“The Impossible Heir” has finally been released on Disney+ and this calls for a review, let us discuss the premiere episodes of the drama!
Note: this article is a first-impression review, it doesn’t mean this is the writer’s final thoughts on the drama. This is a spoiler review.
The combination of Lee Jae Wook and Lee Jun Young was enough to warrant interest for most kdrama fans, I assume. Lee Jun Young has always been a scene stealer and a stellar actor and Lee Jae Wook is a stunning capable actor you can depend on to give you 100% each time. Pairing those two together was bound to be amazing, or was it?
They’re joined by Hong Su-Zu, a rising actress with few credits to her name. She had a supporting role in Netflix’s “Sweet Home 2” so I remember her face, and this is officially her 1st ever leading role in a major drama, a huge responsibility indeed. A responsibility I don’t think she’s ready for, yet. I wasn’t a fan of her performance, on the Korean side, some have been criticizing her pronunciation. So far I think she’s not the perfect cast for the character because they needed one to be more assertive, she gives off very timid vibes which could work in a different project, but not this. Also, it might be that she changes her approach in later episodes, but so far, you can tell she’s behind both Jae Wook and Jun Young in terms of performance, easily.
Together, the trio is supposed to take down Kango Group, will they succeed?
Initially, I don’t know why, I was under the impression this is a webtoon adaptation. I was wrong. I don’t even remember why I thought that, but I did, and initially, I thought the script was cliché because of it, now I have no place to put the blame on.
“The Impossible Heir” was fine…. there are some standout moments here and there, but overall, it was nothing that grabbed my interest or made me feel so much anticipation that I had to tune in next week. Its about as average as you’d expect from a script about the said topic. I felt I’ve seen this drama about 10 times already, already knowing the outcome.
Now that does not necessarily mean the watching experience won’t be fun or interesting but it’s a point to look out for, in the sense that so far, its seems to be written similarly to how such types of kdramas are usually written. meaning, the mean CEO father who sees nothing but money, the mean older brothers who want to inherit it, and the mean stepmother who wants to act like she owns the place for her son’s benefit.
The only differences in this case are these, a) its on a streaming platform so the screenwriter will get more freedom to take routes he cannot take on main broadcasting channels, b) the female lead seems to be self-aware enough to know where her interest lies, which is definitely interesting. I say this because, generally speaking, the leading woman will usually still refuse to budge or waiver even when the rich man is interested in her because of her morals and manners, this point alone was probably the most interesting point to me in this entire arc of the story so far.
But I will tell you this, I was not pleased with the point that was both of the male leads are interested in her, I really liked their friendship dynamics and didn’t want something of this type coming between them, so I wasn’t that excited to learn they both liked Hye-Won, for some reason.
I also didn’t like the scenes where In-Ha kept pushing himself on her, she said no, take a hint. The scene where he hugs and kisses her was so unwarranted for and could be ground for a lawsuit but the woman needs a ladder to climb up on, so she let it slide. That scene really irked me, because I liked In-Ha and expected more from him.
It also seems the screenwriter wants to capture attention with various plot points splattered here and there for dramatic effects and to overshadow what to come. So, his father killed his mother and is in jail for it, but his mother is somehow alive? [I didn’t understand this point]
also, Tae-O killed two people, which I assume are from the Kango Group family, it could be Kang In-Ha and Na Hye-Won but I re-watched the scene and the bodies don’t resemble them, I am guessing the older brother maybe [Kang In-Ju]. I am also guessing he did not really kill them, and if he did, this is definitely interesting, and it means I definitely underestimated the screenwriter.
I have this tone writing this because the script is penned by Choi Won, who has never written a drama script. She only wrote movie scripts and her most notable one is the cute 2008 movie Baby & Me starring Jang Geun Suk which I remember watching about 9 years ago.
She takes time between projects and she’s writing a 12-episode drama, writing for a 2-hour movie is one thing, writing for 12-hours is another, it’s a different field and presents different challenges. The saving grace here could be that its picked by Jae Wook and Jun Young who are known for picking interesting projects, but I don’t have the highest expectations so far even with that in mind.
I could be terribly wrong, but this is what I see so far with the premiere, will definitely give the drama a chance once more episodes pile up, what interests me is finding out why Disney+ picked this project too, there could be something there I am not seeing, yet.
So, have you guys seen “The Impossible Heir” premiere? what are your thoughts on it so far?
After watching 6 episodes I like this drama a lot. The problem is the character of Hae-Won. It’s not that the acting is weaker is that the character is not very well written. We don’t understand exactly what she is feeling, she doesn’t have a lot of material to play with. She is supposed to be calculating but instead she is shown like wishy-washy. It would be better not to have a FL at all, she doesn’t add anything to the drama.
Instead, I like Hui-Ji, she is fun and we feel her pain of being in one-sided love. She is a scene-stealer. She brings in her personal drama and it colours the series.
Who else except me thinks that Tae-Oh is another illegitimate son of the Chairman? ))