Recap Korean Drama "The Fabulous (2022)" Episode 7

Episode 7 of The Fabulous starts with the four friends being out at a picnic. Ji-eun and Woo-min are being playful and lovey but Seon-ho wonders why the couple was acting like it was their first time together. Joseph loves seeing the couple happy. Ji-eun asks the friends to go out on a camping trip but after a little bit of a fuss, everyone agrees.

Joseph is left behind as the others try to take turns on a bicycle. Just then a stranger catches the designer’s eye. The man is also gay and Joseph is pleasantly surprised by the stranger. Ji-eun, Woo-min, Seon-ho and Kang-woo all ride on rented bicycles. Do-young is looking at vintage jackets and Chae-young wonders why they were so pricey.

He tells her that vintage fashion holds a lot of value in the industry and promises the shopkeeper to come by when he had saved enough money to buy the jacket. Ms Oh is talking to her team about using sustainable fashion and using accessories made from recycled goods. Ji-eun shows up to work all chirpy and happy but Ms Oh forces her to take a few days up as she was still nursing a heartbreak.

She insists that she was okay and Ms Oh explains that Ji-eun was really out of her mind because she was dating a nobody photographer to help her recover from Nam-jin. Ji-eun laughs at Ms Oh’s naivety and takes the opportunity to spend some romantic time with Woo-min. Nam-hee meets Seon-ho asking her to model for a pictorial however the model is not interested in working on the project because her ex is the designer.

Young-seo joins the two and requests Seon-ho to keep their personal lives out of business but he tries to wear her down, hoping she would listen. Seon-ho is adamant and refuses to work with him despite his kind words. Joseph is working on designs for his upcoming display when Esther tells him that Theirry had recommended his name to be the creative director of his brand, Earline. Mrs Jang is pleasantly surprised but Joseph is not really happy.

At Ji-eun’s house, the three friends wonder why Joseph is moping despite the great news. Joseph explains that working for Theirry’s brand means that his own brand Mr Joseph would have to be closed down. The trio try to cheer Joseph up but he adds that taking up the position would mean moving to Paris.

He starts crying and Ji-eun comforts him. Later that night, Woo-min insists on staying to help Ji-eun clear up the mess that they made but Seon-ho points out that the room was cleaned up already. She understands that Woo-min wanted to spend the night with Ji-eun and states that she will be crashing there too.

Joseph stays back also and Woo-min’s plan to hook up with Ji-eun is ruined. The next day, Ms Oh borrows an expensive bag made up of recycled plastic from a luxury brand. She signs the documents for the product without reading any of the terms. Ji-eun is waiting for Woo-min to show up for their picnic with Seon-ho, Kang-woo and Joseph but as it turns out, the three have ditched the plan letting Ji-eun get a romantic getaway with Woo-min.

The couple drives away thankful for their friends being considerate. Meanwhile, Ms Oh introduces the luxury bag to JD and the influencer loves the product despite its chaotic colour. JD agrees to model for the product while Ji-sun and Ms Oh discuss the news of Joseph being the new creative director of Earline.

Joseph meets with Theory’s team and unwillingly declines the offer but his mother is not about happy about it. Ji-sun arrives at the Mr Joseph store to congratulate him and Mrs Jang uses Ji-sun’s French-speaking skills to talk to Earline’s team in Paris on Joseph’s behalf. Joseph is sad in his room and Esther tries to console him with some coffee. The two recall their years together and how they helped each other out during their early days.

Esther praises Joseph for putting his happiness over a grand career move that would have left him unhappy in the longer run. Meanwhile, Ji-eun is enjoying camping with Woo-min as the couple light a campfire and kisses under the stars. A flashback shows how Seon-ho and Joseph had forced the couple to live cordially as friends after their first breakup. Back then, both Ji-eun and Woo-min had surpassed their feelings and reconciled with their friends.

Present-day Ji-eun tells Woo-min how she felt during that moment and Woo-min finally confesses how hurt he was after their breakup. He shares how he tried to persevere despite hating the fact that he could not be with Ji-eun anymore. She is shocked at how Woo-min surpassed his emotions over all those years.

Ji-eun’s trip is cut short after a distress call from Ms Oh. The CEO tells Ji-eun that the expensive recycled bag was lost and that the terms of the contract were outrageous, meaning that Audrey would have to pay the entire cost of the bag in order to compensate the owners. Ji-eun tries to calm Ms Oh down and the two head to the location of JD’s pictorial shoot.

They look at CCTV footage and talk to the garbage disposers but find no luck. Ms Oh finally reveals to Ji-eun that the bag was owned by Nam-jin’s brand, Rublani causing Ji-eun to worry all the more. Seon-ho decides to break up with Kang-woo and tells him that she wanted to move to New York in order to find some luck as a model there.

Her plans fail when Kang-woo suggests he would join her there and work as anything and everything she wanted him to be. He decides that he would make a documentary about the fashion life in New York and starts by documenting Seon-ho’s journey from Seoul itself. She ultimately agrees to do the photoshoot for Young-seo and introduces Kang-woo as her new boyfriend to her ex.

Ji-sun tries to cheer Ms Oh up but upon talking to her, Audrey knows exactly where to look for the bag. Ms Oh finally finds the bag in the storage room. At the same time, Woo-min drops Ji-eun at Nam-jin’s office in order for her to thank him for resolving the issue with the recycled bag.

Since Nam-jin is busy, Ji-eun is not able to talk to him in person but relays a message to her ex from a secretary. Do-young is celebrating being taken up by a fashion agency with Chae-young. Chae-young gifts Do-young the vintage jacket he wanted as a congratulatory present. He is nervous when Ji-eun, Joseph, Seon-ho and Woo-min show up at the same restaurant considering what he had done to Joseph’s autographed t-shirt.

Just then, Esther rushes to share some news with Joseph. She informs her boss that Earline had sent him a new email with revised terms. According to the new terms, Joseph would be allowed to maintain his own brand while still working for Earline. Adding on to that, Joseph was also not required to move to Paris and was allowed to work from Seoul itself. The group celebrates the new positive news and Joseph starts sobbing as he announces a treat for all the guests at the restaurant. 

The Episode Review

Oh, this episode seemed like a filler with Ji-eun and Woo-min already dating. There is not much at stake for the other characters and I feel that the story has lost its touch all of a sudden. I enjoy the fact that friends are just chilling out but with the conflict resolved in Episode 6, the show has close to nothing left to say in terms of the character’s journeys.

Everyone is in a good place already and I am not sure what is left to say in the season finale. I also do not understand why Do-young was a part of the story because he hasn’t contributed to anything at all. Even the photo journal he gave to Ji-eun was not referenced anywhere and it did not change what happened between Ji-eun and Woo-min at the time.

I am happy for Joseph finally getting what he deserves and the fact that Kang-woo is a literal godsend for Seon-ho with his antics and dependability. If there is really a season 2 for The Fabulous, I really wish to see Esther and Joseph’s adventures in the fashion world because that makes a lot more sense considering the theme of the show.