I was putting off watching this show because I was focusing on finding a summer internship but I took a break from socials and people in general and watched all 16 episodes in one sitting…
My Synopsis:
It is the success story of a middle-schooler called Park Saeroyi, who stuck by his principles throughout the drama because his father was proud of him living that way. It is a story about his lifelong goal of getting revenge what was done to his father by the Chairman’s spoilt and twisted son, by setting up his own pub to defeat the Chairman’s company.
Honestly, my favourite drama to date!!!
Honestly, better than goblin, or anything else I have watched so far
Friendship, principles, morals, family, loyalty, romance, success, hardship, perseverance – everything is covered in this well written and acted drama!
– Rebecca
My storyline:
Saeroyi, is this charming young middle schooler who transfer to another school due to a change in his fathers work station. There on the first day of transferring he sees his classmate being bullied and stands up to the bully who he knows is the Chairman’s son. The chairman comes in with his saeroyi’s father and it ends with his father being proud of him sticking to his principles and quits his job.
Saeroyi falls in love with this student called Oh Soo Ah and there are scenes of him, his father and her preparing to open a pub. The whole drama falls into place when his father gets hit by a car and dies in an accident. At the funeral, the police come in and says the other party wants to come to a settlement and Soo Ah sees the photo of the car and says it is Jang Geun Won’s car who is the chairman’s son. He then goes straight to beat him up. This ends with him being sentenced to jail time for the assault, and Geun Won escaping jail by framing the car accident on someone else with the help of threats to the police in charge.
This is the start of Saeroyi’s new life where he studies everything about his enemy through his biography and sets in stone his long life plan. On the day he is released, he goes to Itaewon which is the place Soo Ah said she loved and lived at. They meet and he tell’s her he plans to set up his own pub in 7 years and he says he will go deep sea fishing and manual labour to get the money to set up a pub in Itaewon. Exactly 7 years later, they meet and he is seen to be setting up the pub.
The pub is seen to be tacky, with no customers. And then other characters are introduced. Jang Geun Soo, and Jo Yi Seo are the two students that are reported to drink at the pub and result in the pub getting a suspension of service. Saeroyi’s actions and words had a great impact on both of them and they both ask to work at his pub. Jang Geun Soo as the server and Jo Yi Seo as the manager.
Under Jo Yi Seo, the bar flourishes day by day and start becoming a threat to the Chairman. Throughout the challenges, Saeroyi sticks to his principles and does things his way, the way he thinks is right. It is definitely the hard way, but he sticks to it and gets things done. He believes business is done by valuing the people and their trust, unlike normal business people who would just say it is about profit. There he also portrayed as someone who loves Soo Ah no matter what she does and always tries to understand her.
Jo Yi Seo on the other hand, loves him and the only reason she was working there was because of him and Jang Geun Soo loves Yi Seo. Although there was the theme of romance, I like how it was not a very big part.
In the end, Saeroyi became the big threat to the Chairman, upon achieving franchise status and striving for success. The Chairman discovers he has cancer and his son who went to jail for his past deeds was released and kidnapped Yi Seo and Jang Geun Soo and Saeroyi went to try and save her.
In the end, Saeroyi releases he loves Yi Seo and they live happily ever after as a great Itaewon Class family.
My Reflections:
Honestly, I was hesitant to watch this because I heard the ending was bad. But I loved it so much!!! I do agreed that the last part of the drama was slower than the rest, but I think the pace was just right. I think it shows the freedom that he was trying to achieve and they closed off all the storylines well.
Everyone had a happy ending… idealistic as it is, it matches Saeroyi, and who doesn’t love a happy ending.
I am a sucker for family, loyalty and friendship themes. It was nice to watch a main character stick to his principles of helping others and getting rewarded in the long run. It reminds me to be kind and help others because no one will know what happens in the future. And even though you may not know, or there is no immediate benefit, it always never hurts to be kind and trust and respect others.
I loved the cute scenes with Yi Seo and her boss. And the family like characters in the story, they all look out for each other and understand their differences. They had characters that I feel Korean society would look down upon (i.e. gangsters, dropouts, ex-convicts, foreigners who are not white, children born out of wedlock, orphans, transgenders) and they made them great. They started off as people who were thought to be nothing, but they achieved something through hard work, determination, teamwork and belief.
This drama made me have the feels and cry every single episode. It is the drama of the year and the century! You can relate to it, you can cry to it, you can feel admiration for the plot twists and you can love it!
Bex's Cinematic Reviews 