Can love and loyalty survive when power and ambition are at stake? What if the hunger to succeed and to control is so strong that it is never satiated?
Prosecutor Bang Tae Seop (Ju Ji Hoon) and his film star wife Chu Sang Ah (Han Ji Won) have secrets—so much so that while the couple is not entirely distrustful of each other, they are wary because the foundation of their union is one shrouded in dishonesty and scandal. When it comes to personal agendas, these two may have taken the vow of being together for better or worse, but they can just as easily throw each other under the bus.
Tae Seop is maneuvering his way to the top, but he may have to walk all over Sang Ah. And it seems Sang Ah has no qualms in dismantling her husband’s best-laid plans for her own good. Both have their own moles and informants, unleashing them at will.
“Climax” takes us into the cut-throat yet ruthless world of politics and showbiz, where relationships and emotions are sacrificed at the altar of greed and hunger.
Warning: spoilers from episodes 1-2 ahead.
When we first meet Tae Seop, he is driving in rain and in a hurry to bury a body. We also meet Sang Ah, who is bruised and hurt and is being interrogated. What happened, and how did the couple get here? The viewers are informed that it was Tae Seop’s greed which got him here and that he was willing to even give up the one thing he cherished, his wife.
Tae Seop’s background is introduced to the viewers, and the story is a familiar one. The son of a factory worker, he became a prosecutor to avenge his father, who had killed himself after being accused of corruption. But Tae Seop wants to climb the ladder, as he describes it, to stand above the world and look down upon the rich. He has, however, been unable to make it to the elite club of law and policy makers.
His life takes a turn when he meets the matinee crush Chu Sang Ah, the very woman whose poster adorned his shabby room. They meet when she comes to the prosecutor’s office as a witness for a murder, which involves two people known to her.
Their marriage, soon after the case, is described by the media as the romance of the century, the union between a poor prosecutor and a popular star. It could well be his ticket to the elite rooms, helping further his career as a swish law maker.
But a tax-evading scandal not only plummets Sang Ah’s career as she falls from grace, but Tae Seop sees his plans going awry as the husband of a disgraced superstar.
In the present day, Tae Seop has his hopes set on a potential career in politics, and for him to make any headway, he has to take down Mayor Nam Hye Hoon (Yoon Sa Bong). A thorn in his side, she is a woman he detests for her scheming ways. Unfortunately for him, she is backed by the unscrupulous Lee Yang Mi (Cha Joo Young). Yang Mi has her claws and stilettos in every pie, politics, or showbiz. The director of the formidable WR Enterprises, she is also the investor in Sang Ah’s talent agency and has had beef with her ever since Yang Mi’s husband has always had a thing for Sang Ah.
These are not people who like each other but are co-dependent, given their calculating games, which even makes a tricky chess game seem like child’s play—especially since no one can intercept each other’s moves.
When Yang Mi makes Sang Ah an offer to back her comeback project, one that could get her career back on track, there is a condition. The brightest star in Sang Ah’s agency has caught the mayor’s fancy, and Sang Ah is compelled to broker access. It is something she is against, having been a victim of such sponsorship in her own rookie years. Despite her cold exterior, we see that Sang Ah still carries scars from her past, and she doesn’t want her talent to go through what she did. The world of glamour, after all, has some ghastly behind-the-scenes stories.
But this is just the bait Tae Seop is looking for. Well aware that there is enough dirt on the mayor that no one has been able to unearth, this could be his moment.
Tae Seop has his own mole, the feisty Jeong Won (Nana), whom he describes as the only woman he can trust and the one he can even discuss his wife with. What his relationship with her is, one can only guess. She informs him of the mayor’s planned rendezvous at the WR Hotel, handing him the key to the room.
Sang Ah too makes her way to the hotel but has a panic attack when she is informed that her talent by his own will is okay with having the mayor as his sponsor.
What follows is calculated. Tae Seop films the mayor—footage that could not only destroy Yang Mi and the mayor but his own wife as well.
Even as Sang Ah begs him not to make the video public, Yang Mi warns him of dangerous consequences if he does. She reveals that Sang Ah is still in touch with her obsessive fan, now serving jail time for murder. It’s the very case that brought the two together 10 years ago, a Pandora’s box that Tae Seop had firmly locked away.
Yang Mi also makes it clear she is not a woman to mess with, threatening to expose proof of their marriage of convenience.
Riled, he puts Jeong Won on Sang Ah’s set to probe further. She confirms Yang Mi was telling the truth, that Sang Ah has been lying to him. It is rather baffling how neither husband nor wife trust the other and would pull out all stops to outmaneuver the other.
Tae Seop, though angry, is unflustered, and has this almost sadistic quality where he enjoys the mess he creates for others. With calm precision, he uploads the footage, turning into the whistleblower. The mayor’s misconduct and misuse of power come to light, presenting Tae Seop as the nation’s man with a conscience.
As Yang Mi swears to bring him down, she tells Sang Ah that she will be used as bait and won’t even realize it. It seems none of them have anticipated what Sang Ah is capable of. She could hold the key to the very space where careers in politics and showbiz are made and destroyed. Sang Ah is a layered woman, and there is depth, but one can’t fully grasp it unless they truly delve within.
“Climax” packs a punch, showing the intricate power play between politics and showbiz, how each feeds off the other. When there are no friends and only transactions, everything comes at a cost with a return on investment.
An ensemble of power-packed performances by Ju Ji Hoon, Han Ji Won, Nana, and Cha Joo Young makes the show a winner. And the color palette of dark tones, greys, and blues adds to the aesthetic.
Since the groundwork has been laid, one can’t help but wonder, where does this couple go from here? Is there any room for retribution, or is this one destined for a fall where everything will be sacrificed?
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Puja Talwar is a Soompi writer with a strong Yoo Yeon Seok and Lee Junho bias. A long time K-drama fan, she loves devising alternate scenarios to the narratives. She has interviewed Lee Min Ho, Gong Yoo, Cha Eun Woo, and Ji Chang Wook to name a few. You can follow her on @puja_talwar7 on Instagram.