Wave Makers (2023) follows the press team of a political candidate in the run-up to the Presidential elections in Taiwan and all the work that goes into campaigning. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Weng Wen-fang is a part of the Press department in the CZD party and they’re responsible for the PR of the presidential candidate Lin Yueh-chen. She is the assistant director and works closely with Chen Chia-ching.
Along with their team and the various departments, they decide on the campaigning strategy which involves marketing Yueh-chen and also exposing any deficits in the rival party MHD and the sitting president Sun Ling-hsien who is running for re-election.
Ling-hsien has chosen Chao Chang-tse as her running mate and he appears to be quite popular as a vice presidential candidate. However, an employee at CZD, Chang Ya-ching, has a complicated history with him.
She was his student in college and later became his assistant when he first got into politics. She then was in an extra-marital affair with him until she broke it off because she felt ostracized by her other colleagues.
Chang-tse clicked nude photos of Ya-ching by emotionally manipulating her and kept those photos to ensure she wouldn’t tell anyone else about their relationship.
Wen-fang is a competent campaigner but she had recently lost her own re-election for councilor of her region. She defended herself against a prominent elder who cast homophobic slurs at her but the incident was spun to make her look like the aggressor.
Her father is a local politician and he insisted that she apologize for her actions but Wen-fang stood firm with her story. She is quick on her feet and works well with Chia-ching to devise the perfect campaign strategy.
When Ya-ching is harassed by another employee, Wen-fang stands up for her and wants the culprit to face consequences but the higher-ups try to brush it under the rug due to it being election season.
When Yueh-chen finds out about it, she ensures that the culprit is let go while apologizing to the harassed women for not being able to give them proper justice.
Chia-ching is so focused on his job that his home life suffers. His wife complains that he doesn’t take her seriously or spends enough time with his son. He apologizes to her but cannot bring himself to confront what the real issue is within his marriage.
He doesn’t consider her wife’s job to be as important as his because he believes that he’s involved in something that can actually bring change to Taiwan. He eventually realizes this and promises his wife that he will do better.
Ya-ching reaches out Chang-tse’s daughter Chao Jung-chih, pretending to be a stranger, and convinces her to find evidence that her father is cheating. She also sent Jung-chih an anonymous message on social media about her father’s affair with his current assistant.
Jung-chih installs spyware software on her father’s phone and gets screenshots of his texts with his assistant. She also finds a hard drive filled with the photos of Ya-ching and other women after Ya-ching gives Jung-chih the code to her father’s safe.
Wen-fang is shunned by her some of her colleagues because of how outspoken she is but Ya-ching helps her establish an online presence, making her indispensable to the campaign.
Wen-fang and Ya-ching spend more and more time together and a weekly tabloid threatens to run a story claiming that the two of them are having an office romance. When Ya-ching realizes that her face might be published, she tells Wen-fang her story.
Wen-fang tells Ya-ching that what she did will put their campaign in jeopardy but Ya-ching just wanted to delete her photos and have some peace of mind.
Wave Makers (2023) ending explained in detail:
How do Wen-fang and Chia-ching react?
As soon as Wen-fang shares Ya-ching’s story with Chia-ching, the two of them try to figure out how to deal with the situation. The next morning, they head to Ya-ching’s apartment but find that she’s vacated it, leaving behind a flash drive for Wen-fang.
The tabloid story is out and Jung-chih asks her father who that woman is but Chang-tse tells her that Ya-ching is just a jealous former employee who he refused to entertain.
Wen-fang responds to the media in a typical fashion, dispelling baseless rumors and coming out stronger than ever. She then discusses what to do with the evidence that Ya-ching left behind for them.
Wen-fang visits a friend of hers in the press and finds out that they’ve got pictures of Chang-tse with his mistress and plan to publish it soon. Chang-tse is meeting another member of that outlet making some sort of deal.
What happens with the scandal?
The news breaks of Chang-tse’s infidelity and he holds a press conference almost immediately refuting the claims. His wife comes out to support him even though she knows the truth.
Jung-chih also knows the truth about her father but isn’t happy that he still insists on lying to her. Ya-ching is frustrated about this outcome and anonymously shares her conversations with Jung-chih with several outlets, mentioning the existence of photographic proof.
She had gone back to her home in a small town but visits the city again to ask Wen-fang for a favor. Ya-ching goes live on the air to admit to the affair and asks Chang-tse to get rid of the photos.
Jung-chih runs away from home and waits for Ya-ching outside the studio where she hands over the only copy of the photos.
What happens in the election?
With Chang-tse’s reputation completely tarnished, the CZD party goes all in on attacking his integrity and that of the president while promoting Yueh-chen.
She travels the country for the final month before election day to spread the word as much as possible with Chia-ching, Wen-fang, and the entire press department in tow.
In the end, Yueh-chen wins the election by a significant margin, promising a new, progressive age of government. Ya-ching agrees to work with Wen-fang who has plans to run for office again, while Chia-ching and everyone else figures out where they belong now that the elections are over.
