Korean Drama Review: Sky Castle (JTBC, 2019)

I just binge-watched Sky Castle (SKY 캐슬) the highest-rated drama in Korean cable TV history.

There are 20 episodes and a special episode which highlights some of the best scenes and has interviews with the actors.

It’s about education in Korea and the extreme lengths that parents will go to make sure their children get into one of the top three universities. (Seoul National, Korea, or Yonsei University – a.k.a SKY – hence the name SKY Castle)

I added the drama to my list on Netflix after several university students kept telling me that I ‘have to watch this drama’ because it’s ‘so true’.

It’s intense. And at first the storyline seems extreme as the lives unfold of the 4 families living in ‘Sky Castle’ a fictional gated residential area for the super rich in the outskirts of Seoul.

But it’s true that for many parents, education is everything and all sorts of shenanigans can be justified if it means their child will get a head start in life. Manipulation, intimidation, lying and cheating. Nothing is off the table if it means you can beat others to the top.

Popularity

The drama has been praised for the great acting. But we see the most varied and complex emotions in the character of Han Seo Jin (Yum Jung-ah) the main character who follows the mantra – ‘if your child’s a failure then so are you’. She can be selfish, cold and ruthless. At times I couldn’t stand her. But then she’d show us her softer side.

Han Seo Jin is in the scene that made the drama’s ratings shoot up from 1.7% to 8.7%! (they talk about this in the special episode)

It’s in episode 4 when Han Seo Jin is DESPERATE for the help of controversial Coach Kim – hired by ambitious mums to make sure their princes and princesses come top of their class and sail into one of the three top universities in Seoul (Seoul National, Korea, or Yonsei University – a.k.a SKY).

Han Seo Jin goes to the coach’s office and gets on her knees and begs her to accept her daughter as a client.

This is a creepy scene.

‘Are you willing to do ANYTHING?’ Coach Kim asks.

Dressed in black with her signature severe makeup and hair pulled tightly back, Coach Kim has villain written all over her.

Say NO Seo Jin for heaven’s sake!

Another family has already experienced a tragedy after hiring Coach Kim and Seo Jin KNOWS this. So is she prepared to accept the possibility of the same tragedy happening in her own family?

It appears that she is.

YES, she says. She’ll suffer anything – as long as her daughter gets into medical school at Seoul National University!

Oh no. She’s done it now.

The coordinator has a success rate of 100% and expects 100% commitment from families who pay her billions of won to help them.

So she begins by inspecting the family’s home ordering bedrooms be rearranged and room temperatures adjusted to maximise optimum study conditions. She’s involved in nutrition and diet to ensure the student’s brain is working at the maximum capacity needed to memorise all the facts and figures for the exams. And that’s just for starters. She’s the master manipulator who demands that her clients trust her and submit to her methods completely.

And they do. Scary stuff.

Coach Kim is not above doing anything illegal or immoral. But when tragedy occurs and fingers are pointed in her direction, she blames the parents for being too ambitious and greedy. (And she does have a point, actually ...)

I love the soundtrack too. Here’s the theme song ‘We all lie.’

Comedy 

The unfairness of society and the selfishness and sense of entitlement shown by members of these rich families leads to some pretty frustrating, stomach-tightening scenes. Luckily they are broken up by much-needed humour.

The fight scenes are hilarious.

A seriously awkward dinner party ends with two husbands going outside for a modern-day duel – a rather unbecoming fisticuffs that reminds me of the purposely wimpy middle-class fight scenes in Bridget Jones’ Diary between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant.

In another fight scene, all the families – including the women – get involved. But what is a Korean drama without some good old fashioned hair-pulling? Despite trying to appear genteel and sophisticated, they can’t help revealing a vulgar side underneath. I loved it. (Apparently they had fun making these scenes too.)