Drama Profile
Title: Penthouse 2 / The Penthouse: War in Life 2
Main Cast: Eugene, Kim So-yeon, Uhm Ki-joon
Writer: Kim Sun-ok (The Last Empress, Temptation of Wife)
PD: Joo Dong-min (The Last Empress, Return)
Timeslot: Friday and Saturday / 22:00
Network: SBS
Episodes: 13
Genre: Makjang, Revenge
Plot Synopsis: After her release from prison, Oh Yoon-hee returns to Hera Palace to find out the real murderer behind Shim Su-ryeon’s death and exact revenge against those who have wronged them.
Major Tropes: Pay evil unto evil/ Extreme melee revenge
Grumpy’s First Impression:
The residents of Hera Palace are crazier than ever! I was actually missing the drama so much because it’s so addicting during its first run despite all the madness. But now that I finally watched the Season 2 premiere, I was actually happy that we got some time off from the Penthouse!
Two years have passed since Shim Su-ryeong’s (Lee Ji-ah) death and Oh Yoon-hee (Eugene) has been on the loose since then. We were quickly briefed of the events for the months that have passed, and it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies for our main couple Cheon Seo-jin (Kim So-yeon) and Joo Dan-tae (Uhm Ki-joon). They seemed to be living their best lives in the public eye, but apparently, Seo-jin has been diagnosed with vocal nodules. On the other hand, Dan-tae is still evil as ever. Both of them are still anxious about their own problems – Seo-jin about her career and Dan-tae about his wealth. He has been rushing the engagement with Seo-jin so that they would enter into a merger between their respective companies. But since Seo-jin has been pre-occupied by her anniversary concert and her medical condition, she could not be bothered by these business deals.
Penthouse being, well, Penthouse
This drama would never be how it is if there were no explosive revelations per episode. I’ll enumerate the latest dose of toxicity that Penthouse has blessed us for this new season for my fellow makjang fans out there:
Yoon-hee has finally cleared her name at the expense of the Joo household’s maid Yang Mi-ok (Kim Ro-sa). We all witnessed how Maid Yang is obsessed with Dan-tae, and she has finally reached her climax. She has been sending threats to Seo-jin, and Dan-tae was able to catch her. Mad at the sudden turnout of her actions, she diverted her fury against Ro-na (Kim Hyun-soo). And because Yoon-hee has been tailing her daughter, she immediately caught on (with the help of Logan (Park Eun-seok) and the encounter resulted to Maid Yang’s death. Don’t worry, Yoon-hee and Logan didn’t kill Maid Yang, but they fabricated a suicide note pointing Dan-tae as Su-ryeon’s real killer. What a stretch in the story, but in short, Dan-tae was able to twist everything and Maid Yang eventually took all the blame for Su-ryeon’s death. My mind went spiral.
Ha Yoon-cheol (Yoon Jong-hoon) has his fair share of plot twists in this new season, too. His divorce with Seo-jin plus his Myeongdeong deal earnings in the first season made him an overnight tycoon. He now owns a start-up pharma company named JohnBIO. And to everyone’s horror, he is now “happily married” to Yoon-hee. (It’s a contract marriage, but I ship them). The two moved in to Hera Palace after buying Yoon-hee’s old condo unit!
Eun-byeol is growing to be worse than her mother. I love her. She’s so beautiful with this new season look, and though she’s still under her mother’s wing, she’s showing potential of betraying her sooner or later. Of course we have yet to see how their little secret about the chairman’s death will play out, but for now I’m enjoying this repulsive side of her.
The bullying continues in Cheong-ah Arts School, but this time it’s Jenny (Jin Ji-hee) who’s facing the wrath of the kids. Seo-kyung (Han Ji-hyun) and Eun-byeol caught her giving Ro-na food, and this prompted them to terrorize the poor girl. The pressure is at all-time high because they’re now seniors, and Seoul Conservatory of Music is waving. I hate to see that her character development is only bringing her suffering, but we’ll see if we’re about to witness a Jenny and Ro-na tandem in the future.
Speaking of Seo-kyung, she and her twin Seok-hoon were the only ones who didn’t have major character developments in the premiere. I also like their new looks, though. Out of all the kids, Seo-kyung’s new look actually had the most significance because in Season 1, Su-ryeon doesn’t want Seo-kyung to cut her hair because she loves to tie. Is this Seo-kyung’s way to cope up with grief? But the twins remain to be spoiled brats full of angst. Seok-hoon is still smitten with Ro-na, and Seo-kyung is still the drama’s best little bitch.
Lastly, the only plot twist that mattered: Jenny’s mom Ma-ri (Shin Eun-kyung) kissing Min-hyeok’s dumb dad Kyu-jin (Bong Tae-gyu). And all this time, I was shipping their kids!
GRUMPY ALLEY
💥 Grandest comeback in K-drama history goes to Yoon-hee and Yoon-chul! I can’t move on!
💥 Seo-kyung girl, are you sure about this? I can’t imagine your regret once you find out that your own daddy killed Su-ryeon. I can’t wait for that day, hun.
💥 Classic Cheon Seo-jin! I want more betrayals!
💥 Eun-byeol is going to be Dan-tae’s main nemesis here, not Yoon-hee. LOL
💥 Lee Sang-woo’s cameo was unexpected! I was out of loop during their promos so I didn’t know he was appearing in the drama. I stan a supportive husband!
Grumpy tidbit: Lee Sang-woo is Kim So-yeon’s real life husband.
💥 From one cameo to another, first gen K-pop fans are on cloud 9 after seeing Bada team up with Yoon-hee as Soo-jin’s ghost singer in the anniversary concert.
Grumpy tidbit: Eugene and Bada are both members of the idol group SES.
💥 And yes, Yoon-hee’s voice is back! Logan helped her undergo throat surgery! Now that Seo-jin’s losing her voice, Yoon-hee got back hers!
💥 Now for the fun part, who is this girl???
ahjummamshies.com 