"Gold Land" Review

How does a thriller drama have better chemistry than romance dramas these days?? If we put that aside, it's been a while since I enjoyed a drama this much.

Please note that even if a drama has Park Bo Young in it doesn't mean that it will be nice, light and romantic. I saw too many comments going into this expecting a rom-com and being surprised that it's not.

Share your thoughts about the drama below!

"Gold Land" was written by Hwang Jo Yoon and directed by Kim Sung Hoon.

I haven't seen any of the previous works by either Kim Sung Hoon or Hwang Jo Yoon, which can sometimes be even better, as there are no expectations.

And "Gold Land" definitely left me with a great impression.

I enjoyed the filming locations and the narrative the drama was going for; it was consistent and intriguing to watch.

There are a lot of scenes filmed in the dark, which usually leaves the viewers barely able to see what is happening. I wouldn't say that there were a lot of scenes like that (not enough for me to notice it much).

There were also a lot of tense scenes, in which the director created a perfect atmosphere and left me sitting on edge a few times. For example, the tension created in the coal mine, where we are left wondering if someone will find them or not.

Director: 9.5/10

Synopsis

Kim Hui Ju works as a security screening agent at an international airport. Due to her boyfriend Lee Do Gyeong, who works as a co-pilot for an airline, she accidentally receives gold from a smuggling organisation. Kim Hui Ju becomes obsessed with the gold. She becomes the centre of chaos, greed, and betrayal involving various people, including loan shark employee Jang Uk, detective Kim Jin Man, and executive Park Ho Cheol from the gang Geumsung, engaged with the hotel casino Gold Land. (MyDramaList)

Spoiler-free part of "Gold Land" review.

"Gold Land" is great at knowing what they want to show and staying consistent with that.

The pacing was very well done, and in the first episode it seems like everything is moving fast, but you still know that things will be explained and revealed.

From start to finish, this drama had me on the edge of my seat.

Watching the tensions rise and grow as more people find out about the gold, and how their greed comes into play, was amazing.

The characters make a lot of bad decisions in the drama, but it fit well with their characters.

Hui Ju always wanted to portray herself as a very strong person, but actually is a softie, and you can see that more in her actions.

If you decide to watch it, "Gold Land" might be frustrating at times, but try to get into the leads' shoes; it might become more understandable. And the leads, especially Woo Gi, are hard not to love.

This is more of an action drama, and less focus is put on the characters, but the stories they revealed were interesting to watch. It also added something to each character.

Now let's continue with spoilers...

Overall: 10/10

"Gold Land" storyline sucked me in right away. What about you?

The first episode was very quick-paced. While we're being introduced to the main characters, they are already on the go.

At first it might be a bit confusing, but everything is explained quickly, and it doesn't interfere with the pacing.

The drama has only 10 episodes to tell the story, and this was done perfectly. There was no moment when I thought it was going too fast or too slow. It just engrosses you in the story.

There were always characters added to the bit to showcase how they react to the gold.

For example, the ex-colleague coming down to get her as soon as she finds out what was in the casket. Or her abuser step-father always craving for more.

It added nicely to the storyline without forgetting the tension while Hui Ju is still being chased.

Of course, as any other thriller, it has a lot of frustrating moments. Where a police officer, after so many years on the job, is still so bad at tailing someone that he quickly gets noticed. Also, the decisions Hui Ju makes will make people throw their heads at the wall!

The ending left me satisfied, and how the journey went. It didn't forget to have some emotional scenes, and you really could feel for the characters.

The credit scene left it a bit more open, but I didn't mind it. It's still okay for me to imagine that they now live happily ever after with Woo Gi.

Storyline: 10/10

Lead characters from "Gold Land"; the character pictures are taken from Asianwiki.

The biggest complaint about the drama that I've seen is that the characters make too many bad decisions, but as much as it can frustrate the viewers, it gives a nice touch to the characters.

Kim Hui Ju at first is shown as a very silent person. She doesn't engage much with her colleagues and is worried about her boyfriend, who hasn't been paying for the rent for quite some time.

When she gets gold, her world changes, but her demeanour doesn't. She's still this very quiet, shy person who is not sure what she's doing, but with the episodes you can see her grow stronger.

There are still a lot of decisions that she makes that I disagree with, but looking at her character, it makes perfect sense.

She always talks about how she wants money and would do anything, doesn't matter who dies, but we see that even with gold bars she cares too much about the closest people to her. I do believe that Kim Hui Ju thinks of herself as a cold-hearted person and puts on this demeanour that she's bad, but actions speak louder than words.

She's still a softie inside.

Woo Gi is hands down the best character in this. I wished we saw more of his backstory, but I would probably end up crying too much. It was already enough to see the scene where he just stands there and waits for his friends to tag him.

It shows his character throughout the whole drama, and his loyalty to Kim Hui Ju and people who help him out.

I have to add that the chemistry between Hui Ju and Woo Gi is there, and I'm eating all the breadcrumbs we got. (The scene where Hui Ju wants to shoot the man and Woo Gi keeps her hand steady while being barely alive is PEAK romance).

Seeing Kim Jin Man's story with Yeo Seon Ok was heartbreaking. They have made a lot of mistakes throughout their lives, but you can still feel the love that they have for one another. They had some beautiful scenes, and it was interesting to learn about them, and definitely impacted how I looked at the characters.

However, we needed to know more about Lee Do Gyeong. I get that technically he's barely there, but the crumbs that we got (him cheating on Hui Ju, being involved with the gangs) were not enough. At least for the very last scene where he got killed.

We didn't see this connection he had with Hui Ju, and why it felt so different for him. Why he didn't just run away with the gold until everything quieted down?

Park Ho Cheol was an amazing villain. You never knew what he was up to next, but he would crawl his way to get the gold, and it was impressive. We don't have much of his backstory, just that he was working for An Gyu Seok and was like a dog to him rather than a good assistant. But I don't feel like there's any need to have more; it was perfectly understandable why he did what he did, and it was impressive/scary to watch him in some parts.

I feel like this drama, overall, did quite well with the characters. "Gold Land" is not a character-focused drama, but we got enough to root for our leads and see a glimpse into their lives and what they would love to change.

Characters: 9.5/10

The acting in "Gold Land" blew my mind.

I would love to comment on the actors for this drama as they did a phenomenal job.

My surprise comes to Lee Kwang Soo; everything about him screamed the villain, and it was even refreshing to see him in this kind of role. We got a glimpse of this in "The Manipulated" and "Karma", but in this he went totally berserk for the character, and it was lovely to see.

As much as people love to see Park Bo Young in cute roles, in the past few years she has taken a more intense route. Dramas talking about mental illness, thrillers, and I absolutely love it for her.

She is great at portraying her characters, and every episode you can see how much it takes a toll on the character's physical and mental well-being.

Kim Sung Cheol has become a scene stealer for this drama. Seemingly a small role at first, he got more and more screen time (as the character gets involved with Hui Ju), and he quickly became so lovable.

Other characters did amazingly too, and deserve all the applause for their role in this drama. It didn't feel like someone was lacking, and you could really get immersed in the drama.

Acting: 10/10