Tia

It's 2026 and people still don't understand that anti-heroes are a thing... JW is a textbook example of an anti-hero protagonist. The comments on YouTube are incredibly annoying to me. 😑 There are books, shows, and movies with anti-hero protagonists. There's NO WAY that this is your first time watching a Korean drama with one. A daily drama, at that! I thought people wanted other types of FLs? What the hell could possibly be the issue *NOW?!* I feel like I say this all the time...

Just had to rant a little bit.

Let me clarify: I do not give a flying fuck if you dislike JW or not. I am expressing my opinion. I'm not saying this because I like or dislike her, I am rambling. There are some daily drama protagonists I've disliked. I'm just making my points. 😁

Understandable! Yeah, I usually enjoy makjangs & melodramas (some I love, some I hate.) But I agree, though. I feel like after season 2, nothing else was necessary. Like most of the main arcs were fine, but... did we REALLY need a SEASON 3??? 😭

Solid, solid episode today. We got the rise of Jin Jung-Won (and I love it!) She's FINALLY an executive at Kun-Hyang Group. Thank god, she's officially won back the title of Ms. Crafty! And Hye-Ra is now a group advisor? (What does she even do?) Even if Jung-Won is putting on a show, I love the villainous/ruthless version of her lol. But the mystery deepens... who's that mysterious man Hye-Ra met with? Is it Young-Chae's biological father, Mr. Shin?! And who's the guy that's HIS boss? How are they both connected to Tae-Seok, and what do they know about the Swiss slush fund? 👀

And speaking of the Swiss account... I do NOT wanna hear anything about Nan-Suk being smart anymore- she was AN IDIOT for taking that money and immediately spending it, thinking that no one would notice. Now when you get into trouble, I don't wanna hear no complaints or crying. You do the crime, ya do the time. Complete dumbassery. There was ZERO reason for her to do that. 💀

Young-Chae is officially the chaos agent of this drama. She may be stupid, but she can always throw a few unexpected ingredients into the mix! 😂 I'm wondering how the fallout of this goes. Right now, my daily drama crystal ball says that Young-Chae's baby will die. Because of this, Young-Chae may also die (potential suicide. Or Tae-Seok finds out that it's her and tries to kill her. MAJOR twist for a Friday episode.) Young-Chae's death would shatter everything- it'd force Nan-Suk to change her ways, it'd break Ha-Neul's heart, bring out some complex feelings in Jung-Won (or, in a sick twist, Jung-Won is *happy* that she's dead), and it'd hurt Hye-Ra. It would also break Se-Hun entirely. Tragedy all around.

Updated nickname roster (cue FOX Sports theme):
Jung-Won = Ms. Crafty, Young-Chae = Bitter Fox, Hye-Ra = Mrs. Elegant, Nan-Suk = Fancy Mama, Tae-Seok = Chairman Psycho, Se-Hun = Dumb Prince, Ha-Neul = Grey Knight, Mi-Hyang = BBQ Auntie, Secretary Hwang = Lapdog(?), Secretary Yoon = Minnie, Manager Gu = Mickey, Ji-na = Redhead Fox (no longer a snake, I love her now.) Who am I missing? 🤔

I think you'd like High Class and Secret Mother. The World of the Married too.

Oh yeah. This one was nuts even for me... but Escape of the Seven?! Yeah, that's peak madness, by the same writer. It tops Penthouse. Somehow managed to achieve... that. Never finished season 2, it flew off a cliff and spiralled before blowing up... twice. 💀

HAHAHAHA noooo! Penthouse is just my favorite k-drama for the chaotic factor (among other things.) So once a year I rewatch some clips and end up hyper-fixating on it again 😭 (mainly season 1 though.) I'm not sure if I'll ever (fully) rewatch the show, so I just stick to clips, ramble here a bit, and go back to whatever else I was watching. Nice to relive the nostalgia every once in a while, ya know?

Not really, a lot of the cast still did dramas after this. Also, the main cast (not the kids, unless they were child actors) are veteran actors, so they don't need to do as much dramas/get as much dramas to star in. Eugene doesn't tend to do many dramas in general (Penthouse was the first drama she did in several years, also, she didn't even stay for the whole show! Still no explanation on why she left), but she did come back last year starring in First Lady (she did her first actual villain role!) Decent drama, the ending was ambiguous, though. So if you like happy endings like 90% of k-dramas fans, I don't think you should watch it.

Kim So-Yeon did a few dramas too, she was in A Virtuous Business, Taxi Driver, and made a cameo in Escape of the Seven. Um Ki-Joon starred in Escape of the Seven (both seasons.) Same with Shin Eun-Kyung and Yoon Jung-Hoon. Lee Ji-Ah was in Pandora: Beneath The Paradise. Choi Ye-Bin was in Perfect Family (I plan to check it out.) Kim Hyun-Soo was in Artificial City, which aired like a year after Penthouse finished... Jin Ji-Hee was in Perfect Marriage Revenge, that was pretty popular. Came out in 2023, I think.

Shin Ae-ri from Temptation of Wife... 👀

Kim Sun-Ok is a mad genius who wants us all to suffer. Just kidding (maybe), makjang dramas have been around for a very long time. Some of the most popular k-dramas are makjangs. This is a makjang fusion drama, though...

5 years later, and I'm still a Yoon-Hee fan. She absolutely deserved to crash out after everything those people put her through 😭 also, I'm getting tired of the narrative that Su-Ryeon was a good person... no, no she was not. She had somewhat of a moral compass (and was good at first, yes, I'll admit it), but she actually committed most of the crimes in this drama in general. At best, she's an anti-heroine, at worst (*ahem* season 3), she's a full-on villain protagonist, like Seo-Jin & Yoon-Hee.

But maybe I have a tendency to root for the underdog and I like corruption (hero-turned-villain) arcs, so... yeah lmao

I loved her performance as the villain FL in Secrets and Lies! Underrated actress, in my opinion.

Daily Dramas are long because they're soap operas, lol the style isn't for everyone. Also, the main character of Red Shoes is Min Hee-Kyung, not Gemma Kim. Too many people think it's the other way around... but again, villain protagonists do exist.

YC did not do it for a noble reason... she did it to try and hurt TS- in her head, since she's unstable right now. Unless you're right? Then I believe you... I have a feeling the baby or her (or both) will get hurt/die. Also, TS still has the video of her trying to kill her model ex (in self-defense, but still... it's very damning.)

I agree with this, though.

You make a good point. This drama hardly has much romance (or at least, isn't focused on it.)

I hope not 😭 I want them to be punished!!! Before a possible redemption!

Pearl In Red

https://mydramalist.com/803222-bulgeun-jinju

He can be a BBQ worker in his prison block, yes. 😂

Then it's confirmed. But MBC (evening) daily dramas are usually 120+ episodes lol

A Graceful Liar? Yup, probably because Kocowa has a partnership with them (I think.)

Yes I have! I love that show!

That's delicious... or he goes to prison, someone he screwed over in the past shows up and shanks him... 👀 lol