Amidst all of this news relating to Asian American hate crime, I want to talk about something light; something that might move your headspace to someplace that is not reality. I am a huge Korean Drama fan—one of my tips to either learn Korean or sustain Korean speaking. I have watched Penthouse Season 1 since it came out last year and have been waiting for season 2. Good news—it’s finally out!
I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will have to put out a spoiler alert!!
Penthouse is about individuals who are in the top 1% of South Korea, living in Hera Palace, and their journey achieving top status. We see the characters evolve as their ambitions grow bigger and they eliminate anything or anyone who gets in their way. The story starts off with Min Seol Ah’s death. She is an orphan who was used and thrown out by her adoptive parents, who just needed her for their son’s surgery.
She comes back to South Korea and lives a busy life making ends meet while preparing for her audition at Cheong-ah Arts School, the top performing arts high school in South Korea. Due to her dog’s surgery, she is in need of a lump sum of money as soon as possible, resulting in her seeking a job as a tutor; of course, since she is still a middle school student, she lies about her background. Soon after, Shim Su Ryeon, one of the mothers of Min Seol Ah’s tutor students and wife of a conglomerate, finds out that Min Seol Ah is her biological daughter.
Hera Palace holds a huge exclusive party where we find out that the people of Hera Palace has many more secrets than we initially think. This is when Min Seol Ah falls to her death and crashes into the main lobby statue. Who killed Min Seol Ah?
I feel that saying more would spoil the whole season 1. Watch to see how the show unravels all the dirty truth behind the members of the Hera Palace and their kids, as well as how Shim Su Ryeon gets revenge on her dead daughter.
