CurlyFries

I first watched the Penthouse years ago and it was one of my first K-Dramas. I binged all of the seasons in under a week because of how much I loved it. I didn't make reviews for the first two seasons but know that I thought they were SIGNIFICANTLY better than this one. I actually enjoyed them and they were FAR more coherently written. But season 3? Disrespectful to the legacy of the prequels.

The budget was still high and the show at least LOOKED fantastic. The music was great and one thing that disappointed me was that there weren't as many opera songs as I was hoping for. I really liked the singing in the previous seasons, but it was sparce in this one. The sound design is pretty good except for that one stock boom that happens during a "shocking" moment that sounds straight out of vine. The acting is still above average, but it felt weaker from Cheon Seo Jin and Joo Dan Tae; probably because their character writing suffered. A lot of actors had a glow up; especially the Cheong-a graduates. Bae Ro Na looked especially beautiful this season.

I think the premise of the first episode already set up the season in a way that was doomed to fail: all of the villains got out of jail within a YEAR and somehow all of them regained their wealth and status as early as episode ONE. It really bothers me when a new season decides to haphazardly retcon something from a previous season just because the writers want to completely change what happened instead of building off of it. Season 2 was at least respectful of the season before it, but season 3 was not. I heavily question if the writers changed this season.


However, the worst part of this season was DEFINITELY the writing of the characters. So many important characters suffered because of the atrocious writing:

Su Ryeon: She suffered awfully with how they killed her off in SUCH a BS way. Su Ryeon was doing FANTASTIC up until they decided to kill her off in an inorganic way. She was a woman that built a family for herself throughout all of the seasons, yet gives up on it in this one for little reason. Why would she EVER kill herself when she has Hye In, Seok Hun, Seok Kyung, Ro Na, and Logan actively waiting for her? She was torn to pieces in season 1 when she realized she wasn't there for her daughter that was given away, so why would she now abandon her children when they needed her the most? Those kids went through hell and yet they wrote her to be a bad mother by abandoning them in the end when she had a SAFETY NET.

Logan: He was "killed off" yet somehow survived an explosion and was shipped off into the penthouse without anyone noticing? Are you seriously telling me that Su Ryeon wouldn't follow him into the ambulance? Then whatever was happening with that 10 billion dollar check that was just laying around annoyed me since I can't remember it ever going anywhere important. Are you being for real when you tell me Su Ryeon hadn't opened that gift book before BAEK JUN GI???? Nah. But as for Logan, he was keeping things from his family for some reason and even when he was finally going to be happy by marrying Su Ryeon, the writers kill her off and then give him relapse cancer! What?! Why would he allow himself to die even if Su Ryeon had died first? Your entire family that adores you is still waiting for you and would do legit ANYTHING to save you, and Ro Na was needing him in her life more than ever since her both of her parents had died that season. He was also the new Chairman of the Simwoon group, so what happened to his responsibility over that? Who inherited it after him? Also, with the way the writers wrote his randomly thrown in twin, Alex, I have to wonder what they really think Americans are like......why are most bodyguards black and the thugs that beat up Yun Cheol in the previous season were as well. I'm not calling them racist, but I do wonder why that is...

Yun Hui: She wasn't as compelling as season 2, but that was fine since she took more of a backseat this season. I liked her friendship with Logan but of course we didn't get to see it much. I thought it was soo stupid how they went about the cliff car chase sequence. First off, she doesn't call the police immediately. Second off, she ends the call with Su Ryeon prematurely instead of taking at MOST 15 seconds to explain that Seok Kyung is her biological daughter. Third off, when she finds Eun Byeol in the car and instead of DRAGGING HER OUT, she decides to awaken her super strength and push the car from falling off of the cliff. FOURTHLY, when Seo Jin *does* grab Eun Byeol out of the car, she doesn't take the risk of jumping to the side in order to save her life when Seo Jin is CLEARLY out for blood. Yun Hui can be pretty naive, yes, but she is NOT stupid. So why did they write her that way??? I don't see an issue with her dying this season since it would have been weird in *this* show if the murderer of the girl that haunts the narrative gets to be all jolly by the end, but she should've gone out in a more sensical way.

Seo Jin: She stole the show in the first seasons, yet seemed too extreme in this one. It feels like any personal growth she had in the prequels was thrown away in order for her to be more vicious and deserving of retribution. I don't believe she would be so stupid team up Dan Tae again nor act so indifferent regarding Jin Bun Hong literally abusing her daughter. She literally paid 500 billion won with little hesitance to the ACTUAL scumbag Baek Jun Ki, and doesn't consider maybe just JUMPING HIM AND STEALING IT??? This lady literally killed people and nearly killed others, yet is afraid to have a nobody that will not be missed assassinated? I don't believe it. The way she killed Yun Hui also seemed premature since she was actually begging Yun Hui in her head to save her daughter, which she did, but then lets her die a brutal death spontaneously when she was just shouting that she'd save her in a moment. While I do believe she would have definitely killed her in season 1, probably in season 2, but season 3? I have doubts. I think a GOOD writing choice would have been to make her kill Yun Hui in a more heated moment, maybe half accidentally, then make her THINK she's happy about it and that her life will magically get better; only for her to later realize that she doesn't feel happier or more "whole" afterward and that her life actually feels LESS meaningful now that her one true rival was no longer challenging her. I think that would have been a great approach to her character, but they decided to simply make her evil and shameless even when killing her impaired ex-husband that she "realized" her true life for last season. Also, why didn't she get her vocal nodules dealt with last season? Why wait for so long? Did I miss something?

Dan Tae: A man of pure evil with a kill count that beats any others' in this show. He deserved to suffer immensely, yet I think he didn't get his just desserts this season. He dies, yes, but it was basically an instant kill and he dies still somehow viewing himself as the martyr. Is it actually possible for him to press the switch even with a bullet straight this his brain? I question it. I did enjoy learning his backstory, but I think it made me hate him even more because he went through a similar situation as the abused in this show, yet showed no remorse over it. I know that Jun Ki explained that Dan Tae copied his father's lifestyle after killing him, but it was harder for me to believe. They made him dumber this season too by letting Jin Bun Hong hold crucial evidence in her hand and demand 500 billion won from him after insulting him to his face. Why wouldn't he just get his botched Secretary to kill her and steal it? Speaking of his secretary, Cho was just awful as a righthand man. I've thought it since season 1, but I bet Dan Tae regrets losing his first secretary in the first 5 episodes since Cho is always fumbling every assignment and gets beaten so much, yet maintains his "loyalty" even when Dan Tae has nothing anymore. He someone weasles himself out of every cell he gets caught in, but it reaches a point of absurdity when he manages to always avoid police and get out prison with his criminal record. He somehow stole a rich man's identity after being a wanted criminal in Japan, and no one ever catches on??? Also, how did he manage to throw the real son into an insane asylum whilst being a wanted man??? It just doesn't add up. I also wanted more of his backstory with Na Ae Gyo in it. One scene of her at the tattoo parlor isn't enough for me to understand how a cold blooded man like Joo Dan Tae ended up adoring her and wanting to have children with her. They seemed so sweet back then, so why did they turn so cold in the future? They should've explained it better.

Yun Cheol: He felt pretty bland this season. I didn't like the way he died. I don't have an issue with him dying, but the way they went about it felt weird. I wasn't a big fan of how neglectful towards Eun Byeol he was despite supposedly "loving" her, either.

Ro Na and Seok Hun: Ro Na only really seemed relevant for a few things this season like tormenting Eun Byeol a bit and giving Seok Hun reasons to fight his dad. I liked seeing her succeed, though. Seok Hun was at his best this season and I enjoyed him fighting on his mom's side and not enabling his sister's bad behavior for once. I find him developing more believable than a lot of characters since he was showing signs early on into the story, but they still should have focused on it more in season 1. It's also a hard sell for me to support their relationship in season 2 when you realize he most definitely knew about her being bullied relentlessly for something that wasn't her fault, yet did nothing about it. He only showed up when it was revealed that his mom's killer was someone else. That makes him look reeeeally bad as a significant other. Red flag behavior; especially after his supposed growth up until that point. However, if I look past that, they were a pretty cute couple in seasons 2 and 3; a lot cuter than I remembered them being from my first watch years ago.

Seok Kyung: She was a raging bitch in 2 and a half seasons, yet they throw in a sudden redemption arc in the middle of this one since they must have realized they wrote themselves into a corner with her character. She was extremely selfish, entitled, and apathetic for YEARS, yet gets almost entirely humane after one orphan camp weekend trip and finding out about bullying her biological family? I don't believe it. The whole plot of her being Su Ryeon's biological daughter was nonsensical since you could TELL there was not intent for it in the previous seasons AT ALL. Nothing indicated that she wasn't Na Ae Gyo's daughter, but that added it in just to justify Seok Kyung suddenly becoming a remorseful person and "atoning" for her sins. Her working odd jobs and dressing plain at the end whilst refusing help from her brother doesn't really make that much sense for her character either. I also didn't like how this season seemed to have some weird dichotomy on whether being blood related to someone was more important in a family or not. It didn't rub me the right way.

Eun Byeol: I think she benefitted the most from this season writing wise. She suffers waaay too much though and it felt like the writers had it out for her. The plot with amnesia pills was extremely aggravating to watch, too. But I did like how her story ended. She was finally free from her mom and her expectations and could live a life for herself for once. She stopped looking away from her mom's crimes she committed in her name and decided to finally face them. She decided to accept the punishment on her mom's behalf by sacrificing her ability to ever sing again. It was sad to watch, but that would probably be the best for her in the long run. Soprano singing is what contributed to a lot of her mental anguish, after all. I'm just sad that her and Ro Na never got to reconcile as sisters. However, forgiving someone after they nearly murder you isn't exactly easy, so I get it.

Ma Ri, her husband, and Je Ni: They were pretty cool this season; especially Ma Ri. I loved how she was a strong woman and that she grew so much as a person. My only issue is that they made her so one note in season 1 that if I were to directly rewatch her harassment of Yun Hui and Ro Na after finishing season 3, I don't think I could tell they were the same person. If they wrote her with subtle depth from the beginning, especially with the backstory of her husband in mind, she would have had a more believable character arc. But all things considered, I did adore her joining the squad and how Je Ni is far less of a bitch this season and has a realistic friendship with Ro Na. Her husband that I forgot the name of was pretty much a background character and didn't really do much of anything that any other character couldn't have done themselves. I liked his start, but he fell flat; especially when he went to jail again off-screen.

Gyu Jin, Sang A, and Min Hyeok: Gyu Jin was somehow more annoying this season than the first two combined, but Sang A actually had a little bit of development. She tries to have more agency, but she reverts back to being one dimensional anyway. I only really liked how pretty she looked with long, wavy hair. Min Hyeok was most relevant in this season out of all of them, but he still wasn't that important. I'm biased into liking him because I like his actor, Lee Tae Vin, but his character development this season seemed out of nowhere considering how he was in the previous seasons. It seemed out of place for him to suddenly feel remorse and not thrive on watching others being bullied and harassed. His grandma was really annoying, too. I just thought I should add that there because where else am I gonna add it?


Other thing I wanted to say is that I really liked how they didn't chicken out with making Yun Hui the murderer in season 1. However, they seemed to have chickened out a bit in season 2 by making Dan Tae the killer instead of Eun Byeol. I understand they were just recreating the scene of the awards from their mothers' time at Cheong-a, in which Seo Jin didn't actually kill Yun Hui, but it would have been more shocking and respectable if they followed through with it being a teenager. People can be murderers and borderline evil even when they are as young as teens, after all.

There was also a lot of nonsense like how Su Ryeon just kept her phone alarm on and on her person even when she was walking down the aisle. Who does that? Then there was how Baek Jun Ki just escaped without returning, Joo Dan Tae somehow escaping a guarded mental facility in Japan, the fakeout of Logan's death at the end, and the confusing nonsense pertaining to the amnesia pills that I still can't wrap my head around. Why would Su Ryeon hang up the phone on Yun Cheol when he is impaired and SEES the crazy Seo Jin behind him?!?!? That is craaazy work on her part. I also hate the overused trope of "phone call or someone knocking prevents important conversation" that this show LOVES to abuse. I was so annoyed when Yun Hui was "blocked" from telling Su Ryeon about her long lost daughter just because someone knocked on the door at the prime time. Like, just tell her first before she is preocuppied??? The only kudos I give on something they overuse is recording threats people make. I usually get aggravated when stories don't utilize that cheat more, but this show made prime use of it. An issue this show has is never explaining how bodies are stolen or removed in order for characters to "revive." How is no one saying anything when there isn't a corpse around for a funeral? I don't get it.

Honestly, I'm disappointed with the writing team. ಠ෴ಠ