Summary
Romance in the House gets off to a very intriguing start, presenting viewers with many questions and mysteries out of the gate.
Of all the subgenres of Korean drama, romance is among the most enduringly popular and closely associated with the nation’s output. Romance in the House is almost a daringly obvious title in that respect. But if the implications weren’t enough, Netflix subscribers also have two idols to entice them, at least into Episode 1 – Na-eun, formerly of Apink, and San-ha from the male group Astro. I can see the usual suspects queuing around the block from here.
Oh, and it only has 12 episodes, which is refreshingly brief for a K-Drama, though I concede that probably matters more to me than most.
It’s Getting Hot In Here
The catalyzing event of Romance in the House is a fire. It springs up at the Family Villa and kills the place’s landlord, leaving the villa free to be scooped up by a mysterious new owner. It wasn’t for sale, so needs must, I suppose.
The Family Villa is home to Mi-rae, a caffeine-fueled workaholic who lives with her mother Ye-yeon, younger brother, Hyun-hae, and their dog. Mi-rae and Ye-yeon work in the same store, though on separate floors. The upstairs/downstairs dynamic might be a little literal, but it’s important to understand that Mi-rae works herself to the bone having grown up watching her mother do the same. Financial class is pretty important subtext here, as we’ll see.
With all the work, Mi-rae doesn’t have time for much, including her needy ex, though when she passes out at work and is carried to the hospital on the shoulders of security guard Tae-pyeong, one must wonder if she’s coming around to the idea of a work-life balance.
Under New Ownership
A new landlord presents obvious problems for struggling tenants. What if he decides to increase the rent? What if he’s fastidious about dogs? We all know the type.
As it turns out, it’s worse than that – the landlord is adamant about moving in. The idea is that he’ll occupy the flat of someone who’s moving out at the end of their contract, but naturally, everyone immediately tries to butter him up so they’ll be the ones allowed to stay. It’s a power play out of the gate. This enigmatic landlord knows what he’s doing.
Ye-yeon isn’t above begging herself, though she initially takes another route by cozying up to the daughter of the former landlord, who was overlooked in inheriting the villa. There are multiple layers of suspicion around this entire endeavor but we shouldn’t expect Romance in the House to reveal any concrete answers just yet. It’s only Episode 1, after all.
Daddy’s Home
Mi-rae’s father, we learn, is dead, supposedly in an accident. But he had been estranged from the family long before that, having been thrown out for currently-unknown reasons.
But Mi-rae and Ye-yeon still celebrate his memory all the same, with ritual celebrations on the anniversary of his death each year. A family struggling to get by after the loss of their patriarch is an immediately relatable proposition, but the K-Drama elects not to go this route by revealing at the end of the premiere that Mi-rae’s father, Byeon Mu-jin, is the new landlord of Family Villa.
So, we have many questions immediately. Did he fake his own death? What has he been doing in the meantime? Is a reunion with his family what attracted him to the Family Villa? Does he plan to move in with them? Is he here to make amends, or for a more sinister reason?
It’s rare even for a premiere to present this many mysteries right out of the gate, and it should be fun getting some answers. At this point, it’s hard to know what to make of the show overall, which evokes classic K-Dramas but hasn’t yet done anything to stand out from a crowded field on its own terms.
Time will tell.
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