Sky Castle

Sky Castle

8/10

Sky Castle

Genre:                                                 Episodes: 20                             Year: 2019

Melodrama

Synopsis:

Sky Castle is an estate where wealthy doctors and professors live. The husbands are determined to become the most successful, and the wives are determined to get their children into top universities.

Cast:

Yum Jung Ah (Han Seo Jin)

Jung Joon Ho (Kang Joon Sang)

Kim Hye Yoon (Kang Ye Seo)

Lee Ji Won (Kang Ye Bin)

Lee Tae Ran (Lee Soo Im)

Choi Won Young (Hwang Chi Young)

Chani (Hwang Woo Joo)

Yoon Se Ah (No Seung Hee)

Kim Byung Chul (Cha Min Hyuk)

Park Yoo Na (Cha Se Ri)

Kim Dong Hee (Cha Seo Joon)

Jo Byung Gyu (Cha Ki Joon)

Oh Na Ra (Jin Jin Hee)

Jo Jae Yoon (Woo Yang Woo)

Lee Yoo Gene (Woo Soo Han)

Kim Seo Hyung (Kim Joo Young)

Kim Bo Ra (Kim Hye Na)

Song Geon Hee (Park Young Jae)

General Thoughts:

Boy am I getting lucky with my drama watching lately! First ‘Kingdom 2’ was awesome, then ‘Sky Castle’ was awesome, and now it’s looking like the current drama I’m watching (‘Itaewon Class’) is going to be awesome too! What a nice little stint. When I first heard that ‘Sky Castle’ was becoming a raging success, I couldn’t really figure out why that was.

Ah yes, rich people sending their kids to university. Sounds...riveting...

The synopsis of the story just sounds so…dull. And it sounded like it had about an 80% chance that it went full makjang (aka- completely bonkers). While the story did at times have makjang elements (hello hidden identities, hello birth secrets), it weirdly fit in with the show, and the writers were able to present these events as something that seemed very realistic and plausible,

So classy, and yet...so scary

and not at all like some nutty way to get more viewers to tune in. By having the whole setting of the show be this elite estate where everybody was obsessed with being better, richer, happier than everyone else, all these strange actions started to make sense. And of course there’s a reason why so many writers use these over-the-top story elements in their shows. When they are done well and right (as they certainly are in ‘Sky Castle’) it makes the story SO interesting and SO twisty and SO easy to keep coming back for more. I couldn’t even contemplate not continuing the show, because I so badly wanted to know why Teacher Kim was such a creeper, and what crazy scheme Seo Jin would come up with to try and get her daughter into SNU, or how Hye Na was going to torment Ye Seo and her mother next. There was often so much going on in the plot, that these crazy turn of events weren’t the sole focus, which helped them seem like events that were happening naturally and authentically. Unlike most of my dramas that I watch (which I marathon in a few weeks), I watched ‘Sky Castle’ at a slower pace, which stretched the series over a few months- which put me closer to a live-watch experience than a marathon experience.

This is basically how my my Mum looked at me every time I told her I was too busy for an ep of 'Sky Castle'

I must say that I do think that this worked better for the drama and its pacing than a marathon watch would have. A fair few of the major plot points that were stretched out over the whole series could have been a bit repetitive had the episodes been viewed back-to-back, but by having more time padding out the episodes, when these ideas resurfaced,

I mean come on- she looks shady as all hell

it felt like it had been a while since we had visited the issue, rather than it feeling like our characters were mulling the same problems over and over and over again. Such as Soo Im’s decision whether she would write her book or not, or Seo Jin deciding whether or not she would fire Teacher Kim. The other thing that I thought the show did extremely well was managing it’s tone. There were some very heavy moments and heavy topics addressed in this drama (such as depression, suicide, image focus), and that could have very easily tipped the show into being too dark and too depressing (much like ‘Rescue Me’ which had a lot going for it, but was just far to bloody bleak). The writers of ‘Sky Castle’ perfectly laced a good dose of humour throughout each and every one of the episodes- keeping the show very much in the realm of enjoyable entertainment, rather than a dark and saddening look in on the struggles of pressured, over-worked students. The Woo family were predominantly the comedic effect of this show. While all the other families were having their internal strife, complications and issues, the Woo family tended to happily breeze on through- their complaints were rather minor, and their fallouts fairly minimal.

Thank you for your cheesiness and you humour

The snappy, snarky comments from the fiery Jin Hee paired with her husband’s much more complacent, don’t-rock-the-boat attitude made for a funny pair, and their loving attitudes towards each other were a nice break from the strained marriages in the Kang and Cha families. Another way the writers helped balance the tone of the show was to make sure that only one family had a catastrophe going on at a time.

If only this guy knew just how far he was going to fall

When the Kang family was dealing with illegitimate daughters and psychotic teachers, the Cha family were having some wins with Seung Hee finally standing up to her domineering and overpowering husband in order to protect her children (massive yay). When Seung Hee and her kids were being bullied and oppressed (and quite often verbally abused) by Professor Cha, Hye Na and Hye Bin were getting along and Ye Seo was doing well with her studies. There was never too much doom and gloom going around, and there were happy moments sprinkled throughout each of the episodes. Even in the final conflict where Woo Joo was in prison and Ye Seo and her mother had to choose between letting an innocent boy stay in prison or giving up their dream of SNU, we saw all the other families banding together in support of the Hwang family. ‘Sky Castle’ certainly doesn’t sound like he most exciting drama out there, but the simple synopsis masks a complex and compelling story about status and pressure in South Korea, and was an interesting look in on elite life. The writing, acting and directing pulled together to create something quite wonderful.

What Was Great:

Sociological Story:

So, I recently read an article about why ‘Game of Thrones’ fans loved the show initially, but then disliked the later seasons (I promise you this has a point that relates to ‘Sky Castle’). The short version of the article is this: the first seasons of ‘GoT’ (the ones that were following the book) told the story of a society, not of individuals.

Please excuse me while I ramble about this article- as you can tell it excited me a lot

The story had an abundance of characters and shaped them not only by their personality traits, but by the societal norms, events and other people around them. This sociological way of telling the story meant that people were able to identify with the characters even when they did terrible things. When the show outpaced the books, the showrunners went with a psychological way of telling the story- highly individualised character arcs.

Seung Hee was defs the most likeable character in this show

By switching the way the story was told from sociological to psychological, the show started to suggest that characters’ actions and reactions were due to their personality rather than the society around them. By telling the story this way, certain characters (*cough Cersei and Dany cough*) suddenly started to become difficult to identify with. Their actions could seem sporadic and non-sensical, and when they did things the viewer didn’t agree with, it could be hard to understand why. This dramatic shift is not really the showrunners' fault, as Hollywood doesn’t really know how to tell a story from any other view but psychological. They need their hero. They need someone to back. Sociological stories are few and far between, and that it what made the earlier seasons of ‘GoT’ so unique and so addictive. Now how does this relate to ‘Sky Castle’? Look, I’m not expert on the subject (I have ready exactly one article on the topic), but in my opinion, ‘Sky Castle’ had a lot of similar sociological elements in the way it told its story. Characters were not plain black and white- all fell in the murky grey zone.

Hye Na vs Seo Jin- I don't even know which side I'm on!

They were layered and multifaceted, and their actions were not simply a result of whether they were a nice or mean person. Ye Seo didn’t hate Hye Na simply because she was a nasty girl- she had been raised in a highly pressured environment, where she had constantly been told that she was superior and special, and only really felt the love from her parents when she was the top of her class.

She's mean, but I kinda get her

Hye Na was a threat to her success, and thus the love of her parents, so it was natural for Ye Seo to be scared and reactive to her. Of course, there were other aspects of the girls’ relationship also, but my main point is that the story was written in such a way that the viewer could put themselves in Ye Seo’s place and think ‘oh, if I’d been in Ye Seo’s place and grown up that way, maybe that’s how I’d act in that situation too’. This makes the characters so much more sympathetic, and much harder for viewers to write them off as completely dislikable. This wasn’t just the case for Ye Seo, but for every single character in the show (exceeeeept maybe Teacher Kim). In one episode I would be thinking that Seo Jin was a reckless and selfish mother, and in the very next episode I would be identifying with her struggles and feeling pity towards her character. Even Soo Im, who was originally painted as the less-strict, go-with-the-flow mother, was at times not entirely likeable. Her desire to get to the heart of what happened to the Park family could at times be very intrusive and nosey, and in my opinion, kind of rude. However as we learned more about the history of her character and the structure within the Sky Caste estate, we could empathise with her desire to protect the children, even if we didn’t think she was going about it the right way.

Everyone in this show is a little whack

Even a character like Hye Na, who in any other drama would be painted as the sweet, innocent victim had some darker tones to her. Realistically, a girl who had grown up in Hye Na’s environment and then made the discoveries she did was unlikely to be sugar and spice and all things nice. Having to be the sole support for not just herself but her sick mother also forced Hye Na to have a strong backbone and self-assured attitude.

I feel like I should feel bad for her but I just...don't

Sure, there were parts of her character that related more to her personality then environment (her slight vindictiveness), but these were enhanced and shaped by her environment, society and experiences, making her not an innocent victim, but also not an unforgivable aggressor. This way of telling the story meant that redemption arcs were much easier to handle when compared to other shows. Ye Seo and her mother’s eventual decision to testify for Woo Joo at the expense of Ye Seo getting right into SNU didn’t feel forced or unexpected, but rather a logical conclusion after their hard struggle with the situation and the choice they had to make. Doctor Kang’s breakdown and regrets could have felt like a complete character-flip had the story not been told from a sociological perspective, so instead of his choice to quit the hospital and his despair over Hye Na feeling random and from left-field, again it felt like the logical steps for his character. Sure, Doctor Kang had for the most part been presented as cold and calculating and willing to do whatever it took to get ahead in his career- but that was because most of the time we saw him was in the hospital where he worked, where this attitude was encouraged. The few times we saw Doctor Kang at home, he was a man who loved his two daughters and doted on them.

HUGE Cast:

There were so many characters in this show. And they weren’t a bunch of supporting characters either. Each of them had an important role to play in the story, and were most definitely the stars of their own lives. It gave the show a rich setting that was populated with realistic (in their own way) and developed characters.

The Mum Clique

It really felt as if we were dropping into their lives which had been going on long before we got there. The character of Seo Jin was basically the star of the show, with most of the drama focusing on her family, and she was at the centre of it all. Yum Jung Ah did an excellent job as the main mother in the elite estate, and she acted Seo Jin with a perfect balance of elegance and determination,

I sure wouldn't want to be on her bad side

making Seo Jin a mother who gave the appearance of having it all together, but while remaining a person you wouldn’t want to mess with. The other great thing that comes from having so many major characters is that it gives you so many different relationships to delve into. Each of the married couples had a different dynamic- Seo Jin and Doctor Kang were cool and professional, Soo Im and Doctor Hwang were understanding and supportive, Seung Hee and Professor Cha were strained and their relationship was starting to crack, and Jin Hee and Yang Woo had an easy, cute dynamic. Similarly there were so many relationships going on in the mother circle. It was interesting to see how their allegiance and loyalties to each other changed as events unfolded, and how they had to consider their husbands' positions when thinking about their friendships, as any waves caused between the ladies was sure to eventually flow through to the husbands. The kids were a little more sectioned off than the adults, which is fairly understandable. When I was in school, my older sister didn’t want to hang out with me and my friends either. 

She was actually quite cute with how she liked Woo Joo

Kim Hye Yoon was a standout among the younger cast, as she gave Ye Seo so much personality and fire, but was also able to showcase Ye Seo softer side- such as when she was crushing on Woo Joo. She also nailed Ye Seo’s descent into guilt and fear really well, and made it feel like a perfectly natural progression for her character, who had actually been quite self focused all series long. It’s a testament to Kim Hye Yoon’s acting ability (and the writing) that this progression felt smooth and natural, and not at all out of character. Most of the relationship conflict between the kids centred around Hye Na.

Boy, she is playin' you so bad

Hye Na used Ye Bin to get into the Kang household (though I wouldn’t completely rule out that she had some sisterly feelings towards her also), and similarly she used Woo Joo’s feelings for her as a way to antagonise Ye Seo, fully knowing that Ye Seo had a crush on Woo Joo. It didn’t make Hye Na the most likeable of characters, but man did she stir things up and get things happening. 

What Wasn’t:

Teacher Kim’s Reasoning:

One of the biggest mysteries of this show that continued for nearly its entire run was the question around why Teacher Kim got off on ruining the lives of all her students and their families. Even now, I’m still slightly unsure of why she did what she did.

What is your deal, lady?

Jealousy seems pretty lame a motivator for a woman who has indirectly caused suicides in two separate families. I kind of wish that we’d been given a bit more information on Teacher Kim’s situation and her motivations a bit earlier, as by holding all of her story back until the last few episodes, we were given very little time to wrap our heads around what was going on with her. Sure, we’d been given hints throughout the earlier stages of the drama- her husband was dead and she was suspected to be involved, and her daughter was mentally handicapped. But the hows and the whys were held back until the final few episodes. I don’t completely buy that Teacher Kim is doing all this crazy stuff because she can’t stand other parents having smart and gifted kids. While the idea isn’t completely implausible, it just seems a bit light on to be the reason behind why Teacher Kim was such a rift in the lives of her students’ families. Similarly to Teacher Kim’s story, I wish that Teacher Jo’s story had been unveiled a bit earlier also. He was so obviously uncomfortable with what was going on with Hye Na and Ye Seo that it was becoming perplexing as to why he wasn’t leaving this job and Teacher Kim behind.

Also, how is her track record so clean if she's messed up that many families?

He certainly didn’t seem the type to throw two young girls under the bus for a nice apartment. Had we known a bit earlier on that Teacher Kim had used him to cut the breaks on her husband’s car and that she had given him a new life away from the drugs and poverty he had been living in, his choice to stand by Teacher Kim’s side as she lost everything and destroyed herself (and him in the process) would have been a lot more understandable, and even a little heart wrenching. 

Not Divorcing Professor Cha:

I knoooooooow I mentioned above that the redemption arcs of the characters were good and believable. And that’s true. For all but one. Professor. Cha. I did not believe it for a second, and I remained bummed out that his wife and children believed it.

Yeeeeaaahhhh, he ain't gonna change guys

Sure, it all worked out in the end- but maybe it kinda shouldn’t have? Seung Hee’s whole storyline was about her learning to stand up to her husband and fight on her children’s behalf, as they couldn’t rebel against their father on their own. Her small victories with the study room and serving her husband instant ramen when he cut her card felt like monumental victories, and were a great thing to watch. These moments only increased once Se Ri was in the picture with her own rebellious spirit.

Drop him like a hot potato

All series long Professor Cha has stuck to his own principals and has never considered what either his wife nor children had to say. We were never given any hints that there was any love at all between Seung Hee and Professor Cha, so it seemed surprising that Professor Cha had back pedalled so much at the idea of divorce. For 20 episodes we have watched Seung Hee try (and fail) to convince her husband to see things from another perspective, and he refused and fought her at every turn. While I understand that divorce is never easy on the children, I can’t help think that it may have been the best solution here. Honestly speaking, how long can we expect Professor Cha’s new attitude to last? Once the threat of divorce fades, so will his fear, and he would once again return to the dominating, controlling man he was before to both his wife and his children.

So glad Se Ri came home and shook things up in this family

It felt like for the whole show’s run we were building up to Seung Hee realising that her husband’s attitude was severely damaging her sons’ mental health, and finally taking them and walking out. When she started threatening to do just that, it was an exciting moment that felt really empowering. Only the show then decided to undercut that with Professor Cha having a sudden revelation that he loved his family and would completely change his ways for them to stay.

I loved any time Professor Cha was knocked down a peg or two

Only not once in this entire show has he given us any inkling that he loved his family. The closest he got was his doting on Se Ri, but that completely disappeared after he found out she didn’t actually go to Harvard- which only further enforced the idea that Professor Cha didn’t care about anything but success, power and status. Which made the whole turnaround completely out of character and completely unbelievable. Perhaps if they’d spun his change as more of him being afraid of the gossip and stigma around divorce in South Korea I would have believed his change of heart more. While it was super cute to see him happy and singing and dancing with Se Ri, I just did not believe the journey the show took Professor Cha on to get him there. So yeah, it was a cute moment and all, but all I could feel while watching was ‘man, this family is going to feel so sh*tty once he goes back to his old, horrible self’. Because there is no doubt in my mind that he would.

Recommend?

Definitely. There’s a reason this show became such a huge hit. I can’t promise that it will be everyone’s cup of tea (I certainly didn’t think it would be mine), but it is very unique and very addictive.

What an interesting journey