Queen of Ambition (24 episode 2013 Korean TV series) Here we go again; another poor, down on her luck, woman gets the chance to rise to wealth and status. I'm starting to lose track of how many of these similarly themed K-drama shows I've seen over the years, and, there seems to be no shortage still being made. As the title suggests, this show squarely falls into the "woman who will stop at nothing to succeed" category.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Our story begins in the present, where Joo Da Hae is the wife of Korea's President, and, Ha Ryu is a special prosecutor who's come to arrest her for her misdeeds. These two struggle with a gun until one gets shot (and is presumably dead), but, you can't tell which one takes the bullet. This all happens in the first 10 minutes of episode 1, and sets the stage for the story to come. The rest of the show is then told in the past, from the time Da Hae and Ha Ryu first met, on up through time, until they finally arrive back in the present.
As the story unfolds, we're introduced to Da Hae & Ha Ryu in their young adult lives as they meet again after not seeing each other since they were children. They begin a relationship, and, they're both fairly likable and make for a really nice couple in the beginning. Things start to unravel for them over time though, and Da Hae soon morphs into a heartless witch with zero redeeming qualities. She eventually takes all of Ha Ryu's money and leaves him & their daughter for a wealthier man without even telling anybody. From there, Da Hae keeps on climbing the "ladder of success" while stepping on the throats of everyone she comes across.
You'll find all the usual tropes that come with this genre; jealousy, family secrets, blackmail, allegiances, & power struggles are the norm. Even knowing what to expect, this show is often ridiculously over the top. Here's a sampling: (SPOILERS) Da Hae gets divorced, gets abducted, leaps from a moving car & goes on the run, cracks a safe & steals secret docs, slams her aunt in the face with a briefcase to make her escape, gives her father-in-law with the magnificently outrageous toupee a heart attack, gets her brother-in-law beaten to a pulp, tries to blow up her first husband with a car bomb but blows up her 2nd husband instead, and, sneaks off to America with the future President of Korea. All of this happens over the course of ONE SINGLE EPISODE!
If that isn't enough to convince you how unhinged this show gets, this should do it: (SUPER SPOILERS) Da Hae also, directly or indirectly, gets both her brother and one of her husbands sent to prison, stabs her adoptive father to death and buries him in the woods, gets her own daughter run over and killed by a truck, kills at least one of her husbands in an "accident", kills the brother of another husband and dumps him in a river, kills some unlucky medical examiner, and, kills some lady's horse for good measure. There's also various secret family bloodlines, murder/suicide mysteries, identical twins, rigged elections, orphan back stories, etc. Whew!!!
Your 2 leads are played by Park Soo Ae & Kwon Sang Woo; they're both experienced and solid throughout. Sang Woo plays Ha Ryu (& his twin brother); he does a fine enough job of portraying the pitiable man who becomes more obsessed with punishing Da Hae as the story unfolds. in addition, his "body" of work here is also sure to not disappoint the ladies in some of the earlier episodes. Soo Ae is the star though, and she makes for one terrific deceitful crazy woman in her portrayal of Da Hae; her role basically consists of flashing her inviting smile while simultaneously being a devious lying psychopath. She also gets the high fashion treatment throughout this show once her character is afforded some money. She looks great of course, but the sheer number of ensembles she's provided is astonishing; she practically has a new outfit to wear for each separate scene she appears in. I've never seen anything like it; even K-dramas centered around the fashion industry pale in comparison to the massive wardrobe afforded De Hae's character here. But, you might as well be fashionable when you're busy killing and/or ruining the lives of everyone around you!
The secondary cast is suitable enough, but, they're all merely "pawns on the board" in the scheme of things. More or less, each of the two leads hatch various schemes to accomplish their goals, their efforts are summarily thwarted by the other, then repeat this scenario until we arrive back in the present to reveal the final conclusion. How it plays out from start to finish is outrageous and often amusing though; it can paraphrased as: "Sorry your plot to burn me to death in a warehouse fire didn't work out yesterday, but I'll see you at tomorrow's board meeting where I will implement my next plan to destroy you!"
Ultimately, this is a tale about greed & revenge between a man and a woman; one that is almost completely devoid of any love/romance angle once it hits its stride (which is a little unusual for a K-drama). Despite all the killings and mayhem, it's really not that violent or action packed either. I honestly can't say this show is all that great, but it does have some enormous appeal on the guilty pleasure scale, and, I did have a good deal of fun watching it. If nothing else, I really have to hand it to the writers of this show for their relentless "anything goes" approach to overly dramatic storytelling.
Bottom Line: It's awfully silly and beyond absurd, but, it's immensely watchable anyway (that is, if you're into this sort of thing). I liked it well enough. Giving it 7 out of 10 stars!
