Mad Concrete Dreams: Episode 1 (First Impressions)
by missvictrix
A little hard to follow, but completely engrossing, Mad Concrete Dreams lands a knockout first episode. Following our struggling building owner ajusshi hero, we watch him go from the pan to fire and are left wondering how much more mayhem is in store.
Editor’s note: This is a first impressions post only. To chat about the entire drama, visit the Drama Hangout post.
EPISODE 1
This drama cranked my cortisol level way higher than any drama has the right to do. The funny part is, of course I’ve seen dramas with more stress and more suspense — there was something about the tightly ratcheted tension across this premiere episode that had me needing to regulate my nervous system after the end credits rolled.
To start, we meet our ajusshi hero KI SOO-JONG, played by Ha Jung-woo, and what a perfect role for him — he brings the heart straight away to Soo-jong, a proud building owner on the outside, but behind the scenes a man on the verge of bankruptcy. But we love him! It’s not his fault! It’s going to be okay, right?? I’m not sure if it’s just Ha Jung-woo who made me immediately sympathetic for this character — or the way Soo-jong is introduced to us as this struggling hero who can’t bear to show he’s struggling — but I’m immediately on his side.
The introduction to his family shows us his wife (IM SOO-JUNG) and daughter (PARK SEO-KYUNG) and their interactions. The father-daughter dynamic is adorable, only made more so by the fact that his daughter is deaf so they have cute sign language exchanges. It’s his wife’s birthday, and he’s scolded by his daughter to bring the cake and the present in time. His wife sits by pretending not to see; it’s clear they love each other, but also, their relationship has become strained. The way Soo-jong hides their financial struggles bites him in the ass when his wife later founds out; she’s also been asking him for marriage counseling because they’re so disconnected lately.
However, when we get a look into Soo-jong’s day, it’s not hard to see why he’s pulled back from his family and is just working himself to the bone trying to make ends meet. The interest on his building mortgage is higher than he can pay, and so much of Soo-jong’s time is spent trying to figure out how to cover the payment, when the rents in the building are due, who he can borrow from, or how he can make more money to cover it. He’s already doing more than the average K-drama Candy, running off during the day from the building management office to deliver food and hand out fliers, etc. There’s also something about the color Ha Jung-woo brings to the role that makes Soo-jong a little more unpredictable than we think he is, whether it’s flying around the neighborhood on his bike doing deliveries like a teenager, or going hither and thither in his track suit (which, ironically, says “LAZY” on it).
Money problems are taking up Soo-jong’s entire life, from getting caught delivering food by his daughter (gasp!) to buying the luxury wallet his wife wanted for her birthday at a discount from some creepo in a subway station.
Meanwhile, Soo-jong’s dire situation is pitted against that of his friend MIN HWAL-SUNG (Kim Joon-han) and his wealthy wife JEON YI-KYUNG (Krystal). In one scene where a desperate Soo-jong asks his friend for a loan, Hwal-sung fibs that he’s in a meeting. Meanwhile, he’s in his living room getting a massage while his wife and mother-in-law get pedicures and stare at their phones. In addition to being a great moment of satire, it also amps up the ante for the plot to come later.
Soo-jong only asked Hwal-sung for money as a last resort — he doesn’t seem to want to let his guard down around anyone, except one: his brother-in-law KIM GYUN (Kim Nam-gil, what a pleasant surprise!). These two are close as thieves, so close that Gyun has helped him out when he needed money before, offers to help him again, trusts his character, annnnnnd takes him to a place they might get in trouble… The suspense is high until we see that the two have snuck into a noraebang and are singing their worries out together. HA! Okay, Gyun is too good to be true, so at this point I’m convinced he’s either going to stab our hero in the back, or be sacrificed at the Altar of Plot. We can’t have nice things.
While all this is going on with our hero, there’s a sinister redevelopment plot playing out simultaneously. It’s a similar setup to ones we have seen before: a shady paper company (in this case, Real Capital) starts pressuring building owners into selling their property so the company can carry out its devious plans. And by “pressuring” I mean locking them up and torturing them, sending them bloody fingers, and letting them get blown up in buildings. In other words, they are not nice people, and their main operator is KIM YONA (a very frightening Shim Eun-kyung).
Of course, it’s only a matter of time before our hero is entangled in this nefarious setup. When he’s busy thinking things can’t get worse than late interest payments and crushing half of his wife’s birthday cake before the party, things actually do get worse. His debt is purchased by Real Capital and a ginormous payment is demanded within a week. Needless to say, Soo-jong can’t even come close to raising the amount, the bank won’t give him but pennies, he’s already spent his daughter’s college fund in desperation (ack!), and Hwal-sung refused to help. What’s an ajusshi to do but march to the Real Capital offices and demand an explanation for what’s going on?
As expected, Real Capital is shady as hell — their floor isn’t even accessible by the elevator and is like an undocumented hidden floor — fully furnished, and fully empty. But, Yona and her crony DR. JANG (Lee Shin-ki) are there in the executive office. They make a belligerent Soo-jong an offer to buy his building that has him sure they’re scam artists and quickly taking off. Oh, if only it were as simple as a scam. From the hard drive these two have, replete with mystery files and sex tapes, it seems like there’s no end to the crazy ahead.
Soo-jong is spooked and calls his brother-in-law who jumps to his aid. Gyun is —hooray! — a detective, and a damn good one at that. Bro is fully in investigation mode, finds the Real Capital office, and noodles around on the Computer of Mysterious Files. He copies it to a flashdrive, but — omg the tension so high — just as the file transfer completes, Yona pops in and he’s forced to leave it behind.
Remember when I said Gyun was either going to be a traitor or was about to be removed from the story? Sadly, I was correct, and it’s the latter. He barely has time to call Soo-jong and share a little intel over the phone and then WHAM. Truck of Doom. Never have I been more unhappy to see that truck. And as for the drama, it wastes so time showing us it’s Dr. Jang who just did the deed. Great.
Soo-jong stitches the situation together quite quickly, but what’s a broke, grieving ajusshi to do? He attends the funeral of his only confidant, miserable and mourning while his wife is inconsolable. Back in his seedy basement office that night, he sits there weighing his options, not wanting to report what’s going on, but not exactly seeing another choice.
Just then, some banging in the basement distracts him, and in true Soo-jong style he grabs a golf club and heads in the direction of the noise. At the end of the corridor, what does he see but his friend Hwal-sung and his wife, who’s wet and unconscious on the floor.
What the kidnap is going on here? I have no idea, but I will say, this drama knows a thing or two about creating intriguing moments, and then dropping some really, really good music on top of them. It makes this ending scene, and it worked the same way in earlier moments in the episode as well.
With a fantastic setup, and a slightly unhinged way of digging into a plot in a way you wouldn’t expect, I can only imagine the twists and turns that are ahead for our hero. Will our hero be able to hold onto his building (and his fingers) and get to bottom of this scheme? Or will he just be buried the deeper he digs?
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