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SKITC

Probably within reach of a coffee

SKITC

Probably within reach of a coffee
The Impossible Heir korean drama review
Dropped 5/12
The Impossible Heir
10 people found this review helpful
by SKITC
Mar 19, 2024
5 of 12 episodes seen
Dropped 5
Overall 2.0
Story 3.0
Acting/Cast 2.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

There's lots and lots more wrong than just an uninspiring lead

Like almost everything is wrong with "The Impossible Heir".

Let's start with the well-worn scenario. Who's the successor to a conglomerate empire chairmanship? The illegitimate son that probably needs some intense psychotherapy for his simmering rage issues and definitely should learn some impulse control? Either of the legitimate sons that couldn't outfox a 4 year old in a Monopoly game? The bloodthirsty and estranged wife? The brilliant schemer secretary with no apparent blood relation to the current chairman?

Here's the problem: it's impossible to care about who wins the succession battle because it's impossible to care about any of the characters involved. The villains are laughably incompetent. The hero (or the one who is supposed to be) is as boring as dry paint and an ABYSMAL judge of character for someone who is supposed to be so brilliant. And the morally ambiguous anti-hero bad boy is so unbalanced that he's easier to pity than to root for.

Shorter: all these characters suck.

And that's if they weren't so conceptually cliche' (which they are and painfully so) and inadequately portrayed.

Lee Jae Wook - let's rip every bit of possible personality from his acting as possible. Great idea.

Lee Jun Young - he would kill playing a character with a serious mental disorder. But In Ha is obviously meant to be just not terribly bright and a bit overly ambitious.

Hong Su Zu - it's possible that she can act. Probably not. The smart betting money is definitely against her. But with a character so bland to portray, there's no way to ever start to figure that out.

Lee Ji Hoon - while it might be unfair to Hong Su Zu to judge her based on this show, there's enough history from other shows to declare with certainty that Lee Ji Hoon is awful. Yes, the character is supposed to be loathed but this performance is so bad, it comes across as pathetic instead of someone worth hating. It's a nauseous experience to watch him.

Han Sang Jin - no real notes on the performance but it should be noted that there's no small number of actors that bear some tiny bit of resemblance to Choi Jin Ho and could be believable as having 50 percent of Choi Jin Ho's DNA. Hang Sang Jin, however, is not one of them. Theoretically, it comes out later that he's not the chairman's son actually but that would betray the all-powerfulness and all-knowingness of the chairman character.

Choi Jin Ho isn't bad.

Choi Hee Jin is pretty good but gets 90 seconds of time on screen per episode. When she does make a brief appearance, she's treated like garbage by everyone. Literally every single other character is toxic to her. It's not fun to watch.

On top of the overall narrative structure, the direction and editing seems bent on making things more interesting by making the smaller arcs as baffling and poorly sequenced as possible.

Bad show. Very bad. Even for those that are ardent fans of one of these cast members, stay away. Far away.
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