Origin and release year: South Korea (2022 – Never Give Up)
Korean title: 구필수는 없다
Starring: Kwak Do Won, HIGHLIGHT Yoon Do Joon, Han Go Eun, Park Won Sook, Jung Dong Won, Kim Young Woong, Kim Tae Hoon, Wang Ji Won, Jeong Jae Kwang, Shin Joo Hyup, Park Sung Yun, Jung Da Eun, An Seong Won, Kim Min Seo, Seo Ji Won, Kim Ji Young, Yang Hak Jin, J-Black, Song Ji Ho, Kwon Hae Hyo, Nam Da Nu
Director: Choi Do Hoon
Screenwriter: Son Geun Joo, Lee Hae Ri
Synopsis: A young entrepreneur finds an unlikely partner, and friend, in a middle-aged breadwinner as they live together in the home of an enigmatic loan shark. (IMDb)
This was such a wholesome feel-good K-drama watch. It’s the perfect family-based K-drama with just the right amount of everything. In fact, watching this two years after it’s release made this writer realize just how under-appreciated this drama is.
It didn’t get nearly enough hype when it was on the circuit, which is a shame.
Gu Pil Su (played by Kwak Do Won) was the perfect lead who had all the charisma and charm to keep us rooting for him throughout the entire story. He really made the drama special and what it is.
The characters in the drama (and actors) all had amazing chemistry.
Jung Suk (played by HIGHLIGHT Yoon Do Joon) and Seul Gi (played by Jung Da Eun)’s love line was especially cute because it was understated and didn’t take over the core of all of their interactions. It felt like something that you would witness in real life, which made it all the more relatable.
On the topic of love lines… We need to talk about how nonchalantly everyone glazed over the fact that Gu Pil Su’s wife (played by Han Go Eun) and Eun Ho (played by Kim Tae Hoon) were basically having an emotional affair… That went unresolved in the end, too. I mean…
You know what. Maybe it was an artistic choice to keep the drama PG (any other way of handling this subject matter would likely turn the drama into a makjang) but it just seemed entirely unrealistic and also like the storyline was underutilized. Especially because the wife had a habit of constantly making Pil Su the bad guy but throughout the entire drama she barely acknowledges any wrong she’s done to him (only somewhat to her son).
Speaking of the son, getting Jun Pyo (played by Jung Dong Won) to do ‘hip-hop’ when he is famous for trot was a nice plot-twist. Somehow they managed to keep it age-appropriate and wholesome too through his lyrics.
However, it was a little disappointing how he ended up not following all the way through with it – just felt like a weird subliminal message to send (that studying is the wisest choice or something like this) when we all know that kids in Korea need more creative freedom.
The only other disappointing thing would probably be the pay off of Lee Min Jae (played by Jeong Jae Kwang)’s character’s actions. He got what he deserved in the end but it would’ve been nice to have more focus on his fall from grace because that plot line felt a bit neglected towards the end.
As a whole the cast and the character writing was amazing. So was the general plot minus a few shortfalls.
We highly recommend this drama if you’re looking for something easy on the brain and with high entertainment value to watch!
What did you think of Never Give Up? Let us know in the comments!