her account while the other half was kept in her mother’s bank account. However, tragedy struck as Yong-mi’s brother quickly discovered the money and transferred it to his account.
When confronted, she asked Yong-mi where she got that large sum of cash. Unable to answer, he threatened to call the police on her if she did not leave. In addition, In-Kyung got a hold of the phone they were hiding and nearly handed it over to Jan-di. But not until it was snatched away by Yong-mi and Soo-ja. With Yong-mi’s secrets revealed to her friends, further turmoil ensues in their group.
Facing loss after loss, Yong-mi, by the end, decides that it might not be best for her two daughters to continue living with her. She was indeed not fit to provide what they needed after all. Yeon-A, at first, was uncertain about what to feel about the situation. She still wanted to live with her mother.
However, after convincing Yong-mi, the two reconciled and decided they should stay with their father. On their way home, Yeong-sin seemed to investigate on his own. He is determined to discover where Yong-mi truly lived, exposing her true identity to him.
Join Cleaning Up’s feisty and cunning female characters in their ambitions and shenanigans. Episodes are available weekly on JTBC and iQiyi.
Photos: JTBC
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