The Penthouse: War in Life

The first Season of the Korean Drama "The Penthouse: War in Life" is full of betrayal, intrigue, twists and melodrama. If one enjoys watching stories where the characters hit rock bottom and want revenge, where the powerful need to be punished because they do awful things to everyone, then this one is for you. If you want a light drama, or a drama that is more realistic and digs deep, then you should probably skip it.

Now, the story starts a bit slow and it feels like it's taken from a 2000's drama, but it gets better when the mystery gets twisted more and more and all the characters change and betray one another. One thing can be said for sure, The Penthouse keeps things interesting till the very ending, even though there were some crazy, silly scenes that tried to be funny but were ridiculous. The setting was pretty entertaining and well crafted as well.

As for the performances, all of the actors and actresses of the cast did a great job.

So, overall, seven and a half out of ten.

Second Season of the Korean Drama " The Penthouse: War in Life " walks closely to where the first season left things, keeping up with all the factors that made the first one a hit. Frustration is there, feeling for revenge are there, every character goes through major transformations and the whole thing is satisfying and exaggerated.

The performances, moreover, were all great from every actor and actress of the cast. The side characters did a great job as well.

Finally, the pace is fast and keeps things on edge, the mystery is intriguing and this season keeps the interest high till the very final episode.

So, overall, eight out of ten.

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).

This drama keeps you focused from the very first minute. An unexpected murder starts a domino of events. The rich and arrogant residents of Hera Palace and their selfish children as well as the unlucky Bae Ro-Na and her mam unroll step by step their own unique frame of mind. Betrayal, hatred, bullying, social inequalities ,love and revenge are only some of the feelings every character in this drama is experienced. The whole script is really good especially in the Season 1 (rate 9/10 for me) and the haunting performance from Cheon Seo-Jin and her daughter will make you thrilled!

Season 2 is not so good at the beggining. There are some plot twists seems like soap-opera and the action is slow. However, there are some great elements too. The psyche world of the children and the relationships between them, as well as the great finale , save the whole Season. Starts bad but ends good and that's the reason why I will rate Season 2 with 7/10.

After watching the last season I have to say that there are many unnecessary characters and episodes. First of all , Alex. An older brother who totally undoes the whole 1st season story (concerning the bone's marrow transplant, why to adopt a child when there is a brother to offer it???). Secondly, Baek Ju Ki. No need of existence too. He came and left without nobody feels anything about him.

There were some good episodes ,especially concerning the youngs , however there were just a little. In my way of thinking , season 3 was in the majority, unnecessary. I kept some good episodes (only 3 or 5 I think) and the satisfing finale. I have to mention that all the actors/actresses were great and their performances were extremely good.

So finally I will rate season 3 with 4/10.

From all the above my final rate is 6/10.

Joo dan Rae's character is onto all his enemies and knows everything that is going on. The series is far too long.

Now once again he found about a dna test and killed that beautiful lady now framing the man for her murder is this truly how Korean rich people are?