K-Drama

Will “Pandora: Beneath the Paradise” and “7 Escape” continue the success of “Penthouse”?

The major cast of SBS’ “Penthouse”, which became a major hit with 3 seasons, will be making their return in 2 dramas with similar motifs. 

After the massive success of “Penthouse”, major cast members are returning to the small screen through two notable works. 

penthouse

In particular, Lee Ji Ah and Bong Tae Gyu will work together for tvN’s “Pandora: Beneath the Paradise’, while Um Ki Joon, Shin Eun Kyung and Yoon Jong Hoon will collaborate for SBS’ “7 Escape”.

Most noticeably, from their respective synopsis, both of the aforementioned works exude a strange sense of deja vu to “Penthouse”. For instance, “Pandora: Beneath the Paradise” is a revenge drama in which a woman who lives an enviable life recovers her lost memories of the past while punishing the forces that manipulated her fate. Meanwhile, “7 Escape” deals with the missing case of a girl and seven people who were involved in it.

7 escape

The main concepts of desire, betrayal, and revenge in these 2 K-dramas overlap with “Penthouse”, which is also a suspense revenge drama. Therefore, it is predicted that Lee Ji Ah, Bong Tae Gyu, Um Ki Joon, Shin Eun Kyung, and Yoon Jong Hoon have only taken off the “parent” titles, and will eventually perform an extension of their previous hit. 

On the other hand, there is a reason behind the familiarity, as writer Kim Soon Ok of “Penthouse” participated as a creator in “Pandora: Beneath the Paradise” and wrote “7 Escape”. Moreover, screenwriter Hyun Ji Min, who is in charge of writing “Pandora: Beneath the Paradise”, was an assistant writer for Kim’s previous works, leading to an inevitably high synchro rate.

pandora 7 escape

With a changed background and several cast adjustments, it remains a question whether “Pandora: Beneath the Paradise” and “7 Escape” will be able to continue the success of “Penthouse”, or if they will produce sluggish results due to repetitive motives. 

At the same time, it is important to note that even “Penthouse” suffered from viewership decline in its 3rd season, due to forced developments and “draggy” story. 

One certain element, however, is that the viewers’ standards has heightened alongside the status of K-drama. Therefore, between “Pandora: Beneath the Paradise” and “7 Escape”, it seems that whichever work can go more out of the box will become the winner. 

Source: Naver

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