HIGH SOCIETY - EPISODE 1

Q: What do you get when you put a bunch of chaebols together in the same drama?
A: Lots of mean people.

High Society focuses on an heiress, who tries to be anything but, and her quest to be herself and marry whom she wants, not whom she's expected to.

The players:

Jang Yoon Ha (UEE of After School) is a chaebol herself, who hides her financial status by working at a supermarket catering to the very rich. She wants to find true love and not marry according to her station.

   
Yoo Chang Soo (Hyungsik of ZE:A) is now a chaebol who owns the very same supermarket that Yoon Ha works at. All he cares about is ambition, power, and money.



Yoon Ha's co-worker Lee Ji Yi (Lim Ji Yeon) wants to find a chaebol man and marry him. She sets her sights on Choi Joon Ki.



Born dirt poor, Choi Joon Ki is a schemer, believing that only the wealthy can afford to love. He works with Chang Soo, and Chang Soo convinces him to take charge of the failing store. 


 
Yoon Ha's mother, Min Hye Soo (Goo Doo Shim) blames all her problems on Yoon Ha, considering her a massive disappointment.




Yoon Ha's father, Won Sik (Yoon Joo Sang), believes that, because he's rich, he can do whatever he wants. He rules the roost with an iron fist, and apparently only tolerates his wife Hye Soo.



The situation:

Yoon Ha gets yelled at by her manager for arguing with a customer, and Chang Soo gets his butt chewed because his store is losing money. He convinces his friend Joon Ki to manage the store and stop it from hemorrhaging money. Yoon Ha goes on a date with Chang Soo, deliberately dressing poorly, and tells him off. Of course, in the elevator Joon Ki catches sight of her and is immediately smitten. Chang Soo calls his mother and trash-talks Yoon Ha, which embarrasses her mom as her friends make fun of her. Hye Soo takes our heroine to task, but still gets blown off. Playing piano to calm her nerves, Hye Soo recalls the words of her fortune teller: "As long as you are with your youngest daughter, nothing will ever work out." When Joon Ki shows up at the store, he sees Yoon Ha again and is captivated...   

Overall, it bears some resemblance to 'Heirs,' in that all the rich people are behaving badly in some way. And I think that is the problem -- there's no one to like. Yoon Ha trying to break free of conventions is somewhat refreshing, but by being a disappointment, she really only has exchanged one pair of shackles for another. Everyone else is the typical Korean portrayal of deeply-flawed rich people, mean to the core. Even Yoon Ha's friend is largely gawky and subservient. Her mother is a typical Drama Mama -- vicious.

It's not bad, but how long can you watch people being mean to each other? It is the first episode, so we're bound to see more as the series progresses. And the purpose of the first episode is to set the scene and introduce us to the characters, so it's done its job. The teaser scenes for Tuesday's episode seems interesting, so it might be worth watching to see how this shapes up. 

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