Climax Is The Korean Political Noir Drama You Didn’t Know You Needed

In House of Cards, Frank Underwood talks a lot about power. How it's like real estate. "The closer you are to the source, the higher your property value". It's "the old stone building that stands for centuries", as opposed to money, "the McMansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart after 10 years". If you stacked up all these quotes and fleshed out characters from what stood in front of you, you would get Lee Ji-won's ongoing political noir: Climax. 

Climax K-drama official posterInstagram

What Is the Plot of the Korean Drama “Climax”?

In simple terms, this ten-episode k-drama is a story of a group of ruthless people sitting at the heart of Korean politics, business, and entertainment, scrambling for a larger slice of the cake. The protagonist is Bang Tae-soop, a criminal prosecutor who has worked his way to the top and now has his eyes set on the mayoral elections. His ticket up the social ladder, however, was his marriage to a popular actress, Chu Sang-ah. Sang-ah is past her prime now, riddled with controversies, and struggling for a comeback.

There's also a wealthy business conglomerate, the WR Group, pulling the strings between the two, marked by a succession war between the heir, Kwon Jong-wook, and his father's second wife, Lee Yang-mi. Yang-mi is the financial backer of Tae-soop's political rival. At the same time, her extensive connections make her Sang-ah's only chance at a comeback in the industry.

To take Yang-mi down, Tae-soop joins forces with Jun-wook, while Chu Sang-ah finds herself acquiescing to Yang-mi's demands. What follows is an endless game of shadows as husband and wife go against each other to climb to the top while suppressing a decade-old murder case that could destroy them overnight.

Who Is In The Cast of “Climax”?

Ju Ji-hoon returns to the screen after The Trauma Code to play the protagonist Bang Tae-seop. Shifting away from the usual romances, Ha Ji-won (Empress Ki) plays the veteran actress Chu Sang-ah. Idol group After School's former member Nana joins the cast as Hwang Jeong-won, Tae-seop's private investigator and possible love interest. Meanwhile, It's Okay Not To Be Okay's Oh Jung-se and The Glory's Cha Joo-young play WR Group's Kwon Jong-wook and Lee Yang-mi, respectively.

When And Where Can You Watch Korean Drama “Climax”?

As of writing this article, the first three episodes are streaming on Rakuten Viki, with new episodes airing every Monday and Tuesday at 6:30 P.M. IST. The episodes seem promising (episode 3, released this Monday, has already topped viewership charts), and their sound design and striking cinematography have made the show the subject of a barrage of edits on social media. For a cast this stacked, one can only hope that the quality of the writing remains just as good throughout, doing justice to the premise at hand.