Hotel King Episode 1 & 2 First Impressions by Fangirl Ciel

I’ve checked out the first two episodes of Hotel King for one reason only. I have a soft spot for My Girl and I would love to see a Gong Chan and Yoo Rin reunion.

Awww... Just looking at this picture makes me feel nostalgic.

This is a revenge melo drama and I thought it would be refreshing to watch something new since all the dramas I’m currently watching are romcoms.

Here’s the official synopsis of the drama:

 “This drama portrays the story of a heiress, Ah Mo Ne (Lee Da Hae) who lives a sheltered life like a princess but a catastrophe pushes her to do all she can to protect her hotel. She and the general manager of the hotel, Cha Jae Wan (Lee Dong Wook) who appears cold on the outside but carries emotional baggage, fall in love.

Cha Jae Wan and his mother were abandoned by his father. As an adult, he begins to work at a hotel and becomes an enemy to his father who abandoned him.”

I decided to write my first impressions instead since it’s too early to write a report card for it. Well here it goes.

Story

Honestly, I’m not really impressed with what I have seen so far. The story is kinda choppy, or maybe it’s the editing I’m not sure. I say this because I could tell that some of the scenes are supposed to be emotional and heart tugging but I find myself indifferent to it. So obvious that it’s trying so hard to be dramatic and dark, that it destroys the moment.

I’m thinking that maybe this drama is too dark for my taste. It reminds me of Empire of Gold, which I’ve only watched for about four episodes since I found it too dark and depressing. I’ll still check out the next two episodes and will decide after if I’ll continue.

Characters

 So far, I don’t really like any of the characters yet.

The male lead Cha Jae Wan, is your typical male lead who is cold and emotionless. He is the manager of Hotel Ciel (awesome hotel name I must say!) and is well known in the hotel industry. He has a dark past, he was part of a street children syndicate. He was saved by Lee Joong Goo, who claimed to know his father who discarded Jae Wan with his mother when he was young. Lee Joong Goo offered to help him, giving him the best education possible then exact revenge to his father. Young Jae Wan agreed and dedicated his life from then on to Lee Joong Go’s wishes.

While watching this scene, I was like WHAT???  I know Jae Wan is young, but he accepted all Joong Goo’s words just like that? With not even a hint of proof? Or perhaps a question?

Now in the present, we find out that Lee Joong Goo told Jae Wan that his father is Chairman Ah, the owner of Hotel Ciel. Lee Joong Goo also happens to be the Vice Chairman of Hotel Ciel. Chairman Ah seems to be suffering some kind of mental sickness, and we see him wondering aimless around the hotel.

He had a fight with Jae Wan about some document, on how he trusted him. They had a screaming match, and Jae Wan finally confronted him that he was his son, even mentioning his mother’s name to trigger Chairman’s memory. Chairman Ah seems to deny this, it’s hard to tell because he is also acting a little crazy.

Jae Wan left to supervise a hotel event, and next thing we know we see Chairman’s Ah body came crashing down from his office up in the hotel, it was ruled as suicide but the drama gives hints that it might be foul play. So, the plot thickens.  

 I bet my bottom dollar that Chairman Ah is not Jae Wan’s father. Unluckily for Jae Wan, because I think his actual father is Lee Joong Goo. If my assumption is correct,  this man has become even more despicable. His evil smirks in the drama alone angers and scares me at the same time. I hate how subservient Jae Wan is to Lee Joong Go, he treats him like a lowly servant. I am hoping that Jae Wan will grow a pair someday and stand up for himself.

Another reason that Chairman Ah can’t be Jae Wan’s father is because that would mean that Ah Mo Ne is his sister! And it would be incest and disgusting if these two fall in love when they’re related. Yes this drama is dark, but I think it would go that path.

Now moving on to Ah Mo Ne, Hotel Ciel’s heiress, she has so many faces that it’s confusing. She’s known as the Korean Paris Hilton, so in front of others she is spoiled, dumb, bratty, and materialistic. But when she’s alone, we see glimpses of real (?) personality. She’s a great rock climber, drives motorcycles, a loving daughter and a computer genius. She’s smarter that she lets on, and she does not believe that her father committed suicide and decided to avenge his father’s death. I think she's a mixed of all those characteristics, which made her seem unreal to me. 

She’s deathly afraid of birds, and again I bet my bottom dollar that it involves the evil Lee Joong Go again. Right before her father died, she got a call from him telling her not too trust anybody. So she took the warning by heart, and is suspicious of Lee Joong Joo and Jae Wan.

Ah Mo Ne’s fashion in the drama brightens the mood of the drama, they look gorgeous on screen. I just knew that Lee Dae Hee’s going to bring it!

As early as the first two episodes, we can already tell that Jae Wan is already thawing to Ah Mo Ne. It starts with pity, then concern and then gradually evolves to admiration. At the end of episode 2, we see him hesitating before hugging and comforting Ah Mo Ne, but we know it’s useless since he probably fell in love with her already a little.  Which freaked me out, because to his knowledge, she is still his SISTER. Why are you having inappropriate thoughts to your sister? Gosh, it’s like Yi Hyun Oppa liking Doo Rim all over again.

All of the side characters were also introduced, and they were just ok. I see one that has a potential, Baek Mi Nyo. I have a feeling she’s going to be awesome and funny.

 The other female lead, Song Chae Kyung, a rich widower appears to be Jae Wan’s ex girl friend. Girl’s got spunk, and it’s hilarious how elegant she looks outside but can easily matched Ah Mo Ne’s bitchy tantrums.

Sun Woo Hyun seems to be the other male lead. Am I the only one who think it’s weird how much he loves Chairman Ah? He practically worships the guy.

Overall, the first two episodes of Hotel King failed to meet my expectations. It’s a big budget drama in a large network with great cast, so I was hoping that it’ll be more impressive. I think that the story will get better once Jae Wan is out of Lee Joong Go’s grasp and starts protecting Ah Mo Ne. I just hope that it’ll come soon enough while I’m still aboard this ship.