The Chair
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Name a social setting more fraught than the workplace party.
The problems are several, starting with the oxymoron.
For untenured professors, parties are beauty pageants.
If youre tenured, like Bill, the stakes are lower.
Its a callback to their previous conversation, which shes replayed a thousand times, Id bet.
That Bill brings the pie to the titular faculty party with the suggestive note still attached shouldnt surprise.
This guy stopped being careful years ago.
The party is of the stand-and-chat variety.
Ju Ju is a handful in English.
The scene calls to mind the stilted Can I borrow him for a second?
Still, its Elliots astonishment at their overlapping tastes thats telling.
The only person having fun at this shindig is Bill, who escapes Joans clutches to hotbox the conservatory.
When Ji-Yoon finds him, he low-key negs her about her makeup.
But if negging is the game, shes the far better player.
Ji-Yoon mocks his beard and his sports coat and his spliff.
Its disaffected middle-age white male professor cliche bingo, and hes the winning card.
Your move, Dean Larson.
(His move is to mispronounce her name.)
Before she can deal with the fallout, Ji-Yoon rushes off, forgetting her phone in the hurry.
Bills offense is acting like ripped from the headlines.
Bad news for Bill fans: Within a month, that guy opted for retirement.
Bill cuts the tension with the promise of fried chicken, which somehow leads to cosmic bowling.
This night has levels.
Hes a borderline man-child, but its becoming more apparent how he could fit into this would-be family.
Maybe Ju Jus birth mother could see past all that to the strong, single mom Ji-Yoon would be.
Parked cars emit such pure make-out energy, even with a child passed out in the back seat.
Theres the elbows brushing on the armrest, the hands grazing, the recycled hot air.
Even the car rolling across Bills toes doesnt totally put out the flame.
Physically hobbled and installed on his sofa, he makes another move, and who can blame him?
She has the most incredible hair.
All are compelling; none are convincing.
Still, instead of her hung-over colleague, she goes to bed with a pile of books.
The mood is officially dead.
