The Penthouse Season 3: War in Life (2021)

Dragged on

I feel like they could've just finished at season 2. Part 3 felt like it dragged on. It was going back and forth with the revenge and Dan Tae and Seo Jin always escaping or killing more people only for all the good main characters to have their happy ending in Heaven. I'm totally okay with that but it was kinda like what was the point? They went through a lot of BS. The kids ended up losing all their parents. They should've died earlier then if that was the case and end the drama. I felt like the author was really money hungry to drag it on. Well at least all their kids add happy endings. I loved the character development of all the kids when they're grown up. Ro Na is super successful,

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QUITE THE RIDE

Words cannot describe how amazing this show has been for me. I had heard about the penthouse, but I just thought it would just be another drama but this one took me for quite a ride.
PROS
The pros of this drama were the music/soundtrack, I loved the classical music background, I feel it added another element that defined the drama more and to be honest, I am still obsessed with it. I loved the mix of intense suspense with comedy, it made watching the drama feel like a rollercoaster. Also, while watching the drama, I had wondered if the writers were sadists since they loved to kill the good guys in the most horrible way possible, but I suppose that is what made the drama thrilling and unpredictable because there was no way to know when one of your favorite characters would be killed off. I like the Unpredictableness of the drama, there were characters like Oh Han Nee who became bad for a while in season one before changing, and many other characters which showed that ultimately most villains are not born but shaped to be one by their choices. I loved the actors/actresses, I felt that they gave this drama the notch, I loved Shim Rung for her classy acting, she really portrayed the character to root for, I loved crazy seo chin, she somehow reminded me of Disney villains with her evil but beautiful expressions and the others.
The cons for me were some plot twists which I feel were unnecessary and only served to elongate the drama. At some point, it felt like everybody had a twin somewhere especially when logan's twin brother suddenly appeared from nowhere. Also making shim Shim sheon yoon's adopted daughter, her real daughter for me did not fit into the story and seemed like an unnecessary evil deed by Joo Dan Tae. Min seo ah should have remained her only real daughter. While I loved the dead characters coming back to life, it essentially killed the drama a bit, because each time someone died, it felt like you just needed to wait patiently for the person to pop back up. The main actress dying as well as logan also made watching the three seasons pointless because everyone was rooting for them to finally live and not just jump into paradise in the afterlife.
Summary (Spoiler)
Overall, I really loved the drama despite the ridiculous storyline because somehow the drama still found a way to keep us glued to our seats till the end. I guess the writers killed everybody except the kids as a form of poetic justice. Oh Han Nee who killed Min Seol Ah ended up dying while redeeming herself by saving another person's child. Seo Jin ended up losing her money, voice, and her daughter Eun Byoel who meant everything to her and died miserably, Joo Dan Tae died at the place he had built after being abandoned by everyone and seen for who he really was, Han Chul died trying to be a father, it would appear that Shim Sheon Ryung got her revenge at the end of the day but paid the price for revenge.
As crazy as this drama is, its one of my best dramas and something i can highly recommend.

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This was a massive nod to 80s US dramas

What a weak KDrama! Everyone was raving about this drama and I was curious - but it was nothing but a big bow to an awful period of US day time dramas ( reminded me of The Bold and the Beautiful & Dynasty!)
If you fan of these stretched, no eventful, over the top, screaming, weak story dramas - this is your drama!
The drama should be watched in half of the normal volume - and I hope none of the actors lost their voices in the process of filming - there was a LOT of screaming!

Looking for pros - the OST was not tot bad, the CGI was good too, the cast was not bad either. Everything else .arghhhh. You will enjoy the outfits tho - the wardrobe did the best job!


Ps this is the case for all 3 series!

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S1 & S2 > S3

After I finished the drama I was so mad.

Season 1 and season 2 were so realistic and Penthouse could've got its good ending but they wasted it. SBS thought giving us one episode every week only will make it suspenseful and mysterious. Which I agree, it did at the start. But when they literally killed off Oh Yoon hee IN EPISODE 5, that's when everything went downhill. I was ok with them killing off Oh Yoon hee but literally for no reason?? At the end of season 2, they killed off Logan lee. He got literally burned by the fire but he came back alive which was the dumbest reason ever. And Oh Yoon hee died from falling off a cliff, going into the water. I know she doesn't know how to swim but they still had the chance to get her back. And the fact that Cheon Seo Jin did that was even worse. Oh, and her dying from the chandelier and still coming back made a bit more sense because the end of the chandelier was a round shape so she couldn't have died that easily. Them killing off Ha Yoon Chul... WAS EVEN WORSE. I DON'T GET THE POINT IN KILLING OFF THE GOOD PEOPLE FOR NO REASON because, in the end, Cheon Seo Jin ended up dying. I felt bad but what was the point in killing these characters if she's just gonna end up dying?

I would definitely rewatch this drama because it was good. I just wished that they made it Friday and Saturday, 2 days every week so viewers wouldn't have got bored that quick. I actually don't know if other people got bored but I got bored pretty quick. I still watched it for the pasta date and it happened, in the last episode, which was another reason I was mad.

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Repititve storyline

Season 1 was great. Though it was not my usual cup of drama, the plot kept me on edge and I binged through the whole season. Moving on to Seasons 2 and 3, I realised the storyline is pretty much repeating.
It's just stupid, rich, snobby people who think they can get away with anything with their wealth.
Killing people for personal gain and then their loved ones seeking justice and revenge for the dead ones.
I'm sooooooooo sick of people coming back from the dead.

Watching The Penthouse I realised that it does not have THAT big of a story. No, the storyline was predictable and ordinary. The only reason it gained huge success was the execution of the plot. It's remarkable how well the did the production and execution of The Penthouse. And the acting? Top-notch acting skills and a great cast. Everyone did their role well.

So, the drama was ok, ig? But I'm not up for a rewatch though.

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a must-watch

I watched all seasons of this drama. And let me tell you, I'm OBSESSED with it. Seriously, there wasn't any drama that got me hooked from the beginning like The Penthouse did.

First of all, the story. You will never ever find a drama like this one. The storyline is just so unique. Most of the time when we watch something, we know what will happen next because we are used to these kind of plottwists. But the writers did so many crazy things with this drama, I can still remember how shocked I always was because of what was happening right now. I can't summarize the events of this drama, it's impossible. So many things happened. Looking back at how the drama started, it changed so much. The Penthouse begun with the death of MSA and the revenge of her mother SSR. It's still a revenge drama but the storyline changed drastically when all the new characters were added later. Even when the drama got a bit messy in season three (I mean we all were pretty shocked when they confirmed that the drama would have more episodes haha), it's still a masterpiece. Not everything makes sense (especially the 'come-backs' of some characters lol) and some things were really exaggerated, but it suited this drama. I never lost the feeling I had in season one and that's the most important thing for me.

Now let's look at the characters. There are too many to focus on, that's why I'll rather do a summary of them. Funny how this drama doesn't really have leads. Yeah I know, OYH, SSR and CSJ are officially the main leads, but for me there are so many more. Especially our main villain JDT is one of the most important characters. Without him the drama wouldn't even make any sense. Sometimes the kids weren't shown that often, but still, they're also very important characters with each of them having their own storyline and relationships. I could never image The Penthouse without the Hera kids. Even the side characters were really important, so long story short, everyone in this drama was needed. Some characters had their character development, but most of them didn't really change. Understandable, in a drama like this the villains must stay as villains or the whole storyline wouldn't make any sense. Forgiving murders for example is a no-go. Love how the writers didn't change the villains, because if they would, the drama would be really really ridiculous.

(Before y'all come at me, yeah I know most of the characters and the plots are unrealistic and sometimes a bit too much, but for a drama like this I personally never expected the opposite.)

The acting was superb. There were sooo many good actors who did a great job potraying these kind of characters because this isn't easy at all. Sometimes there was a little bit overacting, but overall it was brilliant. Wishing all of them the best and hoping to see more from these actors, especially from the Hera kids.

The music was the highlight of this drama. The dramatic opera music was perfect! I don' think I ever saw a drama where all of the soundtracks were literally masterpieces. The music choice was fantastic.

Rewatching this drama would be exhausting. But I'll probably still do it haha. I really like this genre and this drama is really one of the best out there in dramaland. I loved it from the beginning till the end. I'm pretty sure The Penthouse will be one of those iconic dramas fans will never forget.

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JUST A FEW WORDS

I beg you, if you liked S2 and S1, I highly recommend you watch this as if it were a standalone. It's amusing to a certain point due to its ridiculousness, you'll feel very frustrated and like a masochist for putting yourself through this but hey, the acting's great and that might distract you from the 100000 senseless story lines. Feeling stressed, watch penthouse 3 :)

Anyways I still stand by the fact that this drama would have been taken really seriously and held to the same level as Sky Castle if only they had stopped 2 seasons earlier. I know this is not much of a review but if I went in depth I'd honestly be spoiling the whole drama, so enjoy yourself :)

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watch this to have the closure for the nonsense first two season served

●Since I had binged THE PENTHOUSE season 1 and 2, its but obvious to go for season 3. without watching this how could I even sleep after all the mind f**king bombs dropped in. I had to complete this to give my mind a peaceful rest.

●once I felt as if I was watching an Indian drama with all the nonsense plot, but Kdrama eventually did better and wrapped it up in 3 seasons {48episodes}. it was a complete masala {spicy full of entertainment}

●Starting with the prison life it was full of a roller coaster ride with bitter truths unveiled. But this truth didn’t make my heart melt, because these criminals did so many bad things that it is hard to forgive them and feel pity.

●LIKED
-I loved the 3rd season for giving a complete closure but I hated how some of the characters had bitter endings. Yeah, I knew from the start that makjang tends to give bitter endings but the way it was cinematographed it was painful, the scene turned out beautiful yet painful.
-Everyone got what they deserved except some, who decided to go again make their own fate. I felt they were selfish, and when they were punished they want to run away from it.
-Shim Su Ryun fought for her kids but why would you make her that in the end.
-Come on Alex could have been a doner for Logan he could fight cancer, but losing love is really painful. I never really thought of them as a couple but the story flow made Shim Su Ryun and Logan Lee union a match made me heaven. Their union was poetic to me.
-Jincheon was the winner of all the 5 families of the Hera Club, and I think she deserves it, she took the right decisions and had regretted all the wrongdoings.
-All the kids have now excelled and chosen their path, I was really happy for them as they have realized their potential and didn’t take their parent's path. They are calm, hardworking, and good-hearted. They have really got a very great character growth since season1.
-From the start, I rooted for Seok Hoon and Ro Na, so it was the best thing in season 3. Their performance in the last episode.
-Everyone acting was extraordinary. Cheon Seo Jin's last scene was breathtaking.
-Actually last episode was really special, all of the scenes gave me major tears.

●DISLIKED
Joo Seok Kyung was one of the stupidest characters throughout the 3seasons. She thinks she knows all but she really knows nothing about the kids around her or the adults. She was like a caterpillar in the cocoon, who thinks it can scare people, but the world outside is way cruel.

●AFTERTHOUGHT
●This drama is not for everyone, you have to keep logic aside and see the depth of greed of humans which sometimes eat up your soul turning you into a monster.
●Thanks to the writers for cracking up my head with this mad story which TBH entertained me too.

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down to the last season. honestly, I'm so tired with penthouse already, I watched this because I wanted to know how it ended. The beginning was okay, hooked me, was interesting. I was thinking aahh maybe because I couldn't really remember the past seasons, I might be watching this season with a fresh mind. but i guess not :') somewhere in episode 6, i'm getting tired of it. the whole nonsense, I'm just not up for it anymore. It was really good in season 1 cause it was kinda refreshing to watch makjang that I've probably only watch 1 drama and the makjang-ness is not as high as penthouse. but now that it's the 3rd season, it's so tiringgg, i lost interest with everything. all I want is for it to end. but I do love and interested with the character development of some btw. but the ending, the last episode, episode 14?? just wow. really just overturn everything, which is why the rating I gave wasn't too low. the last episode doesn't feel like penthouse, it was somehow very calm and there are few touching stories. I can't believe I was crying :((( there were no shouting and screaming, just how their lives slowly going back to normal. and bcs of the last episode i feel like i was emotionally attached to it :'))

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I didn't like season 3 as much as I liked the previous two seasons (I rated them both 10/10). I was sort of watching if when it was still airing so basically just one ep a week but I didn't mind that much since it wasn't that good and this way I could take breaks between the eps instead of watching them in one go.

So many things has changed, many characters has come and gone (this time without coming back) and at the end I was legit sad that it was ending. This is the longest Korean series I've ever watched with the three seasons and I was at the edge of tears when letting go and finishing the last ep.

At least my favourite character got (sort of) a happy ending ? I was so emotional when the final scene came up, oh my god.

I give the rating 8/10, some scenes were too much and some characters seemed really unnecessary (eg. Alex) for the plot but overall it got better at the end.

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The first drama I am fully satisfied with

This is my first drama that I am satisfied with the whole story, acting, music, filming, and how they are mixed into a single drama that is divide into 3 parts. The moment that I finished the drama I felt satisfied, as if I was the person who was writing the story not the reader or watcher (as if person from outside who looks at a world that isn't the world that he lives in). Even though I hate dramas that have emotional roller coaster (not any emotional roller coaster but those who put too much that makes the dramas turn into fiction or those who put too little that it makes it not much than our own lives), I like how I lived the story instead of watching or reading it. I wish those who think that it will be too much for them from just listening about it (either someone told them from their own experience or they watched the some videos that talk about it) to try before they judge because I felt the same way until the end of the third season I felt like I am Satisfied that if I died today I don't mind it.

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