After having a few days to fully process the premiere two episodes of Heirs/The Inheritors, I find myself actually liking it more despite acknowledging even more flaws in it. I can’t explain it other than this one is purely a personal preference thingie. The acting has been mostly lackluster and the narrative overwhelmingly obvious, but a few of the characters have really connected with me and that’s a surefire way to my heart. I’m more and more falling for Kim Tan, and only wish Lee Min Ho would wake up and infuse his performance with the same level of budding actor intensity he put into Gu Jun Pyo in Boys Before Flowers. I feel like back then he was hungry for success, eager to prove himself, but now he’s resting on his laurels and is almost going through the motions so far. I know he has it in him, that charisma which sucks me in even if he’s not the best actor around. Star power, he has it and he needs to start unleashing it. Despite his rote performance, I love how Tan comes off with the rich kid baggage but none of the rich kid antics (as far as we’ve seen). Yes. he was supposed to have been the devil incarnate back in Korea (along with Young Do) before big bro shipped in overseas, but the Tan that we’ve met is all sorts of easy to root for. His interest in Eun Sang may have been written without any plausible foundation and executed with ridiculously overwrought long stares that make no sense, theoretically I totally get it and can’t wait for them to get back to Korea to develop it in earnest. Here is the exiled heir to the biggest chaebol fortune in Korea wanting only a semblance of familial affection, finding an equally bristly kindred spirit in the poorest girl in his exalted vicinity. I even like that I don’t love Eun Sang at first blush, but like her sharp edges enough that she isn’t too syrupy sweet. I wish Heirs weren’t so hyped because of its screenwriter and its massive cast, because it definitely doesn’t live up to hype but does have its own brand of sweetness that I’ve inexplicably fallen for. There are dramas I ought to love more that never touch me, and oddly enough the clunky opening of Heirs has reached out and tapped into my fondness for outcast love stores. Check out the latest stills from the drama as well as the new preview for episode 3. I can’t wait for Chan Young to join to the LA crazy party and give Tan some jealousy to stew over. It’s massively silly but potentially oh so satisfying.
New preview for episode 3:
I think Lee Min Ho is playing a character of a lazy, indifferent rich kid who gets bored in most of the things and that is the reason why he is acting that way…
I’m really liking Heirs. It has flaws….but there is this inexplicable fondness that has developed for the leads,especially the OTP, which is making me more and more excited for it….
Thanks koala for the preview 🙂
nah, on faith he was just like this. “Boring”
he doesn’t know well to make ”lonely, sad, thinking deep” scenes… it ends up with him ”bored”
I saw that in Faith as well which is why I never bothered after the first few episodes. But I have to disagree, I think he knows how. Or at least he knew how before. Not sure where that LMH has been recently.
To …on and koala,
Lee Min Ho’s Choi Young is anything but “boring” in Faith. My first question would be how much have you all seen of Faith to make that judgment because his character is supposed to be stoic and quiet at the beginning. He isn’t the type that showcase his emotions or feelings to anyone because he is a general. You don’t show your weaknesses or any signs to your enemies and in his case, he cannot show it to his subordinates too because that would worry them. Also, it is the setting of his character that he is supposed to be ‘dead’ or living without a purpose due to what he has experienced in the past.
If you two have stayed on longer through to the later episodes, you would see his gradual changes brought out by Eun Soo (Kim Hee Sun). He would have seen Lee Min Ho displayed his hotness through his wrath, angry gaze, desire through his eyes etc etc.
Lee Min Ho has learnt to act differently since City Hunter. He has learnt not to exaggerate his acting and uses his face and eyes to act. Gu Jun Pyo is the simplest and straight forward character, and I think it is the most exaggerated way of acting Lee Min Ho has employed on him. In that I think, GJP has the least challenge to play for what LMH is capable to do now. Yes GJP helps make him famous but it is the characters like Lee Yong Sung and Choi Young that shaped and challenged Lee Min Ho’s to grow and become a better actor.
I would advise both of you to try it out again and hope to see your opinion change after that i.e. if you can see through the flaws (because all drama has its flaw) and feel what the writer wants you to feel and think. Faith is a thinking drama with a lot of emotions, which is why I believed not many people feel entertained by it.
I don’t feel it, that he’s playing Tan just right as the character is written. In fact, I feel that he’s playing Tan as if he’s too uninterested to really actively portray the pained indifference of the character so instead Tan comes off as just plain uninvolved. But that’s how I see LMH’s performance so far and think others can see it differently.
About trying out Faith again. Don’t. I watched it through all the episodes, even the bts, so I have a really good grasped of the story and the acting and all the controversies. Better leave it alone. It’s painful for the viewers and it’s even more painful for the actors, the staff, and the director. I’d rather see again LMH in City Hunter, because he’s at his best in that drama.
Kim Tan and Eun Sang can supplement each other in terms of necessity ‘to be active’. I still think though that to be a lazy intelligent is the best (much better than to be an active fool). I like Kim Tan too. It’s his character that draws me to this drama.
Ockoala, I’ve been following your blog for a while (after readings your posts on City Hall on dramabeans a few months back) but this is the first time I’m writing. I too have great empathy for Kim Tan already but I disagree that his interest in Eun Sang has no plausible foundation. Kim Tan is a very lonely teenager with huge family issues. He has been living abroad all alone since he was 15! His relationship with his half brother and mom are strained at best. He is told by everyone (but his English teacher) to have no purpose in life but be merry. Noone around him has the depth to understand him and he pours his troubles into that said teacher’s assignment he doesn’t intend to submit. Then one day, while he is thinking things his brother told him not to he sees and recognizes a fellow soul. Witnessing Eun Sang’s fight with her sister is the best thought out first meeting from Kim tan’s perspective. Here’s someone else like him who is betrayed an abandoned in a foreign country by a sibling. He is intrigued. And the more he sees, the more intrigued he gets. First, she shows her vulnerabilities to him, not a common thing to do for people in front of strangers. Granted, not all are intentional like the fight with her sister or the phone call to her mom but when she tells him in the hospital she is offering money because she’s afraid he’ll leave (abandon her?) as well this is a surprise confession. Secondly, Kim Tan is rich, very very rich (that humongous house for a high school boy living alone?!!!) so he’s probably not used to people offering money at every turn for very simple things like a phone call, gas for a drive, use of an otherwise empty room in a ginormous house or people eating food with passed expiration dates. Or someone that works so much. This is most probably not something he is used to or thought about before. So he observes her curiously.
As important as him witnessing the fight between Eun Sang and her sister is the scene in which he overhears her phone call with her mother. First let’s remember, even though we don’t know what they are we know that Kim Tan has serious mommy issues. I presume her being the mistress of a married man and as such bearing him as an illegitimate child has something to do with this. He avoids her phone calls. He doesn’t seem to have the soft spot he has for his cold brother for his unhappy mother. During the sisters’ fight he overheard of the mom a few times, how Eun Sang abandoned her mom to join her sister, how hard her mom worked to make that money, now he witnesses her trying to protect her mom from her sister’s deeds with her lies. This kind of an attitude towards her mom provides a deep contrast with his relationship to his mom. That intrigues him as well. On top of all that there is obviously some physical attraction. He is drawn to her. I don’t think he thinks abut her seriously at all at the moment but he is curious to learn more. The fact that she acts so mysteriously (avoiding to tell him her name, refusing to answer his questions about “her boyfriend”) adds fuel to the fire. So all this lead to him not wanting her to leave the next morning.
I thought overall it was a fairly good setup and foundation for the interest on his side. But if you don’t watch their scenes back to back this might get lost in the flurry of introductions.
wow! i love what i read
Moonbeam, that was quite insightful and well written!
Moonbean! Loved what you wrote. Keep up your insightful posts!
@moonbean, that is so true to truth. yes, please keep it up. enjoyed your analytical thoughts, way to go.. Hwaiting!
Really amazing <3
What great analogy! The only thing I’ve thought about Kim Tan is that he’s seeing Eun Sang as a kindred spirit. Here is a girl who breaks away the monotony of his life and after just hours of meeting they’ve already shared a lot of memories and experiences.
Moonbeam, u should do a recap on Heirs…i would totally follow u. I love ur analysis!
Shine your insights, Moonbeam!
i agree with you… your analysis about Tan issues & Eun Sang.
whoa! well, that though has been processing in my mind but don’t know how to express it.
love the initial development — it’s not a smack-in-your-face thing but it gives you a feel of what to come base on little gestures and innuendos. I guess it is basically the director’s discretion, controlling how much we, as viewers should see, feel and think. Love the slo-mo scene when LMH walked back to the house when he saw PSH dressing down and the dreamcathcer’s feather-tail slightly touched his hair… and then there is this small glint thingy… makes a suggestion that there’s “magic” brewing somewhere.
Haven’t started watching yet. Just waiting until I have a reasonable backlog of episodes before jumping on board. Find it hard to accept him as an angsty teenager though. I suppose like BOF – none of them look particularly like high school kids yet went along for th ride and enjoyed it.
too many characters, but I only focus on Eun Sang & Kim Tan’s love story…
I want them to be in high school FAST. I find the three friends in the playroom far more interesting than the whole chasing scenes in LA.
yes
I don’t get it, someone explain this to me: if Won is the eldest son, how come Tan is the heir? Is Won going to be disinherited once Tan comes of age?
I didn’t understand that either. I hope someone will clarify that for us. Why is Kim Tan such a threat? He is an illegitimate child after all, even though he is on the family’s registry.
My guess (and it’s only a guess!):
Based on my understanding, Kim Tan’s mother is the one that Chairman actually cares for (why he has no power over getting a divorce is beyond me.) Therefore, Kim Won’s position as heir is justifiably sitting in a rocky position. At any time, Chairman can overturn him due to Won’s mother, especially since Tan is now in the family register. An illegitimate child on the family registrar is a big deal; with the power the group has, this is actually unnecessary, and for it it to occur means that again, Chairman could be considering to take out Won’s mother and Won. Think Joseon Korea and what the Kings did then for an analogy. The point is, to survive with what he feels is his entitlement, Won has to make Tan as unqualified an heir as possible (i.e. spoiled brat rich kid).
It’s just a guess, but I’m guessing that despite being the eldest son, Won is actually in a precarious position, even without considering Tan in the picture. Won’s mother is dead, so she has no hold on his father’s affection; he’s not close to his surrogate mother, the one who brought him up, who is also indifferent to her husband (she speaks of his affair so coolly and dispassionately). His relationship with his father is strained; his father thinks his handling of the company is too high-handed (remember Chan Young’s father chiding Won about treating the maintenance man nicely, instead of the landlord, or something like that, and obviously Chan Young’s father is the mouthpiece and spy of the president), and his father keeps reminding Won that the position of the company president is not necessarily his. I’m getting the feeling that he(and most of the higher-ups of the company) doesn’t like Won’s arrogance or sense of entitlement? Maybe Won is not exactly suitable to inherit the company. And getting rid of Tan is the least Won can do to secure what little chances of him inheriting the company. And Won can try all he wants to prove himself worthy of being president, with nonexistent competition. After all, if there’s no rival in sight, any person, even a lousy leader, will do as heir? Though I don’t understand why Tan’s father didn’t object to Won sending Tan into exile? Not that Tan is doing himself any favours by getting into all sorts of trouble that even the police knows him by face and name…
After seeing the trailers, I revise my opinion. Maybe it’s not so much that Won sees Tan as a threat to his position, but it’s more of Won seeing Tan as undeserving of inheriting anything at all, since he knew that Tan is an illegitimate son, even if this illegitimacy is not reflected in the family registry. So Won exiles Tan to deprive him of his right to the position…
Hello Chocolander,
Thank you for your explanations, both of them. I also appreciate that you actually watched the trailers again, and came back once you realized that your opinion had changed.
It’s interesting to me that both of your opinions could actually be argued, though I would agree with you that your 2nd opinion seem to be more in line with what we have seen so far, and what we have gathered so far from the trailers. I really liked what you said in your 2nd post(I know, I am repeating myself :-)),and I am hoping that the writer will make it clear to us the issues and conflicts existing between KT and KW.
I liked your 1st post, because it helped me see how you got to your opinion in the 2nd post. Thank you again.
@moonbean, that’s the best… I like it, oh noh! We like it… Fighting!!!!!
LOL..
See koala uve changed ur mind ! It didnt take u long !
those of you interested to know more about LMH may want to browse through this recent interview at
http://www.tenasia.com/archives/74483
here he gives a fairly candid interview about himself plus his role as Kim Tan.
I like him more after reading the interview Lol. Thanks for sharing
you’re welcome!! cheers
Thanks guys. I’m glad you enjoyed my post. I have so much more to write about this drama and Kim Tan if only I had the time. For starters I found the character and the story much deeper than I expected – good ground for thought and analysis. And there was so much promo before it even started airing that I already had some ideas about Kim Tan and his story before seeing episode 1. Fortunately, I wasn’t disappointed. Now I’m hoping the rest of the characters and stories step up as well to engage my interest equally. So far I found the scenes in which he was absent quite meh and that’s not because I’m a LMH fan. I have watched 2/3rds of BOF (the rest of the silly episodes I just kept skipping scenes – might have to go back to it to enjoy Gu Jun Pyo when I have time) and Personal Preference. But in this drama so far Kim Tan is the deepest, most interesting and least stereotypical character.
Your analysis is spot-on! Now I understand why Tan fell so fast and hard for Eun Sang. Now, if only someone talented enough would make a video on all the OTP scenes…. 🙂
Yes, the drama is unexpectedly deep and nuanced that I am unable to prevent myself from speculating and writing about my thoughts and speculations about the drama. Anxiously looking forward to ep 3!
All I can see is Eun Sang (Park Shinhye) is too pretty. She captured his heart. It’s attraction otherwise how would one explains they’re just met and yet they’re familiar and so close with each other? Must be lovers from past life. Ha.
I have to agree about Lee Min-ho, his performance so far is exactly why I’ve been so turned off by him lately (I don’t think I’ve liked him since City Hunter tbh). Dude, do you know how much money is being poured into this drama? Wake up already.
If this is really Kim Tan he is supposedly portraying then he’s not doing a very good job because I just don’t see it. He’s lucky there are plenty of other actors that will keep me watching or I would’ve dropped this already.
I don’t know why but I also like this show so far.Lee Min Ho has never been my fav actor but here I kinda like him…I think it’s because the way his character is written.
I also like the romance between the leads.It may seems a bit rushed to some but for me it works.I think so far what Tan feels for her is an attraction grown from curiosity and sympathy.Sympathy because he has seen her going through the worst situations.Curiosity because somehow her abandoned self here resembles his exiled self but her action doesn’t.I can’t wait to see the process through which this attraction turns into love.
And agree that the overhype has really damages this drama.After reading the netizens’ comments through the last week I feel now this drama is being over-criticized from over-disappointment due to excessive expectation!
I was looking forward so much to this drama because I was missing that high of addiction but somehow Heirs hasn’t done anything to me yet. I have to agree LMH has not lived up to my expectations since BOF. I was hoping his role as a high schooler would bring that GJP magic back. It has just been 2 episodes so maybe when he gets back to school and in uniform we will see the charismatic LMH. We know he has it in him. I wish we could bring back the GJP mad curls back.
I have found my crack drama while I wait for Heirs to rev up. Really enjoying Secret. The story is nothing new but the 4 leads are making it work. Love Jisungs confidant swagger and charisma, BSB’s broody intensity, HJE’s natural raw talent and LDH’s elegance. LMH needs some of JS’s confidance and swagger.
I like LMH but please make up artist, stop putting him so much make up and pink lipstick!
He’s a man, not a girl, for crying out loud!
It’s such a turn off.
I know that LMH has somewhat dark lips, probably due to smoking (what is it with all these actors smoking so much anyway? is it to stay skinny?)
but chaebal…. tone it down….
I want to watch a beautiful charismatic man, not a drag queen.
I didn’t like the long stares scenes. It didn’t feel right and didn’t make sense. I was glad that it wasn’t sexual attraction but empathy and shared vulnerabilities that brought the lead couple together so those long stares were out of place and here the blame lies squarely on the PD. He needs a good editor. PSH is interpreting her character well for now. It is LMH who needs to wake up from his apathetic stupor since PT.
my dear
go watch Sweet Home Alabama, there is this scene where Josh Lucas had a stare-e-thon with Reese Witherspoon. If I was not wrong, it was about 40seconds. They had to emphasize on his beautiful blue eyes according to the director.
I believe KES+PD wanted to stress a bit more on the eye candy. Hell, I haven’t enjoyed such eye candy in a long long while. Who knows, you may begin to enjoy Kim Tan’s least stereotypical character as the episodes roll along… peace
I just wish the stares had come a little later. I liked that they were becoming friends and bonding on empathy and shared experiences. I guess they were going for the money shot by pimping LMH but it ruins the narrative for me. I wish the long intent looks had come in the 3rd episode.
maybe they had to have the stare-e-thon soon due to the fact that there is not much time for that when they get back to Seoul as they have to cover SO many characters. Just a thot! cheers
Moonbean, thank you and I totally agree with your insightful analysis. The problem is most of us are too eager to compare the main characters in Heirs to that in BOF or Gossip Girl and hence overlooking the underlying message the show is trying to put across. Despite its flaws here and there ( btw which drama doesn’t), I personally find it pretty enjoyeable and good.
Maybe, just maybe, the problem with Heirs is that Lee min Ho is too old to play a high schooler…(and some of the other actors, as well ). I might have bought LMH playing a college student, but it was even a stretch accepting him as a high schooler in BOF.
I agree….They are not selling him well as a high schooler….and they are contradicting themselves.
1st scene…you have this gorgeous sexy man surfing and coming out of the water with a hot, naked bod…then, you have him giving long, deep mature stares to a woman…and you want me to buy that he’s a high schooler?
Maybe the opening scene should have been his troubles that the police officer seems to be aware of; having him partying and/or doing drugs or something…because that’s more fitting for a high schooler, with the idea that he’s care free and irresponsible, basically living the life that his brother wanted him to live,
Then let the viewers witness his growth as a man in the subsequent episodes.
Right now, they are essentially telling me that he’s a boy trapped in a man’s body; the problem with that idea is that they are selling me the man, but I want the boy in order to buy the high schooler concept; Show me the boy writer…the boy.
LMH must be aware that he’s too old to play a high schooler and that pressure must be affecting his acting.
I have to say it was a wrong marketing strategy to overhype the drama so much and for so long; hence all the scrutiny. I hope the ratings get better though and that LMH learn to embody his character.
I’ll keep watching HEIRS despite its flaws because I like LMH, my boy Kim Woo Bin (now there’s an actor!) and my baby Kang Min Hyuk ( he’s shoooo cute!!!)
Agreed