WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
I’ll be honest and say that I don’t really watch a lot of TV. Especially right now, I rarely have time to breathe with my classes, on-campus organizations, and a (somewhat) social life. However, I decided to break into watching a show (and actually finishing it), and I’m happy to say that I don’t regret it one bit. Itaewon Class was the first K-Drama series I’ve ever finished, and though I have a couple issues with the show and its characters, it was far from disappointing.
Itaewon Class stars Park Seo-joon (who you may recognize from rom-coms such as She Was Pretty and What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim) as Park Sae-ro-yi, and the first episode shows his first day at a new school. After encountering Jang Geun-won (played by Ahn Bo-hyun) bullying another classmate, Sae-ro-yi punches him, resulting in his possible expulsion from the school. It is later revealed that Geun-won is the son of Jang Dae-hee (played by Yoo Jae-myung), the CEO of Jangga Group, Korea’s largest food corporation, where Sae-ro-yi’s father (played by Park Sung-yeol) also works. After Dae-hee demands that Sae-ro-yi gets on his knees and apologizes to his son, Sae-ro-yi refuses in order to stick to his morals. Because Sae-ro-yi’s father prioritizes his role as a father over his job at Jangga Group, he resigns from his job to protect his son.
As Sae-ro-yi and his father start building a restaurant of their own, things take a turn for the worse. Sae-ro-yi’s father falls victim to a hit-and-run caused by Geun-won. Dae-hee had someone else take the fall and manipulate the evidence, which leads Sae-ro-yi to attempt killing Geun-won. After his classmate and first love, Oh Soo-ah (played by Kwon Nara), prevents him from murdering Geun-won, Sae-ro-yi soon gets arrested and tried guilty for attempted murder and assault. After the accident, Soo-ah receives a scholarship offer from Jangga Group and she soon becomes an employee in the company.
Motivated to get revenge and justice for his late father, Sae-ro-yi survived his prison sentence and vowed for vengeance. Fast forward many years, Sae-ro-yi manages to open his new bar-restaurant Danbam in Itaewon. With the help of his staff and tech-savvy manager Jo Yi-seo (played by Kim Da-mi), Sae-ro-yi vows to defeat Jangga Group, and to put an end to his struggles and hardship.
I didn’t know what to expect going into Itaewon Class; all I knew was that I was going to finish it no matter what (and it’s rare of me to finish shows). To summarize, it was an emotional rollercoaster with an extremely promising start. So much is covered in the first episode that it was pretty much impossible to stop watching at any point. Itaewon Class is also one of those shows where you have to give it all of your undivided attention, and not a show you can just play in the background while doing household chores.
Right off the bat, I really liked Park Sae-ro-yi as a character. He stands for what is right while also protecting the ones he loves, which I really admire. A big thing Sae-ro-yi believes in, and what I think Itaewon Class captures perfectly, is the idea of taking small steps towards your dreams. Despite everything he has been through and all of the threats and discouragement that has been thrown at him, he manages to keep following his dreams and successfully expands Danbam into a franchise. Though it might have been unthinkable for Sae-ro-yi to turn his small pub into a franchise that competes with the largest food corporation in South Korea, his view of life as looking forward to the future instead of wallowing in the past and his journey full of determination prove that the biggest dreams can be achieved.
The staff members of Danbam identify as social outcasts in one way or another: both Sae-ro-yi and Choi Seung-kwon (played by Ryu Kyung-soo) are ex-convicts, Yi-seo is an influencer described as a sociopath by her high school classmates, Jang Geun-soo (played by Kim Dong-hee) is the second and illegitimate son of Chairman Dae-hee, Ma Hyun-yi (played by Lee Joo-young) is a transgender woman, and Kim To-ni (played by Chris Lyon) is African-Korean. Danbam proves to be a home for those who are cast aside due to societal norms, and gives second chances to those who want to live life to its fullest potential.
Itaewon Class also covers a lot of issues that aren’t really talked about in South Korean society. Ex-convicts face a lot of discrimination in South Korea, and it’s hard for them to attain jobs after life in prison. In 2019, around 68 percent of respondents to a social survey stated that they were socially opposed to ex-convicts. There is also a law in South Korea that bans ex-convicts from working in the delivery industry. LGBTQ+ issues are also rarely talked about in Korea, and transgender people are seen as invisible to mainstream Korean society. Racial discrimination is also brought up in the show with To-ni being turned away from a bar because he is labeled as a “foreigner.” In addition to discussions about class differences and power struggles, Itaewon Class poses questions regarding old-fashioned thinking in Korean society, and a big thing we can take away from this is the importance of inclusivity and looking beyond differences seen on the outside.
Though Itaewon Class covers a plethora of issues that are incredibly important to talk about in this day and age, I did have a few issues regarding some of the characters and the storyline. The biggest issue I had with this show was the love plot. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t mind a love plot once in a while, but this one felt a little forced. I didn’t see Sae-ro-yi and Yi-seo’s relationship in a romantic way, and seeing Yi-seo’s multiple acts to make Sae-ro-yi fall in love with her because of her never-ending love for him just felt weird (and a little creepy) to me. Additionally, I just didn’t enjoy watching the catty interactions between Yi-seo and Soo-ah; they just felt like time-fillers if anything.
Though Itaewon Class showcased imperfect characters, which is important for any show in order to create character development, I felt as if some of the characters’ poor behaviors were inexcusable, particularly Yi-seo. Yi-seo wanted to fire Hyun-yi for being transgender until Sae-ro-yi said something. She also didn’t stand up for To-ni until Sae-ro-yi said something, and those two scenes stuck out to me the most when it came to unlikeable moments in the show. At times, I liked some of the characters for who they were and what they were trying to accomplish, but ultimately they committed acts that were just plain ignorant and shown as appropriate to viewers, which didn’t sit right with me.
I would’ve loved to see more of the side characters. I would have to say that both Kang Min-jung (played by Kim Hye-eun) and Lee Ho-jin (played by Lee David) were two of the most underrated characters in the show, and I would have wanted to see more of them and their backstories. The moment where Ho-jin finally stands up to Geun-won was absolutely powerful, and one of my favorite moments of the show. I also found Min-jung’s interactions with Oh Byeong-heon (played by Yoon Kyung-ho) and his daughter Hye-won (played by Choi Yu-ri) incredibly wholesome.
Overall, I think Itaewon Class was a great first K-Drama show for me. Though there are some issues with how certain elements of the show were executed, it is still an incredible show and discusses issues that need to be talked about. Also the OST (Original Soundtrack) is absolutely amazing; “시작” by Gaho is a song that gives off main character vibes, and I’m always putting it on repeat. Itaewon Class taught me that despite experiences of hardship and struggles one may go through, there is always a second chance to make life worth living.