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Pierce Conran

This article contains spoilers.
2/5 stars
Lead cast: Lee Jae-wook, Lee Jun-young, Hong Su-zu
If we look at its starting point and end point, it would be fair to assume that The Impossible Heir, a Disney+ Korean drama series starring Lee Jae-wook and Lee Jun-young, is a tale about male camaraderie and ambition, and how the latter can utterly warp the former.


Unfortunately, such an assumption is not borne out by its narrative about outsider Han Tae-o (Lee Jae-wook) and Kang In-ha (Lee Jun-young), the illegitimate son of the chairman of the Kangoh Group, who have a grand plan to take over the corporation – not that we are ever privy to its details.
Throwing a spanner in the works is the appearance of Na Hye-won (Hong Su-zu), one of the most misconceived lead female K-drama characters in recent memory.
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On paper, her character’s role is quite simple. She is the romantic interest who draws the attention of the male leads and inadvertently drives a wedge between them before they eventually go down their separate paths.
In practice, however, it never feels that way. Hye-won is a flat character who shares no chemistry with the leads, yet who, beyond her failure as a romantic device, serves no function in the narrative – so much so that in the last two episodes she barely appears on screen.
She is never fully integrated into the story and the show’s writers didn’t know what to do with her, beyond having her reappear at the end and look wistfully up at the sky.

Once Tae-o and In-ha become enemies, with Tae-o painted as the hero to In-ha’s villain, the narrative becomes a face-off between them. It’s no longer a question of whether they can take over Kangoh, it’s a question of who among them will pull it off and at what cost.
The power struggle happens in the wake of the death of Kang In-ju (Han Sang-jin), the firstborn son of company chairman Kang Joong-mo (Choi Jin-ho).
When Joong-mo ends up in a coma after collapsing for the umpteenth time, a boardroom reshuffle is required – new alliances need to be formed as Tao-o and In-ha forge links with the remaining Kangoh family members.
Tae-o’s alliance is the one that makes the most sense. Following the death of his mother – which caps a woefully underdeveloped subplot – he is approached at her funeral by Joong-mo’s second son Kang Seong-ju (Lee Ji-hoon).

Seong-ju has also just lost his mother, who is currently behind bars – and the instigator of this and the death of Tae-o’ s mother is In-ha.
By contrast, In-ha’s alliance is both perfunctory and highly illogical. It is forged during a scene in which he meets Jung Ji-sun (Lee Seo-an), In-ju’s widow, in her art gallery.
They stand in front of a landscape painting and she explains that people and paintings cannot be figured out through their appearance alone. She adds that details can be overlooked only to later be rediscovered. She confusingly concludes that her point is about looking into the future.
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Although he hasn’t yet gone to prison for it, In-ha ordered the death of Ji-sun’s husband; this scene is meant to demonstrate their cautious alliance as In-ha attempts to consolidate power to achieve his ultimate ambition, taking control of Kangoh.
Why Ji-sun would side with outcast In-ha over her brother-in-law Seong-ju is never explained, and this is the last time she speaks in the series.
Not surprisingly, the victor in the battle for control of Kangoh turns out to be Tae-o, who takes control with Joong-mo’s blessing, while In-ha briefly rots in prison before taking his own life.
Curiously, following the conclusion of Flex X Cop, this is the second show in as many weeks that has ended with an illegitimate heir becoming a villain.

To its credit, The Impossible Heir did finish in better form than it began. After winnowing all the chaff, including Hye-won, and tightening up its narrative, there remained a mostly clear story to follow as the show rushed towards its climax.
Was this conclusion strong enough to save the show as a whole? Alas, the damage had already been done in what has proven to be Disney+’s first major dud after a strong run of K-dramas since last summer, beginning with Moving.
The Impossible Heir is streaming on Disney+.


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A rare dud for Disney+, this Korean drama series follows two friends (Lee Jae-wook and Lee Jun-young) who plot to take over a Korean corporation
Hong Su-zu plays love interest Na Hye-won, who drives a wedge between the two friends, although her character has no chemistry with either of them


This clunky Disney+ K-drama dud follows two friends (played by Lee Jae-wook and Lee Jun-young) who plot to take over a Korean corporation, and the woman (Hong Su-zu) who comes between them.


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