Burnout Syndrome 1×07 Review: Episode 7

It looks like the emotional events of the final scene of last week’s episode marked the turning point for Burnout Syndrome. In episode 7, there was a definite shift in the way everyone behaved.

The main lesson that everyone needs to make sure they take away from this show is that no one is really a good person. Koh is an emotionally distant a-hole who likes to play with people’s feelings. Pheem is a playboy who is finally forced to confront the fact that he can’t win at everything. Jira is willing to compromise his ideals for financial security, and he also needs to make a decision already.

Jira and Pheem’s scenes in this episode were so raw, and honestly, Dew was phenomenal in them. Pheem’s crash out in the rage room legitimately made me uncomfortable. I am not OK with how he kept pointing that bat at Jira. (I am also not OK with how he jokingly kept swinging it at Mawin later in the episode; I’m worried that soon he’s going to hit someone with it.) But that is possibly the only scene in the whole show so far where he’s actually being honest with Jira.

Pheem’s anger is understandable. Jira is jerking him around. He keeps saying that he cares about him and wants to be with him, but when given a choice between Pheem and Koh, he has pretty much always picked Koh. And the one time he didn’t pick Koh, he still couldn’t fully focus on Pheem. Pheem and Koh have been locked in their bizarre competition since they were children, and Pheem is naturally frustrated that Jira is yet another thing that he is losing to Koh.

But, still, it’s hard to feel sorry for Pheem when he keeps putting himself in this situation. I cannot believe that Mawin, who literally threw urine on another human being a few episodes ago, is the most rational character on this show. He keeps trying to get Pheem to recognize that he is setting himself up for disappointment, and Pheem keeps deliberately misunderstanding him. He is not in love with Jira; he is obsessed with Jira. He thinks Jira can fix him. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a person.

(By the way, I wonder if Jira recognized Mawin as the guy who threw pee on him.)

It really bothers me that he isn’t listening to Jira. He wanted Jira to quit his job, and he doesn’t understand why he won’t. (Kind of hypocritical, too. I remember he and Mawin had a very similar conversation not that long ago.) Jira tries explaining to him the fear and anxiety wrapped up in being unemployed, and the only thing Pheem gets from that conversation is that Jira must be in love with Koh.

Of course, we know that money isn’t the only reason Jira continues to work for Koh. People will say that he’s lying, but it’s not entirely a lie. As someone who has been unemployed, that fear is real. I would also probably stay in a toxic environment if it meant keeping a roof over my head. He had to borrow the equivalent of about $5000 from Ing in the first episode just to pay all of his bills, and that is not a small amount to owe someone.

But we do know that it’s not just about the money. Koh is also a major inspiration for Jira’s art, and he doesn’t want to lose that. Not to mention, Koh is appreciative of his art in a way that no one else has been. Ing is complementary, sure, but has she purchased any of Jira’s paintings?

Jira is attracted to red flags – we saw further proof of that in this episode. After struggling to complete a sketch of Pheem, all it takes is watching him scream and break stuff and Jira is suddenly inspired – to the point where he refuses to be at Koh’s beck and call. (And yes, part of that is that he’s still angry about how Koh treated him in the previous episode. But part of it is how absorbed Jira gets in his art.)

On the other hand, Jira didn’t exactly do much to deter Koh. Multiple people pointed out that, even knowing that Koh had threatened to come to his apartment if Jira didn’t come to his, Jira clearly left his door either unlocked or fully open. Koh was able to just walk right in; and Jira would have known that he would do that, because he’s done it before. Similarly, when he’s escaping to the nightclub, he stops and waits for Koh to park his car before going inside. It’s like he wants Koh to follow him.

And follow him Koh did. What is it about Jira that has all these boys coming to the yard? Koh almost never leaves his apartment, but he seems to do it a lot for Jira. His greatest weakness is people, and he willingly walked into a nightclub to talk to him.

I saw someone claim that Koh faked his illness to get Jira to take care of him, and that is honestly not something I had considered. I fully believe that Koh is capable of doing something like this, especially after last week’s episode. However, I don’t agree with it. We’ve seen evidence of Koh’s insomnia throughout – the therapy, the sleeping pills. It’s an ongoing issue. And in this episode, we’ve seen evidence that Koh seems to genuinely regret what he said to Jira.

When Jira confronts Koh about toying with people’s feelings, he admits that it used to be fun, but it’s not anymore. I wonder if this is because now he has something to lose, or that he realizes he actually can lose. I wonder how much abuse Pheem put up with before finally having enough and quitting; it probably never occurred to Koh that he would ever quit, and that he would always be there. Now that Pheem is gone, Koh has to do whatever he can to keep Jira around.

The body language says a lot in the last scene. We’ve already seen Koh be vulnerable around Jira; he can only sleep when Jira is around, which is historically a major sign of trust. But also, Jira is so relaxed in that final scene. The way he’s sitting on the couch indicates that he feels comfortable and safe. It’s very different from the way he’s always holding himself tense around Pheem.

I genuinely don’t know where we’re going with this show, but I’m starting to think that it’s going to end up being the kind of show where they end up destroying each other. It isn’t going to be a happy ending. It’s more so going to be, like, “well, they belong together because no one else should have to suffer them”.

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.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary