By Gergely Orosz, the author of The Pragmatic Engineer Newsletter and Building Mobile Apps at Scale
Navigating senior, tech lead, staff and principal positions at tech companies and startups. An Amazon #1 Best Seller. New: the hardcover is out! As is the audibook. Now available in 6 languages.
Would you like a shorter version for social media or a deeper dive into a specific episode or relationship?
Every move Dong-jae makes in this episode feels consequential. The stakes feel higher because we finally understand the full scope of what he stands to lose. 3. Stronger Narrative Cohesion
After a tense confrontation, the police arrive just in time, leading to the successful apprehension of the construction site culprits and the simultaneous arrest of Wan-sung. ⚖️ Why Episode 9 Makes the Series "Better" 1. Perfect Mastery of Black Comedy
: The episode is noted for showing a "better" version of Dong-jae—not necessarily in a moral sense, but in how he skillfully navigates the murky waters between being a "hero" and a "villain." The reviewer highlights how the show manages to keep him consistently "shady" yet undeniably likable. The Conflict with Nam Wan-sung
represents the absolute peak of the Stranger spin-off series, proving why it gets better than previous installments. For fans tracking the search query "nunadrama dongjaethegoodorthebastarde09 better," this specific episode serves as the critical turning point where the show's unique formula completely solidifies. By masterfully balancing high-stakes suspense with pitch-black comedy, Episode 9 delivers a triumphant narrative payoff that changes the trajectory of Seo Dong-jae’s redemption arc.
Episode 9 forces both the character and the audience to answer the title's question. As the HallyuReviews article notes, the drama is neither entirely right nor wrong, but it perfectly highlights Dong-jae's struggle. His actions in this episode are neither purely evil nor completely noble, showcasing the nuances that make him such a compelling protagonist. Final Thoughts on Episode 9
The arrest of Nam Wan-sung provides a much-needed climax after episodes of him "dastardly smiling" his way through schemes. Verdict on the Build-up
According to discussions on , the "better" designation for Episode 9 comes down to a few key factors:
Dong-jae smirked, leaning back in his chair. "Better? I've always been the best," he muttered, though his eyes betrayed a flicker of doubt.
You can stream the full episode of Dongjae, The Good or The Bastard on Paramount+.
The book is separated into six standalone parts, each part covering several chapters:
Parts 1 and 6 apply to all engineering levels: from entry-level software developers to principal or above engineers. Parts 2, 3, 4 and 5 cover increasingly senior engineering levels. These four parts group topics in chapters – such as ones on software engineering, collaboration, getting things done, and so on.
This book is more of a reference book that you can refer back to, as you grow in your career. I suggest skimming over the career levels and chapters that you are familiar with, and focus reading on topics you struggle with, or career levels where you are aiming to get to. Keep in mind that expectations can vary greatly between companies.
In this book, I’ve aimed to align the topics and leveling definitions closer to what is typical at Big Tech and scaleups: but you might find some of the topics relevant for lower career levels in later chapters. For example, we cover logging, montiroing and oncall in Part 5: “Reliable software systems” in-depth: but it’s useful – and oftentimes necessary! – to know about these practices below the staff engineer levels.
The Software Engineer's Guidebook is available in multiple languages:
You should now be able to ask your local book shops to order the book for you via Ingram Spark Print-on-demand - using the ISBN code 9789083381824. I'm also working on making the paperback more accessible in additional regions, including translated versions. Please share details here if you're unable to get the book in your country and I'll aim to remedy the situation.
I'd like to think so! The book can help you get ideas on how to help software engineers on your team grow. And if you are a hands-on engineering manager (which I hope you might be!) then you can apply the topics yourself! I wrote more about staying hands-on as an engineering manager or lead in The Pragmatic Engineer Newsletter.
I've gotten this variation of a question from Data Engineers, ML Engineers, designers and SREs. See the more detailed table of contents and the "Look inside" sample to get a better idea of the contents of the book. I have written this book with software engineers as the target group, and the bulk of the book applies for them. Part 1 is more generally applicable career advice: but that's still smaller subset of the book.