SKY Castle: A Thoroughly Enjoyable Mess

As I have said before, for example in my Last Of Us 2 review, just because a work of art has the intention of saying something, making a grand statement with the purpose of potentially making the viewer think about something in a different manner than they previously might have, doesn’t inherently make it more valuable or better than something that does not, nor does it mean that you will say what you are intending to well. In TLOU2’s case it’s thematic obsessions detracted from not only its overall impact, but it’s quality as well. 

In the Korean drama SKY Castle’s case, it was an amalgamation of issues, mostly stemming from its inconsistencies. While there is undoubtedly moments of quality sprinkled throughout, those moments don’t add up to the aspirations this work clearly had to be transformative in the space of Korean drama.

SKY Castle’s setup is fairly straightforward. A collection of families living in a luxurious residential complex known as (you guessed it) SKY Castle, SKY being an acronym for the three most prestigious universities in Korea. Full of wealthy doctors, professors and the like, the wives are determined to make their husbands more successful and to raise their children to be top students, who will be accepted at the best universities, so they use every possible way to get that. 

As you may expect it is a more character focused family drama than a tightly written narratively focused one. Giving the characterization room to be the driving force of the show whereas the narrative is merely a vessel for us to explore these people and their plight. 

Unfortunately it is full of characters that do not steadily build over time through subtle moments, rather moments here and there of implication that contrast with other scenes that tear down any kind of believability of character that was attempted earlier. For the most part these characters are very interesting, believably flawed people put in very smart situations to bring the best out of them with incredible performances by the whole cast that deserved more consistent writing.

It’s not only the decisions that these characters make in important moments earlier on, it’s the direction of important scenes that hurt it even further. Incorrect emotion drives certain scenes forward that should create friction between characters ideologically clashing undermines any stakes that the show is trying to create or allude to. While some are undoubtedly done well, others are played off with a light almost humorous tone when it obviously should not.

Interesting story threads involving the younger characters, who are given an alarming lack of screen time and involvement in the latter stages, earlier on completely ditched for the sake of padding via dramatic irony of the “core” storylines. While the layered and mostly well-written antagonist are given more time to develop there is also a further focus on the daughter of the main couple who is so reprehensibly rude, stuck up, and irredeemable, swiftly answers the call when the need to be upstanding comes about in the latter stages. 

In fact that is the case for a lot of the most morally gray characters in the show. All of the sudden when the need arises, characters become virtuous, idealized, pictures of morality that the show has been trying to convince me these people have been anything but. Not that they’re incapable of it, but some more complexity into these outcomes would’ve been far more impactful and cohesive.

It’s remarkable that amongst all of the lack of focus this show has, it’s smart enough to realize that not every Korean drama needs a fully developed romantic subplot. I find it’s restraint in this area admirable, especially with the easily marketable appeal of teen romances right there in front of them. I wish this contributed more positively to the overall work, however it’s attention is in too many places it shouldn’t be for it to make as noticeable of an impact as it should have. It has all of the elements of a solid work of art but utilized in the wrong ways and places. For everything it does right it does two wrong, constantly shooting itself in both feet.

Ultimately the show is a criticism of the cutthroat competitive nature of Korean education undermines children genuine growth and forces them through robotic and rigorous training and unhappiness all for the sake of their parents inferiority complex. How well it delivers this message is debatable considering all of the above discussed.

Even with all of the criticisms mentioned above, I can’t help but find myself rooting for this show and all of it’s unfulfilled ambitions. Part of the reason I didn’t go in-depth into specific story beats is because I truly believe that there are many of you who would enjoy what this show does well. It’s characters are unique, it’s story threads have moments of engagement, it’s setting is very strong, it undoubtedly takes some risks, even if it doesn’t form completely into a full recommendation from me, it does come recommended to hardcore Korean drama enthusiasts and those interested in seeing what the medium has to offer. Its entertainment value is off the charts, even if it's artistic value is much more mixed.