Kdrama 2020

The Penthouse: War in Life (Kdrama Review & Summary)

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• Genre: Mega-Rich, Life, Intrigue, Opera, Business, Investment, Children, Affairs
• Release Date: October 2020
• Origin: South Korea
• Kdrama: 21 Episodes
• Links:
  • The Penthouse 2
  • The Penthouse 3

Cast:

• Kim So Yeon as Cheon Seo Jin
• Yoon Jong-hoon as Ha Yoon-cheol, (A doctor, Seo Jin’s husband)
• Choi Ye-bin as Ha Eun-byeol (Seo Jin & Yoon Cheol’s daughter)
• Eugene as Oh Yoon Hee
• Kim Hyun-soo as Bae Ro-na, (Yoon-hee’s daughter)
• Lee Ji Ah as Shim Soo Ryun
• Um Ki-joon as Joo Dan-tae (husband of Shim Soo-ryeon)
• Kim Young-dae as Joo Seok-hoon (Dan-tae’s twin son)
• Han Ji-hyun as Joo Seok-kyung, (Dan-tae’s twin daughter)
• Shin Eun Kyun as Kang Ma Ri
• Jin Ji-hee as Yoo Jenny (Kang Ma-ri’s daughter)
• Hoon Joo Hee as Go Sang Ah
• Bong Tae-kyu as Lee Kyu-jin (Lawyer, Sang Ah’s husband)
• Lee Tae-vin as Lee Min-hyeok
• Jo Soo-min as Anna Lee/Min Seol-ah

(Click here for The Penthouse 2: War in Life)

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Episode 1

It is a stunning production.  The first five minutes are breathtaking.

The penthouse is 100 floors of luxury apartments.  And the building is called the Hera Palace where the mega-rich women are queening it.

It started with a mystery.  Shim Soo Ryun was just descending from the very top floor of the Hera Palace on a glass elevator when she saw a flying body of a woman amidst the firework display.  Who is the woman?  No idea yet.

Obviously, the plunging death will occur later on in the drama.

Because the next scene was Oh Yoon Hee working as an unlicensed real estate agent and being taken advantage by a client who asked her to find a suitable love nest for his mistress.

When Yoon Hee found the ideal place, the client refused to pay her commission and instead threatened to report her for working illegally.

She is a single mother, a widow.  She has a daughter who was a very talented opera singer.  However, Yoo Hee begged and ordered her daughter to stop singing.  She can do anything except singing.

Then there was Cheon Seo Jin, an operatic diva who had is the heir of the Cheong A Foundation which runs a school for the most musically gifted. It is here where she also teaches and coaches.  Her office is within the Hera Palace.  Seo Jin is married to a doctor, who seemed to hate her guts.

Shim Seo Ryun is from old money.  She is beautiful and kind. She is married to Joo Dan Tae, who looks devoted to her on the surface but really having an affair with Seo Jin.

Kang Ma Ri is a scary mother who is devoted to her spoiled daughter.  Her husband is currently working in Dubai.

And then there is Go Sang Ah, a long-suffering wife of a mama’s boy Lee Gyu JIn.

Really stylish production.

Episode 2

This episode is a rollercoaster of brutality.

The children are feral in their evilness.

The story is an overblown depiction of spoilt rotten rich kids.

It is definitely a fast-forward watching if you can’t bear over an hour of viciousness and savagery.

Shim Soo Ryun is the mother of twins: a boy and a girl.  The twins found out from the housekeeper that they were not Seo Ryun’s biological children as someone else gave birth to them; surrogacy?

Because of this, they had lost respect for Soo Ryun.  Their viciousness was a direct result of their father’s abuse.  The father has a special torture chamber to beat them until they submit to his will.

The mothers of the Hera Palace hired a math tutor, who said she was a graduate of UCLA .  The tutor became the outlet for their children’s ferocity.

It turned out the tutor was only 16 years old and was auditioning for the same high school as the rich children.  She came top of the operatic singing.

Before she could savour her luck, she was beaten by the twin’s father in front of his children and Soo Ryun, who did not really do anything to stop the attack on the defenseless girl.

Oh Yoon Hee’s daughter also auditioned but did not pass which made the girl hysterical with grief and blamed her mother.

The daughter was actually quite good but Seo Jin purposely failed her, this was of course due to Seo Jin’s history with Oh Yoon Hee.

Watching this drama, you would think that the world is full of nasty beings.

Despite that, I think I would tune in again next week just to see if the tutor survived her ordeal from the nasty children.  I think this young tutor was the free-falling body in episode one.

28 October 2020 Update:  Apparently, there will be some episodes that are going to be 19⊕ Rated.

I can really see why!!!  Some of the violence in the second episode made my stomach churn.

Episode 3

So much nastiness and wickedness in just under an hour and eight minutes.

All the characters are nasty.  Shim Soo Ryun, who has a bit of conscience is so weak, she tends to get swayed easily.

She just found out the child she was looking after for the past 16 years who is bedridden in the hospital was not actually her child.

Her current husband, Joo Dan Tae, was actually the man she was engaged to but she fell in love with someone else while she was in the US.

She broke up with Joo Dan Tae and told him about falling for and marrying someone else in the US while Joo Dan Tae was in a jeweler in South Korea picking their engagement/wedding ring.

Soo Ryun was pregnant and totally loved up with her husband when one day some hoods open fired at their house instantly killing her husband.

She just lost consciousness when the real killer, Joo Dan Tae turned up.

She had a baby who seemed to be ill but Joo Dan Tae forcefully told her that he has twins as well and he wanted her to be the mother of his children.  And he will protect her and her new baby who will he care for as his own.

She later learned that her baby was given to the Hope Orphanage.  When she went to the orphanage, she found that it has just closed down.

Meanwhile, Oh Yoon Hee was going mental because her daughter was going insane from not being able to enter the prestigious school, which meant she won’t be able to sing her arias.

To calm her daughter down, Oh Yoon Hee cast away any semblance of pride and knelt down in front of Cheon Seo Jin, who was unmoved. Yoon Hee begged her to use her influence to get her daughter accepted at the school.

Seo Jin advice Yoon Hee to kill one of those who got accepted.

Desperate Yoon Hee seriously thought of doing just that and started stalking Min Seol Ah and attempted to murder her twice but each time she chickened out.

Seo Jin tried to get Min Seol Ah to drop out from school but Min Seol Ah refused.

When Seo Jin got nasty, Min Seol Ah told her that she has something on her.  She has a recording of Seo Jin getting jiggy at the 35th floor with Dan Tae.  Min Seol Ah said if she allows her to stay at the school, she won’t say anything about the video.

Poor Min Seol Ah was dealing with the wrong woman.  Before Min Seol Ah knew it, she was abducted, bound and gagged facing both the unforgiving Seo Jin and Dan Tae.

Meanwhile, Hera Tower was celebrating.

A desperate Yoon Hee gate-crashed the party but woke up the next morning to a phone call informing her that there is a place for her daughter at the school because one of the students had just died.

Yoo Hee was left wondering if she did it as she looks at the blood on her hands.

Episode 4

It was not a new year celebration as I first thought, it was actually the first-anniversary celebration of the Hera Palace.

Anyway, Soo Ryeon by this time had found that Min Seol Ah might have been her real daughter after she was able to track down the man who used to own the Hope Orphanage.  She was about to join the celebration when she saw Min Seol Ah falling from the top of the building.

She fainted as poor Min Seol Ah fell into the cradling arms of the statue of the goddess Hera.

It was not noticed immediately by the people because of the commotion of the firework display.  They one baby one of the top-dogs of the  the Hera palace noticed the bloodied Min Seol.

Immediately they worked as a team after they agreed that they had to make sure the body is not found at Hera because the property price would plummet and their children would be affected as well.

They were working against time as the Congressman will be attending the anniversary shindig in an hour’s time.  The women cleaned the statue and the fountain of any blood and splatters.

While the men drove the body to where Min Seol Ah lived.

They worked methodically and even interfered with the CCTV of the area.

Dan Tae trespassed on Min Seol Ah’s apartment and went to look for her mobile phone.  Not having found it, he decided to just torch the whole place.

They in twenty minutes everyone was back at the party as if nothing untoward had happened.

Soo Ryeon woke up in her bed, their housekeeper had found her collapsed on the lift.  After removing her drips, she went to the party and everything seemed as it is and she started thinking that it was just a dream.

Then there was news of a fire a knew she just had to get there.  She was just in time to see the body of Min Seol Ah being bagged.

She followed the ambulance but she was stopped by Dan Tae’s PA, who has been helping her on the sly.

Dan Tae did not want anything to go wrong so he used his influence to drop the investigation on the case as just teenage suicide and had the body cremated.  But his PA switched the body with some else’s and allowed Soo Ryeon to have a moment with Min Seol Ah.  The doctor gave Soo Ryeon an sd card which he found in MIn Seol Ah’s body.

She promised that she was going to kill the one who harmed her daughter.

She suspected her husband has something to do with it.  Her suspicion got stronger when she got home and saw her husband and Seo JIn taking. She overheard their conversation and saw them ending in the sofa togher.

Then they heard a noise.

Episode 5

You might have noticed how slowly I am reviewing and summarising this drama.  Well, I feel this drama is not something you could binge-watch.  It is a makjang of violence and intrigue.  I can’t take them all at once, I have to come up for air.

The acting is very polished though, it is beautifully made as what can be expected in a Kdrama, which has perfected the art of tv dramas.

Anyway, Soo Ryeon more or less knew who was involved in the death of Min Seol Ah and she was determined to make them pay one by one.

Yoon Hee’s daughter was finally enrolled at the school but no one was making it easy for her and her mother.  It got to a point where the daughter was beaten up by Jenny while Yoon Hee was fighting for her freedom as Seo Jin called an emergency parents meeting where they accused her of having killed Min Seol Ah.

It was left to Yoon Cheol to rescue her but giving her an alibi during the night of Min Seol’s death.  He said that he was with her.  Apparently, these two have some sort of history.  Yoon Hee is Yoon Cheol’s first love but dumped her for Seo Jin.

Anyway, the slimy congressman called Yoon Hee to say that he knew she was the one who broke the news that he has a mistress who he bought a lovenest.  He threatened her and her daughter if she did go to his place to sort things out.

When she got there, the door was opened and found the congressman dead.

Episode 6

The depths of the congressman’s scandal was revealed.  He was the one who trafficked the children to be adopted abroad.  But then again all the adoptions were later canceled after their new parents used them for bone marrow transplants for their own ailing biological children.  To have the children deported back, they raised trumped up charges.

And poor Min Seol Ah was one of those children who were used by paying adoptees.

Soo Ryeon went to confront the congressman and she revealed that it was her who tipped the press of the congressman’s shenanigans.  He was just about to kill her but Dan Tae’s PA/bodyguard turned up.

Dan Tae found out though that his bodyguard had been helping Soo Ryeon and that Soo Ryeon was up to something.

Knowing that his time is up, the bodyguard threw himself on the motorway.

Yoon Hee was tipped off to buy into Buxun Village because another Hera Palace was going to be built in the area.  She bought the place where Min Seol Ah died.  To get the money, she went to a loan shark.

There was going to be a concert.  Joo Seok Kyung who was usually the soloist had a sore throat so Seo Jin asked for a volunteer one was her daughter and the other was Ro Na

The two had a contest and Ro Na won.

On the day of the concert, the car driven by her mother was targeted by another and they both wounded but still they went to the venue but when they got there, Eun Byeol was already doing the solo.

Episode 7

Oops I have changed my mind.  You can actually binge-watch this from episode 5 on, because by this time you have gotten used to their nasty shenanigans.

Anyway, Soo Ryeon started to claim back her inheritance.  She told her husband she wanted to run the company her mother built.

Seo Jin was dumped by Dan Tae but then again he took her back after he realised she could move on quite easily.

Seo Jin told him that his twins are cheating at school, so Dan Tae was going to send his daughter abroad but Soo Ryeon intervened.

Meanwhile, Seo Jin was bullying Ro Na. And schoolmates were bullying Ro Na but Ro Na was taking it out of her mother.

Her mother cannot pay the loan sharks so she sold her house and moved to Bosuk Village which made Ro Na incandescent with rage as Bosuk Village is not only where Min Seol Ah lived, they were actually going to move into her old flat.

As her daughter really has a problem with their new place, Yoon Hee told her estate agent that she was selling the place.

Dan Tae was so relieved and happy and sent Kyu Jin to close the deal.

Yoon Hee was just about to affix her stamp to the sale document when there was breaking news on the tv saying that the Government had just approved a massive development at Bosuk Village.

Yoon Hee was celebrating.  She was rich.

20 November 2020 Update

There is a Season 2  & 3 to this drama.  Apparently they will start filming for the next season in early December 2020.

Episode 8

Dan Tae called his two associates for a meeting.  He told them that they are in for a sure thing.  They need to invest as much as they could as the return is five-fold of their investments.

Both Kyu Jin and Yoon Cheol were all for it. They gathered money from all their sources.  And pooled their money together for the big investment.

Bae Ro Na is bullied by her classmate and almost plunged to her death if their new PE teacher did not dive in after her. He was very agile but with very bad dental works.

Bae Ro Na was also being bullied by their music teacher.  He wanted her to sing mezzo but she said she is a soprano and willing to prove it.

He gave her a complicated piece that would challenge even the professionals.

Bae Ro Na competently screeched the opera.  Even her bullying classmates could not help but admire her talent.

But poor Eun Byeol was having an attack of guilt and seeing the ghost of Min Seol Ah.

Seo Jin found her shaking, scared, and nervous.  Instead of assuring her daughter, she dragged her to the boiler room to show her that Min Seol Ah was not there because she’s dead.

She then told her daughter to sing and to make it loud because Seo-Jin will listen outside the door. She had to practice so she wins and gets to Seoul National University.

Hoon Yee and Su Ryeon had become best buddies but actually, Su Ryeon was using Hoon Yee to carry out her revenge.

To get Hoon Yee’s full sympathy, Su Ryeon made Hoon Yee find out that Dan Tae was cheating on her with Hoon Yee’s mortal enemy, Seo Jin.

Hoon Yee said that she will help Su Ryeon to bring her husband down and especially Seo Jin.

A drunk Yoon Cheol called Hoon Yee to talk.  After all these years Hoon Yee realised that the man who dumped her is not having the best of life.  In fact, he looks rather pathetic.  He was feeling down because unbeknown to Yoon Hee, Yoon Cheol just found out that Seo Jin was having an affair.  Unfortunately, he did not see the man, only his hand clasping to Seo Jin’s hand.

His problem only got bigger because he and Kyu Jin found out that their investment had gone kaput. They did not win the bid for the lot that they were going to build the Hera Palace Mark 2.  They lost their money.

The winning bid was Yoon hee with Su Ryeon’s money.

Yoon Hee was on a high until she had a nightmare.  She realised that she met Min Seol Ah at Hera Palace.  The girl asked for her help but she ignored Min Seol.

Now she was haunted by Min Seol.

Episode 9

Dan Te offered Oh Yoon He a 100% mark up on the house she bought but she would not sell, not to him anyway, she said.

In desperation, Kyu Jin had her kidnapped and forced to sign a sale document but Yoon Cheol turned up and rescued her.

Dan Te turned up and started beating Yoon Cheol but Yoon Hee told them that she voice recorded what on, of kidnapping, assault and battery and she would send it to the police and press if they push her too much.

She told them if they wanted to negotiate about the house, she would only speak with Yoon Cheol.

Meanwhile, Seo Jin received a text saying that “He knew what she and Dan Te were doing”

It turned out that the school PE teacher was Min Seol Ah’s foster brother and he was the one who sent the text to Seo Jin.

Su Ryeon was being blackmailed by the previous owner of Hope Orphanage who was currently in prison. He told her that he will reveal everything about Min Seol to Dan Te if she does not help him get out of prison.

But Su Ryeon was far from a pushover, she turned it around.  She faked the blackmail letter from the owner of the Hope Orphanage.

When Dan Te asked if she was being blackmailed, she immediately said that it was not her but it was him who was actually being blackmailed.  She then showed the letter saying that Dan Te killed Min Seol Ah.

Dan Te was furious and had his bodyguard to arrange for the blackmailer to leave this world.

Meanwhile, Su Ryeon advised Yoon Hee to settle with Dan Te and ilks before they do a more serious threat to Yoon Hee.

And they settled their terms.

And it looked like Yoon Hee’s term was to move to Hera Palace on the 45th Floor.

Seo Jin, Kang Mari and Sang Ah were flabbergasted when in strolled Yoon Hee and told them that she was their new neighbour.

Episode 10

The ladies were all up in arms when they found out that Yoon Hee will be residing at the Hera Palace.  She was too common for the exclusive apartments.

They can’t really prevent her from taking her place as Dan Te was the one who approved her residential permit and certificate.

It does not mean though that they would just accept it especially Seo Jin.  She brought out the big guns, Yoon Hee’s mother-in-law who created such a fuss about being abandoned by her daughter in law right after her son died.

Yoon Hee had had enough and told everyone surrounding her hysterical mother-in-law that her son, Yoon Hee’s husband was a liar and a cheat who accumulated debts setting his mistress up in business.

When he died, Yoon Hee was left to pay every single penny of his debts while his mother ran away with the condolence money and never heard from for the last five years.

Yoon Cheol told his wife that she had lost this round.  they looked around and saw the faces of sympathetic onlookers.  Mother-in-laws seemed to be a common cross to bear for everyone. LOL

Seok Hoon, Dan Te’s son, is beginning to fall for Rona for real which made Eun Byeol so vindictive she set up Ro Na to be expelled from school.

Yoon Hee started her plan to make Seo Jin suffer the way she did. She plans to move to the 85th floor while Seo Jin was going down.

Yoon Hee arranged for Seo Jin to witness that Yoon Hee was intimate with Yoon Cheol.  The way Seo Jin seduced him away from Yoon Hee many years ago.

Yoon Hee told Yoon Cheol that Seo Jin saw them.

He felt rather guilty so he went to follow his wife and ended up in Dan Te’s villa.

He knew his wife was having an affair but he got the shock of his life to find out that it was with Dan Te.

So he trespassed into the house and found a shotgun displayed on the wall and followed the mating couple in the bedroom.

Hmm… there is a new character by the name of Logan Lee who would go head to head with Dan Te.  I bet Rogan Lee is none other than the PE teacher with the wonky teeth, who is a foster brother of Mn Seol Ah.

Episode 11

A real makjang of an episode.

A lowly PE teacher is seen lording over the ladies of Hera Palace.  He gave them 10 hours of community service and was especially hard on Su Ryun.

He asked her why she worked so hard complying with punishment for Seok Hoon when he is not even her real child?!!!

Su Ryun was shocked.

The teacher continued that she had another child, Min Seol Ah.

Meanwhile, Yoon Cheol and Yoon Hee did not sleep together, though Yoon Cheol wanted to.

Yoon Cheol stayed the night, drunk, and slept on the sofa.

The next morning, he went home and started to pack his suitcase but Seo Jin had other ideas.

Yoon Cheol asked her to divorce.

Seo Jin told him if they divorce, it will be in her own good time.

This is likely going to happen because Yoon Cheol was left with little choice and he operated on a VVIP patient.  He made such a tremendous mistake because of his injured hands, which he did not inform the hospital about.

Kang Mari’s husband is supposed to be in Dubai but is he?

Kang Mari was bribing a prison guard to have a 30-minute conjugal visit (?) with a man in jail.

Seok Hoon told the teacher that he was the one who put the cigarette in Ro Na’s pencil case because he was bored.

Everyone knew it was not the case but this let Ro Na off.

The consequence could be fatal as Eun Byeol was so demented with jealousy after carrying a one-sided love for Seok Hoon.  She knew she was losing him even before she had him.

She went after Ro Na with a hairpin on her hand….

Episode 12

Kyu Jin is revealed as the one who got Min Seol’s phone.

The PE teacher gave Su Ryeon 10 days to reveal that she was Min Seol Ah to her family or she will do it for her.

Su Ryeon was worried because she was pushed for time in exacting her revenge.

This is rather strange that PE Teacher is bent on punishing Su Ryeon without asking her what happened when he should start his revenge on his own parents and on himself to a certain extent.

His parents used Min Seol for the bone marrow transplant for him/Logan Lee.  And when the transplant was a success and Logan was well and good, his parents set up Min Seol as a thief so she could be deported.

Logan found the diamond necklace that MinSeol was supposed to have stolen.

His parents were unrepentant.  They said that if she remained in the US, she would want part of their fortune.

Logan continued to be in contact with Min Seol and yet he did not give her enough money to live on and he is a multi-millionaire and owed his life to her.

Meanwhile, Yoon Hee got greedy and invested all her savings and remortgage her new apartment.

But she was being set up by Dan Te.

She later found out that the fund she invested in has been scrapped which meant she lost all her money.

She confessed to Su Ryeon what happened.

She told him that she could help her get her money back from Dan Te if she will help her.

Episode 13

The help she wanted was for Yoon Hee to approach Logan Lee.  By being able to bring Logan Lee to meet Dan Te would guarantee Yoon Hee a job with Dan Te.

She managed to do it as well.

Logan Lee was the PE Teacher, without the silly long hair, mustache and false teeth brace.

Logan Lee had Yoon Hee now on his radar as a suspect in the killing of Min Seol Ah.

Poor Eun Byeol is so stressed and pressured she is slowly descending into madness.

Eun Byeol managed to convince the group that Ro Na was the one sending them the texts and videos which were supposed to have come from Min Seol.

Dan Te told Seo-Jin that the twins were not his wife’s biological children.

Seo Jin could not wait to blurt all during the special party at the Hera Palace which was being thrown for Logan Lee.

Dan Te, Kyu JIn and Yoon Cheol had a proper fistfight during the party.

Despite the bruises and blood on their faces, the party must go on.  The highlight of the party was the lighting of the fountain.

It was impressive to start with a big glittery ball splint and came out a dummy body with a banner announcing that the killer of Min Seol was among them.  Everyone gasped…..

Episode 14

The aftermath of the big disco ball reveal was that Seo Jin accused Soo Ryun being the instigator of it all because she was Min Seol’s mother.

Soo Ryun did not deny nor confirm Seo Jin’s allegation of being Min Seol’s mother but what she revealed was that she was traumatised seeing Min Seol’s body falling at Hera Palace.  She told them that she show who pushed Min Seol.

Everyone gasped especially Kang Mari, Yoon Hee, Sang Ah and Kyu-Jin.  They really thought that Min Seol committed suicide.  They helped get rid of the body out of Hera Palace because they don’t want their respective property to go down in value.

If they were shocked about this, they were positively astounded when they heard what Soo Ryun said next.  She told them that she did not divulge what she saw immediately because she thought her husband and Seo Jin were guilty.  She then said that the two are having an affair.

When her audience was rather disbelieving, she showed them a quick video of the amorous couple.

Kang Mari and Sang Ah went to speak to Seo Jin the next day.  They wanted her to resign because she was a bad example to the students.

Seo Jin then showed them the school records of Jenny and Min Hyuk.  Their grades were not good enough to stay at the school.  It was only Seo JIn’s thoughtfulness that they were still enrolled at the school.

The two women suddenly backtracked.

Meanwhile, Bae Ro Na was having a stressful time at school.  Hyun Byeol had it in for her.  She told Ro Na that her mother was a slapper who slept with her father.  Yoon Hee was a marriage wrecker because Hyun Byeol’s parents are now fighting all the time.

Hyun Byeol threatened Ro Na that she will reveal to the whole school that Yoon Hee was a slapper who sleeps around.

Ro Na told Hyun Byeol not to hurt her mother because she was going to do it herself. LOL

Hyun Byeol said as long as Ro Na does everything she was told then she can hurt her own mother.  LOL

Ro Na failed the exam on purpose and then she presented her withdrawal letter from the school to Seo Jin who was rather surprised but elated.

Ro Na then took her ire against her unsuspecting mother who happily presented her with a Hermes wallet.  Ro Na abused the wallet, gasp!!! She threw it on the floor.  That is why I never like her character. She is such a spoilt little madam.  Actually worst than the other kids.

She blamed her mother for having moved them to Hera Palace.

Duh, she made such a song and dance before about how unfair life was and she wanted to move to Hera Palace.  Amnesiac girl.

Meanwhile, Soo Ryun began to suspect the PE teacher who she saw was living in a 6 stars hotel.  She trespassed into his room and found out that he was Logan Lee after she saw his wigs and photo with Min Seol.

When Logan Lee came home, Soo Ryun was ready for him with a sharp object against his throat.

They then addressed my observation in the previous episode about Logan Lee being determined to exact revenge on Soo Ryun when his parents and himself did much worst.  Used Min Seol as a bone marrow donor and when they finished with her they got her arrested for thievery and then deported.  Logan Lee owed his life to her.

Logan Lee said that she could kill him after he had killed Dan Te.  But Soo Ryeon made her point that she will do it too as she stabbed him in the chest.  It was bloody and painful but not enough to cause death.  Just a bit of a warning to him.

Soo Ryun said that she will kill Dan Te and Seo Jin herself.

Later on, they decided to work together to accomplish their revenge.

Episode 15

OMG what an episode, well the ending anyway.  The first part is about the annoying Ro Na who turned punk.  If she was disrespectful to her mother before, then she is beyond rude to her now.

Well, Yoon Hee spoiled her rotten, despite being a single parent she worked hard to get everything her daughter wanted.

When Ro Na wanted to enter Cheong A Arts School, Yoon Hee did everything including actually contemplating killing MIn Seol Ah.  As the bible says: You reap what you sow.

Yoon Hee created her own nightmare in her daughter who is amnesiac, ungrateful, and rude.

But the writers are trying to give Ro Na a bit of saving grace by making her drop out of school to protect her mother.

Duh, you ask your mother if it is true that she can’t keep her knickers on?!!!  They are mother and daughter and had been through a lot so it is rather strange that she can’t talk seriously to her mother.  She knew her mother is a bit of a hustler as well so she won’t faint if she was asked if she was getting laid by a married man! LOL.

When Yoon Hee found out about the reason why her daughter was behaving ruder than usual, she blamed herself immediately.

Give it a rest.  I must say Eugene I think realised the storyline does not really make sense because she was underacting to the point of just mouthing the dialogue.

Anyway, amnesiac Rona told her mother that it was all her fault, she made her go to Cheong A Art school and moved them to Hera Palace.

Any self-respecting single mother would have told the girl off to shut her face and recall episode 1. LOL.

Rona actually bullied her mother to send her to Cheong A Arts school.

Dan Te kidnapped the PE Teacher to teach him a lesson as well as make him confess who he really was.  Dan Te did not expect that PE Teacher is confident with the gun so PE Teacher was able to walk away in the end.

The later part of this episode was about Seo Jin. She absolutely killed her role in a very Betty Davisesque kind of style.

Yoon Hee found out that Eun Byeol was the cause of Ro Na’s dropping from the school. So she invited Seo Jin to lunch at a lovely Japanese restaurant.

She incited Seo Jin to confess all.  That she is divorced after she had an extra-marital affair with Dan Te.

Seo Jin at first was aggressively confident but then Yoon Hee opened a connecting door revealing Seo Jin’s father who heard their conversation.

But Yoon Hee got egg on her face because the father sided with Seo Jin as if she did nothing wrong.

Yoon Hee was left feeling like crying and laughing at the hopelessness of the situation.

Seo Jin ran after her father who asked her if she had really divorced her husband, she confirmed it.

She thought everything was ok but her father’s lawyer rang saying that he just received a call from her father regarding changing his will and he will make her sister the director of the prestigious Cheong A Arts School.

Seo Jin went to find her father.

The father had just added his seal to the appointment document of his other daughter for the directorship of Cheong A Arts School.

He then told Seo Jin that she is fired from her job and he was taking back her inheritance.

She lost it.

She followed her father in the blistering rain in a rather steep walkway.  She started berating him for being an unfit father.  He made her what she has become.  He had never loved her like he had favoured his other daughter.

They then had a tug of war with his bag containing the appointment document.

Her father accidentally slipped and banged his head on the concrete wall.  He rolled on the stairways and calling her name for help.

Seo Jin started tending to her bleeding father but then she saw his bag.  Her ambition got the better of her.  She took the document and ran off leaving her father in the rain as he laid dying.

Seo Jin was deranged with shock. With her bloody fingers, she starting playing the piano.

Kim So Yeon should get an award for this drama.  She was so good.

Episode 16

What a big twist!

Yoon Hee finally recall what happened that eventful ‘night’ of Hera Palace’s first anniversary celebration.

She drunkenly wandered up on the 47th floor and saw Joo Dan Tae strangling Min Seal A by the balcony in view of making her fall.

The sound of Yoon crashing into something stopped Dan Tae.  He quickly exited.

Min Seol A was so grateful to Yoon Hee and said that she saved her.

Or not…

Because Yoon Hee realised that this is her opportunity to make her daughter’s dream come true.

Without hesitation, she approached Min Seol A and quickly pushed her down the balcony to her death.

That was a twist. I thought she would be a goodie but turn out she was the baddest of them all.

Episode 17

Soo Ryeum came clean with Yoon Hee about being the real mother of Min Seol Ah and that she had used Yoon Hee as a tool of revenge against Joo Dan Tae.

Yoon Hee was still traumatised upon the discovery that she was Min Seol’s killer and she still has the apple necklace of her victim in her coat pocket.

She just could not take any more of Soo Ryeon so she took off.

Soo Ryeon thought that she was so upset with her.

Meanwhile, Joo Dan Tae was so desperate to go in partnership with Logan Lee that he registered Hye In’s death to get to the land which was left to her by her grandpa.

Dan Tae was just showing the prime building and its location to Logan Lee as collateral for a loan when Soo Ryeon turned up with a very much alive Hye In who said that she would not give land to anyone else as it was left to her by her grandpa.

Harridan Ro Na was arrested for shoplifting alcohol.

Yoon Hee fetched her from the police station.  She begged her daughter to change and go back to school.

When Ro Na said that she hated her so much, Yoon Hee stopped by the seafront and said that she loved her daughter so much she felt that she can’t live knowing that she ruined her daughter’s life; she will end her own life right there and then.

But Ro Na said she will go back to school and will beat Eun Byeol to Seoul University.

Ever the user, Ro Na made a deal with lovesick Seok Hoon to be her pretend boyfriend so the bullying against her stops.

Episode 18

Yoon Hee showed her true colour.  She would commit murder for her daughter without feeling much guilt about it.  She would also seduce Dan Tae so she could get to the top floor.

Even Dan Tae was intrigued with her two-faced persona. Best friend with his wife and yet would sleep with him with intention.

Episode 19

Seo Jin was arrested during her inauguration as the new company/school/foundation president/director.  They said that she fraudulently let undeserving students passed a rigorous test over those who are more talented.

Dan Tae was then arrested during his new project presentation with investors.  He was reported by Logan Lee for fraudulently using his name to secure investments.

Episode 20

With good lawyers, both Seo Jin and Dan Tae were allowed to go home by the police.

Seo Jin came home to find Eun Byeol unconscious from taking pills with a bottle of red wine.  Seo Jin went hysterical. I have to admit her screaming is impressive.  I would have been so hoarse and unable to speak for days if I had a screaming fit like her.

Seo Jin met up with Soo Ryeon.  Seo Jin’s often arrogant stance changed into a humble begging on her knees to punish her but leave Eu Byeol alone.

Soo Ryeon told her to confess her part in the murder of Min Seol.  She then said that Seo Jin had lost Joo Dan Tae to Yoon Hee.

Seo Jin was shocked and went to find Dan Tae who was with Yoon Hee, who was telling him that they had to get rid of Soo Ryeon who was getting out of control.

Seo Jin was about to attack Yoon Hee when Dantae told Seo Jin not to touch his woman.

He then pushed Seo Jin away and escorted Yoon Hee out.

Yoon Hee was still worried that she was running out of time before Soo Ryeon tells all about Min Seol’s murder.

With a knife in her handbag, she went to look for Soo Ryeon but changed her mind, threw the knife in a bin in front of a police station.

She was on her way to the station when Dan Tae’s head minion stopped her.  He had also taken her knife from the bin.

Soo Ryeon was called by the housekeeper that Dan Tae had taken the children away.

Soo Ryeon went to look for Dan Tae at his secret room at their Hera Palace apartment  In the darkness, she was stabbed twice.  Then Yoon Hee suddenly pulled the knife out of Soo Ryeon crying in distress.

The housekeeper turned up and it was rather dramatic the way she was screaming. I bet she was the ‘killer’

The twins just saw their mother being loaded into a stretcher with a blanket fully covering her from head to toe.

It was in the breaking news which Logan Lee saw while waiting for Soo Ryeon to make their flight to the US.

Logan Lee did not waste any time.  He ran to get a taxi but he was abducted in a black van.

Though Yoon Hee was arrested and subsequently confessed to the murder, there must be something not quite right about it.

Who killed Soo Ryeon?

Probably she was not really dead. It is just a part of a convoluted plot.

Episode 21

Wow!!!

Two deaths in one final episode.

Soo Ryeon was not killed by Yoon Hee nor by the maid.

Nevertheless, the maid was abetting with the real killer which was Joo Dan Tae who was already waiting for Soo Ryeon in the secret room.

He then heard Yoon Hee coming to the house so Dan Te threw a flower base so Yoon Hee would know where to go.

And she found the dying Soo Ryeon while Dan Tae just managed to let himself out from a secret door.

It seems that Seo Jin was in cahoot with Dan Tae as well because she worked with Dan Tae’s minions to set up and frame Yoon Hee by making it looked like Yoon Hee was obsessed with Dan Te.

The only sensible person in this drama was Joo Seok Hoon.  He seemed to have grown up overnight.

He was looking after his sister and still showed support to Ro Na despite Yoon Hee ‘killing’ his mother.

Meanwhile, Dan Tae has got Logan Lee.  Logan Lee was defeated because Dan Tae found out what happened to Min Seol A’s adoption and abandonment.  Dan Tae blackmailed Logan’s father and got a lot of money and the investment to Boxian’s shopping centre.

6 months later by process of deduction as Hoon Yee’s hair had grown, she was sentenced to a life in prison.  I don’t know as no sub yet!  It was too late when she finally told the court that she did not kill Soo Ryeon, that she was a victim of a setup.

Anyway, the police van taking her to prison was ambushed by Logan Lee and abducted her.

He then tortured her mind until she cannot take the pain and guilt anymore that the poker stake he held against her neck, she pushed it to her neck herself.

She was bleeding to death at the feet of a very shocked Logan but suddenly he felt free; He’s got his closure.

Then as she was dying, Yoon Hee remembered the good times with Soo Ryeon when they were sailing.

It was a very good scene actually.  They were doing the Jack and Rose in the Titanic at the helm of the yacht.  Like the Titanic, they sank in death.

And now, Seo Jin is the new queen of Hera Palace on the top floor.

By the way, the one sending her the videos of her last moment with her father was her own daughter.

I reckon season two will still include Su Ryeon and Yoon Hee even as a flashback.

Apparently season two will comprise of 12 Episodes and will commence on 19 February 2021.

Then followed by Seaon 3.

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THE PENTHOUSE 2: WAR IN LIFE

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