Itaewon Class (2020) Review: A Pub, a Grudge, a Decade

Is Itaewon Class worth watching?

Yes. Itaewon Class is a stirring underdog drama with a hero of unusual moral stubbornness, and its first half is as gripping as any K-drama of its year. Park Seo-joon’s quietly immovable lead and Kim Da-mi’s scene-stealing turn give the revenge plot a human core, and the show’s affection for its misfit found family is infectious. The reservation is that the corporate war stretches thin over 16 episodes, and the romance never feels as carefully built as the grudge.

What is Itaewon Class about?

Park Sae-ro-yi (Park Seo-joon) is a high-school student with a firm sense of right and wrong. When he hits the arrogant son of Jang Dae-hee (Yoo Jae-myung), head of a powerful restaurant conglomerate, he is expelled. Soon afterwards the same family’s recklessness costs Sae-ro-yi his father, and he ends up serving a prison sentence. He comes out with a plan measured in years: open a small pub in Seoul’s Itaewon district, grow it into a business, and one day outgrow the empire that ruined his life.

His staff are outsiders who have nowhere else to go, including Jo Yi-seo (Kim Da-mi), a brilliant, abrasive young woman who decides to become his manager. Kwon Nara plays Oh Soo-ah, Sae-ro-yi’s first love, whose career ties her to the Jang family.

Itaewon Class is a South Korean series in Korean, adapted from a webtoon by its creator, Gwang Jin, who also wrote the screenplay. It streams on Netflix. This review covers the complete show: one season of 16 episodes, and the story has ended.

A revenge story with a moral spine

Most revenge dramas thrive on a hero who becomes as ruthless as the villain. Itaewon Class goes the other way. Sae-ro-yi’s defining trait is that he refuses to bend, even when bending would be easier, and the series makes that stubbornness both admirable and slightly maddening. His revenge is a business plan rather than a bloodbath, and the pleasure is in watching patience turn into leverage.

Yoo Jae-myung makes Jang Dae-hee a formidable opponent, a self-made tycoon who genuinely believes his worldview, which keeps the conflict from turning cartoonish. Their long cold war is the show’s backbone.

Kim Da-mi steals the show

Park Seo-joon is solid and sympathetic, but the breakout is Kim Da-mi. Yi-seo is blunt, arrogant, funny and fiercely loyal, and Kim plays her with a pitch of self-belief that should be irritating and is instead thrilling to watch. Much of the show’s energy comes from her schemes and her refusal to be sensible.

The found family around the pub is the series at its warmest. Its staff include a transgender chef and a young man of mixed Korean and Guinean heritage, and the show gives their experiences of prejudice real attention. That inclusiveness was notable for a mainstream Korean drama of 2020, even if some of the handling feels simple now.

Where the second half loosens

After a superb first stretch, Itaewon Class starts to repeat itself. The business rivalry settles into cycles of setback and comeback, and the show relies on coincidence to keep its players in collision. The love triangle is the weaker thread: Oh Soo-ah is underwritten, and Yi-seo’s crush on her boss, while charming, has less texture than her role as his strategist. Viewers who come for romance may find the priorities unbalanced.

Who should watch Itaewon Class?

It is best for viewers who love underdog and revenge stories, fans of Park Seo-joon, and anyone curious about the K-drama boom of 2020. The 16 episodes run long, so plan on a few weeks of evening viewing. Expect a violent incident early on, prison scenes, bullying and some discrimination, all handled at a level suitable for older teenagers.

Three related picks from the Netflix era of K-drama:

• Fight for My Way, another Park Seo-joon story about a young man who refuses to accept his place in life.
• Our Beloved Summer for Kim Da-mi in a gentler, more purely romantic register.
• What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim to see Park Seo-joon’s lighter comic side.

The verdict

Itaewon Class is an inspiring, energetic drama about dignity and patience that earns its reputation through strong performances and a clear moral voice. The back half loses some of its grip and the romance underwhelms, but the journey from a single pub to a real rivalry remains hugely satisfying.

Rating: 4/5