Tempted (2018)
Quick Take: Tempted (2018) starring Woo Do-hwan, Park Soo-young / Joy, Kim Min-jae, and Moon Ga-young. 9.4/10. 32 episodes of 35 min.
Synopsis: Loosely based on Les Liasons Dangereuses, three friends — rich, spoiled, and bored — make a bet to see if one of them can seduce a scholarship student and break her heart. Kwon Si-hyon perseveres and succeeds, but of course he falls in love with her in the process. Lots of regrets in this show, but all ends well.
Review: I binged my way through this one, so bonus points for Compelling! Tempted has an outstanding cast. Joy’s first series was The Liar and his Lover and she did well with it, but in this drama her acting has improved. (There’s a nod to her idol status when she is asked if she’d like her boyfriend to sing to her, and she replies, “Actually I thought I’d be the one doing the singing.”) Woo Do-hwan’s next project The King: Eternal Monarch (2020) raised him to star staus, but he went in the military immediately after. Kim Min-jae is one of those actors it’s easy to overlook because he inhabits his role so well you don’t realize he’s acting. He was completely different in Dali and the Cocky Prince; he’s worth following. The third of the trio of friends is played by Moon Ga-young, who won an excellence award for Tempted. She also plays the female lead in True Beauty and Find Me in Your Memory.
Recommended
Rewatchable - 4, Compelling - 5, Plot/ Story/Writing - 10, Acting/Casting - 10, Production - 10, Bonus - 5. Bonus points for casting.
Notes:
Woo Do-hwan
is a relative newcomer. He has been acting since 2016 but first gained major recognition for The King: Eternal Monarch (2020). He spent 2020-21 doing manadatory military service.
Joy
is the stage name of Park Soo-young. She made her debut in 2014 as a member of the girl group Red Velvet. See her also in The Liar and His Lover (2017).
Kim Min-jae
trained as an idol singer and rapper. After supporting roles in Dr. Romantic (2016) and Guardian: The Great and Lonely God (2016), he showed his talent as a lead in Tempted (2018), Do You Like Brahms? (2020), and Dali and the Cocky Prince (2021).