Korean Drama: SKY Castle

Sky Castle is a hugely successful Korean Drama which premiered on JBTC back in November 2018. It sored high on ratings with a 23.77% viewership with its final episode surpassing another one of my favourite Korean Drama’s Goblin. The series was such a huge hit, gained a massive fanbase and even got celebrities talking about it too. SKY Castle became a national phenomenon but what exactly made this Korean Drama so unique that it caught the interest of so many viewers?

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THE PLOT

A huge reason for the drama’s success is the story which was written by Yoo Hyun Mi. The show follows four different families who all live in a complex called ‘SKY Castle.’ The main story focusses on the efforts of each family and their efforts to get there children into the best universities of the country. It follows the extent that families are willing to go to achieve this including hiring coaches to help and explores the effects it has on the children themselves. The drama also uses satirical black comedy which was new to me because I had not watched a Korean Drama utilising this.

The plot has so many layers, it is thick, well developed as well as powerful and impactful. It starts with the introduction of the families rich life and obsession with education then a tragedy that strikes that creates a dent in this perfect life they think they have. This eventually leads to secrets coming to light, mysteries and crimes which keep you hooked during every episode. In a nutshell, the drama also includes taboo subjects in Korean society too, it talks about depression, suicide, murder and of course the obsessive parents who force there dreams onto there children.

It’s a heavy drama to watch at times but it is laid out incredibly well, and it is easy to follow. You get to into all these different character arcs and before you know it you’re so invested in the story that you want to find out what happens in the end. Not to mention that the cliff-hangers at the end of each episode were generally quite strong too. SKY Castle also includes comedic moments that make you laugh but there are serious moments that make you sweat, and it hits the perfect balance between the two! But through all of this, you can’t help but have the drama’s lingering message left dangling in your mind even when you get to the final episode you are definitely left with goosebumps

CHARACTERS AND RELATIONSHIPS

SKY Castle has a considerable amount of characters, and the drama manages to into a good amount of depth for each one of them. While I’d love to ramble on all day about each one and talk about how outstanding the chemistry the characters have its safe to say that everyone essentially gives there best performance in this drama!

Kang Seo Jin

Although we have four families featured in SKY Castle, I feel like the main focus was on Professor Kang, Seo Jin and Yeh Suh. Their family dynamic was undoubtedly an interesting one to watch play out on screen. Seo Jin begins as the queen bee of SKY Castle at first and focusses hugely on getting her daughter Yeh Suh into SNU. This was interesting to see especially how Seo Jin coddled her daughter and would go to such lengths to ensure she gets into SNU. I already found her to be a problematic character when introduced to her, but you really do see her downfall play out on screen. This especially happens when Soo Im disrupts her perfect life and how she does anything to protect her image.

Professor Kang

Professor Kang was slightly absent and left out on what was going on in his own home. He is unaware of so many things, too busy at work and is only focussed on surpassing Professor Hwang and becoming the top surgeon. Professor Kang really is a representation of what happens when parents force there dreams onto there children because this was exactly what his mother did. As a result, he doesn’t know who he is as a person and seeing him break out his mothers grasp and gain clarity was definitely commendable. I admired how he tried to encourage his wife to do the right thing and ensure that Yeh Suh does not suffer in the future over a rash decision. She might get into SNU but the guilt of leaving Woo Joo in jail would eat at her, and we already get a glimpse of that in a few episodes. A highlight for me was when he reassures his wife by saying “You did well. You made the right choice. Our daughter will do well. You did well.”

Kang Yeh Suh

Yeh Suh was truly an annoyingly stuck up and bratty character who is treated like a princess by her parents; hence the reason she sees nothing wrong with her behaviour. But I have to praise the Kim Bo Ra who took the role because she did an outstanding job of making me feel wary of Yeh Suh. Honestly, I have to point out the scene where Yeh Suh reveals to Coach Kim that she really wanted to kill Hye Na which made me tense. This was because I really believed she was capable of something like that especially with how strongly she desired to get into SNU.

Coach Kim/Kim Joo Young

The root cause for all this dysfunction in Kang Family is because of Coach Kim. A twisted, complicated and bloody fantastic character to watch on screen! She was a manipulative and cold character but appeared to be very proud of her work and the fact she can guarantee that every one of her students is accepted into SNU. We also get little snippets of Coach Kim’s past and the fact that she had a hidden daughter which was a massive plot twist! It was sad to see how her daughter Kay spends her day studying in fear of her mother getting upset with her. But it also gives you that sense of understanding why Coach Kim does what she does, why she tears families apart, pressurising her students and takes pleasure in it because her own daughter is now unable to fulfil what she wants. It was almost like she was punishing others for what happened to her daughter when the reality was that all she had to blame was herself. I highly applaud the show for this brilliant and complicated character they created!

Kim Hye Na

Hye Na’s character plays a significant role in how the parents and children of SKY Castle change. She came across as an incredibly smart character who really had nothing to lose after the passing of her mother. Although, I was sympathetic towards her character she did come across as quite dark at times. I would have liked to see a tiny bit more of emotion from her rather than the front she continued to put up. Never the less, her final scenes sent my heart breaking because all Hye Na ever really wanted was to have a relationship with her father and be part of a family. It’s a huge shame that Seo Jin couldn’t be more maternal towards Hye Na and instead gave her such a hard time. It was even more disappointing that she couldn’t even tell Professor Kang that Hye Na was his daughter when she was lying on her death bed!

Lee Soo Im

The last character I’d like to mention a few points on is Lee Soo Im and her family who do shake up a few things at SKY Castle too. I loved her curiosity and stubbornest to not things go including the fact she wanted to write a book on Young Jae. She clearly has different views to many of the parents at SKY Castle who find it hard to believe that she does not keep on top of her own son’s education. She also has such a good relationship with Woo Joo despite him being her, and I admire her relationship with her husband. In other words, in SKY Castle this was probably the only sane household there!

THE VERDICT

To conclude, I cannot recommend a better Korean Drama than SKY Castle. It’s messages, characters and story are some of the best I’ve seen, and I’m honestly not at all surprised hearing that it surpassed Goblin’s viewership. It was a nice change for me as well to take a step away from the romance drama’s and dive into something with a much deeper meaning and get introduced to satire within a Korean Drama. SKY Castle gripped audiences both nationally and internationally, and I would not be surprised at all if it wins quite a hefty amount of awards!

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