King the Land season 1 episode 1 recap & review

Open Go TV / June 18, 2023 / Reviews

In King the Land season 1 episode 1, the main characters cross paths twice, with both instances being seven years apart as their lives unfold with varying pace.

Recap

Cheerful Cheon Sa-Rang gives an interview for a hotelier job at the prestigious King Hotel. Surprising the interviewer, she actually manages to secure the offer, the news of which she later receives in utter disbelief, since without even a bachelor’s degree, she only intended to gain experience from the interview.

Meanwhile, the youngest child of the King Group, Goo-Won arrives in Korea and fails to work his way bottom-up as an intern, which upsets his father since he expects better from him. On the other hand, his sister and the eldest child of the King Group, Goo Hwa-Ran — the same woman who hired Sa-Rang — seem to hate her brother.

She wants him to go back to the UK and doesn’t hang around in Korea. He stays at the King Hotel for a while before heading off to the UK. In the meantime, Sa-Rang enjoys her job, except for a misunderstanding that leads her to believe that Goo Won is a pervert.

Later, she impresses Hwa-Ran again, who promotes her to lobby immediately. Goo Won goes back to the UK and seven years pass during which he graduates and largely remains wistful in his privilege, while Sa-Rang really flourishes and climbs the ladder steadily at work.

In the present, Goo Won returns to Korea and informs his father that he’d be working now, starting from a lower position at the King Hotel, which makes his father happy, and his sister upset.

King the Land episode 1 ends with Goo Won entering a room just as Sa-Rang is marveling at the see-through windows of the toilet while relieving herself of the runs. She is jolted by Goo Won’s entrance, and he’s shocked too.

Review

King the Land drops a solid premiere as there seems to be a really good setup in terms of the main characters and storylines.
Goo Won and Hwa-Ran seem really adorable and their enemies-to-lovers arc is off to a great start.
There seems to be more weight given to the humorous aspect over the more serious one, and while it kind of works for a premiere, there is something to be desired when it comes to the emotional core of the central storyline.