The Penthouse: War in Life

A makjang melodrama for 2020, this show is enjoyable and has twists and turns every few minutes. The use of opera and classical songs by the competing kids is really enjoyable throughout. It's more outrageous and much faster moving than Sky Castle. It's a lot of characters at first with all the evil rich and the wronged poor. Some people look a bit alike. The over the top apartment building is tacky and fun. The cast isn't terribly charismatic - the guys are more on the plain side. Lee Ji Ah is the main familiar face here. Things don't drag - they move quickly. Enjoyable with a delightful black comedy element. And a murder whodunnit keeps the viewer interested.

This high-life Korean drama reminds you of all those bloodstained knife nightmares, that end with an abrupt fall from a high place , or more precisely Puccini's TOSCA......which coincidentally contains ALL these details! Though Penthouse's melodrama is scarcely believable, I'm still watching, since it's compulsive, with Mozart's Queen of the Night and Verdi's sumptuous Sempre Libera (La Traviata) thrown in, though I'm genuinely skeptical mere16-year-old students could master the tacitura. Pity really that Tosca's not got Soprano solos, like "E lucivan le stelle" for Tenor. Penthouse, nonetheless owes much to Kabuki and Greek Drama (Euripides, Sophocles, Aeschylus), whose long-forgotten audiences were frightened equally by awe-inspiring events that often shocked in juxtaposing good/evil, rich/poor, lawful/unlawful Godly/unGodly, mighty/impotent etc. The trick Penthouse seems to employ perpetually.......... is to draw its audience in - shortly before SHOCKING them! We even have the semblance of a Greek Chorus with those two chatty Heron Palace ladies and that toe-rag of a lawyer/politician. All in all, there's actually more than meets the eye to Penthouse. Hope this review will explain things a little better to the curious, or for the Music-lover to search YouTube for Puccini's, E lucivan le stelle, (Pavarotti, or Placido Domingo).

People criticize this drama as bad without first investigating the genre of makjang. Makjang literally means "taking things too far" and is a word often used in Korea to mean that things went "to the extreme." So by understanding this we will know that we will face a series that will have extreme situations and out of "reality" but this is what makes Penthouse a high impact series. The performances of the women are really strong, highlighting Cheon Seong Yi represented by Kim So Yeon, a real villain that we will never know how far she will go as well as the character of Joo Dan Tae, the demon of this kdrama. Each chapter is intriguing, you do not know what will happen in the next, causing the viewer an immense anxiety that will force you to continue and continue watching, I literally did not sleep in a week since when I started watching this program the first two seasons were already published. It was a long journey but I enjoyed it too much. So without further ado if you want to see a dramatically bizarre and shocking series you should give Penthouse a try, it is unpredictable and extreme to be simply a drama Korean has very strong images because being a follower of Korean productions, bloody and explicit scenes are almost always only found in movies. Well just add I love, I loved and I will continue to love this program, it is unique, you will not find another like it. PENTHOUSE left a very high bar on the makjangs that it will be very difficult for them to reach the heels of this series.

I loved the series at first, but as the story developed, it was just way too dramatic and made no sense. I really think it should have been done with two seasons. Anyway, I loved three actresses: Eugene, Kim Soyeon, and Lee Jiah.

I was not here to recommend this show to anyone. I just want to review my opinion on this show.

It's freakingly dark, freakingly irritating, and also freaking epic. How can there is no likable characters expect Su Ryeon in entire main cast. It's unbelievable. Also I had a little crush on Ro-Na, but it's not about her character.

Womens screaming and framing for murder throughout the drama. Even it's unsettling, it still has its own epicness. That's why drama elements levels portrayed at its best. So its a 10.