Son Ye Jin and Kim Nam Gil Confirmed for Final Revenge Trilogy Drama Shark

Kim Nam Gil and Son Ye Jin are confirmed as the leads for upcoming revenge drama Shark, and there goes another notch in my little birdie says casting rumor mill. This pairing came out of left field when I heard about it three weeks ago, and it still hasn’t quite settled in with me yet. It’s not that I think Son Ye Jin can’t do a dark thriller (she was decent enough in K-version of Byakuyakyo), it’s just that she resembles Han Ga In and the latter was Kim Nam Gil’s last drama co-star. That was also a revenge thriller, so perhaps my issue isn’t with the leading ladies, it with Kim Nam Gil going off to the army and coming back and picking what sounds like the exact same drama on paper (minus some detail changes). Of course, Bad Guy was the wackiest revenge drama ever writing wise, whereas Shark comes from the talented hands of the PD-writer who did Resurrection (also known as Revenge or Rebirth) and Mawang (The Devil). In fact, Shark is being called the final drama chapter of this so-called revenge trilogy. The dramas won’t be related storywise but is instead sharing the revenge thematic narrative. I’m glad to see the team heading back to their bread and butter after going out of their comfort zone and doing Fermentation Family last year which didn’t work for me at all. Shark is slated to air on KBS Mon-Tues after God of the Workplace with Kim Hye Soo and Oh Ji Ho. That might mean Shark will butt up against the tail end of Gu Family Book and Jang Ok Jung, which by then ought to be clear which of those two fusion sageuks is the winner in that showdown. I’ve read the leaked plot synopsis for Shark which I’ve translated below, but be warned this is not confirmed so the story might change. There will be a rather long teenage sequence, based on the plot synopsis, which means one of those hot property teens will be back to grace our screens. Park Ji Bin was most recently in Incarnation of Money, so odds favor Yeo Jin Gu or Park Gun Tae. Kim So Hyun looks like a dead ringer for Son Ye Jin (and would have worked as well if Son Ye Jin had accepted Missing You), but Kim Yoo Jung is always a safe bet. Decisions, decisions. I think this producing team always picks great actors so I have no worries.

Purported plot for Shark:

Story starts in high school. Heroine is from a wealthy hotel-owning family. Her father is involved in an affair with a news anchor. He gets into a car accident and leaves the scene. Heroine’s grandfather appears to be benevolent and admired by all, but he is not what he seems. Hero is the son of the family chauffeur, and has a younger sister. His father takes the fall for the accident, but when he wants to come forth with the truth, he dies under mysterious circumstances. There is a historian who appears to be connected with the rich family and might know about the grandfather’s shady past. Hero’s father actually has a shady past, too, but his son does not know it. To find out the truth about his father’s murder, he puts a revenge plan in motion.

He makes it appear that he died in an accident. In truth he becomes the adopted son of a Korean living in Japan. That man is also plotting revenge against the Heroine’s grandfather and thus is using Hero. Heroine has been in love with Hero since she was small and is devastated when she thinks he died. She believes he didn’t die, but in the end she marries Guy 2. She becomes a prosecutor to find out the truth about his death and what happened to his dad. Guy 2 is the director of the hotel company and by marrying heroine he takes over running the company. Later on he becomes the opponent for the Hero. The hero’s sister has lived in Seoul since his disappearance under the shadow of their dad supposedly fleeing a deadly accident.

To get his revenge, Hero sets a trap to make the Heroine fall for him. She knows it, and despite being married, she cannot help but go with him because she still loves him. When Guy 2 finds out, he stops feeling sorry for what happened to Hero and becomes his adversary. Hero also becomes more tormented as he pursues his revenge because he learns his father was not the man he thought. Heroine also learns about her grandfather’s shady past. In this twisted triangle of love and pain, can the revenge finally stop?