The action fully moved back to Korea in episode 4 of Heirs/The Inheritors, but it doesn’t immediately pick up the pace or amp up the narrative hook. It’s still a drama that aimed high and is delivering a curveball. This really is not the drama I was expecting, and the sense of being surprised adds to my enjoyment of it. Part of me wonders if Kim Eun Sook had a script and assembled the right cast for it, or had an idea that she wanted a drama with a huge cast and then wrote the script around it. The former is fine, the latter is what creates a sense of disjointedness with Heirs. Try as she might, Kim Eun Sook can’t spend more of her drama with Tan and Eun Sang and then throw in bits and pieces of everyone else and expect the entire thing to coalesce into something truly engaging. When watching the drama, I’m merely shown scenes that functions as concentric circles that don’t always overlap, but so far the story has presented a formative impression that a cohesive picture is forthcoming. Other than everyone in the drama being connected somehow, however organically or stretching the credulity, I’m disappointed not to feel like the world of Heirs is a living breathing beast waiting to rear its head and roar.
Like Young Do’s allusion to Tan being a pretender king of the jungle, Heirs is so far a drama that is like a pretender to the throne of Kim Eun Sook whip fast dialogue and electric storytelling. It’s slow and plodding, and that only works when I apply it to Kim Tan’s character and his inertia, melancholy, and dissonance. For many of other characters, I’m just wondering what the heck is all this much ado about nothing for each of them to be so negative all the time. The size of this cast has spread the character building too thin, so while I can accept the motivations of the characters, there remains a lack of visceral connection to their angst. With the exception of Tan, and to a lesser extent Eun Sang, I see it but the drama doesn’t make me feel it. I’m looking forward to when the main cast starts spending time in school and letting the school yard conflicts drive the story forward. The drama has made it easy for Tan and Eun Sang to develop their relationship since they are now living together and will soon attend the same school. I would squeal more if their romance felt compelling but it still doesn’t. But they have a lovely budding friendship that remains the sole motivation of this drama that keeps me happily tuning in each week.
Episode 4 recap:
Rachel hugs Kim Tan goodbye at the airport and he stands there like a log and endures her hug. These two are totally going to turn into their parental generation if they went along with the plan and did get married. Eun Sang happens to arrive at the airport for her flight back to Korea and sees this tableau. She freezes and then turns to walk away.
Tan sees Eun Sang and calls out for her to stop right there! Really bad idea to be calling out to one girl while getting hugged by another, Tan. Eun Sang stops in her tracks and then turns around. Rachel stares in shock, because who wouldn’t be flabbergasted by the sheer number of coincidental meetings between Tan and Eun Sang.
Tan bids Rachel a safe trip and says he’ll call her. He stomps over to Eun Sang and demands to know why she didn’t call him like he asked. Eun Sang got his message but didn’t see the need. Tan holds out his cell phone and asks for her number back in Korea. Let’s not forget Rachel is standing there watching all of this.
Eun Sang thanks him for everything again and reminds him not to leave his fiancée waiting right there. She then just walks away, past Rachel and up the escalator, leaving Tan standing there holding his phone out.
Of course Rachel and Eun Sang end up on the same flight back to Korea. Rachel can’t restrain herself and heads back to economy class to badger Eun Sang some more. She believes they have a pathetic fate to see each other again because of their mutual Kim Tan connection. Eun Sang says no way, but Rachel knows Tan and if he’s sad the first person he’ll think of is Eun Sang. She takes Eun Sang’s customs arrival form so she knows who Eun Sang is and hightails it back to first class, where Eun Sang is barred from entering lest she disturb the rich people.
Rachel walks out of baggage claim to find Young Do waiting to pick her up like he was told to, complete with a snarky welcome poster. These two may have some bite and certain things they say ring true, but I still find them wholly distasteful for the time being. Eun Sang is a step behind her and finally returns to Korea. Whew. That felt like an eventful and much too long of a trip.
Young Do purposely turns the music up in the car drive home with Rachel, and she turns it off and he turns it back on. She brings up Kim Tan, knowing Young Do is dying to know what’s up with him. Tan is doing well, and she told Tan that Young Do is doing well, running the show now that the real king of the jungle isn’t around. Ha, hit him where it hurts, girl.
Young Do snips back that perhaps the king of the jungle was just a pretender all along which is why it ran away to avoid being exposed. Looks like Young Do knows Tan is illegitimate but no one else outside the family does. Young Do stops the car and gets out right there on the street. What a petulant child, the whole lot of them.
Eun Sang arrives home but is too scared to go inside. When she does open the front door, she’s stunned that the house is empty and cleaned out. She hears from the neighbor ahjumma that her mom moved while she was away. Eun Sang borrows a phone to call her mom and is told to go spend the night at a jjimjalbang and come to Chairman Kim’s house in the morning.
Tan is throwing a pool party but he’s not interested in having fun. He looks at the picture of Eun Sang and Chan Young sightseeing.
Hyo Shin enters his house and hears his mother speaking with his private tutor Jeon Hyun Joo, who is also a teacher at Empire High. Mom demands absolute perfection from Hyo Shin and warns Hyun Joo to do her best and not provide any distractions for Hyo Shin. She’s not even allowed to wear perfume or look pretty when she tutors him. Hyo Shin’s mom chews out Hyun Joo for wearing a skirt today and shorts last week. Damn mom, pay attention to your son and stop trying to slut-shame Hyun Joo.
Hyun Joo and Hyo Shin go back to his room to start working. Hyun Joo is not happy to do this but the pay is good. Hyo Shin likes all the distractions that his mom has prohibited by Hyun Joo is not about to flaunt the rules right off the bat.
Hyun Joo’s phone rings and Hyo Shin asks if it’s from her boyfriend? Hyun Joo is all business and won’t answer it while she’s on the job. The caller is Kim Won, who is calling from a jewelry store in the US. He picks up a beautiful necklace.
Eun Sang arrives at Chairman Kim’s house and finds out that unni Eun Seo called mom to apologize but she still won’t return the money. Mom says they don’t even have money to pay their apartment deposit anymore, so they need to stay with Chairman Kim. Eun Sang demands to know for how long?
Eun Sang stands outside the house as Mom heads inside to talk with Ki Ae. A car pulls up and Ji Sook gets out. She passes by Eun Sang at the front door, glaring at her as she enters.
Mom gets Ki Ae to agree to let her and Eun Sang live in the backyard servants quarters by using Ki Ae’s attempt to entrap Ji Sook into an affair. Mom says she’s sad to blackmail Ki Ae, too but she has no choice.
Mom brings Eun Sang into the house and she marvels at the luxurious digs. They walk into the living room and happen to chance upon Ki Ae and Ji Sook having an argument about how the Chairman is sick and Ji Sook is being kept out of the loop. Ki Ae says he gets sick often, she can’t always tell Ji Sook, and snarks that she came bright and early to cause a scene.
Ki Ae insults Ji Sook as a bitter childless woman clinging to a legal marriage, while Ji Sook calls Ki Ae a woman without an official name and acting like the lady of the house. Ji Sook says Ki Ae is the same as her since her child isn’t here. Ki Ae tells Ji Sook to leave the house now before one day getting kicked out and taken off the family registry. Ji Sook slaps Ki Ae hard. Ouch.
The two stop fighting when a servant announces that Kim Won is home. He barely acknowledges the two fighting women and goes upstairs. Ji Sook warns Ki Ae that Tan may be her son, but he also shares the same blood as Won and their father. So Ki Ae shouldn’t expect Tan to stick up for her against the men of the family. Ji Sook storms off and Ki Ae asks Mom for some ice for her cheek.
Mom has Eun Sang bring medicine for Chairman Kim. Won notices her and she tries to avert his gaze. He sees what she’s holding and gestures with his head towards his father’s study. Eun Sang goes inside and sets the tray down and introduces herself as the housekeerper’s daughter and excuses herself.
Chairman Kim talks with Won about ending his brother’s exile or else he would do it. The Chairman heard from the guests that no one met Tan at the party. He knows Won is hurting Tan because he was hurt, which is why the Chairman let Won do it. To be fair he let Won do it, but Won is more cruel than he expected. The Chairman has never once embraced Tan because he was watching Won’s reaction. Won wasn’t raised in love either and asks if the Chairman doesn’t regret it. But enough is enough and the Chairman won’t let it continue anymore.
Mom brings Ki Ae some ice for her cheek and ask swhy she had to talk back to Ji Sook and incur her wrath? Ki Ae says Mom is so poor she’ll never endure this mistreatment.
Ki Ae goes to see Won and wants to ask about Tan. Won tells her to call Tan herself. She asks if Tan can come back but Won isn’t interested in chatting with her. She asks why he has to be so cruel, Tan is only 18 years old. Won said that at 18 he was already a major shareholder in Empire Group. Ki Ae laments being a bad mom to Tan but Won could care less and tells her to go to a church to confess her sins.
Kim Won is in his room and looks at a picture of himself sitting by the beach at sunset. The camera shifts to Tan in the exact same pose by the beach. Tan thinks back to his painful meeting with Won at the almond farm.
Eun Sang and her mom are eating dinner in the kitchen when Ki Ae comes in. Ki Ae tells Eun Sang to not say anything or do anything while living here, or reveals what goes on inside the house to the outside world. Ki Ae says she trusts Eun Sang’s mom because she can’t ever divulge the family secrets. She’s unconsciously condescending but Eun Sang bites her tongue and says she is thankful they can live here. Mom signs Eun Sang and walks out. Ki Ae asks what Mom signed and Eun Sang lies that Mom said Ki Ae was a good madam of the house. Ki Ae laughs that Eun Sang is smart indeed (for the lie), but she was never good to Eun Sang’s mom.
Eun Sang goes back to their little room and sees her mom nodding off while ironing. Eun Sang takes the iron out of her mom’s hand and helps her down to rest. She watches her mom mouth “thank you” before falling asleep.
Eun Sang is fixing up their little room and arranging all her things. Mom comes back and they smile at each other. Eun Sang takes out a bag of nuts for her mom that she bought from the US. She teases that her mom can find a wealthy second husband and they can move out of this house soon. Eun Sang starts to cry and tells mom that she’s really sorry, she thought about abandoning mom and staying in the US. Mom simply embraces Eun Sang.
Eun Sang gets back to her regular routine of working multiple part time jobs at the café and at the fried chicken place. Tan walks by the Hollywood sign and thinks about Eun Sang. He goes by the message board at school but Eun Sang’s note has been covered up so he doesn’t see it. Eun Sang puts her clothes away and sees the I love California t-shirt in her drawer and smiles.
Tan sits alone on the stairs and eats a sandwich. Outside the dreamcatcher waves in the wind.
Eun Sang finally earns enough money to pay back Chan Young. She calls him and finds out he’s coming back to Korea tomorrow.
Ki Tae is in bed with the Chairman, though they have separate beds. She tells him that she misses Tan and can’t sleep well. The Chairman indicates wants to help her but if Tan is afraid of Won and won’t come back then there is nothing they can do.
Ki Ae calls Tan but he still doesn’t pick up. He’s at school sitting on a bench in the courtyard. He wonders what the purpose of his life is. He doesn’t feel like he exists to the people around him.
Tan imagines seeing his dad in the study and he says he wants to come you, and then seeing his mom sitting on his bed missing him and he misses her too. He imagines his brother Won standing alone looking out the window and Tan wishes Won felt bad about sending him away.
Tan finally makes up his mind to go home. He calls Secretary Yoon and makes plans. Tan goes to his English professor and finally turns in his book of writings. As written in his journal, he realizes now that “Those Who Wants to Wear the Crown, Bears the Crown.”
Tan arrives in Korea and Secretary Yoon is there to pick him up. He notes that Tan has grown since the engagement when he last saw him. He tells Tan to go see his mother and the Chairman but Tan wants to go see Won first.
Tan walks into Won’s office and he asks how long Tan plans to stay this time. Tan is here to stay for good and tells Won that he won’t be vying with him for the inheritance so there is nothing for Won to worry about. All he’ll do is play in Korea as well. Won’s not worried since Tan is just an illegitimate bastard and isn’t a threat.
Won storms out, leaving Tan standing there in a daze. Secretary Yoon follows and reminds Tan to go home to see his parents. Secretary Yoon catches up with Won, who wants him to book a hotel since Won doesn’t want to go home now. Does everyone in this drama act like 12 year olds or what?
Tan goes home and Ki Ae caresses her baby boy’s face, so happy to see him. The Chairman is dispassionate as usual and tells his son to sit. He asks what Tan learned over there and Tan says he just played.
Ki Tae follows Tan back to his room and he’s not interested in catching up with her. She worries that he fell in with the wrong crowd in the US but he assure her he didn’t. She asks if he saw Rachel in the US but he avoids answering.
The servant taking Tan’s clothes to the wash notices a pair of cute girl socks, which are the ones Eun Sang left behind. Tan takes out the dreamcatcher and hangs it on his window.
Tan stares at the dreamcatcher while outside in the courtyard, Eun Sang looks at the boarding pass of her flight and takes a picture. She posts it online and wonders if it was all just a dream? Will this prove that it wasn’t just a dream? Both Tan and Eun Sang look skyward in the same direction, just yards from each other.
Tan walks through the courtyard in the morning and notices a pair of red girl sneakers drying on the line. He has breakfast and hears a phone ringing. He gets up and opens the door quickly and sees someone else enter another room. Tan is wearing a hoodie and earphones as he walks upstairs and Eun Sang spots him but doesn’t see his face. She finds out from her mom and it’s the second son of the household.
Mom wakes Eun Sang up before dawn and tells her to quickly leave the house. The second son is home, the first son has left, the Chairman is in a foul mood and so is Ki Ae. Young Do drops Myung Soo off outside of Tan’s house since his house is down the street. Myung Soo walks up to the front door and freshens up a bit before heading home. Eun Sang walks out and he’s shocked to see her. He asks if she lives there and where is Tan?
Young Do is at a convenience store having a bowl of ramyun. A sleepy Eun Sang walks in and grabs a drink. She stands next to Young Do and gulps it down with her eyes closed. He stares at her quizzically. Eun Sang finishes the drink and heads outside and plops down on a table and goes to sleep. Young Do takes his bowl of ramyun outside and sits down across her from. He reaches out his hand and confirms that she’s really asleep.
He starts to eat his ramyun while two kids walk up bickering about their game set. Young Do chastises them for speaking so loudly, don’t they see someone is trying to rest. He scares the bejesus out of those two kids who start bawling. Eun Sang gets up and walks away. Myung Soo pulls up and Young Do asks for help to deal with crying kids. He gets up and looks at the back of Eun Sang as she walks away, before getting into Myung Soo’s car.
Bo Na is at the rehearsal for the Mega Entertainment 2013 Concert. She’s looking for her dad and says hello to all the famous idol stars. Cue cameos galore. She chats with Heechul and calls him oppa. Heechul flirts with her and asks who she likes the best, him or Kyuhun. Bo Na says Chan Young. Heechul asks if Chan Young is a boyfriend or a hostage? Say it like it is, Heechul!
Bo Na gets a text from Chan Young, and lo and behold he’s sitting in the audience having come straight here to look for her after he landed. Bo Na runs up to him and they happily greet each other, promising not to travel apart anymore.
Chan Young pulls Bo Na in for a tight hug. Bo Na totally ditches finding her dad since Chan Young is back, and he teases that he can’t have a daughter in the future since she is so fickle.
Chan Young and Bo Na go back to his place where he and Secretary Yoon cooks dinner for her. It’s noodles and Bo Na eagerly digs in. Chan Young suggests dad find a girlfriend and start dating again.
Secretary Yoon brings up Kim Tan and how Chan Young ran into him in the US. Bo Na nervously lies that she has no clue who Kim Tan is. Chan Young smiles and lets her stick with her fib.
Bo Na goes to the playroom and chats with Myung Soo about how Chan Young met Kim Tan in the US. She doesn’t know if Chan Young knows she dated Tan before. She imagines they fought over her in the US. Ha!
Tan is at home staring at his dreamcatcher. He checks Eun Sang’s SNS and sees the post with her plane ticket. He posts back that he can vouch for it not being a dream. Eun Sang realizes he’s still logged into her SNS.
He asks how her kidney is doing? She dares him to come take it. He asks if she wants him to appear before here? They walk through the house, she’s outside and he’s inside, and it looks like they are about to run into each other. But in truth she’s headed back to her servant quarters and he’s walking out of the main house, so they don’t run into each other.
Tan passes by Eun Sang’s mom as she heads into the house with a bottle of wine. She’s wearing Eun Sang’s I love California t-shirt and Tan notices it. Ki Ae is reading comics in the house and wearing Eun Sang’s cute bunny socks. She brings Ki Ae a snack and notices the socks. Ki Ae notices that Mom brought the wrong bottle of wine and Eun Sang says she’ll do the wine retrieval from now on. Mom looks very sad that Eun Sang has to work so hard even in this household.
Eun Sang takes the wine back down to the cellar and grabs the right bottle. Tan is waiting for her to post back and sitting in the courtyard. Eun Sang walks right past him with the bottle of wine. Tan suddenly turns around after sensing something and sees a girl enter the house. When he walks into the house, he sees her figure behind a door.
Tan sits down with his mom and says he keeps seeing a girl’s figure in this house. Mom explains that the housekeeper’s and her daughter live here now. The older sister took all their money so they have nowhere to live. She slightly gets Eun Sang’s name wrong and says that the girl is named Cha Eun Sung.
Tan goes back to his room and paces around, thinking of all the similarities including seeing Eun Sang’s older sister take all the money. Tan logs on and demands to know what Eun Sang is doing right now. He keeps refreshing the page waiting for her to respond. He finally gets a response that she’s drinking a glass of water. Tan runs downstairs to the kitchen but stops right outside the closed door.
He slowly opens the door and peers inside and sees Eun Sang standing by the kitchen counter drinking a glass of water and checking her phone. Tan looks absolutely floored that the object of his thoughts is right in front of him.
Thoughts of Mine:
As hard as I try, I can’t make heads or tails of Kim Won and all the conflict he’s created by sending Tan away. Is he mad his dad got another wife? That wife isn’t even Tan’s birth mother. Is he upset his dad got a mistress on top of the second wife? But how does that affect him since his birth mom is dead. Is he really seeing Tan as a threat to his position? I can’t fathom how since Tan is the son of the mistress and so much younger that by the time Tan can even go work for the company, Won could easily have solidified his power hold. Is Won punishing Tan to get back at the lack of fatherly love he experienced, to avenge his mother’s ill treatment at the hand of the Chairman, because he’s just a big ass who likes to toy with others to make himself feel more in control? All of those motivations could be true, but Won comes across as a plot device and a very nebulously constructed one at that. Tan’s desire for brotherly affection feels genuine, Won’s pushing him away comes across as forced. I’m also a bit peeved at the way all the characters are inter-connected, some work while others feel blatantly mashed together. Rachel’s mom who is marrying Young Do’s dad but had something something way back when with Chan Young’s dad. Really? Empire High teacher and Hyo Shin’s private tutor Hyun Joo likely being Won’s girlfriend? What a small world. I can get Bo Na having dated Tan, and Young Do being Tan’s ex-friend and now future siblings with Tan’s fiancée Rachel. Parts of this rich kids world with its small social circles is acceptable, other threads come off less fluid.
I’m loving the fact that Tan and Eun Sang get to live in the same household, so much so that I can overlook the giant coincidence that her mom just so happens to be the Kim family housekeeper in the first place and able to make it so the two kids have every excuse to keep orbiting each other. This is one drama where a birth secret might not be so shocking, though Kim Eun Sook hardly ever goes there so I’m not worried she’ll toss in something at the end. It would be karmically hilarious if Won turned out not to be the Chairman’s real son or something like that. I still find the directing a hot mess, with some scenes overly dreamy and others tension-filled to a point of absurdity. I find the dreamcatcher/dream leitmotif still very nicely weaved into the narrative, and not yet used to the point where I want to bash my head in. Since Eun Sang referenced Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I hope the drama can bring in elements of the play in a clever way. While the story is underdeveloped, there remains a glimmer of hope that going forward it can build on the established conflicts in a way that makes up for a weaker beginning. I don’t see Heirs as just a romance drama, there is so much at stake for everyone because the main characters are still in high school and relatively unformed. The battle isn’t just about the tangibles like wealth and power and survival, there is also the underlying need to see the kids mature and find their own way in life.
Woah that was fast. Thanks.
Heirs is driving me batty and bipolar. Though I was okay with ep1, then ep2 certainly made my heart jump, but I was less inclined with ep3 then was on again board again for ep4. Yep, turning my bipolar, I tell you.
I find the interaction between Tan and Eunsang through her account quite cute. He definitely has stalker tendency, but since he is Lee MinHo let’s call it secret admirer romanticist. I don’t know why I feel like they have more chemistry through SNS than in the hotel scene or any other scenes in ep3. Every scene in ep3 while beautifully shot felt so forced and useless. It didn’t do anything for their character progress in my book.
The good thing about coming back to Korea is that somehow I am settling my feelings on the characters, especially EunSang, Rachel and Tan. I felt like they were fish out of water in LA, but I guess that’s just how it is portrayed.
One thing I loved since ep1 was the mystery on the cold feud between Tan and Won. Though their screen time is limited I can feel Tan’s puppy dog wait for approval from Hyung, and also feel Won’s hate towards Tan. I’m curious as to why the feud started. Even Dad knows about it and has let his kids settle things, which just screams ‘you are never gonna get the best father award’. Whatever brought the discord its’s being played out as something big enough for Tan to accept the punishment and dire enough for Tan to still love hyung despite that, and it’s all about their little kingdom of a company and ho will inherit it. I just hope it really is something big, cause if not, imma get some smack down. If it was just a misunderstanding then, I wanna get someone to smack all the family members of Kim Tan for being stupid.
Additionally, I know in drama land, women are suppose to be stupid, we have our fair share of stupid female leads (Shinhye has played one of those to the maximum level of stupid female lead) and I think EunSang is quite an exception so far. I like her, her non answers, her spunk, and her outtake on everything in general. So far.
Stupid needs to be limited to characters like Bona and the moms. Bona can be quite adorable at times but most of the time she is played out as someone with no brain, no layer, no depth. The character is not really that interesting other than when she is with ChanYoung. I know not everyone shares my views but I really can’t stand her.
There is another thing I kinda find off in the drama, the scene with YoungDo and Eunsang in the convenient store, I don’t feel anything. What is it suppose to be. Is that meeting suppose to mean something and be the start of something. I mean, I get that she is the male lead but that’s just so blank meeting. They did look good together but it was definitely forced. That just hurts.
Lastly, there are just too many characters and many scenes, most are useless and I don’t see the importance. If these people don’t help the narrative I’m gonna be disappointed with Kim EunSook. I hope they cut down the mom scenes cause they are taking so much time which is really unnecessary. A lot has happened but it still feels like nothing happened. I guess these will be the end of the introduction. Please let that be the end of the introduction show.
Let’s get down to business cause the preview for ep5 looks promising…
Indeed! In fact I don’t even know why they had to manufacture a first meeting between Young Do and Eun Sang. Why not leave it for the next episode when they’re all at the Uber Rich School that totally isn’t Shinwha School? And what was that random Myung Soo scene?! They should’ve left two portions of the characters develop until they meet later.
Regarding Won and Tan, unless they go for a total makjang reason, dude, go for therapy and stop being so unpleasant. I mean, Won is so manerless and robotic you just wanna punch him in the face. As koala said, he comes off as a walking plot device and nothing else.
I think that the main problem with this drama is that it cannot make me care about all these people. The feud between the mums? Lord, so annoying and repetitive. Rachel’s jelousy fits? Just break up with him and go spend your money on hot boy toys. Hyo Shin’s *~mysterious illness~*? It has so little screen time, I shrug everytime I see him. Young Do is simply disgusting, I cannot bear his scenes. 4 episodes of “introduction” and we’re still stuck on the give the show more timeee phase? Nuh-huh. That’s a huge writing flaw, they’re lifeless vignettes with no purpose other than wasting time.
As for the main characters, well, those long glances into nowhere are pretty boring by now, it doesn’t come off as teenage angst, but as them being dense. My reign for cohabitation hijinks or for him to troll her before the big “We live together” revelation, it would give some much needed life to Tan.
Thanks for the recap, koala!
@azurdyy
hahaha, glad you feel the same way. Myungsoo scene should definitely be cut or the character itself needs to be cut. I think the only reason that he was written is to add some Bromance in the drama. Bromance is hot these days and I think from the recent works of Kim EunSook she wants to continue to add the bromance recipe into the mix. But I honestly don’t feel anything for the character.
Definitely those brothers needs therapy, but i think parents should go first. From Tan’s Dad, his birth mom, his official mom to youngDo’s bastard dad and to rachel’s whatever mom. I think in this drama Kim EunSook needs to get JiYeon from secret garden to seriously get this uber rich adults some group therapy.
With the long glances, “i go so what now? you feel sad? you are remembering something, am I suppose to care? whatever”, hit fast forward
It’s actually pretty weird that this being a Kim EunSook drama but I still don’t care about the characters that much, and this is already ep4. Her works has been one of my faves from city hall, lovers in paris, lovers and most especially Lovers in Prague and secret garden. The signature of Kim Eunsook with the rapid talking is still there but the narrative and hook that is her writing is not. This drama really makes me batty and bipolar. I want so much to love it cause they have casted some of the young actors I came to love recently other than the main cast: Kang Haneul is one, Kang MinHyuk is another, Choi Jin Hyuk a plus, Kim WooBin is also one, But right now what’s the point of casting these people when they just fill in the time and do nothing but be angsty cause they are rich and have ‘big’ problems. Totally disappointed with Kang Haneul’s character and story so far. Loved him in monstar but he totally is drowning and lackluster here.
I hope the pace will move somewhere from here on out cause gosh 4 episode of introduction is enough
I really want to love it but I can’t. I will continue to watch it but I am resigned to thinking where it will go and want it to end so that I can watch the drama I am dying to see: Man from the stars.
Wow! That was first, thank you miss Ockoala for The Recap.
chan young and lee bo na are sooo cute, i hope see more moments of they, and minhyuk is very cute and handsome <3 i love these guy.
I like this episode better. Will watch later with the sub.
How conveniently that KT and ES live in the same house? But that’s ok because I’m in this drama for them so I won’t mind seeing them interact. Doesn’t look like ES likes KT’s mom or vice versa. So more story to come?
Multiple wives, mistresses…I summon you gold – is that the trend atm?
Unexpectedly funny to see KT’s mom wears ES’s socks and ES’s mom wears her California couple T. So out of the blue.
I think Young Do is fascinated by ES’s careless appearance?
Since when does ES has anytime for Horror Movies or read Books?
Hi what website did you watch the show?
Dramafever…
Noooooooooooo !!!! Now I have to wait for Wed. to see what happens . 🙁
Words cannot explain how excited I am for this amazing drama, it’s truly AWESOME. Thought if it was up to me I’d have a lot more Park Shin Hye and Lee Min Ho scenes lol and I kind of noticed that Kim Tans brother Won was sort of nice to Eun Sang? Maybe I just want him to be nice and that’s why I interpreted it that way but anyhow Loved this episode and I CAN’T wait till next weeks. Where the schooling hopefully begins and we can see the second male lead fall head of heels for the gorgeous Park Shin Hye! <3
Thanks Ms.Koala for your review. I am sitting here going nuts thinking if I like this drama or not! One minute its those cutesy scenes with Lee Min Ho and the other are the annoying and oh-so-typical scenes with racheal. I hope this drama picks it up and focuses more on the secondary characters as well because as of now, I dont see how they matter to the underlying storyline.
I liked Bona earlier and found her clinging adorable but now it is getting on my nerves. All she did in 4 episodes is ‘ChanYoung-ah, ChanYoung-ah’, nothing else. If they wanted to show us her possessiveness, i think two episodes were enough.
The writer should give her some different dialogues(not related to ChanYoung).
I find clingy Bo Na and Rachel both to be annoying. They constantly mistreat Eun Sang because their men don’t stay away from her.
Thanks for the fast recap. Though I am happy that they return to Korea but it looks like they rushed everyone to be in this one episode. I hope next episode would slow down just a bit just so we can get a better grasp of the story line. And more of Min Hyuk as well, he is just adorable!
Haven’t been able to catch up on episode 3 and 4, but i cannot get over how good lee min ho looks tanned. that california sun did him good.
Kim Eun Sook did go the birth secret route in City Hall and A Gentleman’s Dignity. So she might do the same with Heirs, but I’m hoping she won’t.
No, the only time KES did a birth secret was in Lovers in Paris. And that one was a doozy. She really built it up and when it dropped I was pretty mindblown.
CH and AGD is not a birth secret plot. Jo Gook was an illegitimate son of BB, he knew it, BB knew it. It’s not a secret. Same with Colin in AGD, he knew one of the guys was the dad and the plot was about him figuring out which one. There was no secret.
A birth secret is when the person in question doesn’t know or or has reason to suspect his/her birth. Ergo when the truth is revealed its a shock for the person in question.
I dunno if I’m with you on this one Ms Koala…. Colin’s dad was shocked when he found out so from that perspective, Colin’s birth was definitely a secret.
agree with koala the who is dad issue as birth secret in Gentleman’s dignity was pretty lame compared with the one in Lover in Paris, which pretty much blew my mind when it was revealed. It threw me of the rocks. But since this is Korea, that one secret could still be counted as scandalous.
I keep remembering Lovers in Paris this days, maybe because this is a Kim Eun Sook drama and Lee Dong Gun just came back after 5 years. Hmmnn maybe I need to re-marathon that one again, just to see of I am still seconds male syndrome boat in that drama.
I’m enjoying this drama more and more. In a way, loving how it’s pacing nice and slow letting us get to know the two leads a little more and their interactions are just perfect and cute. I do see their chemistry with each other although I know many don’t agree. Can’t wait for next week’s episodes. Wishing the summmer break will end and school starts next week.
Crappy drama with mediocre acting and laughable storyline.
4 episodes for prologue is already too much. I hope something will actually happen already in the next episode.
You use “former” and “latter” too much. I’ve read so many of your blog entries and you’ve used it like so many times. Sorry but it just annoys me and I don’t even know why.
Hmmm, I counted. She used it like once today.
Koala- Can you use “farmer” and “ladder” more, please, just to change things up?
Lololol. Your comment cracked me up so much my stomach hurts. Funny thing is I had to do it silently since I did not want to wake up my family unit. Goes off to wipe tears…
im starting to really like this show but I feel like with such a large cast this show should be 50 episodes not 20 because the characters just aren’t going to have enough time to be fleshed out =/
I think Heirs is developing a very compelling love story with two people coming together due to their similar pains and getting attracted towards each other naturally…and yes, it’s a relief that they don’t bicker for a change…I get so excited with all the OTP scenes…and Lee Min Ho just melts my heart with his gaze…after ep3, my like has turned into love for Heirs…haha…
Thanks for the recap….
I am still quite bore with this drama but it’s looking up… I liked BOF because of the franchise of its previous dramas and because Lee min Ho was the best thing about it even though the actual drama wasn’t all that great. Here, I just cannot get into the OTP at all. But I like the idea of them living under one roof – so I am looking forward to that.
I am just not seeing anything new here that is drawing me in. I do feel like it is often the case that KES got this impressive line up of popular good looking people and now needs to write a story around all of them. Kinda reminds me of tw dramas in a way… I know they aren’t the same but some parts just seem disjointed. In any case, I do have a soft spot for these kind of ensemble casts. I am hoping for more plot to unfold. Please don’t let it be a birth secret.
OMG, I love ep 4, this episode make me fall in love with this drama, Heirs Fighting !!!
The face of Kim Tan missing Eun Sang is sooooo lovely
Preview of ep 5 is just too cute with both male lead wanting our Eun Sang…tho only can happen in drama land but I am still loving it
Thanks for the recappity cap.
So fast!!
Things I want to set on fire:
☠ Bona and ☹Bona and ☢ Bona and ✄ Bona.
Which makes me mad because she is in scenes with one of items in the second category.
Things I like:
♥ Kang Min Hyuk as long as Bona is nowhere near him.
♥ All of Mom and Ki Ae scenes. They will make very interesting mothers-in-law, won’t they?
♥ Tan’s lonely boy scenes. I am completely feeling him starting the middle of Ep 3 somewhere. There was even a sad Junpyo moment eating his meal all by himself in the dining room. Tan needs a good friend, and ES seems to be the only person willing to be sincere. Everyone elses’ motives are questionable.
Also, did anyone else see Junpyo’s excitement jump out of Tan when he realizes
JandiEun Sang is in his house? Awesome.♥ The SK mansion- I love how there are all those doors and outside rooms and buildings that let you see into other people’s bedrooms. This is a great house to film.
And Im Joo Eun Miss “Don’t show your flesh” Tutor – Why do they have her styled exactly like PSH? Is she supposed to be a dead ringer for Eun Sang? Cause she is. I like her quirky unique looks better. Hopefully, they will give her a role she can work to be unique.
I look forward to Secret way more than Heirs, but I think this is picking up steam lately – now that we have left the States.
I’m just sooooo happy Hyun Joo was introduced. Maybe with her we get to see more aspects of Won’s character. I really want him to develop as a character so that by the end of the drama he had genuine affection for Tan. Tan clearly loves him, I mean we can assume part of the reason why Tan took up surfing was because Won did it first.
On the other side I am waiting to get more interactions between Eun Sang and Young Do. I like what I’ve seen so far from the episode and from the next episode preview. At the moment I am intrigued more about their will be relationship than hers and Tan’s.
Personally, I think Won icy treatment towards Tan will be thawed if he discovered that Tan is in love with their housekeeper’s daughter. His brotherly affection towards Tan will become noticeable when he realized how similar their love lives with those familiar obstacles and painful paths of loving heiress of the poor. Hopefully, they will bond well and he will helps Tan with brotherly advices from his own experiences. We did get a glimpse of Won relationship with his love interest Hyun Joo in this latest episode, I like how she didn’t take his call, he definitely have a soft spot for her! I wonder if she answers his call back then, will he buy a ring instead of the necklace?
i just skipped through other characters part and just watch Tan and Eunsang…like what i did when those american “actors” were in the scene…
Hello Koala! You were the one who introduced me to Korean dramas with recaps and recently I started watching them. Heirs is probably the first week by week drama that I’m following and I’m liking the flow of it. The ending is not too crazy where I can’t wait for the following week. I’m just enjoying the ride. I still can’t get myself to watch MHIYD because I don’t like the fact that the future Ms. Rae is messing with the past and the relationships. I did read your first recap of it though. Maybe I’ll read the second one too and just following along.
But back to Heirs. In regards to birth secrets, I doubt Won is not the Chairman’s son unless the Chairman himself doesn’t know it else, the Chairman wouldn’t have let Won hurt Tan and considered Won and his pain in the first place. I agree that I can’t understand why Won is so mean and yet Tan still wants to be on his good side. It’s pretty painful to watch.
I thought the whole ES sleepy and not even noticing YD as pretty hilarious. LOL, I think ES makes quite the impression with guys in the morning after she gets out of bed.
Just a side note, in regards to the preview when ES takes Rachel’s name tag from her, I was shocked. LOL. ES is one gutsy girl! But I guess she also kept her ground with Bo Na. However, ES also knows when to pick her fights and when to back down. She seems to know her place and I like the fact that she really does try to avoid Kim Tan because she knows that he’s engaged and thinks that she’ll never see him again. I’m looking forward to watching how the drama unfolds.
Ohhh Wed please com faster 🙂
This is where the Gossip Girl reference is at. As someone who adores GG, I can say that characters orbiting in each other’s social circles is one of the main features. Every person is connected to each other in some way. So yeah, I get why they say Heirs is a bit like GG.
Is it wrong that I totally ship Rachel and Young Do mostly because they remind me of Chuck and Blaire on Gossip Girl? THEY EVEN LOOK LIKE THEM.
expectations are high here. BOF is repeatedly used as a yardstick when really it is adapted from a manga and it was over the top with its genre – comedy. thoroughly enjoyed BOF then but now, enjoying this current hype. Heirs is more into melodrama. peace…
Regarding Kim Won and Kim Tan, after the epi3 graveyard scene it left me wondering if Kim Won is really genuinely cold towards Kim Tan. We learnt KW’s mother died young and that he knows she was the happiest when living carefree and independently in california. And that he also thinks all the high society parties, rules and schemings are what killed her. When he exiled Kim Tan he did kind of send him to a place where his mother was happy and where he did not have to go through the suffocating rich life. So maybe he is protecting his brother to avoid that something happens like to his mother? Just a thought! (also, was that KT’s photo frame in KW’s room?)
Good theory!
I looked again and no, the photo was of Won at the beach, in the exact same pose as Tan’s when the camera shifted to Cali.
Good theory maybe, except KT has not been happy at all. He has been missing his family deeply and feeling very lonely. If KW has been trying to shield his brother from harm (by the way, what kind of harm? KT seems to have been OK when he was in Korea. He had friends like DY, even though their friendship ended before he left for the US), that has not really worked. He might have thought (if we follow your theory) that he was protecting his brother, however in the end, he kind of failed, because KT didn’t feel protected, he felt rejected instead, and lonely, very lonely.
Thank you for the recap …
I thoroughly enjoy this drama and can’t wait for eps 5.
So YD is falling for ES .. LoL … and they all go to the same school … I donno if it will explain in the drama later but how could ES afford to go to such prestigeous school?
It’s so convenient that all go to the same school, LoL
It distorts the drama a bit for me with all these coincidences but I guess it’s easier to see the bickering and jealousy that no doubt will soon ensue when these kids meet up in school so we can ‘focus’on the dialogues and how things unfolds …
Still loving it nevertheless … he..he..he..he..
Brothers Won and tan. we have to learn more about the back story. i was thinking he was upset the tan was put in the official registry and so not illegianmate(sp) child, but the beach frame picture makes a different thought they are the same and wished things we different. Won said when he was at that age he was already being prepared to go to the business.
Hopefullly all the intro is done so something happens at school. Too bad though only Dramafever and not vikki , but they are fast usually by 8p eastern
Gosh’, I may be the only one enjoying Bo Na and Rachel lol.
Seriously, I can’t seem to get into the main couple. Yeah, they are cute together and I get they are going to fall in love and whatever but I just want their scenes to be small. Like really small to let other characters’ developp, interact whatever. It’s amazing because the only time it happened to me, it was for BOF lol.
But yeah, so far, I’m loving Rachel’s bitchiness and the potential loveline between her and Young Do (not incest here, I ship !) and Bo Na and Chan Young’s relationship which is super adorable/cute. I just love how they are comfortable with each other and more importantly how their parents are with them. Like her eating with his dad and him meeting her dad. I’m such a sucker for family’s moments lol.
I really want to see more of the teacher and Kim Won because they are an adult couple XD. I find it exciting more than the usual high school romance.
And finally, I really want all of them to be in high school really really fast.
P.S I really can’t picture them as high schoolers. Mainly because I remember how all of us looked in HS and I confidently said that no one looked as mature as them lol.
i posted this in another blog, but i want to share my thoughts with the playground visitors and Mrs.Koala too, so i am pasting it here too..
warning, it is a huge essay, sorry in advance..
Yeah, i though his portrayal of Kim Tan was a bit awkward in ep 1, but from then onwards it has been a steady progression.. Lee Min ho in stills no way looks like a high-schooler but in motion he does feel like a teenager without resorting to OTT kiddish acting that makes you wonder if that is a teenager or a 10-year old (like for eg, say Biscuit Teacher or Big, Gong Yoo was perfection but he did have exaggerated I-am-young type acting, which made those characters heart-tugging and suited those series since they were comedies, but would seem OTT in a serious series like this; or jung il-woo’s take in Flower Buy Ramyun Shop, his immature clueless brat acting suited the comedy and made him look somewhat believable in that comedy but that type of acting would suit a character like Bona here than a mature, introspective character like Tan.)
so i am loving his portrayal that shows that to act younger as a kdrama teen, you don’t have act childish just boyish.. i like his acting whenever he tries to stall Eun-sang, the typical impatient, exasperated teen expression.. his hair-style and clothing and general lankiness in the dressing (as opposed to the muscles shown in half-naked scenes) make him seem young and earnest, such that i can buy him as being younger than im joo-eun whereas he looks as old in real life. it’s the mien and aura. he is especially nailing the looks of hesitancy, nervousness, longing and yearning, a child-like expression that makes him look much younger.
as for the other characters and actors, i actually like all other characters and the actors’ portrayal except park shin ye’s Eun-sang.. PS is spot-on in acting out scenes that require natural acting, resentment, anger, empathy, sympathy, hope come naturally to her, which is why her eun-sang of ep 1 was much better than LMH’s Tan.. but from ep 2, the focus being on Tan’s developing feelings, ES seems to have regressed to a regular Candy character. Not that that is necessarily bad, but the shift to sweet, friendly ES has PSH sometimes reverting to her pursed-lips wide-eyed look-of-innocence type acting. and that acting is no help. she is again natural in scenes of witty banter and sassy remarks, so she should remember that that acting is perfect enough to show her as a well-rounded normal teen who is sometimes nice sometimes selfish, and not do the innocent candy acting which doesn’t do the character of Eun-sang service, cuz Eun-sang is not a sunny, i-am-in-love-with-my-life teenager, she’s a bit rough in the edges, don’t soften them.
i like Kim Ji won’s Rachel, she is portraying her perfectly. The haughtiness and arrogance are undercut by the vulnerability she shows with Tan. Like in the scene where Tan comes to her hotel and she postpones her trip or her good-bye at the airport, you can literally see her eyes go from dead-fish-arrogance to hopeful-and-vulnerable. and the quiver in her voice whenever she tells her feelings to Tan (even in her i-still-hate-you) or the slight hope and daring-to-smile expression whenever she’s happy about his company.. they pull me back into wanting to know her character better even when her previous actions irritate me.. and other than the acting, the character is also very interesting, she seems as lonely as Tan but masks it with arrogance and brattiness and seems to genuinely care for Tan.. and inspite of Tan’s douche-move at the airport, i think he does care for her too, not in love, but as a friend he has known for 8 years.. i think the care is also one reason he doesnt spend too much time with her, it’s not that he hates her or wants to hurt her, but that he doesn’t want to give her false hopes.. looking forward to her character, she reminds me of Blair Waldorf. (even though the Tan-Youngdo friendship is like Serena-Blair, Tan is more like ‘lonely boy’Dan and Youngdo like Chuck)
kim woobin’s Youngdo is pitch-perfect, in that, i both don’t really like the character but am also intensely curious about his backstory, his motivations and his arc-of-redemption (there has to be oen right?) woobin’s portrayal is insanely charismatic, but at the same time sometimes you want to deliver a smackdown to the character.. then his scenes with myungsoo and bona show another facet and a glimpse of how he might have been as friends with Tan, and you just want MOAR…
speaking of the trio, i just love the natural chemistry and camaraderie of youngdo, myungsoo and bona.. they behave (act) the way normal teens do, pulling each others’ legs, alternating cute and snappy, hanging out listening to the other person’s complaints.. it just shows that they ARE still teens despite the heavy crowns they possess..
i know there have been a lot of complaints about krystal’s lee bona, but i find her harmless and charming actually.. there’s not a lot in terms of acting that she has to do here, but whenever the scene requires her to interact with her friends or her future father-in-law she is very natural..it doesn’t seem like acting (as characters do in dramas) but like nomral conversation, like you could see a BTS of it and not know that that is a scene filming.. so while she may be limited, her character has limited-enough scope to coast on her charm and natural presence.
and i like Bona as a character too.. she maybe clingy and whiny but she is not being that way to someone who finds it exhausting.. chanyoung is a very smart character and for him to put up with her antics, he must value her blind devotion to him and underneath all the snobbery she must be decent person for him to date a person who’s codnescending to his best friend.. also, in a sea of complex, tortured characters, she is a straight-shooter, one who calls it as it is and honest in her feelings.. she loves CY, she is possessive of him, she doesn’t like ES or Tan, she likes her friend and is fond of her father in law.. she is open and her motivations are clear and i can foresee her as a character who can actually knock sense into our protaganists whenever they are agonising over thier complicated problems (if her char gets developed good)
and Minhhyuk as CY is adorable.. he has a baby-face but carries himself with a maturity.. like a grown man.. the character CY also is a character who both seems advanced-beyond-years and child-like, so the actor suits the role to the T..
now, i am just hoping they make Won and Hyunjoo as interesting as these characters (Won because he is Tan’s brother and it’s CJH and Hyunjoo because Im Joo-eun is pure love and it would be waste of her talent otherwise)..
The first paragraph is exactly how i feel towards this drama. ^^
My theory on the mysterious relationship between Won and Tan has something to do with Won’s guilt that he couldn’t protect his mother and he wants to protect Tan from their father thus why he sent him to excile thus punishing not Tan but their father as a form psychological torture? Or the makjang reason is Tan was the cause for Won’s mother death cue supenseful music dumdumdummmmmm O,O
Thanks ockoala,
Please keep recapping The Heirs at this fast rate as I live in New Zealand and I am probably one of the first people to see the recap. I love Lee Min Ho!!!
Thanks again!!
Fighting, ockoala!!
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