The Heirs arrived on SBS in October 2013 with a cast built to sell. Lee Min-ho, Park Shin-hye and Kim Woo-bin lead a story set in an exclusive high school for Korea’s richest families. Kim Eun-sook wrote it. It ran 20 episodes, ending December 12, 2013.
Kim Tan, Cha Eun-sang, and the LA Meeting
Kim Tan is heir to the Jeguk Group. His half-brother Kim Won, played by Choi Jin-hyuk, exiles him to the United States while trying to take the family business. There Tan meets Cha Eun-sang, who came to find her sister. He is engaged to Yoo Rachel, played by Kim Ji-won. He falls for Eun-sang anyway.
Back in Korea, Choi Young-do — Kim Woo-bin’s character, once Tan’s best friend — picks on Eun-sang to get at Tan. Then Young-do falls for her too. Tan has to choose between the family business and love.
A Cast That Sold in 13 Countries
The names did the selling. International broadcasting rights went to 13 countries. In Japan, the show fetched US$30,000 per episode, the highest price of any 2013 Korean drama.
This was the first Korean drama co-produced by American digital distribution platform DramaFever and Korean production company Hwa&Dam Pictures.
By January 26, 2014, it had passed one billion views on Youku, China’s biggest streaming site.
| The Heirs | |
|---|---|
| Network | SBS |
| Run | October 9 – December 12, 2013 |
| Episodes | 20 |
| Writer | Kim Eun-sook |
| Japan price | US$30,000 per episode |
Where the Show Actually Lands
Strip the cast and the machinery is familiar Kim Eun-sook. The rich-school setting, the love triangle, the family empire as obstacle — all of it runs on schedule. What lifts The Heirs is the pairing at the center. Lee Min-ho and Park Shin-hye carry the LA meeting and the reunion well enough that the class gap reads as a real problem, not decoration.
Kim Woo-bin is the sharper weapon. Young-do’s turn from bully to rival suitor gives the back half its tension, and the show knows it.
The weakness is length. Twenty episodes is a lot of runway for a plot this simple, and the middle stretches.
What the Numbers Do Not Measure
The Heirs is a 2013 drama that sold on star power and delivered just enough of it. The one billion Youku views and the US$30,000 per episode price in Japan measure the market, not the writing. What holds up is the triangle and the performances inside it.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.