bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Pierce Conran

This article contains spoilers.
Lead cast: Kim Jae-wook, Lee Jun-young, Hong Su-zu
The Korean title of the drama The Impossible Heir is “Royal Roader”, a term coined in the Korean gaming world which references a player who won the Korean StarCraft League the first time they entered the competition.
There is no gaming whatsoever in this show and if the intention of using a gaming term was to seduce younger viewers, that tactic appears to have backfired. Audiences, young and old alike, have been baffled as to what has been happening in this mess of a series, let alone how that bizarre title applies to it.


The resourceful and ambitious Han Tae-oh (Kim Jae-wook, Alchemy of Souls) meets the wayward, illegitimate corporate heir Kang In-ha (Lee Jun-young, formerly a member of the K-pop outfit U-Kiss) as a high-school student in the countryside.
After briefly being at loggerheads, the pair’s macho personalities sync and they pair up to achieve a common goal. The plan is for Tae-oh to help In-ha rise to the top of his father’s company, ahead of his nasty siblings, the legitimate heirs of the Kangoh Group.
The Impossible Heir: Lee Jae-wook, Lee Jun-young in dreary buddy K-drama
Although we are not privy to the details of this plan, we follow Tae-oh and In-ha through their college years and then into adulthood, when both of them are working for the Kangoh Group.
Thanks to his smarts and determination, Tae-oh moves quickly up the ranks, and before long he gains the confidence of Chairman Kang Joong-mo (Choi Jin-ho), becoming his personal secretary.
Also in the picture is Na Hye-won (Hong Su-zu, Sweet Home 2), Tae-oh’s next-door neighbour during their college years, who becomes close with both of them. The more reserved Tae-oh is visibly interested in her but it is the more gregarious In-ha who makes the first move.

Years later, Hye-won and In-ha get engaged, a turn of events that does not sit well with Tae-oh. Just before the wedding, Tae-oh finally breaks out of his shell and kisses Hye-won. Unfortunately for him, someone is nearby taking snaps of the stolen kiss on behalf of Kang In-ju (Han Sang-jin), the eldest son in the Kangoh family.
In-ju uses the pictures to thwart Tae-oh’s swift rise within the company, forcing him to fall to his knees and join him in a debauched night of drinking and drug taking.
When Tae-oh opens his bleary eyes the next morning, we have caught up with the flash forward that opened the series. He is covered in blood and two corpses lie beside him: In-ju and the woman who joined them the night before.

Tae-oh is arrested for the murders and, after losing his case, is sentenced to the death penalty. Although the sentence still exists, executions have been de facto abolished in South Korea, with the last one having been carried out in 1997. Death sentences are essentially life imprisonment without parole, although they are rare now – only three death sentences have been handed out since 2011.
Since he was pumped full of drugs, Tae-oh cannot remember what happened, but he knows that he did not commit the crime. But nothing can prepare him for the revelation of who is responsible for his incarceration. Tae-oh’s investigations eventually lead him to none other than In-ha.
After spending half the series as one of its protagonists, In-ha suddenly becomes its main antagonist. He even strangles Hye-won in their bathtub for good measure.
7 of the best new Korean drama series to watch in March 2024
In-ha’s reversal hardly counts as a surprise, as we never knew anything about him to begin with. Not only is it not a shock, we are hard-pressed to care at all.
When succinctly outlined, this story does not seem particularly complex, but the show manages to complicate everything with messy plotting and, most egregiously of all, utterly atrocious character work.
From the beginning of The Impossible Heir, a bevy of handsome actors have stalked around stiffly, breathing feeble life into wafer-thin, cardboard characters.

Most feeble of all has been Hye-won, a wisp of a character whose motivations and desires are practically non-existent. It would be a difficult role for anyone to play, and Hong, in her first leading role, struggles to add any contours to the character.
We are now two-thirds of the way through the show and we still have little to show for it. We were never clued in on the boys’ plan, and we still do not know who these characters are. Given the incoherent behaviour we have witnessed so far, it begs the question: do the makers of the show even care?
Perhaps “Railroaded” would have been a better title for this series, because that is what the experience of watching The Impossible Heir has felt like so far.
The Impossible Heir is streaming on Disney+.


K-drama The Haunted Palace: Bona, Yook Sung-jae lead spirited period drama

Netflix K-drama Weak Hero Class 2: Park Ji-hoon back for school fight drama sequel

Netflix K-drama Heavenly Ever After: Kim Hye-ja, Son Suk-ku lead afterlife fantasy romcom

K-drama Way Back Love review: Kim Min-ha, Gong Myung shine in fantasy high school drama

Korean drama reviews

Disney+ K-drama midseason recap: The Impossible Heir – Kim Jae-wook, Lee Jun-young struggle with weak script

Kim Jae-wook as Tae-oh in a still from The Impossible Heir. Kim, Lee Jun-young and Hong Su-zu have struggled through the weakly scripted Disney+ K-drama showing on Disney+.

Kim Jae-wook (left) as the ambitious Tae-oh and Hong Su-zu as neighbour Hye-won in a still from The Impossible Heir.

Lee Jun-young (left) as illegitimate heir In-ha and Choi Jin-ho as Chairman Kang Joong-mo in a still from The Impossible Heir.

Hong Su-zu (left) as Hye-won and Lee Jun-young as In-ha in a still from The Impossible Heir.

Queen of Tears star Kim Soo-hyun offered Knock Off role; new season for hit show Signal – Korean drama casting latest

Kim Soo-hyun in a still from Queen of Tears. Kim has been offered the lead role in a black comedy on Disney+, while a raft of sequels have been announced – including one for 2016 hit Signal.

Kang Tae-oh in a still from Extraordinary Attorney Woo.

Lee Sun-bin in a still from Work Later, Drink Now.

Yoo Yeon-seok in a still from Dr. Romantic season 3.

(From left) Lee Je-hoon, Kim Hye-soo and Cho Jin-woong in Signal.

Kim Hye-jun (left) and Lee Dong-wook in a still from A Shop for Killers.

K-drama Nothing Uncovered: Kim Ha-neul and Yeon Woo-jin dig up the truth in an old-style thriller based on web novel Grabbed by the Collar

Kim Ha-neul in a still from Nothing Uncovered.

Yeon Woo-jin as Kim Tae-heon, a detective and the ex-boyfriend of TV news show anchor Seo Jeong-won (Kim Ha-neul), in a still from Nothing Uncovered, a mystery thriller K-drama in which they team up to investigate suspicious deaths. 

Kim Ha-neul (right) as dogged reporter Seo Jeong-won, and Kim Min-jae (left) as her trusty cameraman Ju Yeong-seo, in a still from Nothing Uncovered.

Yoon Je-moon (left) as assemblyman Mo Hyeong-taek, the subject of an exposé by Jeong-won, and Jung Woong-in as her father-in-law, Seol Pan-ho, in a still from Nothing Uncovered.

Jang Seung-jo as Seo Jeong-won’s husband, Seol Woo-jae, in a still from Nothing Uncovered.

Amazon Prime K-drama midseason recap: Wedding Impossible – Jeon Jong-seo, Moon Sang-min in tangled romantic triangle

Jeon Jong-seo in a still from Wedding Impossible.

Jeon Jong-seo as Na A-jeong in a still from Amazon Prime K-drama Wedding Impossible. 

Moon Sang-min as younger brother Lee Ji-han in a still from Wedding Impossible.

Jeon Jong-seo (left) as A-jeong and Moon Sang-min as Ji-han in a still from Wedding Impossible. A-jeong is a professional actress, but Ji-han has to do some acting too, as an illegitimate child.

Moon Sang-min (left) and Jeon Jong-seo as Ji-han and A-jeong in a still from Wedding Impossible. The pair have finally been honest to each other about their feelings.

Jeon Jong-seo as A-jeong in a still from Wedding Impossible. How honest will A-jeong be to those around her about her feelings for Ji-han?

Netflix K-drama review: Doctor Slump – Park Shin-hye, Park Hyung-sik heal each other in muddled romantic comedy

Park Hyung-sik (left) and Park Shin-hye as Yeo Jeong-woo and Nam Ha-neul in a still from Doctor Slump. Save for a few scenes, the K-drama failed to address mental health as it was supposed to.

Park Shin-hye as Nam Ha-neul in a still from Doctor Slump.

Yoon Park (left) as secondary male lead Bin Dae-young and Kong Seong-ha as secondary female lead Lee Hong-ran in a still from Doctor Slump.

Park Shin-hye (left) and Park Hyung-sik as Ha-neul and Yeo Jeong-woo in a still from Doctor Slump.

Who is Kim Ji-won, ice-cool actress in K-drama Queen of Tears who earned her big break in the smash-hit series Descendants of the Sun?

Korean actress Kim Ji-won has won hearts and minds with her cool, poised acting. Photo: Instagram/@geewonii

Kim Ji-won in a still from Queen of Tears.

Kim Ji-won in a still from My Liberation Notes (2022).

Kim Ji-won in a still from Descendants of the Sun (2016).

Kim Ji-won in a still from Arthdal Chronicles (2019).

Kim Ji-won in a still from Romantic Heaven (2011).

Lifestyle

K-drama

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

K-Pop

The Impossible Heir manages to complicate a relatively simple story with messy plotting and utterly atrocious character work – especially by Hong Su-zu
Hong’s character has no motivations and, two-thirds of the way through, the male protagonists’ revenge plot – central to the show – is still a mystery


Kim Jae-wook, Lee Jun-young and Hong Su-zu struggle through Disney+ K-drama The Impossible Heir, a weakly scripted series that, two-thirds of the way through the show, is still a confusing mess.
