Burnout Syndrome 1×04 Review: Episode 4

Oh my, what’s this? Is there a heart underneath Koh’s frosty exterior? Does this man actually have feelings for other people?

I think Jira has nailed down why I find Koh to be such a fascinating character. He’s a mass of contradictions. Just in this episode, he’s been selfish and demanding but also vulnerable and concerned. He’s still giving off the air of “cartoon villain”, but it seems that has more to do with the fact that he’s woefully removed from society and less to do with him just being evil. Because we learn in this episode that he wasn’t always like this, that his older work was more about helping people.

This is someone who has been at the top of his game for probably at least a decade. He’s wealthy, and he’s paranoid. The only people he regularly interacts with are his butler, his therapist, and Pheem. These are all people who are basically paid to be there. His relationship with Pheem is slightly different, in that they were friends before they worked together, but still.

(Although I do want to take a sidebar here and talk about the scene where Pheem comes to take photos of Koh’s apartment. He asks if Koh has had lunch. Koh responds with, “None of your business.” These two are childhood best friends. Now they’re in some weird, codependent relationship that I can’t even begin to understand. Because they may not want to share what they’ve eaten for lunch, but Koh still trusts Pheem in his space and shows that he keeps a bottle of Pheem’s favorite wine on hand. I think it says a lot that Jira was willing to ignore Koh’s calls, and it was Pheem who told him to answer.)

And then Jira comes along. Now, Jira is a unique circumstance, because he is also paid to be there – although he was able to negotiate “perks” for himself so that their relationship is more mutually beneficial than it was before. However, Jira doesn’t have the complicated history with Koh that Pheem does, nor are their interactions entirely professional, unlike those with the butler and the therapist. Jira is someone who is unimpressed with Koh’s pedigree and only partially willing to entertain his nonsense before he just leaves.

I think it’s really interesting to watch Koh and Jira’s dynamic in this episode, because it changes so often. The first scene is a continuation from the final scene of last week’s episode, with Koh asking Jira to sleep with him. We the audience understand that Koh means “sleep” as in sleep, but Jira naturally misunderstands and assumes that Koh wants sex. And he actually seems to be willing to do this; although, to be fair, he just asks how much Koh would pay. That doesn’t mean he would accept.

(He would absolutely accept.)

In that moment, I think it confirms to Koh that everything is about money. Jira was adamant about quitting if he was asked to do something that he doesn’t want to. But when he thinks Koh is demanding sex, his response is, “Well, how much?” And this just reiterates everything Koh already thinks about people. Everyone has their price.

A lot of their interactions are in the context of Koh demanding something. He summons Jira at night to help him fall asleep. Later, he forces Jira to learn to swim, even though Jira is noticeably uncomfortable. Then, he sends him off to an event with limited information and background. This kind of behavior implies a level of control that comes from years of being the person in charge, but also of not coming into contact with anyone outside of his sphere of influence.

Interspersed with these incidents, though, there is some measure of concern for Jira’s well-being. The swimming scenes show a surprising level of patience on Koh’s part, even if that doesn’t last long. And he is genuinely worried for Jira’s safety after Mawin “attacks” him at the awards show.

I don’t know that any of this would have happened were it not for the earlier scenes in which Jira is able to help Koh fall asleep naturally. Because we’ve seen how closed off Koh is, even with his oldest, closest friend. But in those scenes with Jira, he is emotionally vulnerable in a way that I don’t think he gets with his therapist. And despite the level of vulnerability he is displaying in those moments, he still feels safe enough to fall asleep.

What baffles me is Koh’s utter confusion that anyone would be angry enough with him to attack “him” in public. I was under the impression that one of the main reasons why Koh hired Jira in the first place was because he expected something like this to happen. He says that dealing with people is too much drama – this is what I assumed he meant. However, he is clearly scared that something more will happen to Jira, and he even tells Jira that he didn’t expect anything like that.

(Side note: I can understand Mawin’s desire to throw urine on the billionaire, but doing so in a room full of tech companies when he’s about to lose his IT job is just dumb. Unless someone out there really hates Koh, and you know what, I’m suddenly thinking that this was a brilliant move on his part.

Also, I appreciate the callback to Theory of Love with Gun standing fully dressed in the shower.)

This indicates that Koh is way more removed from society than even he realizes. By retreating into his apartment, by never interacting with anyone other than a select few, he is stuck inside a bubble where he just has no concept of reality anymore. He thinks that his decisions are based on logic, and he does not know what to do when confronted by people whose choices are based on emotion.

While Koh is softening towards Jira, Jira remains in complete denial about any attraction towards Koh. He admits that he finds him fascinating from an art perspective, and Ing talks about how a lot of artists were able to separate their muse from their romantic relationships. But he’s stubbornly refusing to accept that he might find Koh attractive in a non-muse way. The fact that he becomes so aroused by quite possibly the least romantic underwater kiss in BL history that he has to call Ing to help calm him down is testament to that.

He keeps claiming that he likes Pheem, but we don’t really see evidence of this. Well, he might like Pheem, but he’s clearly more drawn to Koh. Even though it was Pheem who insisted Jira answer Koh’s calls, Jira still made the decision to leave Pheem’s apartment or end their conversation. He didn’t seem at all into the kiss in episode 3. His desire to sketch Pheem is immediately gone after talking to Koh on the phone. (I think it’s interesting that he was sketching Pheem but painting Koh; there’s a nice metaphor in there.)

Actually, this show seems to be full of men in denial. I think Pheem is a compelling character as well because he thinks he’s a better person than he is. He reframes his habit of sleeping around as him “healing” other people. (There’s nothing wrong with that kind of behavior, but at least be honest about it.) He acts like he has no agency at work, yet he comes up with all kinds of excuses as to why he can’t quit.

Burnout Syndrome fascinates me. I can’t yet tell where the story is headed. I’m still not sure if this is going to be a show about Koh being saved by the power of love, or if it will be about Jira being destroyed by the toxicity. (To be honest, I think Jira might like that.)

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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