#na hye won

[offbeatcappuccino]

the impossible heir episodes 1-4 ramblings

Last week was an eventful one for Lee Jae Wook, Hong Su Zu, and Lee Jun-young's The Impossible Heir. Not only was last week the premiere of the series, but Dispatch, the popular Korean tabloid, released "earth-shattering" news that Lee Jae Wook was dating aespa's Karina. This garnered controversy and scrutiny towards the show and could have contributed to its ratings. However, as a self-professed Lee Jae Wook fan, I tuned in to watch the show last week regardless of the news. The Impossible Heir is arguable Lee Jae Wook's first "adult" show. Much of his prior work involved dramas that catered to the YA audience and for the first time we see him essaying a far more mature and morally dubious character as Han Tae Oh. While the show is marketed as having three leads, in my opinion, Tae Oh steals the show.

In the first episode, we are introduced to a teenage Han Tae Oh. The son of a murderer, for the sake of his and his mother's safety, he's forced by himself to a small town. Unlike his peers, he has no legal guardian and rents a rundown house in the village. Before the first day of school, he manages to provoke the ire of Kang In Ha, the illegitimate son of the Kang-Oh chaebol family. While the two boys are initially at odds with each other and even end up having a dramatic fight in the school lunchroom, the episode ends with an unlikely partnership- Tae Oh offering to use his intelligence to help In Ha achieve the impossible- the opportunity to be the next heir of Kang Oh Group over his two legitimate half brothers.

Over the next three episodes, we see Tae Oh and In Ha grow up as college students and later employees at Kang Oh. During their college years, we see a blossoming friendship between the two as In Ha becomes Tae Oh's only companion during their time at Hankuk University. Alongside their internal scheming to take over Kang Oh, we see glimpses that their friendship is no different from any other peers. They have birthday meals, eat lunch together in the cafeteria, and drink late night beers from the convenience. In Ha constantly chides Tae Oh for working too many part time jobs, but remains the dutiful wealthy friend that is willing to book a tutoring gig for Tae Oh or drop him off at work to help him financially stay afloat. The dynamics between both men take a sharp turn with the introduction of Na Hye-Won, who both male leads end up falling for though she ultimately ends up dating In Ha, mainly because she views In Ha as her key to overcoming poverty and acquiring wealth and prestige.

Just as episode two ends, the show takes another five year time leap and both men are working for Kang Oh group. Hye-Won also becomes what appears to be a staff member for a political party. The three remain as co-conspirators in their efforts to take over Kang Oh Group. Of the three, perhaps the person who gets closest to the chairman, Kang Jun Mo, is Tae Oh, who ascends to the role of his personal secretary. Tae Oh becomes Jun Mo's greatest asset and trusted confidante. Through his role, he starts to move the game pieces that would create a clear path of succession for In Ha.

The weakest aspect of the The Impossible Heir 's writing has to be Na Hye Won's character arc. Nothing about her frankly makes any sense. During the second episode, we are introduced to Hye Won as both In Ha's and Tae Oh's classmate and Tae Oh's neighbor. While its obvious that Tae Oh may have developed feelings for Hye Won due to their chance encounters, In Ha's feelings arise out of nowhere- to the point that it almost feels like he only wants Hye Won because he wants to take a person Tae Oh cherishes from him. However, if this was the case, the intensity of love that In Ha develops for Hye Won makes no sense. Furthermore, its puzzling to see the two boys so readily accept a stranger as a partner in developing and implementing a plan they have spent years working on together. Exacerbating this poor placement of the female lead is her poor portrayal by Hong Su Zu. Hong Su Zu's acting has been widely criticized by the Korean audience since the airing of the second episode. While I could see others' complaints last week, it did not initially bother me as much. However, the poor acting has become glaringly apparent in this week's episodes. If Hye Won is supposed to be who she's written to be- a morally grey character who is willing to do whatever it takes, including playing with someone's feelings, to escape her present circumstances, I would expect her to be desperate, shrewd, cunning, manipulative, and charismatic. However, the version that is presented to us is so blasé, stoic, and mediocre. Hong Su Zu's expressions and delivery are extremely limited- it's hard to swallow the thought that she's supposed to be a crucial main character.

Conversely, Tae-Oh's arc is the strongest point in the writing. As audience members, we are gripped by the elusive question- what does Tae-Oh get from this partnership? Why is he fiercely loyal to In Ha? and Does he truly want the best for his friend or is he planning on throwing him under the bus? Lee Jae Wook excels in playing the ambitious yet guarded Tae Oh, who becomes the "catalyst" of the story. Without Tae Oh, there's no plot. While Hye Won is a disappointing female lead, I was surprised by the chemistry between Tae-Oh and Choi Hee Jin's Kang Huiju, the younger half sister of Kang In Ha. Huiju develops an obsessive never-ending one-sided crush on Tae Oh when he becomes her short-lived mathematics tutor. At first glance, it's easy to brush her off as a minor character, but the amount of screen time she receives on the show suggests otherwise and Choi Hee Jin excels in playing the "petulant spoiled brat who surprisingly may be the only person in her family with a conscience".

If Tae Oh is a volcano patiently waiting to erupt at the right time,Huiju is a raging forest fire traveling at 100 mph. Her love and desire for Tae Oh is all consuming and destructive- something she wholeheartedly embraces but Tae-Oh fears. When Huiju's spontaneity comes to a head with Tae Oh's restraint, we see an electrifying chemistry between the two and we see another dimension of Tae Oh. While he can be avoidant and harsh, he is also gentle, kind, and protective. Its this internal push and pull that makes their relationship worth exploring.

One of the highlights of the latest episode was when Huiji confronts Tae Oh in a parking garage adamantly professing that she will force her parents to agree to their marriage and that she "will protect" Tae-Oh. I found her confession interesting on many levels because so far, all of Tae-Oh's relationships are exploitative. The other characters including his closest friend In Ha are only concerned about what Tae Oh can do for them and this is the first time we see someone offering to do something for him with no reciprocity. It's unclear if Hui Ju is a red herring or someone who will grow to be an integral part of Tae-Oh's life. As a viewer, I have to say that this relationship is one of the main draws to the show and is something that the writers utilize appropriately.

Overall, Impossible Heir is a Malthusian and Machiavellian drama that wholeheartedly embraces the capitalistic jungle. It may not be a show that fans of prior Lee Jae Wook's dramas will love, but it still deserves to be given a chance.

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️.75/5

[junkobato]

Upcoming Kdrama January 2024 🌈

1/1: Marry My Husband with Park Min Young, Na In Woo, Lee Yi Kyung. 16 episodes; rom-com, fantasy.

2/1: Love Song for Illusion with Park Ji Hoon, Ji Woo, Hwang Hee. 16 episodes; historical, romance, fantasy.

12/1: Knight Flower with Lee Hanui, Lee Jong Won, Lee Ki Woo. 12 episodes; historical, mystery, comedy.

17/1: A Shop for Killers with Lee Dong Wook, Kim Hye Joon, Seo Hyun Woo. 8 episodes; action, thriller.

19/1: the Bequeathed with Kim Hyun Joo, Park Hee Soon, Park Byung Eun. 6 episodes; thriller, mystery.

19/1: LTNS with Ahn Jae Hong, Esom. 6 episodes; rom-com.

21/1: Captivating the King with Jo Jung Seok, Shin Se Kyung, Lee Shin Young. 16 episodes; historical, melodrama.

26/1: Flex X Cop with Ahn Bo Hyun, Park Ji Hyun, Kwak Si Yang. 16 episodes; action, mystery, rom-com.

27/1: Doctor Slump with Park Shin Hye, Park Hyung Shik, Yoon Park. 16 episodes; medical, rom-com.

31/1: Queen of Divorce with Lee Ji Ah, Kang Ki Young, Oh Min Suk. 12 episodes; law, drama.

Let's start the year with some good dramas!!

[iris-sistibly]

I know I need to calm the fuck down first but one word to describe episode 6: STRESS!!

📍I love seeing Hyun-woo and Hae-in having a...sort of second honeymoon in Germany but I couldn't really enjoy every scene because I'm stressing out at how fucking OBLIVIOUS the Hong family is like bitch y'all are surrounded by snakes and they're so complacent 😭😭😭 I mean it's not really their fault that there are opportunists who'd earn their trust first then slither their way to bite them in the ass, but I just find it ironic at how protective they are at their family business and wealth but they can't see through the REAL people who has every intention to bring them down.

📍Speaking of which, I have read a fan theory somewhere that Mo Seul-hee is the mom of Eun-seong and Da-hye. Could be, OR Grace could be Da-hye's mom considering how Grace acted towards her. But why are they so keen at bringing the Hong family down?

📍Maybe it's just me but I don't think Da-hye is that bad, I have a feeling that she'll eventually come to her senses and take Hyun-woo's side and expose Eun-seong and co.

📍My overthinker/delulu self thinks that Soo-cheol and Da-hye's baby is actually Hyun-woo and Hae-in's kid. I mean, it wasn't shown how they lost their baby...yet. So Hae-in either miscarried, or she gave birth to a still born child? But what if the child is actually alive and one of those evil bitches cooked up some shit to make it seem like Hyun-woo and Hae-in's baby died, and then that baby was registered as Soo-cheol and Da-hye's kid? I know it sounds insane, but we're only on episode 6 so more crazy shit could happen in the future episodes, you'll never know. But my normal self says I've watched too many Filipino dramas growing up (and yes, that shit happens a lot in Filo-dramas).

📍Speaking of that kid, another theory is...what if that kid is actually Eun-seong and Da-hye's? Soo-cheol is a dumbass, and again, those bitches could have manipulated that baby's DNA test result or something. Again, that's just me being an overthinker, also I hate my Filo-drama mindset.

📍Aunt Beom-ja being so concerned about Hae-in and her dad but I also appreciate the fact that she respected her niece's request to not tell anyone about her illness. I also hope that she'll be able to help Hyun-woo clear his name and uncover Seul-hee and gang's dirty little secret.

📍BUT Y'ALL KNOW WHO STRESSED THE SHIT OUT OF ME THIS EPISODE? BAEK FUCKING HYUN-WOO!!! I am so freaking annoyed that he didn't tell Hae-in about the divorce when he had the chance. He was probably worried at how Hae-in would react plus the latter was going through medical treatments so he probably didn't want to put too much stress on her, but Hae-in was bound to find out either way so...yeah I do get why he chose to keep the divorce to himself but he could have just told the truth and suck it up, and perhaps they could communicate better when it comes to issues like this.

📍One thing I noticed about Hyun-woo is that he's brave in so many ways but also a coward on one thing. I mean he talks with Hae-in about nice things and all, and he is his wife's confidante, but I don't think I've ever heard him talk the way Hae-in does, meaning he never had the balls to talk to his wife about the..."unpleasant" side of their marriage. Hae-in was able to talk to him about her illness, the last will and testament that her mom pressured her to write, and Hyun-woo didn't even think about bringing up the divorce papers.

Prior to episode 5, I really thought that Hae-in was the one who shut him out but it was actually the other way around. Wifey may seem cold and nonchalant but if there's one person she'd listen to, it's him. Perhaps he doesn't want to say something that would upset Hae-in but the point is...she's his wife, she's supposed to know what he thinks, how he feels about certain things, even the not-so-pleasant side of their relationship. I really hope that in the next episode or the episode after that he'll be able to communicate better.

📍Hae-in's mom is terrible af. Imagine blaming your own daughter for the death of your son. I mean she didn't deserve to lose a child, but it's unfair to put all the blame on Hae-in (like why?). It's not like she endangered herself on purpose, and she had the audacity to be upset when Hae-in did something nice to her in-laws? Like what is wrong with this woman? Why can't see realize her own mistakes?

📍I kind of teared up when Hae-in was telling Hyun-woo about the things the latter should do when she dies. She could die, and this show might give us a bittersweet ending but when that time comes I'd be really, really hurt. Also, Hae-in confessing that the only reason she wrote her will about Hyun-woo not getting anything should they divorce was so that she'll be allowed to marry him 😭 (just shows she fought hard for him and she'll do absolutely anything to be with him). God I hate her mom! And yes the epilogue was so cute, now we know that they have always been in-love with each other. But I guess...they need a time-out 🤷.

📍Hae-in called Hyun-woo "yeobo" 🥹🥹🥹

[ppeonppeonhan]

Korean GLs I'd Watch...

Let's try to manifest a world where some of the biggest Korean actresses were cast in major full-length GL kdramas.

COP + CRIMINAL

Esom (Because This Is My First Life) and Lee Da-hee (Search: WWW) play partners and besties, who both fall for their respective suspects for a crime spree against the patriarchy. (Think: Evening the pay gap at a major company; exposing scandals of sexist politicians; and chemically castrating sex offenders). Esom's love interest is Park Eun-bin (Extraordinary Attorney Woo), and Da-hee's love interest is Seo Yea-ji (It's Okay to Not Be Okay). It's a romantic crime thriller.

FRIENDS to LOVERS

Seol In-ah (Business Proposal) plays a new-money rich girl who hires a former old-money rich girl, played by Yoo In-na (Touch Your Heart), to be her personal assistant out of pity, but pretends she doesn't know her backstory. And Yoo helps Seol navigate rich society. Their conflict is that Seol's family bankrupted Yoo's family, and is getting the life Yoo was supposed to have, including the fiancee, the job, and the house. It's a sweet romantic comedy.

BOSS + EMPLOYEE

Kim Ji-won (Fight My Way) starts a job at a family law firm and works hard to get one of the partners, played by Son Ye-jin (Crash Landing on You), to be her mentor, but only because she wants her job. She starts off as a frenemie before Ye-Jin's hard edges rub off, and Ji-won develops a crush. Their obstacles are that Ye-Jin is married and in the closet, and Ji-won might be too ambitious to let go of her goals. It's a slow-burn romantic legal drama.

COOL GIRL + DORK

Park Shin-hye (Heirs & Pinocchio) plays a cold fashion house designer who hires an unlikely candidate to be her muse, played by Moon Ga-young (True Beauty). And what starts off as a toxic relationship blooms into a supportive one. Park Bo-young (Strong Girl Bong-soon) plays her head of design, who befriends Ga-young's bestie-turned-manager, played by Kim Seul-gi (Oh My Ghostess). They're the softer side couple. It's a romantic workplace dramedy.

FRIENDS to ENEMIES to LOVERS

Seo Hyun-jin (Why Her?) and Gong Hyo-jin (When the Camellia Blooms) were friends in college, but they had a falling out after a misunderstanding about a guy. They have a tense reunion as adults when Hyo-jin is setting up her nuptials at the wedding hall Hyun-jin manages. It's a slowburn romantic drama.

ONE-SIDED OBSESSION

Shin Min-a (Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha) plays the wife of a very powerful and abusive man and Hwang Jung-eum (She Was Pretty) plays the maid who is secretly in love with her and helps her escape. They go to Jung-eum's hometown where everyone assumes she's bringing her girlfriend home for the first time, because she didn't have the heart to tell them she got dumped after running away to be with her. Min-a decides to pretend to be the woman to pay her back, and they fall in love. The conflict being when Jung-eum's ex, played by Park Min-young (What's Wrong with Secretary Kim), returns to get her back.

💜 Your move Kdrama world! 💜

[dilebe06]

My Favorite Female Characters

[gulongming]

이번 생도 잘 부탁해 SEE YOU IN MY 19th LIFE (2023)

[whenlovetriestoleave]

"far east chic" : david, hye seung lee, & zena kim by choi na rang for elle korea mar '24 hair by anna im, makeup by moon ji won

[rmmoonchild95]

The first weekend without AOS & I don’t know what to do with my life… every other drama is boring after this masterpiece came out. Now I’m empty ㅜㅜ

I love jang uk/cho yeong aka jae wook & youn jung 😩❤️‍🔥

They are literally made for each other, their chemistry on and off stage is impactful 🥺🔥🐢

[stuff-diary]

Wedding Impossible

TV Shows/Dramas watched in 2024

Wedding Impossible (2024, South Korea)

Director: Kwon Young Il

Writers: Oh Hye Won & Park Seul Ki (based on the webtoon by Song Jung Won)

Mini-review:

Well, this drama was entertaining, but nothing more. It was especially funny at the beginning, thanks to that sort of 'rivalry' between the leads. However, once they solved that and started moving into purely romantic territory, the story began to lose steam quickly. Tbh, I kept watching to the very end because of the sizzling chemistry between Jeon Jong Seo and Moon Sang Min. And I guess I wanted to see how in the world they were gonna clear up the mess created by the characters, which was pretty fascinating. I feel like the show would have been better if the director had put more thought into its style, cause the whole thing looked pretty cheap and bland. But still, Wedding Impossible is fun enough, and I can see fans of classic romcoms enjoying it a lot.

[sunnymimis]

Lonely Street 🌆 Kwang-soo, Min-ji, and Seung-min belong to @miru-p! Ye-jun, Hye-jin, Do-won, and Deok-su belong to me! Based on one of Miru's precious fics!

[offbeatcappuccino]

a colossal disaster ~ impossible heir final reflections

I recently finished watching the last two episodes of impossible heir and I am convinced that this show will go down as one of the biggest disappointments of 2024. After being a close follower of Lee Jae Wook's career for several years, I was excited about him playing another cold traumatized morally ambiguous character. However, there are too many weaknesses in the writing that cannot be made up by the spectacular acting from Lee Jae Wook, Lee Jun Young, and Choi Hee Jin. We all already know how I feel about Hong Su Zu and her character Na Hye Won. Like many predicted, the big reveal in this show is that Lee Jun Young's character Kang In Ha is a backstabber that has been secretly plotting to frame his best friend Han Tae Oh as the murderer of Kang In Ju in order to fulfill his dream of ascending the Kang-oh throne.

I do think that the shift in In Ha's becoming an overly ambitious fake friend was somewhat well justified with the writing. There were signs in the earlier episodes that he saw Tae Oh as his "dog" and held very little regard for him. One notable example is him "stealing" Na Hye Won despite being very well aware that Tae Oh had a crush on her. When In Ha is finally recognized by his father as his son, In Ha makes several independent decisions without consulting Han Tae Oh- suggesting the very early signs of a schism between the two men. However, its hard to swallow that out of nowhere he becomes capable of conspiring in the murder of his own brother, his best friend, the man that helped him kill his brother, his father, and finally, physically assaulting his wife and having her institutionalized against her will. What is actually quite bewildering in all of this has to be the relationship between In Ha and Mo Gi Ju, the murderer of Kang In Ju.

In last week's episodes, we are shown that Han Tae Oh comes across video evidence from the murder scene, which directly implicates Mo Gi Ju and Kang In Ha. This subsequently allows Tae Oh to be declared innocent and have his charges dismissed. When Gi Ju is interrogated, he refuses to disclose In Ha as his co-conspirator and in the last episode, we see that Gi Ju initially considers In Ha to be his friend. This is what is incredibly perplexing because at what point in the plot did these two become friends? It's one thing to be co-conspirators or to make a mutually beneficial deal, but to become close friends to the point that one of them is willing to take all the blame to protect the other? This is a loose thread in the plot that the show runners never seem to take the time to address.

Another thing that is never explained in the show is In Ha's extensive connections with the prison system. However, this could just be me being picky and maybe in the short span that he was able to be recognized as a legitimate son, he also was able to bribe a prison guard to help him carry out his dirty work. Despite these flaws, I will say that Lee Jun Young is absolute perfection when it comes to playing a maniac.

Apart from this arc, one of the biggest flaws in the last episode was the drastic shift in the characterization of Kang Seong Ju, one of In Ha's older brothers, who along with his mother was scheming to become the CEO of the company. However, after his mother's arrest, Seong Ju tearfully exclaims to his mother that he's sick of vying for the top and wants to prioritize his happiness. This is a sharp departure from his conduct just a few days prior when he was attempting to fill the vacuum left by his father's illness. What is even more difficult to swallow is the sudden respect that Seong Ju develops for Tae Oh, even going as far as respecting him as the next chairman of Kang Oh and bowing to him even though like everyone else in the family apart from Hui Ju, believed that Tae Oh was lesser than and a threat to their ambitions due to his proximity to the chairman. Seong Ju's arc is almost too good of an ending that you can't help but feel that the writers resorted to deus ex machina in order to tie all the ends.

Hye Won as usual was a disappointment and its confusing why they would market her as a main character when she had barely any lines or things to do in this episode. She has been one of the weakest female characters I have seen in a while with her existence mainly serving as a prop used to justify the conflict between the two men. She, herself, does very little to move the plot forward. Perhaps one of the saving graces of the show and the only reason I stuck with watching it is a brief scene that we see in the last few minutes of the show. Kang Hui Ju decides that she is going to travel the world and during the three year time leap, we see Tae Oh smiling at a picture of Hui Ju in Cancún, which she sends as her "survival update". The ending is very open-ended and ambigious, but if you were me, you interpreted it as Tae Oh finally reciprocating his feelings for Hui Ju.

While The Impossible Heir has been an utter disappointment, one of the good things about the show was the chemistry between Hui Ju and Tae Oh. Luckily, this has captivated the minds of some amazing writers and there's a flourishing AO3 page for the show with some of the best angst fanfics I've seen in a while.

Rating: 1.0/5.0

Keep watching kdramas and living your life like one,

offbeat_cappuccino

[binging-asian-dramas]

Dinner Mate. 6

Story: 7

Acting: 10

Chemistry: 8

Comparable to: It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (kdrama) ; Drinking Solo (kdrama); Dating in the Kitchen (cdrama); Chocolate (kdrama)

The drama started off with a real bang. It was really really good at first, especially in the first handful of of episodes, unfortunately it began a roller coaster effect where it was good then drag, then it was good again then back to dragging. It never really found it’s momentum to me. The only way I enjoyed the series somewhat was pressing through with the fast forward button.

[miru-p]

Another silly meme comic! I just love bullying Kwang-soo...

Kyung-seok, Daiyu, Do-won and Hye-jin belong to @unclemimibags ; Min-ji and Kwang-soo belong to me!

[k-star-holic]

Lee Jang-woo, Jo Hye-won and Hot Love

Source: k-star-holic.blogspot.com

[seoinquk]

My heart was yearning to see her again.

Shin Hye Sun as Ban Ji Eum & Ha Yoon Kyung as Yoon Cho Won SEE YOU IN MY 19TH LIFE (2023) dir. Lee Na Jung

[gulongming]

이번 생도 잘 부탁해 SEE YOU IN MY 19th LIFE (2023)