The Perfect Deal: Episode 1 (First Impressions)

by SugarSnow

Two desperate friends make an even more desperate choice to kidnap a friend as leverage for money with hopes to come out clean in the end and with some cash in hand. But as we can all expect, things never go as planned.

Editor’s note: This is an Episode 1 review only. For a place to chat about the entire drama, visit the Drama Hangout.
 
EPISODE 1

To start things off, we’re introduced to our main players in this crazy attempt to strike gold. SONG JAE-HYO (Kim Dong-hwi) is a medical student whose life may sound good from the outside, but as we see glimpses through his thoughts, it most definitely isn’t. LEE JOON-SUNG (Yoo Seung-ho) is a friend of Jae-hyo’s from high school. Joon-sung got himself deep in debt from gambling, and proceeded to ask for loans that he couldn’t pay back. He thought he could escape the situation by enlisting for the military early, but it was to no avail. The loan sharks tracked him down and threatened his life if he doesn’t cough up the amount upon discharge from the military.

On the other end of the spectrum, we meet PARK MIN-WOO (Yoo Soo-bin). He seems like a bright guy who’s somewhat distant from the other two, as he isn’t great friends with them and has only just recently been reached out to by Jae-hyo. We don’t see what he does for a job in the first episode, but we do learn that he is from a wealthy family, which is what gets the gears turning in Jae-hyo’s head.

After a night — more like half a night — of drinking, Min-woo is face-down and drooling on the table while the other two seem to be just fine. Before heading home, Jae-hyo searches Min-woo until he finds his wallet and announces to Joon-sung that Min-woo won’t even notice given how drunk he is. Exhausted after carrying Min-woo back to the apartment, they sit down for more beer and have casual conversation until they hear a phone ringing in the background.

Jae-hyo finds the phone and sees that Min-woo’s mom is calling him. Concerned, Joon-sung starts getting his stuff on to get Min-woo in a taxi headed home, as he was supposed to be home by midnight. Jae-hyo, on the other hand, has plans of his own and decides to answer the second time Min-woo’s mom calls. After plotting in his head, he makes his decision and tells Min-woo’s mom that her son has been kidnapped and they want one billion won in exchange.

Listening to Jae-hyo’s half of the conversation, Joon-sung thinks he was joking. Jae-hyo reassures him that he’s dead serious, and also just a little bit crazy. Joon-sung freaks out and tries to take the phone back from Jae-hyo to hopefully erase these mistakes in time. Jae-hyo, headstrong, keeps the phone away from Joon-sung and urges him that it is all going to be worth it.

Meanwhile, all the commotion in their room is causing a ruckus throughout the apartment complex, so a couple calls the cops with a noise complaint. When the cops show up, the two fix their act and hid Min-woo in the closet before they open the door.

Joon-sung’s eyes dart back and forth and he’s worried they will find Min-woo. As the room fills with suffocating tension, one of the officers makes his way towards the closet. In a dicey move, Joon-sung lunges at Jae-hyo and begins to fight him again to pull the officers’ attention from the closet, which ends with them tasing Joon-sung.

After being brought to the police department, they are asked to fill out a form stating why they were fighting, and their stories have to match. With luck on their side, another officer runs in bringing up a lost person with dementia which averts all of the officers’ attention from them, allowing them to walk with just a warning.

Too deep to get out now, Joon-sung decides to stick with Jae-hyo. They pull Min-woo out of the closet when they hear that he’s awake. After sitting him down, they attempt to communicate with him through an electronic voice thinking they can hide their identities. Min-woo sits silently for a bit and then screams at Joon-sung, name-dropping him, asking him if he thinks he’s a pushover.

It’s only the first episode, but man, this looks like an intriguing show. I am interested to see how long these two average guys can pull off this kidnapping and think on their feet quick enough to avoid getting caught. And how was Min-woo able to identify his kidnappers – unless he wasn’t as drunk as we thought? I’m excited to see how the rest of this unfolds, and whether or not I should add “kidnapping a friend for ransom” to my list of backup plans for my life.

 
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