SKY CASTLE SERIES
SKY CASTLE TV
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This being a Korean TV drama, some of the characters will have a past that they would rather was kept secret and if two characters turn out to have an unexpected blood relationship with each other, well, maybe that’s par for the course. All the other mums immediately swing into action to discover the secret of the lad’s success: what studying methods, what extra-curricular activities and volunteering will make for the perfect resumé and guarantee the coveted place? It turns out that the answer is to hire Kim Joo-young, a frosty, black-clad androgynous “admissions coordinator” deliciously played by Kim Seo-hyung, whose emotionless, controlled character that sometimes allows herself a secret smile would be equally at home as the boss of a mafia family. One of the lads in the Castle – the son of Dr Park – gets accepted into Seoul National university’s medical school. Queen Bee among the mums is Han Seo-jin (Yeom Jung-ah), whose waspish, bright, but insufferably smug daughter Ye-seo (Kim Hye-yoon) seems to be destined for exam success.Īs the first episode introduces us to the central characters in the drama, there is some joyous news. All of the wives are stay-at-home mums, pushing their kids to educational success, but have wardrobes and hairdos that befit the Sky elite. But even if the accommodation is paid for, the lifestyle led by many of the families is beyond the means of the sole breadwinner.

For three of the families at the centre of this drama, living in Sky Castle is a perk that comes with being a surgeon at a nearby hospital. The size of the accommodation means that living in Sky Castle would be beyond the means of any of its inhabitants without some form of subsidy. Han Seo-jin (Yeom Jung-ah) presides over a typical dinner in Sky Castle Parents and grandparents push their children to excel at school so as to achieve the desired place at the most presitigious university, and spend eye-watering amounts of money in hiring private tutors who can guarantee entrance into the right university. Social mobility is reduced, societal advantages entrenched. Privelege breeds privilege and members of the elite want to retain their advantages and repel unwanted intruders. The education system and associated private academies are geared towards success in the university admissions process. SKY is an acronym for Korea’s three most prestigious universities (Seoul National, Korea and Yonsei), and entry into one of those three is seen as a guarantee of future success. Definitely no unauthorised riff-raff allowed within these lofty precincts.īut Sky Castle is also metaphorical. Each time the residents approach the compound in their swanky foreign car (one of the families is a two Range Rover household) two flunkies haul open the portcullis-like gates and bow deferentially at the royalty driving in, before closing the gates behind them. Geographically it’s a castle in the sky: the individual buildings have a monumental, castle-like appearance and the views down the valley are appealing. The action takes place in a privileged gated community high up in the hills. The latter looked gentle enough, and I’ll definitely return to pick it up later, but it was the contemporary relevance of Sky Castle, together with its visuals and darkish storyline, that instantly hooked me.

Inspired by Claire’s recommendation I started simultaneously on Sky Castle and Crash Landing On You. Thanks to Claire’s recent article on some of the K-dramas available on Netflix, I logged on for the first time in months, and was staggered at the back catalogue of well-known dramas from the past few years.

SKY CASTLE FREE

And with the ready availability, the lure of instant gratification in a locked-down world in which you haven’t been out to a Korean cultural event for several weeks overcomes the fact that really you don’t have any more free time than you used to. Within the fixed monthly cost you have access to more TV drama boxed sets than you can possibly consume. With the arrival of Netflix, and presumably other streaming services with similar content, the cost objection falls away.

SKY CASTLE SERIES

I made the monetary investment in respect of a couple of classic series – Sandglass and Winter Sonata – but never managed to find the hours in the day to watch them There have been several reasons for this, but basically it boils down to lack of time, and the prohibitive cost of the DVD boxed sets. People might find it strange that, despite the fact that I’ve been following Korean culture for 20 years now, I’ve never watched a complete TV Drama series.

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