35. The Heirs

Broadcast: Oct – Dec 2013
Episodes: 20,  Romance, Comedy, Drama, School

Cast:

Lee Min Ho as Kim Tan
Park Shin Hye as Cha Eun Sang
Kim Woo-Bin as Cho Young Do
Kang Min Hyuk as Yoon Chan Young
Choi Jin Hyuk as Kim Won
Kim Ji won as Rachel Yoo
Krystal Jung as Lee Bo Na
Kang Ha Neul as Lee Hyo shin
Park Hyunk Sik as Jo Myung Soo

When I saw the promotional poster for this drama, I thought “such a young and beautiful cast.” I know Lee Min Ho will do great in whatever role he is cast in. Park Shin Hye, not too sure. I’ve always thought her acting was mediocre. The last drama I saw her in “Flower Boy Next Door” was so bad, it’s not worth writing a review as I rated it below 4. However, she did a good job in this drama. Her acting is improving.

As with all Kdramas, too many coincidental occurrences. Eun Sang goes to California to look for her irresponsible older sister who has jibbed both her and mute mother of money sent to her as school  fees. Not only did has she dropped out of school, she is broke and working in a café and living with an American guy who doesn’t treat her well. The two sisters have a full frontal confrontation near the beach in front of the café. Kim Tan happens to be joining breakfast at the café and views the entire scene.

Eun Sang’s sister runs off and Eun is stuck in Cali with nowhere to go and no money. Kim Tan feels sorry for her and was probably attracted to her beauty, takes her in at his luxurious beach house. Yep, the guy is a rich boy from a super-rich family. Attraction is built already from the start. Two very different people, one a rich boy and the other a very poor girl.

Not wanting to rely on a stranger, Eun Sang calls her bestie Yoon Chan Young who happens to be in Cali at the same time. They both return to Seoul, Korea together. Kim Tan was disappointed that she had left and wondered when they would meet again.

Kim Tan returns home to Korea because he wanted to see his older step brother and mother. Because he is the child of the second of wife his father took in, both he and his mother are mistreated by the first wife. His older brother Kim Won is cold towards him all the time as he fears that Kim Tan is the favourite son of his father and would eventually inherit the family company.

Life back in Korea gets interesting as Kim Tan goes back to School. His best mate, Cho Young Do during their younger days is now his number one enemy over some misunderstanding due to miscommunication regarding Young Do’s mum’s abandonment of him. There’s many scenes involving bullying etc which is portrayed typically of rich Korean private schools.

Funnily, Eun Sang’s mute mother is the house maid to Kim Tan’s family. Because of little or no money, the mother had moved into the house to stay working as a maid full time. Eun Sang had no choice but to also move into the house with her mum. They both lived in small room in the maid’s quarters. It was only later that Kim Tan found out she was the maid’s daughter and was actually living under his roof.

Things get even more interesting when Young Do falls for Eun Sang. The conflict between Young Do and Kim Tan worsens. Young Do sorts of bullies Eun Sang playfully but really is only looking out for her. Kim Tan is very protective of Eun Sang and comes to the rescue all the time.

The drama climaxes and is very exciting, but then just kind of stops there. It didn’t really have a final conclusion, but just pacifies out and ends like that. It’s a nice happy ending but I was expecting more. The storyline is so similar to Boys Before Flowers, but I have to say BFF was much better in how things panned out.

This drama was full of eye candy, good looking guys and gals. It’s about relationships between family, between lovers, between friends and teenage school life. The chemistry between Eun Sang and Kim Tan was electrifying. Some scenes were so strong it was heart wrenching. The scene where Eun Sang left with the mum and Kim Tan found them in living in the country side.  The bullying scenes were intense.

I was never a fan of Kim Won Bin. After this drama, I started noticing him. I first saw him in “To The Beautiful You.” Although, he only had a cameo there. He plays the bad boy very well.

Love the OST. So many good songs: Love is by Park Jang Hyun & Park Hyun Gyu of Bromance (박장현 & 박현규 of Bromance); Moment by Lee Chang Min; Biting My Lower Lip 아랫입술 물고 by Esna (에스나); I'm Saying 말이야 by Lee Hong Ki; Only With My Heart by Lena Park (Park Jung Hyun)

I really enjoyed this drama. It portrayed that teenage life/love can be so dramatic and intense. Only in Kdrama.

Rating: 4.5/5 ♥