Climax is about the link between politics and the entertainment industry and how actresses are treated like bargaining…
Okay... I can't argue against that. 😳 It makes sense when you put it in that manner. However some of the scenes do veer into sensationalism. Like, the sex tape with Sang-Ah & Jung-Won, the portrayal of Sang-Ah's same-sex relationships, the toilet scene (I know it has significance now, but still), Tae-Seop recording Mayor Nam with the exploited actor...
I wouldn't consider Zhen Huan a villain. She never actively harmed anyone. All she did was take revenge on those…
I suppose it depends on perspective, but villains can still be villains even if they're sympathetic. Anti-villains are a thing too (although they're VERY rare in media...) I will have to watch and see if this is true or not.
When I read the synopsis, it sounded like the book "A Forest of a Thousand Lanterns" by Julie C. Dao, which is one of my favorite books ever. This c-drama also sounds VERY similar to the k-drama Cruel Palace: War of the Flowers. The FL there is straight-up VILLAINOUS.
If I remember why I began this drama to begin with it's because Cha Joo young can chew up and spit out every single…
For me, I kinda started it randomly? I was vaguely familiar with the actors and knew them, but the plot sounded interesting. So far the performances are amazing, the story is a mess though. I'm not expecting in-depth character studies, but at least explain WHY a character does what they do. Or is how they are. Jong-Wook has more development than the literal main villain herself, who (again) is evil for the lulz. Sometimes the characters just do crazy shit to do crazy shit. Even the wildest makjangs explore their characters more than this, a non-makjang drama. It feels kinda random at times.
The unspoken actions/stares is another part of the drama that annoys me. Am I supposed to guess what the characters are thinking or feeling, or what? 😭
I hope the last 2 episodes don't disappoint me, because I have been enjoying it so far... and I hope things eventually start to make sense in the end.
Okay. Do you want a super brief explanation or one that's a bit longer?
Okay, so a basic (I hope!) explanation of Climax's story so far (spoilers ahead!)
So there's 5 main characters: Bang Tae-Seop - main protagonist, a prosecutor running for president. Extremely ambitious and he wants to gain power to avenge his father's death. His dad was set up for something in the past that led him to commit suicide. Right now, Tae-Seop also wants to take down WR Group for their corruption so he can win political points to get the presidency. Of course, things are NOT that simple. Chu Sang-Ah - female protagonist, a former top actress desperate to gain her old reputation after a tax evasion scandal wrecked her career. She'll do anything to be on top. Tae-Seop married her to gain more power, but the tax evasion scandal was bad and it brought him back to square 1. So he pivoted to politics. But Sang-Ah is far more dangerous than he thinks... she might become the true final boss of the drama. 👀 Hwang Jung-Won - deuteragonist, an informant working for Tae-Seop. They have a connection because he took her in after she went to prison for killing her abusive alcoholic father. She lives a quiet, secretive life on the edge, but she's pulled into Sang-Ah and WR Group's web when she starts to pursue her own dreams of becoming an actress. Lee Yang-Mi - so far, the main villain of this drama. She's the Chief Director (or CEO?) of WR Group, head of WR Hotels and WR Entertainment, and pulling the strings of most of the chaos in this. She was basically OKJ's right-hand woman, helping to pimp out young actors in exchange for starting their careers. She's also the 2nd wife of Chairman Kwon Se-Myung and has 1 (awful) daughter with him, Kwon Hee-Jae. She wants to take over WR Group. Kwon Jong-Wook - tritagonist, maybe? Chairman Kwon's son. He's the head of WR Construction and a director of WR Group. He also wants to take over as the new chairman, and Tae-Seop aligns himself with him to destroy Yang-Mi, Jong-Wook's stepmother.
Side Characters (I'm only listing the ones who matter): Kwon Se-Myung - Chairman of WR Group. Basically the root of all evil. Some people (including me) speculate that he's Sang-Ah's biological father... somehow. 💀 Choi Ji-Ho - A YouTuber (ahem, MeTuber.) Host of the Cyber Wrecker channel and Yang-Mi's henchman. Very annoying side villain. I was happy when Jung-Won kicked his ass lol Nam Woo-Shik - Jung-Won's partner & Tae-Seop's other assistant. Park Jae-Sang (PJS) - Sang-Ah's ex-bodyguard. Biggest victim in the drama so far. He was obsessed with Sang-Ah, and went to prison for OKJ's murder (he did NOT commit it.) Oh Kwang-Jae (OKJ) - The "ghost" of this drama. His murder ties all the characters together and hangs over them like a dark cloud. An entertainment CEO who trafficked and abused multiple actors and actresses. Han Ji-Su - Another "ghost" of this drama. Sang-Ah's first love and a rookie actress who killed herself after she was trafficked and exploited constantly. Sang-Ah seems to be seeking some type of revenge for her unjust death, and blames OKJ for it. It changed her life forever.
Secrets & Scandals: PLOT TWIST! Sang-Ah is a lesbian, her first love was Han Ji-Su, who committed suicide after Oh Kwang-Jae (OKJ) pimped her out to Chairman Kwon Se-Myung of WR Group and a few other guys. WR Group was behind the tax evasion scandal that ruined Sang-Ah's career, specifically Yang-Mi. Oh Kwang-Jae's death, a murder, was very twisted in multiple ways. Sang-Ah MAY have been the first person to stab him, before an assassin hired by Chairman Kwon came in and finished the job. Oh Kwang-Jae trafficked actresses, including Han Ji-Su and Sang-Ah herself. PJS was manipulated by Sang-Ah (he was in love with her) to kill OKJ, but he never did it. He was framed for it anyway, and went to prison. Sang-Ah had feelings for Jae-Sang but used him anyway. Tae-Seop covered up OKJ's death and let Jae-Sang take the fall for it. Chairman Kwon was the one who ordered OKJ's death. When Tae-Seop blackmails him with this knowledge, he has a massive heart attack that ends with him in a coma. Jae-Sang died in episode 6 by an apparent suicide. It was NOT Jung-Won who killed him, but Ji-Ho threatened to frame her for it as a part of a plan with Yang-Mi. So Jung-Won was forcibly turned into Yang-Mi's puppet. Tae-Seop MIGHT have killed Jae-Sang. We don't know yet, but this is my big theory. Chairman Kwon abused Jong-Wook for 20 years, so as a result, Jong-Wook HATES him. He wants him dead. Tae-Seop blackmailed Mayor Nam Hye-Hun and released a sex tape of her with an actor. Tae-Seop's dad's death may or may not be connected to WR Group. Jung-Won has feelings for Sang-Ah. She finally... gave into them in episode 8. 👀 Tae-Seop exposed Son Guk-Won's (the other presidential candidate) financial crimes. A few minutes later, Sang-Ah and Jung-Won's sex tape came out. Based on episode 9's preview? It's REAL. And shit is about to go down like Donkey Kong.
I hope this helps! This is all I can remember for now...
HONG WOO-JIN WAS ALIVE????? WHAT THE HELL?! Now THAT'S a plot twist!!!
Also, I must say that I don't really care about Song Nam-Ju either... I thought she'd be a little more important other than doing histrionics and PPL, but I guess not. Major letdown. Jun Mi-Sun is a great actress, though,
If you want, you can also Google pictures of them together. Idk why it's my job to do research on your favorite pedophile, but, sure. I guess you wanna see a video of them fucking, too? Are you into that?
You pretending that Kim Groomer is innocent is... your opinion. It is not proven as a fact. This is YOUR bias and you feigning ignorance. At least Lee Jin-Wook was proven innocent. Park Yoo-Chun wasn't. Neither was Seungri. But I bet you'd defend the last 2 anyway.
Continue to live in delulu land. Can't help a crazy person that doesn't wanna be helped...
Climax is about the link between politics and the entertainment industry and how actresses are treated like bargaining…
For Climax, even if the ratings are low, it's still very popular. That last part you mentioned- THAT right there? That's a very low-key form of orientalism. And essentially another form of racism towards Koreans, ironic, because like I said before- Korea and "the West" have had international relations for decades now, culture-wise since the 80s and politically since the 50s (hello, Korean War!) So the "westernized" claim is nonsense, especially when Western influence in Korea has existed for so long.
This line of reasoning eventually always leads to fetishization of Koreans and idol worship. These are the same people who attack k-pop idols for dating each other, or worship certain actors/singers regardless of whatever awful things they have done. K-dramas have historically had a "bad image" in the West, anyway, people generally assume that they're all cliché, poorly acted, juvenile romance dramas from 2005 with 1-dimensional characters. NOW that k-dramas are breaking away from those outdated stereotypes, it's a problem? Now that we're seeing complexity, character development, different types of protagonists, directing, and more intricate writing, it's Westernized? Hmm... what does that say about this commenter? 🤔
Even c-dramas are evolving. Why is it bad for k-dramas to do the same thing?
Climax is about the link between politics and the entertainment industry and how actresses are treated like bargaining…
I agree. And the fact it's a woman doing this as both the screenwriter and director is incredibly brave. Very daring, too. It's a shame that people don't like it just because the FL is a lesbian (and it's not even a GL drama.) Maybe you accidentally deleted your comment. I would love to see your thoughts on it. 🥰
What are you thinking the team will do? For me I can see a possible open-ended ending, like a cliffhanger... or a pyrrhic victory where the couple has everything they ever wanted, but at a major cost.
Climax is about the link between politics and the entertainment industry and how actresses are treated like bargaining…
Ha, thanks Marie. Some people on here are ridiculous and nasty for no reason. They really get off on attacking people- I don't kink-shame, but, keep it in the bedroom, ya know? 😂 I've seen much more crazier dramas than this one.
Is she an anti-heroine or a villain protagonist? Because a lot of y'all on here mix the 2 of them up. 😂 Based on what I'm reading, she's a villain protagonist.
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When I read the synopsis, it sounded like the book "A Forest of a Thousand Lanterns" by Julie C. Dao, which is one of my favorite books ever. This c-drama also sounds VERY similar to the k-drama Cruel Palace: War of the Flowers. The FL there is straight-up VILLAINOUS.
The unspoken actions/stares is another part of the drama that annoys me. Am I supposed to guess what the characters are thinking or feeling, or what? 😭
I hope the last 2 episodes don't disappoint me, because I have been enjoying it so far... and I hope things eventually start to make sense in the end.
So there's 5 main characters:
Bang Tae-Seop - main protagonist, a prosecutor running for president. Extremely ambitious and he wants to gain power to avenge his father's death. His dad was set up for something in the past that led him to commit suicide. Right now, Tae-Seop also wants to take down WR Group for their corruption so he can win political points to get the presidency. Of course, things are NOT that simple.
Chu Sang-Ah - female protagonist, a former top actress desperate to gain her old reputation after a tax evasion scandal wrecked her career. She'll do anything to be on top. Tae-Seop married her to gain more power, but the tax evasion scandal was bad and it brought him back to square 1. So he pivoted to politics. But Sang-Ah is far more dangerous than he thinks... she might become the true final boss of the drama. 👀
Hwang Jung-Won - deuteragonist, an informant working for Tae-Seop. They have a connection because he took her in after she went to prison for killing her abusive alcoholic father. She lives a quiet, secretive life on the edge, but she's pulled into Sang-Ah and WR Group's web when she starts to pursue her own dreams of becoming an actress.
Lee Yang-Mi - so far, the main villain of this drama. She's the Chief Director (or CEO?) of WR Group, head of WR Hotels and WR Entertainment, and pulling the strings of most of the chaos in this. She was basically OKJ's right-hand woman, helping to pimp out young actors in exchange for starting their careers. She's also the 2nd wife of Chairman Kwon Se-Myung and has 1 (awful) daughter with him, Kwon Hee-Jae. She wants to take over WR Group.
Kwon Jong-Wook - tritagonist, maybe? Chairman Kwon's son. He's the head of WR Construction and a director of WR Group. He also wants to take over as the new chairman, and Tae-Seop aligns himself with him to destroy Yang-Mi, Jong-Wook's stepmother.
Side Characters (I'm only listing the ones who matter):
Kwon Se-Myung - Chairman of WR Group. Basically the root of all evil. Some people (including me) speculate that he's Sang-Ah's biological father... somehow. 💀
Choi Ji-Ho - A YouTuber (ahem, MeTuber.) Host of the Cyber Wrecker channel and Yang-Mi's henchman. Very annoying side villain. I was happy when Jung-Won kicked his ass lol
Nam Woo-Shik - Jung-Won's partner & Tae-Seop's other assistant.
Park Jae-Sang (PJS) - Sang-Ah's ex-bodyguard. Biggest victim in the drama so far. He was obsessed with Sang-Ah, and went to prison for OKJ's murder (he did NOT commit it.)
Oh Kwang-Jae (OKJ) - The "ghost" of this drama. His murder ties all the characters together and hangs over them like a dark cloud. An entertainment CEO who trafficked and abused multiple actors and actresses.
Han Ji-Su - Another "ghost" of this drama. Sang-Ah's first love and a rookie actress who killed herself after she was trafficked and exploited constantly. Sang-Ah seems to be seeking some type of revenge for her unjust death, and blames OKJ for it. It changed her life forever.
Secrets & Scandals:
PLOT TWIST! Sang-Ah is a lesbian, her first love was Han Ji-Su, who committed suicide after Oh Kwang-Jae (OKJ) pimped her out to Chairman Kwon Se-Myung of WR Group and a few other guys.
WR Group was behind the tax evasion scandal that ruined Sang-Ah's career, specifically Yang-Mi.
Oh Kwang-Jae's death, a murder, was very twisted in multiple ways. Sang-Ah MAY have been the first person to stab him, before an assassin hired by Chairman Kwon came in and finished the job.
Oh Kwang-Jae trafficked actresses, including Han Ji-Su and Sang-Ah herself.
PJS was manipulated by Sang-Ah (he was in love with her) to kill OKJ, but he never did it. He was framed for it anyway, and went to prison.
Sang-Ah had feelings for Jae-Sang but used him anyway.
Tae-Seop covered up OKJ's death and let Jae-Sang take the fall for it.
Chairman Kwon was the one who ordered OKJ's death. When Tae-Seop blackmails him with this knowledge, he has a massive heart attack that ends with him in a coma.
Jae-Sang died in episode 6 by an apparent suicide. It was NOT Jung-Won who killed him, but Ji-Ho threatened to frame her for it as a part of a plan with Yang-Mi. So Jung-Won was forcibly turned into Yang-Mi's puppet.
Tae-Seop MIGHT have killed Jae-Sang. We don't know yet, but this is my big theory.
Chairman Kwon abused Jong-Wook for 20 years, so as a result, Jong-Wook HATES him. He wants him dead.
Tae-Seop blackmailed Mayor Nam Hye-Hun and released a sex tape of her with an actor.
Tae-Seop's dad's death may or may not be connected to WR Group.
Jung-Won has feelings for Sang-Ah. She finally... gave into them in episode 8. 👀
Tae-Seop exposed Son Guk-Won's (the other presidential candidate) financial crimes. A few minutes later, Sang-Ah and Jung-Won's sex tape came out. Based on episode 9's preview? It's REAL. And shit is about to go down like Donkey Kong.
I hope this helps! This is all I can remember for now...
Also, I must say that I don't really care about Song Nam-Ju either... I thought she'd be a little more important other than doing histrionics and PPL, but I guess not. Major letdown. Jun Mi-Sun is a great actress, though,
https://entertainment.inquirer.net/601821/timeline-kim-soo-hyun-kim-sae-rons-relationship-scandal
https://www.gmanetwork.com/entertainment/photos/kim-soo-hyun-and-kim-sae-rons-controversy-timeline/23242/318053/
These pictures look pretty real to me. 🤔
If you want, you can also Google pictures of them together. Idk why it's my job to do research on your favorite pedophile, but, sure. I guess you wanna see a video of them fucking, too? Are you into that?
You pretending that Kim Groomer is innocent is... your opinion. It is not proven as a fact. This is YOUR bias and you feigning ignorance. At least Lee Jin-Wook was proven innocent. Park Yoo-Chun wasn't. Neither was Seungri. But I bet you'd defend the last 2 anyway.
Continue to live in delulu land. Can't help a crazy person that doesn't wanna be helped...
This line of reasoning eventually always leads to fetishization of Koreans and idol worship. These are the same people who attack k-pop idols for dating each other, or worship certain actors/singers regardless of whatever awful things they have done. K-dramas have historically had a "bad image" in the West, anyway, people generally assume that they're all cliché, poorly acted, juvenile romance dramas from 2005 with 1-dimensional characters. NOW that k-dramas are breaking away from those outdated stereotypes, it's a problem? Now that we're seeing complexity, character development, different types of protagonists, directing, and more intricate writing, it's Westernized? Hmm... what does that say about this commenter? 🤔
Even c-dramas are evolving. Why is it bad for k-dramas to do the same thing?