Burnout Syndrome 1×09 Review: Episode 9

I have been lulled into a false sense of security over the last few episodes, and I have no one to blame but myself. Talk about Jira ignoring all of the warning signs; I was doing the exact same thing.

Today, I am the embodiment of the surprised Pikachu meme. Imagine in a series about an evil AI tech magnate, that said tech magnate uses his AI for evil purposes. This was something I even worried about earlier in the show; I thought that Koh might use Jira’s art to train the AI software. But when it kept not happening, I started to believe that it wouldn’t happen.

For most of the show, I was convinced that we would not get a happy ending. After last week’s episode, I started to doubt that original conclusion. But I should not have doubted. I was Jira; I was fooled by some pretty words and the intense attachment, which ultimately isn’t founded on any sort of genuine connection. It’s pretty obvious, in retrospect, that lust has been the motivating factor in their relationship.

Story time: I liked Twilight, the first time I read it back in 2008. I actually went out and bought the next two books after I finished. (This was before the fourth book had been published.) It was only after I read New Moon, which I found to be atrocious, that I realized that Twilight had also not been good. That book pulled the blinders off.

So it’s understandable that with the benefit of hindsight, I can look back at last week’s episode and realize that it was not as romantic as I originally read it to be. And it’s not like I completely ignored the blaring alarms, such as Koh suggesting that he use Jira’s artwork to launder money. But admittedly, I was swayed by the intimacy, because I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff, but also because I love OffGun as a pair so much. And I think that were I not such a fan of them, I would not have been quite so kind.

Throughout this episode, there are some not-so-subtle indicators that things are going to go awry. Even without Pheem declaring that Jira would soon tire of Koh, and that Koh only likes people when they are useful to him, there are hints of what’s to come. Jira joked that the honeymoon period would be over soon. He poured water all over Koh’s computer parts (in the name of art – and it was a cool installation – but you can’t ignore the parallels). He even mentions that he hasn’t been feeling inspired to paint lately.

This episode, even as it showcases Koh and Jira’s domesticity, gives us glimpses of the way that Koh doesn’t particularly care about Jira’s consent. Jira says he’ll get to Koh’s on his own, but Koh insists on picking him up. Jira doesn’t want to do anything while the workers are outside, but Koh ignores him. That scene carried on for uncomfortably long before they started laughing; I legitimately thought something bad was about to happen.

Now, Koh has been doing this the whole show, to be fair, but it seems a bit more sinister now, given their change in relationship status.

All of this is leading up to Koh bulldozing over Jira’s art with his AI software. Jira has made it clear, repeatedly, that he is against the use of AI in art, but Koh continues to ignore his concerns. Koh claiming that Jira was devaluing his opinion, while simultaneously devaluing Jira’s, felt very real. It’s such a common occurrence for someone to not respect something of yours, while crying foul that you don’t respect them in return.

Koh knows that Jira has had trouble finding work because no one found value in his art. He knows how important it was to Jira that Koh actually bought his paintings, as it was the first time he was paid for his art.

It goes to show that Koh never understood Jira, not truly. Jira thought Koh was buying his paintings because he liked his art, when in truth, it was so that he could “own” the images so that he could train his AI with them. Jira chose Koh over Pheem because he felt that Koh understood his art better, but in the end, it was just about capitalism.

I’m still unsure how to take that scene when he cried at Jira’s painting. Koh describes himself as emotionless, and that was a moment of genuine emotion. Was he faking it, just to get to Jira?

Attraction can be so tricky. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that. On the one side, we have Jira, who is attracted to Koh even while knowing that he’s not a good person and that things will likely end in disaster. On the other side, you have Koh, who is attracted to Jira while fundamentally misunderstanding everything about him as an individual.

Now you have to look at Jira. In the first episode, he turned down a job that would have required him to use AI. And he didn’t know, when he initially took the job from Koh, what it would entail. But once he did know, he stuck around. Maybe he thought he could change Koh’s mind, maybe he thought it would be OK. Whatever the reason, he didn’t take a stand until it directly affected him.

To be fair, it’s so difficult, when you’re poor, to stand on your principles. I’ve been unemployed. It’s terrifying. People will do things they never thought they would just to avoid it. So I can understand that Jira would not have wanted to risk financial security. But he started dating Koh, knowing full well the kind of person that he is, and what he’s done to other companies, so I don’t know why he’s surprised.

It’s so very interesting that a show like Burnout Syndrome has come out of GMMTV and is airing now, and it is taking such a definitive anti-AI stance. For those who don’t follow the company on its own, there has been some criticism of their social media lately, because several promotional tweets have been very clearly AI-generated. Yesterday’s episode of Cat for Cash had Khaotung’s character asking ChatGPT for advice over the advice of First’s character, who can literally talk to cats. (Not that everyone knows that, but still.)

Not to mention, Me and Thee, which was a global phenomenon, featured AI numerous times, with the emotionally-constipated Thee frequently asking ChatGPT for advice. Me and Thee even has a sequel, in the form of a series of shorts that revolve around Thee getting stuck in a novel he wrote using AI, and needing the AI to help him fix the story.

I know that one show does not necessarily represent the views of an entire company. I just find the contrast fascinating.

With only one episode left, I’m starting to really believe that we may not get a happy ending. And while I love a good happily ever after, this is definitely a show that should not have one. There is no way to turn everything around in one episode.

Over the course of this show, I have waffled back and forth as to what kind of ending we were going to get. Was Jira going to “save” Koh? Was Koh going to destroy Jira? In the end, I think it will be neither. And I think that’s the best way they could end it. The only thing I am concerned about now is what will happen to Jira’s art.

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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