Money Heist has been dominating Netflix's top 10 in my country since the first season. Thousands are introduced to it almost every day, thousands rewatch it and it has been dissected, reviewed, and analyzed over and over. A lot of people get put off by mainstream shows but how do they get to the mainstream in the first place? They offer thrilling plots, impeccable production, and admirable acting with the perfect cast and script. Money Heist: Korea JEA has unfortunately fallen short on several of these.

The Korean film industry comes out with movies and dramas that become hits almost immediately. The choice to remake one of Netflix's top series not even a year after season 4 came out was a bold move. Put a little spin on it (SK and NK unification) and add SKs trademark high production quality, acting, and swoon-worthy cast, I was SURE I would be watching a series like no other. I was disappointed. VERY Disappointed.

"Remakes are sometimes created by taking 'inspiration' from or 'adapting' the original film."

The Korean version is an adaptation. HEAVILY inspired by the original series. The way I see it, they took the story spun a convenient unification to introduce "interesting" characters, brought in their actors, and churned it out. I was flabbergasted, to say the least. I kept on expecting something thrilling to happen but I was sorely let down. I feel BETRAYED.

Acting
I have no qualms with the cast. I have no qualms with the acting. Look at the cast. These are all actors that have made a deep impression on me. Rachel Jun in The Call, Park Hae Soo in Prison Playbook and Squid game, Yoo Ji Tae...I could not be happier with their roles. HOWEVER, hear me out, in the original series I remember the life that the actress brought to the character Tokyo. If Tokyo is like ghost pepper in the OG series, Tokyo is like watered-down tabasco sauce in the remake. I will withhold further judgment since the second part has not come out yet (I know I'm not doing a good job of it so far). I also noticed how the actor who plays Denver (from the remake), used a VERY similar laugh to the OG Denver. Another trait that I'm sure was *Inspired*. I don't care but Denver's laugh should have its own copyrights. You have to own the character that you play. Denver's laugh cannot be remade. Period. I will accept versions of it however by even adopting the same laugh I feel like the remake loses whatever originality it has (Which is almost a joke by the end of part 1).

Finally, can we talk about how STUPID this splitting the series into two parts is? I understand the strategy behind this. Similar to a season finale however the time period between the two parts are shorter. This works in favor of shows that already have a solid fanbase (Stranger things). Shows that have proved from the first few seasons that they are able to produce quality content. But for JEA, it seems unnecessary. I am already disappointed by the content of the show, have no expectations, and am now disappointed that I can't even finish it so I can be done with it once and for all. The show BARELY had any time to gain some traction. Was this really the best decision?

A lot can change in a few episodes. I have gone from hating a show to absolutely loving it and vice versa. I hope this drama will end up in the former category. But for now, I would not recommend watching it. Watch the whole thing after part 2 comes out. Hopefully, it'll have something worth talking about.