Drama Reviews - Sky Castle (2018)

Sky Castle was a phenomenon in Korea while airing, breaking all records for cable dramas, which is incredible because it didn't star the typical leads, though the veterans in the cast were all well regarded. The meteoric ascent of its ratings was largely due to its relevant premise in today's social climate, about what the rich in society would do to ensure their children go to the most prestigious courses and universities, as well as the extremely strategically used cliffhangers that effectively enticed viewers to come back for more.


Sky Castle is a weird drama personally because I lived a pretty similar (though less extreme) life to Yeseo. I went to a well regarded junior college where there are university admission coaches. They aren't like coordi Kim but they do help in advising which universities to apply for and how to write the admission essays, and have been very successful at it. Since secondary school, we participate in a myriad of extra-curricular activities to showcase various aspects like leadership, sports or musical ability, volunteering work etc. I was lucky enough that my parents mostly left me to my own devices, and I never needed extra lessons on top of what I did in school, though many of my peers did go for them. Getting into medical school here is a similar challenge as to Korea, where people with straight As and outstanding achievements can still fail to get in. But as I now prepare to graduate from med school, I have to say the obsession with just getting into medical school is pretty funny because going through med school is a whole new challenge. I have peers who fail to progress, who drop out or be so close to breaking because the stress level never lets up, or find out that this is not even what they wanted. But anyway, I digress.

The main family would be Han Seojin's family, as the whole point of the show was the lengths she would go to to ensure her eldest daughter, Yeseo, gets into Seoul National Uni's medical faculty. I hated Han Seojin's character because she was so selfish, but I could understand why her character was like that given her background and the horrid mother-in-law she had.
I liked how the conflict between Yeseo and Hyena had vastly different reactions from the audience. I was firmly on Hyena's side till the end, shady actions or not, while some people hated Hyena and were on Yeseo's side. While some people just hated both. Our reactions when presented the same situation may be a reflection of our personalities.

The best parts of the show to me were definitely Coach Kim's parts. Everything happened due to her actions, and I loved the little snippets of her past we got throughout the show, that eventually elucidated why she is the way she is. Kim Seo Hyung is an amazing actress and yay for her getting recognition again! She's been in ALOT of dramas I've watched and loved like The Good Wife, Empress Ki, History of a Salaryman, and she always does an awesome job.

I personally loved SeungHye's family, who were so funny yet so real. I liked the growth of SeungHye's character, from going along with what her husband demands of her to finally standing up to his crazy ways for the sake of her children. 

Jinjin was a hoot to watch and I love Oh Nara. Naemari naemari and omama are just 2 of the many catchphrases that the show created. And their family was the cutest!

Woojoo's family was a little boring but they were key to the show as a foil to the other families, and causing the other families to change.

However, the show did have some negative points. The scenes in the hospital with the doctors doing the stupidest things were a waste of time imo. Especially because it makes doctors look incredibly stupid lol. We don't have that much time to do such banal things!
I also noticed that at times, the camera was incredibly shaky. While I think some were intentional to show the character's state of mind, I think some of it was not intentional and it really distracted me.
But other than that, the directing was on point and I really loved some of the shots. The OST was on point, and We All Lie is now iconic haha.

All in all, while not a perfect show, worth watching for the subject matter, the performances by both the veterans and the 'child' actors, and to understand the hype for the show. The most important thing of the show was the message and it delivered it very well. I wonder which cable drama will be able to beat the phenomenal success of this show, that started off with meager 1% ratings and rose meteorically to trump its closest competitors by a pretty wide margin.