K-Drama Review: “The Glory Part 1” Gratifies With Intoxicating and Ruminative Revenge-Driven Story

Conceived eloquently, The Glory reasonably examines the acceptance that relieving emotional pain does not always come from forgiveness and healing.

Ironically inspiring, the journey of the main character in the series presents resilience gone twisted. Interestingly, it profoundly emphasizes that goals can be achieved when you have positive motivation, more so, when your intention is driven by revenge.

• Main Cast: Song Hye Kyo | Lee Do Hyun | Im Ji Yeon | Park Sung Hoon | Yeom Hye Ran | Jung Sung Il | Cha Joo Young | Kim Gun Woo | Kim Hieora
• Overall Rating:
• Thrilling/Addictive Meter:
• Rewatch Value:
• Dramas of Similar Vibe | Eve | Why Her | My Name | Juvenile Justice | The Penthouse | Revenge of Others

abbyinhallyuland thanks Netflix for the advance preview to The Glory

PRESS CONFERENCE: “The Glory” Aims To Give Enlightening Message On School Violence

The Glory Quick Plot Recap

The series follows the story of Dong-eun, starring Song Hye Kyo from Encounter, Descendants of the Sun, who has painful memories from bullying and school violence.

18 years later, her revenge begins by driving all the perpetrators and everyone around them to the brink of ruin.

Yeo-jung, starring Lee Do Hyun from Youth of May and Sweet Home, is another victim of a miserable tragedy.

Accidentally, or intentionally Dong-eun and Yeo-jung get tangled and conspire the revenge together.

The Glory Part 1 Series Highlights

Addicting and Polished Narrative

Casting a disheartening bait in the early minutes of the first episode, it was as if the story intentionally looped viewers to root for Dong-eun’s premeditated plan to claim the glory of her youth she failed to have a taste of.

From there, viewers might finish it in one sitting, so if you are someone who struggles to curb spree-watching, consider you’re forewarned.

Artfully crafted, Writer Kim and Director Ahn’s top-notch skills redefined genre drama focusing on vengeance. It firmly makes a stand of considering the emotions of the school violence victim, in contrast to how recent dramas foster the forgive-and-forget message.

Narrated from the perspective of Dong-eun, seemingly writing letters to a dear friend she vocally loathes, the trajectory of the series covered all the bases to support her motivation to claim her retribution. No matter how long it will take and how hard it will be.

Unleashing her interwoven plans that rope in all the perpetrators to suffer the same, rooting for her lifetime wish easily gets approval from the viewers because of how delineated her anguish was.

Accordingly, the series flows to a sedating vibe, but the thrill seeps into the main character’s blatant attacks along with the responses of her antagonists to those actions. Consequently, these interactions warrant an engrossing drive.

Well-Contrived Characters

Taking a less-familiar route in the colors of the characters presented in the story is such a bold move for The Glory. One that pays off owing to how it reconciles with the dark yet therapeutic mood of the series.

The Glory pragmatically asserts how extremely bullied people carry the scar from those experiences all their lives. In the case of Dong-eun, it even became her motivation to live.  All Dong-eun’s preparations are directed at her interconnected plans of making Yeon-jin’s life miserable.

Her bravado to blatantly declare to avenge herself in front of the people who wronged her is such a breather from previous payback-seeking K-Drama characters. Her mission, supported by equally entertaining and cryptic characters add fascinating notes to the series.

Seen intently, her meticulous plan is mainly capitalizing on the innately core bad attitudes of the bullies. She’s just waiting for the dysfunctional circle of friendship that abused her to self-destruct.

Her fascination in baduk helped in drawing a macro picture of the chaos she intends to drop while serving individual punishments to her former classmates.

Ultimately, her end game is to make Yeon-jin alone, unloved and without anything.

Remarkably, the small cast understood their roles well and ensured distinct remembrance of the characters they played. Song Hye Kyo superbly made a dark character with a resonating story that encourages us to always choose to live despite hopeless life setbacks.

Truly possessing a potent convincing appeal as an actor, Lee Do Hyun displayed the fun and unfazed emotions of his character, even when his story is not yet fully unveiled. Likewise, proving her versatility, Im Ji Yeon vaunted the worth-despising villainess in the story.

Credit should also be given to Jung Ji So and Shin Ye Eun as the young versions of Dong-eun and Yeon-jin, respectively.

The Glory Part 1 Series Musings

It feels surreal how The Glory grips the attention with an agonizing storyline. Persuasive in its approach to reflecting on returning the pain from remorseless physical assault and emotional trauma, the series would surely raise a healthy conversation about school violence.

What grounds warrant a victim to pursue vengeance? What reasons do school bullies have to torment fellow students? There’s a scene where Dong-eun elaborates on how perpetrators know inflicting pain would hurt, but they still choose to do it. Oftentimes, these oppressors would charge it to “youth mistake”. Sadly, the innocent recipients of their ill attitudes would take it as a “youth nightmare”.

Notably, the series also illuminates how tolerance of school violence should be non-negotiable. Hopefully, this would raise awareness for parents and responsible adults to protect victims, and straighten up juvenile offenders.

Empathically edifying that people have different ways of enduring reprehensible emotional damage received, the drama realized how succumbing to corruption liberates the feeling of being in a depthless torment.

In particular, that moment when young Dong-eun found solace in the coldness of the snow alleviating the burns she suffered is a poignant moment highlighting a meaningful truth in life. Often, the saddest moment in life is battled alone.

Laying a commendable story foundation, The Glory successfully pitched a clear proposal no viewer would refuse to accept. That is, to see whether Dong-eun’s elaborate gamble would bring back her honor in the concluding part of the series.

The second part of the series which will be shown in March will also answer questions about Yeo-jeong’s real intention and his connection to So-hee, the girl previously bullied by Yeon-jin’s gang before Dong-eun. Moreover, the person secretly helping Dong-eun will also be revealed.

All 8 episodes of The Glory Part 1 are now streaming on Netflix! Part 2 will stream on Netflix on March 10, 2023.

The Glory Part 1 Takeaway Quotes

“Some hatred resembles longing. It’s impossible to get rid of.”

“My scars were itching, and my stomach was in excruciating pain from period cramps. At that moment, I had this thought. The pharmacy doesn’t open until 9 am and the Han River is just a 20-minute walk away. The water will be cold and then everything will be okay. The scars won’t itch anymore.”

“Starting today my dream is you. I hope we will meet each other again.”

“From now on, every single day will be terrifying. They’ll be provocative and terrifying. You can’t stop me or make me disappear. I’m planning to become a very old rumor of yours.”

“Welcome to my very own gym Yeon-jin.”

“You’ll never find a solution in the past, you’ll find it in the future.”

K-Drama Review: “The Glory Part 2” Fiercely Fleshes Out A Cathartic Image Of Retribution

All Photos Courtesy of Netflix

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