Sponsor: Episode 1 (First Impressions)

9 February 25, 2022March 11, 2022

by solstices

Behind the glamor of high society lies the insatiable desire to reach the pinnacle of success, which is clouded only by the dirty deeds one has done in order to climb that far. It’s a cutthroat and unforgiving world, and one wrong move can easily send the house of cards tumbling down.

Editor’s note: If there is sufficient interest, coverage will continue with weekly Drama Hangouts.

EPISODE 1 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

HAN CHAE-RIN (Han Chae-young) arrives at a runway competition, dressed to the nines. She’s the CEO of Sehan Beauty, a cosmetics company, and as part of the judging panel, she has a discerning eye. With just a brief appraisal of a young candidate, she correctly pinpoints him as the superficial type.

It’s through this competition that we meet HYUN SEUNG-HOON (Gu Ja-sung). A former soccer player who had gotten injured before the national team selection, he’d since turned to modeling. He’s also the oldest applicant at thirty, which earns him much skepticism from the judges. At his age, his modeling career isn’t likely to last long.

However, Seung-hoon refuses to waver. “It’s not how long you’ve been breathing, but how many breathtaking moments you’ve had that matters,” he declares. His determination intrigues Chae-rin, and she decides to cast him.

Chae-rin’s every bit the image of a confident, capable woman; she doesn’t let the nosy comments from the other male judges get to her, and she holds her ground against the skeevy advances of a particularly slimy judge. I wonder how much of that is a carefully cultivated persona, though. Like her flashy outfit, it seems like a veneer to deflect from what she conceals within.

Seung-hoon has a reason for participating in the runway competition, and it’s the cash prize. Heavily in debt, he and his older sister are on the verge of being chased out of their house by his wife PARK DA-SOM (Ji Yi-soo). Interestingly, it isn’t public knowledge that the two are married.

In order to make ends meet, Seung-hoon works numerous part-time jobs, but his luck finally turns around when he makes the cut for the finals of the runway competition.

We’re introduced to LEE SUN-WOO (Lee Ji-hoon) through a visit to a woman in a wheelchair whose memory has deteriorated. He’s visibly affected when she calls his name, seemingly indicating that she remembers him.

We later learn that her name is Ji-na, and that they were once happily in love. However, an incident (we aren’t told what) led to her being wheeled into the hospital on a stretcher, and she now seems like an empty husk of who she once was.

In addition, Sun-woo has history with CHAIRMAN PARK (Park Geun-hyung), whom he accuses of causing his father’s downward spiral and eventual hospitalization. He claims that Chairman Park unfairly made his father out to be a conman and a liar, when he’d led a frugal life all along.

Privately, though, he wonders if Chae-rin and her greed to rise also had a part to play. Determined to uncover the truth, Sun-woo seeks out a private investigator to look into the acquisition of Sehan Beauty.

If you’re wondering what the link between Chairman Park and Chae-rin is, she seems to be his daughter from a later marriage. Remember the smarmy judge from earlier? He’s David Park, the son from the chairman’s first marriage. And in case you thought it couldn’t get any more makjang, hold your horses, because David’s ex-wife (from his third divorce) is also Chae-rin’s best friend. Yikes!

In any case, Chae-rin’s frank with Seung-hoon about her reason for choosing him: it’s not due to his passion, but because he has the potential to become a hot topic. She doesn’t think he can win the grand prize, though. He disagrees with her, so she challenges him to prove it.

Determined to emerge victorious, Seung-hoon pours his energy into working out and practicing his runway walk. Seung-hoon’s more insightful than he lets on; when Chae-rin asks why he thinks she passed up an opportunity to rise up even further, he responds that once you reach the top, your greed to climb to a new peak will grow.

Chae-rin smiles wryly, seemingly amused (and perhaps even impressed) — and then she asks him, “If you succeed in crushing my pride, will you come live with me?”

Ooh, that’s a bold move! It seems like Chae-rin might know about Seung-hoon’s financial situation; I wouldn’t put it past her to have done a background check, and she did observe him working at his part-time job in the rain. More than that, though, I think she might be lonelier than she lets on. It’s not easy maintaining a spot at the apex.

Still, it remains to be seen whether Seung-hoon will be the impetus for her to ascend to greater heights, or if he’ll be the catalyst to her downfall. Sun-woo’s already preparing to uncover her demons and pick her apart, and from the looks of it, their paths will converge sooner rather than later.

So far, we’ve seen desire manifest in various ways: Chae-rin aspires toward success, Seung-hoon perseveres to clear his family’s debt, and Sun-woo hungers for revenge. It’s slowly becoming clear that these characters may stop at nothing to attain what they want, perhaps even sacrificing their morals along the way. Will their desires be satiated, or is this a train wreck waiting to happen? I suppose only time will tell.

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1 ninidolpin 🐬

February 25, 2022 at 12:16 PM

I was a little shocked by the idea that a model's career job is reserved for the youth. I mean there are even old models. There are brands for the middle aged and ild people even. They use models form the mentioned ages.Am I wrong?

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Kafiyah Bello

February 25, 2022 at 1:05 PM

Most top models are under 30, some go past 30, but by that time the young ones have replaced them. There are models of all ages, but they are commercial, this seems to be more couture and they like them young. Recruitment for top models starts at 14, until 2-3 years ago when top magazines started putting age limits on the models allowed on their pages. But runway models are still really young though. 30 is very old to be a model, let alone a male model.

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2 OldLawyer

February 25, 2022 at 1:30 PM

This sounds like some good old-fashioned makjang. I might watch it.

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3 miso

February 25, 2022 at 4:05 PM

I will see you in your next show Lee Ji-hoon 👋 (unless it's just like this one).

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4 dramalover4ever

February 25, 2022 at 10:03 PM

I thought Chairman Park was Chae-rin's sponsor. I don't think she's his daughter.

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5 dramalover4ever

February 25, 2022 at 10:05 PM

Lots of sleazy parasitic relationships with who know what beneath the surface.

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6 ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae

February 26, 2022 at 1:57 AM

I wish Lee Ji-hoon would do dramas I’m actually interested in. He’s a good actor and I want to see more of him, but his projects haven’t really been matching my tastes. It’s unfortunate.

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7 emsel

February 26, 2022 at 4:23 AM

Though the setup in premiere episode was super boring, the drama can hope to bank on its cast's skills, but even that seems to be a distant dream here because the main actors seem to be rehearshing their lines rather than embodying their characters. Aren't Han Chae Young and Lee Ji Hoon supposed to be good actors? For a woman who has attained success, but is still chained by something that controls her life and for a man who seeks revenge, both of them are playing their roles as blank as Gu Ja Sung. I don't know if its the writing or the directing that is making this drama bland, but I am not going to stick around and confirm it.

Thanks for the 1st impression @solstices