This review may contain spoilers
Escape of the Seven: A Promising Journey Derailed
Escape of the Seven had such a promising start that had me hooked from the beginning. The story kicked off with a captivating premise, full of mystery and intriguing characters. I was really excited about where the series was heading. However, as the show reached its final act, it started to lose its edge and left me feeling disappointed.In the beginning, I was really drawn to the concept of a group of strangers being tricked into their detailed downfall. Each character had unique skills and it made for a really interesting dynamic. The challenges and puzzles they faced were cleverly designed and kept me on the edge of my seat, eagerly waiting to see what happened next.
But unfortunately, as the story got closer to its conclusion, things started to unravel. The plot that was once so meticulously crafted became messy and rushed. The character arcs, which had a lot of potential, were left unresolved and felt abandoned. The backstories that added depth to the narrative were brushed aside and didn’t receive the attention they deserved.
What bothered me the most about the ending was the feeling that the creators were more interested in setting up a possible second season rather than focusing on creating a satisfying ending for the first. The intricate storytelling that had me so captivated in the beginning was replaced by rushed resolutions and forced plot twists. It left me with a lot of unanswered questions and loose ends.
I think it’s great when shows leave room for future seasons, but it’s important that each season can stand on its own. Unfortunately, Escape of the Seven seemed to prioritize future storylines over delivering a strong, conclusive ending to the first season.
All in all, Escape of the Seven had an exciting start that had so much potential. I was hooked by the fascinating premise and the intriguing characters. But in the end, the rushed and contrived finale left a lot to be desired. It felt like a missed opportunity, as if the creators were more interested in setting up future seasons rather than delivering a satisfying conclusion. It’s disappointing, because I truly believe this show had the potential to be something truly captivating.
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I'm shocked at the rating of this drama!!!
I fineshed the drama when it just ended airing but forgot to rated it but when i planned on doing so i found the rating was so low my jaw dropped!!! I really enjoyed the drama so much. It was a fresh plot with mystery, drama plus action. A totally new concept of villains as main roles. It kept me on edge which a lot of drama this days fail to do. I kept wanting to watch the next episode immediatly. I'm totally waiting for the second season because of the cliffhanger. The acting was so good that i begin to hate and curse at almost all the characters. It's so rare to see a drama where the main characters are the villains of the story. I loved how the villains keep betraying each other and how they plot scheme to get what they want. It shows how people can be really greedy and nasty. It makes me so excited to see their downfall hopfully on season 2.Was this review helpful to you?
This isn’t Penthouse, so stop comparing…?!?!
I keep seeing reviews about how it’s not as good as Penthouse. And while I get that the writer is the same… who cares. The goal likely wasn’t to recreate Penthouse lol. This drama is really good. I love how we learn new things as the story line progresses. It gives us something to look forward to and allows us the time to create our own thoughts on certain things/events that take place in the show. The acting is amazing! The actress that plays Da Mi was so believable in the beginning and the actor that plays Do Hyeok as well! They were making me tear up and cry. Ra Hee’d actress is so good too bc she pisses me off so much, I almost hate her. There’s not much of an OST in my opinion, but I love when it ends bc the song is catchy lol. Overall, it’s a really good show, with a good plot line, and acting. I think this is definitely a show that most people would want to watch when it’s fully released if you hate “plot holes” or waiting to know what happens. Would give it a 10/10 if this was release entirely, but again I also like the waiting factor lol.Was this review helpful to you?
Bang Da mi's slayers: the powerful, the rich and the greedy
The drama is centered around seven people who in one way or the other contributed to the death of a young girl; Bang Da mi. Lots of questions crossed my mind as I watched this drama. How could a mother be so heartless? How could a mother not have any love for her child? How could a mother join forces with her daughter's killer to satisfy her crave for money and power?How could a person be so cruel to humiliate and hurt a friend who was there in her time of trouble and need? How could a police officer who's supposed to be an advocate for justice forge evidence to trap and ruin a person's life? How could a person disown her mother to maintain her image as a celebrity? How could a father swap his baby with someone else's ? How could a father help his son commit crimes and get away with it?
This drama vividly captured the extent to which people would go to satisfy their selfishness and greed for wealth, fame and recognition. It also portrayed the length people would go to ruin and kill whoever stands in their way. Again, this drama tackled how people would do anything to save themselves, even join forces with their enemies as long as the odds favor them.
This drama also supports the assertion that bad parenting can contribute to how a child would turn out to be. Perhaps if Chairman Sim had really disciplined K and handed him over to the right authorities, he wouldn't have turn out the way he did.
However, the twists and turns in the drama was too much. Matthew Lee's appearance which could have marked the beginning of a gruesome revenge ended up becoming the gateway for more shocking revelations. Also, the drama was a bit one sided as everything was working in K's favor.
Nonetheless, the acting was top-notch. Every role in the drama was well-delivered. I look forward to season two hoping it'd be more thrilling and satisfying.
P.S.A : Don't watch this drama if you didn't enjoy Penthouse.
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It's burning my eyes but I cannot look away
This show has two major flaws:1. Lack of positive female characters - I mean, who am I supposed to relate to and root for?
2. The writer's foolish ways of fooling the viewers
I can applaud them for not turning it into a redemption story for trash characters; the story briefly had me afraid of it happening.
Some ships are not what anyone would expect but the matches later makes sense; even the ones that had me cringing to the max.
The plot twists (as expected from the writer of Penthouse) did not disappoint at first BUT be prepared to feel fooled by fools.
Many people didn't like the acting but it was good enough for me. Especially Min Do Hyuk, Mone, and Um Ki Joon's character. I love Guem Ra Hee's actress but this role isn't her best imo.
Music and production was good overall but the VFX were so bad that it made me laugh: it's worth a dishonorable mention lol.
The biggest disappointment was how little Bang Dami's character & story matters in the first season; the only ones I cared about. Maybe they'll do right by her in season 2.
You may get a good laugh out of it at best or give yourself a mild injury by face-palmming too hard at worst.
It's worth a watch if you've got time and have nothing better to watch.
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Amazing surreal and absurd experience.
Side note about the term "makjang": It can be either described as a format (daily/weekend dramas) or a subgenre. "7 Escape" is a thriller-mystery drama, but ultimately a makjang, which is the extreme of melodrama here. It can be considered as a sort of high budget, prime-time soap opera, and a contemporary revival of the picaresque genre.(btw, this poster is AWESOME: https://kisskh.at/photos/QJdAJ2_4)
7 Escape is the ultimate makjang — where logic takes a backseat to spectacle — creating an epic, extremely twisted narrative set in a grand, deliberately forced setting. I can't recommend it easily because the protagonists there are villains and it depends on how you feel about it. Personally, I felt great while watching it and was always very excited. I love these villains. It's a very chaotic and different, well thought-out drama with a great budget and a stellar cast. I love that the cast had a great yet challenging time filming it and especially had fun on the island, of course. Also never saw such genuine praises from a drama's cast to a writer before. The budget allowed the drama to surpass itself to such a provocative extent that cannot be surpassed anymore, which is why this is peak SBS. The main character is constantly switching here (shifting ethical and moral standards) and it's like a game you can't predict.
I want to add that the drama has great symbolism and the opening should never be skipped in both seasons, in fact you should rewatch the first opening after the first episode of S2 due to a foreshadowing with a certain character, you'll know who and that character also has another parallel in both episode 1.
Speaking of the characters... There is one comic relief villain who's a great antithesis to the drama. You'll know who.
Music? Stunning combination of classical and modern elements. Cinematography/aesthetic? Amazing contrast between both seasons and literally extraordinary. Details? References and cameos to Penthouse, The Last Empress and other iconic works unrelated to the drama's writer which you might or might not recognize (as well as maybe a niche one I'll share in the comments to avoid spoilers). The number Seven likely being a reference to the seven deadly sins and maybe even possibly the Seven from The Boys (an often brutal parody of the superhero genre with characters inspired by DC and Marvel - Marvel is actually mentioned in the drama). Dark humor? Amazing.
As Lee Joon said it, this drama is so fun that it feels like reading a comics. The drama starts out wrapped in a veil and the way it unfolds in the first episode already is genius. The island arc then serves as a mirror to the drama with a great contrast, fulfilling its promise of a divine punishment and how the work used Dante's Divine Comedy as an inspiration (the adventure novel "The Count of Monte Cristo" was also mentioned). It can be said that 7 Escape has taken the grey spectrum to its extreme, making it a memorable watch. The colors in the ending scene of S1 are even used to reflect that.
I know very well that the lack of logic makes it unbelievable and stupid to some viewers. But I disagree because it suits the drama and makes it stand out. Obviously, if you only look at this and not the bigger picture, then I guess you're right about it being stupid. As for how to enjoy it despite the unbelievability, we all know fiction crosses the boundaries of reality, but this drama takes "fiction" to a new extreme (even the makjang broke its own rule with one specific event at the end of S2). So at this point, you might as well think of it as happening in a parallel universe. Also, the storytelling was always meaningful.
Last but not least, the social accusation is the best here and the technology aspect is spot-on. People called it far-fetched but the drama was ahead of its time in many ways, and it was satisfying to see some Koreans themselves recognize their mistakes and praising Kim Soonok, especially when the deepfake scandal broke out.
I have learned to know Soonok, and as crazy as her writing may be, she's a lovely person with a great mind and probably a religious person too. Definitely my favorite writer since I watched 7 Escape, and yes, surprisingly not Penthouse. Seeing how it drove some Koreans mad, it should be considered a masterpiece. We know makjangs are exaggerated, but imagine getting mad that a fictional work shows the darker side of your romanticized country. Aside from this, it's just underrated and misunderstood.
The drama actually did well in Korea on OTT platforms for most of S1's runtime (only episode 5&6 were rated 18+ on TV), although the TV ratings were disappointing considering the budget. I'm not sure about S2 on OTT platforms, but the TV ratings got lower due to the focus on the characters being more serious and less fun (S2 had me CRY), which means that the main audience are the true fans. I'm hoping for a Netflix release, please think about requesting it here: https://help.netflix.com/en/titlerequest.
But honestly, even if you dislike the direction of the drama, how can you say it's not good? It absolutely is. I didn't have the best time ever watching it with my friend for no reason. Nor did I get so attached to the characters and cried so much for no reason. I lowkey started to hate Penthouse because of the hate 7 Escape received, and to begin with I wasn't a fan of that drama. I mostly liked the last episodes. Yet I'm not calling it bad.
P.S: still rewatching ep 5 and 6 to this day, peak fantasy, but also the psychological extremes... top-notch.
-- Playlist and spoiler will be added later in the comments
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WoW
This Drama had so many twist and turns in It I found myself really getting Angry at the character's all I can tell you about this series you have to watch and pay attention to every episode to Understand what is going on Look for clues. I will say with out spoiling anything It better have A second season This series does show just what people are willing to do to keep or gain power and the lengths some parents will go to protect there child ,and how some people should never be parents of course not everyone is Bad but come on have some common sense, Stop trusting everyoneWas this review helpful to you?
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Pra que isso..??
Não sei nem oq falar vey.. esse dorama prometia demais mas não podemos negar que em alguma parte da história eles começaram a se perder e as coisas começaram a não fazer sentido nenhum....o plot do Matthew?? totalmente desnecessário. sim me pegou muito de surpresa ele ser o K .. nunca imaginei algo do tipo foi emocionante e tals mas logo depois disso eu broxei real desanimei de ver tudo sobre o dorama...
Quem vai realmente vingar a Da Mi ? a menina foi literalmente esquecida no meio disso tudo ela só sofreu sem necessidade nenhuma pq no final sempre foi o Do Hyuk o plot disso tudo..
eu real não sei o que esperar da segunda temporada :/ confiarei no meu ki tak mas nem sei se deveria confiar em alguem nessa porra de dorama. Infelizmente to bem desanimada p desfecho dessa história vius.
eles tao tentando recriar um The Penthouse mas ta baixo o nível.. Penthouse pelo menos foi foda ate a 2temp~ deveriam inovar e tals pq tem mt coisa q a gente ja imagina q vai acontecer só por ser muito parecido com Penthouse...
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Lot of Plot Twist
The story is about seven people who are doing evil things to accuse and kill an innocent girl. All of them agreed to hold the secret together. But not long after that, the innocent people know who's the culprit and manage to fight back. Sadly, all of them mostly fail. When the situation turned back, the plot twist came and it ruined what we already knew or expected. It's very interesting to see the whole story! Can't wait to see the next season!The effect they were using to make this series is amazing! Love the battle scene and the angle they were used to shoot. Recommended to those who love Big Mouth and The Penthouse series. It's like the combination of those series into one.
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The
The first 10 episodes were great, they really hip me up. But for the rest of them I didn’t really understood what’s happening. Too manny plot twists that ruined the overall drama.I liked a lot how the drama started and the plot, the ideea of revenge. But I felt like after the second part of the story the ideea of revange is completely forgotten and the drama is going in a diferent direction.
The actors in the other and are amazing!
I hope the next season will do justice to the original plot.
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Not sure why I wasted my time
This was spoof, right? Everything was so over the top and again too much airtime given to the psychopathic villains.I really only tuned in because of Lee Joon. He’s been a favorite actor of mine ever since I saw him in My Father is Strange.
I got to the point to where all I cared about was the villains be taken down. Then I saw that there was a season 2 and that that wasn’t going to happen. I hope that season 2 doesn’t spend all their time on the villains and their dirty deeds. It’s time to bring them down 1 at a time.
The only character I liked was Min Do Hyuk. I could tell from the beginning he wasn’t a bad guy. The rest of the main characters were all psychopaths and there behavior got old.
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Flaming pile of… well, s***
This drama started off great. The first two episodes were intriguing, eye catching. Everything that Bang Da mi suffered was painfully, painfully drawn out and illustrated in a wonderful way. This was a revenge story, makes sense. I even don’t mind the plot twist, I just think the handling of the storyline after that sucked.And then, in the middle of the runtime, the quality of the show starts to deteriorate- not in sets, or costumes, but just the writing. Everything gets more and more elaborately over the top ridiculous. Things stop making sense. Some characters are forgotten. People stop acting like themselves. Everything goes to hell.
The strongest part of the drama v was the characters, and after a while those got stale. Instead of making Nam Chul woo and Cha Juran and Go Myeongi cringy comedians, they could have elaborated on their evil nature, how they came to be the way they are from the most respected professions, a police officer, a doctor, a teacher.
And now, as this is spoiler free, let’s discuss the characters they got right: Han Mone, Min Do hyeok and Yang Jin mo.
My personal favourite is a toss up between mone and Yang Jin mo. I loved how they slowly introduced his dad side, and his relationship with Noh paeng hee.
Han mone was such a great character. I loved her. I hated her. The acting was on point. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.
Min Do hyeok was good, if a little boring.
My advice? Watch the first eight episodes. Forget the rest.
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