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A murder mystery unfolds in Elegant Friends

Upcoming suspense-mystery drama Elegant Friends is about how the death of one friend wreaks havoc on the peaceful, ordinary lives of a group of friends and their families. As a result, cracks begin to form in their 20-year friendship.

Yoo Joon-sang (What’s Wrong Mr. Poong-sang) plays the successful department head of a fried chicken franchise and a loving husband to Song Yoon-ah (Secret Mother, The K2). Although she looks like a chic, aloof career woman, Song Yoon-ah’s character craves love more than anyone else. Consequently, she’s an extreme perfectionist in both her work as a psychiatrist and at home as a wife.

Bae Soo-bin (A Pledge to God) plays a single divorcé whose emotions are difficult to discern. He’s an interesting character who hides his deceit behind an elegant smile. Han Da-gam (formerly known as Han Eun-jung from Touch) plays the first love of many men, including those in our group of best friends. Twenty years ago, her charms almost singlehandedly broke apart the group, and she appears again with a mysterious motive.

The dark teaser for Elegant Friends begins with beautiful nightscapes of Seoul accompanied by Yoo Joon-sang’s chilling narration: “My blood flowed backward. I couldn’t see anything or hear anything. Just the thought of protecting my loved ones was on my mind.” A group portrait of Yoo Joon-sang and his closest friends appears.

The screen says: “Everyone has secrets, especially from those closest to them.” A bloody bathroom is revealed, with a dead body inside. Bae Soo-bin, Kim Sung-oh (Hwayugi), and Jung Suk-yong (Never Twice) are present with Yoo Joon-sang, and they looked shocked at the horrific discovery. A flashback to the past shows a very similar scene unfolding with the four friends except the setting is in an office.

Yoo Joon-sang’s narration continues with a seeming confession: “Once I came to my senses, there was a dead person in front of me. The world was filled with the pungent stench of blood.” In the present, Song Yoon-ah clutches at her throat in her car, unable to breathe at a revelation. Han Da-gam appears at a dinner with the wives, and Song Yoon-ah throws wine at her face. The next scene shows Kim Sung-oh picking a fight with Bae Soo-bin.

Kim Sung-oh plays an immature husband to his older wife Kim Hye-eun (Soul Repairer). She’s a cool girl crush character. Meanwhile, the age difference goes the other way for Jung Suk-yong and his much younger wife, played by Lee In-hye (I Am A Mother Too). She’s twelve years younger than him, and perhaps his midlife crisis is a part of why they have such a PDA relationship.

Finally, the last couple consists of Kim Won-hae (Will You Have Dinner With Me), playing an indecisive civil servant, and Kim Ji-young (Good Casting), playing his wife who is a homemaker in the early stages of depression.

It looks like the entire group is under investigation, as a murder board contains all their pictures. Continuation of the flashback reveals a man lying in a pool of blood in front of the friends, and Yoo Joon-sang closes out his monologue by saying: “It’s just like twenty years ago.” And the teaser ends with a montage of severe portraits of the main characters.

Beginning July 10, Saturday-Sunday drama Elegant Friends will air on JTBC.

Via Sports Seoul

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I can't tell if this IS going to be the next SKY Castle, or if it just desperately wants to be, but I need to try this for the cast. I've missed Bae Soo-bin and Kim Sung-oh so much!

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It does have a Sky Castle vibe. I’m in for Kim Won Hae ahjussi.

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I like him a lot too! At least we get to see him often- Kim Sung-oh rarely gets good roles, and Bae Soo-bin lives in Makjang Land 😂

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Agree! 😂

I love Kim Sung-Oh too! I was rooting for him in Warm and Cozy 😍

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It desperately wants to be and no, I don't think it will hold up the the juggernaut that SKY Castle became.

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This drama is airing on a very celebrated slot which has had so many rating superstars (listed below in chronological order, all scored above 7% peak ratings!):

Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon (the first drama in this timing!)
The Lady in Dignity
Misty
Something in the Rain
Sky Castle
Itaewon Class
The World of the Married

The last 2 dramas were in a row and are the predecessors to this show so there's immense pressure for it to perform. If ratings history wasn't enough, this time slot also features Age of Youth 2 / Beautiful World / Be Melodramatic, which just adds on the pressure for it to be critically received as well.

But it does star so many good actors! A point to note however: the whodunit does remind me of the drama Return which Han Da-gam starred in ironically as the murdered which had a big controversy as the main actress left halfway through the show and was replaced. I just pray the same doesn't happen here!

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Yes! I commented the same thing that the teaser reminds me of Return. Anyways, about the actress change (which honestly didn't affect my viewing experience), whatever happened behind the scenes of Return didn't affect it's popularity and ratings, it's the highest rated drama of 2018. I think Return is a good thriller. It kept me on the edge of my seat 😆.

And...iinm, Elegant Friends is preproduced, so I assume there will be no replacement of any cast midway.

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Oh, Return! I was so tired of those affluenza-suffering friends. Especially the really horrible one who was the professor. I eventually dropped the drama.

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Lol. I actually got to know Reture because of the Professor actor Bong Tae Gyu. I watched him in variety shows and he's so nice but some people backed away from him because of his character in Return 😅.

Return was full of twists and turns, a drama I didn't know who the real culprit was/were until show revealed it.

ps: Thanks @peridot! I learned a new word today~ affluenza 📝.

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You're welcome! ;)

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Those boys were bad I mean really bad.
I stayed with it to the end.

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They were evil from kids and remained evil till the end. Joonhee the druggie showed a bit of remorse but he's too timid to even fight the others. Only In Ho somewhat changed a bit across the series. But Taesuk and Hakbum my favourites...were just pure evil to the bitter end. Hahaha

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I'm definitely watching this

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Ooooh! Bae Soo Bin!

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I'm allergic to this director so I have no expectations

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It also seems like a curve ball for him to be attached to this, right? I was so confused when I read his name. He spent so much time making mediocre romcoms to try and repeat Oh Hae-young's success (my interpretation, not fact). Maybe it's actually a good thing that he's starting afresh in a new genre?

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The teaser reminds me of Return instead of SKY Castle. It has the same-ish theme going on. Someone was killed(?) and it's a murder mystery between adult friends. Also...Han Da Gam was in Return too 😆.

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This looks like the movie "The Loft." Ya, this is giving me The Loft movie vibes.

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This looks good. Drama land has been coming up with some stacked casts recently.

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The cable networks are stacking July with crime dramas. I love it.
From what I can tell they will all be on either Viki or Netflix:
Airing by day of the week:
1. M/T MODEL DETECTIVE/EXEMPLARY DETECTIVE (JTBC) (Netflix);
2. W/T FLOWER OF EVIL (tvN) (Viki);
3. F/S ELEGANT FRIENDS (JTBC) (Netflix); and
4. S/S TRAIN (OCN) (Viki).

Coming in August will be:
FORESTS OF SECRETS 2/STRANGER: SEASON 2 (tvN) (Netflix).

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Oh its Yoo Joon-sang!! The guy who was probably going to win the KBS Daesang, he even said it himself lol but WTCB prevailed in the end.

He was really funny in a film In Another Country as the hot lifeguard lol! I echo everyone's sentiments here about this possibly being the next JTBC drama to hit it big!

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I'm getting RETURN vibes in this drama. I like mystery drama so please be good. There's a lot of new drama that came out last month and most of them are good so hope June month will bring more interesting and great kdramas.

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excited for this. I want this to be the next SKY Castle because that drama is so good!

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This give me feeling of SKY Castle,. The story looks interesting, but hope this will be executed well, because all of that it matter will be ,what will be shown to the viewers. Might give a try.

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Is this like a Misty x Sky Castle cross over, but it felt like they ARE conciously recreating Sky Castle vibe which is not always a good way to promote a new drama..........

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