Celebrity – K-drama Episode 1 “#get_famous” Recap & Review

#get_famous

Episode 1 of Celebrity begins with a woman walking into a restaurant, ordering food and taking a photo as she narrates how she works as a social media influencer. You see, with just one picture she wields the power to push any business to a higher level.

The woman is Seo A-Ri and she narrates how her curiosity led her to become one of the most successful influencers in South Korea with 1.3 million followers. She is “Livin’ la Vida Loca”, making it rain in her bank account… at least that is what it looks like from afar. According to Seo A-Ri, her life used to be a dumpster fire before she got a taste of the good life. So how did she end up rubbing shoulders with the crème de la crème of the industry? Well, grab your popcorn because she is about to tell us the cheat code; class is in session people!

You won’t believe it but Seo A-Ri used to be one of the few people who barely had any social media presence. She used to work hard as a door-to-door salesperson for an unknown beauty brand and couldn’t be bothered to keep up with the hottest feuds between social influencers.

Her friend, Yoon Jeong-Sun, on the other hand, reveled in knowing what was going down on social media and would bore Seo A-Ri talking all about it. At the time, the hottest feud was between Biniimom and Wang Ro-La who were having a fall-out. According to rumours on the streets, these two used to be pals until Min-Hye got more followers and started looking down on Biniimom.

The scale of this online catfight had gotten out of hand and it was beginning to affect the Gabin Society. Gabin Society was a group of influencers made up of Yoon Si-Hyeon, Oh Min-Hye, Jin Chae-Hee, Angela, Ji-Na, Han Yu-Rang, Biniimom and Wang Ro-La. Their names had been mentioned during the online feud and they needed to come up with a solution quickly.  They planned to hold a meeting without  Biniimom and got caught. It seems Biniimom is the Regina George of this squad.

As the drama unfolds, a clueless Seo A-Ri visits Yoon Si-Hyeon’s house to sell her products to the house manager and a few of her friends. This is when we learn that Seo A-Ri came from a wealthy family but they went bankrupt. Since then, she has been working part-time jobs to make ends meet. Unfortunately for her, Yoon Si-Hyeon returns home earlier than planned and she is forced to hide in Si-Hyeon’s walk-in closet. While there, she is shocked to see all the luxurious things Si-Hyeon owns.

She also overhears a conversation between Si-Hyeon and her husband Jin Tae-Jeon. Tae-Jeon is Chae-Hee’s brother and he is surprised by all the online drama his sister keeps stirring up. Chae-Hee wanted Tae-Jeon to sue Biniimom for defamation but Si-Hyeon didn’t think it was necessary.

After managing to sneak out of Si-Hyeon’s house, Seo A-Ri goes home and is welcomed by her mom, Lee Hyeon-Ok. Hyeon-Ok is still not over her glory days when she used to swim in money. She runs a clothing alteration store but can’t resist trying on the luxurious clothes of her high-end clientele. Seo A-Ri has to keep reminding her about their new reality.

Later that night, she installs Instagram out of curiosity over Si-Hyeon’s conversation with her husband. This was the beginning of the end and looking back Seo A-Ri wonders if she made the right decision that night.

The next day, Seo A-Ri is asked by her boss to get a present for his wife and she brings Jeong-Sun along. This is where she reconnects with Oh Min-Hye, an old high-school friend. Min-Hye and Yu-Rang were out shopping to destress from the ongoing online feud. Min-Hye was furious about what Biniimom allegedly said on social media behind her back. Min-Hye was set on making her pay and couldn’t care less that she and Biniimom used to be close and the latter helped her grow her brand.

Seo A-Ri is shocked to learn that Min-Hye is now one of the hottest celebrities and can afford to spend 30 million won on one shopping spree. Back in the day, Min-Hye was from a poor background and Seo A-Ri would lend her the luxurious stuff she was done with.

Min-Hye doesn’t know that Seo A-Ri’s family went bankrupt and she could no longer attend an Ivy-league school. She brags to Yu-Rang about knowing someone like Seo A-Ri and Jeong-Sun stops the latter from telling the truth. Min-Hye asks to reconnect with Seo A-Ri and asks for her social media handles. Seo A-Ri tells her she is not on social media and Min-Hye can’t believe it. Jeong-Sun intervenes and offers her social media handles and promises to convey the messages to Seo A-Ri.

Later that night, Min-Hye tells her dotting husband, Kwon Myeong-Ho, about her meeting with Seo A-Ri. She thinks it is better to invite Seo A-Ri to a party happening that weekend and ditch her date, Biniimom. She figures that Biniimom betrayed her first and all is fair in war. Plus, she thinks Seo A-Ri will make a great impression as she believes she is rich and went to an Ivy League school.

Jeong-Sun works hard to convince Seo A-Ri to attend the party and her mom even suggests he wears one of her client’s dresses. After much deliberation, Seo A-Ri’s curiosity over how Min-Hye got so rich gets the best of her. She agrees to go to the party and see how the other half lives, it can’t be so bad after all.

Elsewhere, Chae-Hee is still pressuring her brother Tae-Jeon to handle the Biniimom case and get her jailed. Tae-Jeon lies that he will get to it but he just wants to pacify her. Si-Hyeon stops by because she is worried about Chae- hee’s tantrums but Tae-jeon assures her that he is handling it. While there, she spots Han Jun-Kyung, but stops Chae-hee from approaching . Chae-Hee informs her that Jun-Kyung will be at the party later that evening and Si-Hyeon seems surprised.

Back to Seo A-Ri, she gets ready for the party and wears a luxurious dress from one of her mom’s clients.  We later learn that this dress belongs to Si-Hyeon who is also going to the party. She is the only one in Korea who managed to get the dress.

Seo A-Ri arrives and runs into Jun-Kyung who mistakes her for someone else. Seo A-Ri thinks he is a pervert and threatens to report him so Jun-Kyung gives her his phone number. He is surprised by her tenacity and thinks she is interesting. Seo A-Ri is surprised when he willingly gives her his number so she decides not to report him.

She gets into the party and is warmly welcomed by Min-Hye who starts bragging about her and introducing her to the Gabin Society. The ladies are impressed by Seo A-Ri since she went to an Ivy League school. Min-Hye also lies that she and Seo A-Ri were close because both their families were loaded. Before Seo A-Ri can say anything, Si-Hyeon and Chae-Hee arrive. Chae-Hee notices the dress and questions if it belongs to Si-Hyeon.

Everyone demands to know where she got the dress. Seo A-Ri is too flustered to respond so S-hyeon steps in and saves her from embarrassing herself. Min-Hye continues to brag about Seo A-Ri but the latter can’t take the lies anymore. She comes clean about dropping out after her family went bankrupt.

Soon, the attention of the ladies is turned to Biniimom who makes a fiery entrance after learning that Min-Hye had her banned from the party. Biniimom proceeds to slap Min-Hye and call her out for using her for clout and dumping her after things became diffciult. Everyone watches, horrified yet thrilled by the drama, but Seo A-Ri steps in to help Min-Hye.

Back in the present, the women from the Gabin Society are reeling after learning that Seo A-Ri is holding a Live video and spilling the gossip about them. They call each other in disbelief as they all thought that Seo A-Ri is dead. In the Live, Seo A-Ri comes out and asks if they are scared yet. She singles out one internet user in particular, Bbbfamous. We’re left to wonder who she really is, and who killed her. Obviously, Seo A-Ri doesn’t say but gives a clue that it is someone terrified that she is still alive.

The Episode Review

Class is now over and our first lesson from Seo A-Ri on how to make it big online. Apparently, rule number one is to leech off the power of another popular influencer. Well, she is no Annerlise Keatings but we gotta admit, the first lesson had us all intrigued. We all love a good gossip session so we can’t wait to see what truth bombs she will drop next!

I love how the show smoothly flows from the past and present events that led to Seo A-Ri’s alleged death with the mystery remaining intact. The show also has amazing cinematography and an even better soundtrack selection. The way Seo A-Ri tells the story along with the great background music makes for a perfect narrative. It is no wonder that we’re hooked to find out what happens next!