The Penthouse – K-Drama Episode 9 Recap & Review

Yoon-Cheol To The Rescue!

Episode 9 of The Penthouse begins with Yoon-Hee and Ro-Na deciding to move out from Seol-A’s old house. The flickering lights and strange occurrences are enough to convince them that this place perhaps is haunted after all.

Meanwhile, Yoon-Cheol, Kyu-Jin and Joo continue to bicker about Yoon-Hee and try to work out exactly who’s been leaking information to her. Given Joo has a spy app attached to his phone, he suddenly realizes that Su-Ryeon could be the one listening in.

Hurrying back home, he confronts his wife who happens to be in the study acting like nothing is going on. It turns out she’s actually holding the bugs that were planted in his office so the search brings back no leads. However, Joo does learn that Yoon-Hee and Su-Ryeon have been meeting.

For now it’s on to the meeting between Yoon-Hee and Joo. She’s given some stellar advice from Su-Ryeon beforehand and sticks to her guns, deciding against selling the lot to him for 30% more profit. When he ups that to 100%, she rejects again.

This definitely gets under his skin and she reads his body language to realize he’s anxious. Eventually he drops his cool façade and asks outright exactly what she wants. Instead, she walks away after telling him she’s not selling regardless of what he says.

Su-Ryeon receives the news from Yoon-Hee and things seem to be on the up… until she getsa call from an unidentified number in prison.

As we cut across to the prison itself, we see a figure from the past reading about Su-Ryeon and Joo, laughing. It turns out this guy is Director Min – the man in charge of Hope Orphanage. Given he knows the truth about Seol-A’s parentage, he’s used this trump card to spill the truth to Joo… or at least he will do in 30 minutes.

Racing up to his office, Su-Ryeon just about manages to infiltrate the delivery and takes the pictures outside where she learns that Director Min wants her to get him out of prison. If not, then her secret will be spilled to her husband.

Seo-Jin is rattled by a message of her own, reading “I know what you did with Joo Dan-Tae.” It causes her so much distress in fact, she calls Joo to come over and discuss their next steps. The eye and the symbol are identical to whoever it was (Su-Ryeon) who left the message at the fountain. Joo however suspects it’s Seol-A’s older brother.

As we cut back in time, we see Seol-A talking about her adoptive brother and how they’ll get involved and find her if she’s not careful.

Seo-Jin believes it’s someone closer to home – that home belonging to Su-Ryeon. As we cut across to the fountain downstairs, we see Ho-Dong looking longingly at the statue. On a side note here, I’m calling it right now that Ho-Dong is the adoptive brother of Seol-A.

Anyway, Joo learns of the package interception and races home to find out what’s going on. When he gets there, he overhears Su-Ryeon distressed on the phone to Min who wants her to post bail and get him out. He realizes she’s being blackmailed but for now, doesn’t know from who.

As Su-Ryeon does some research, we cut back in time to see Director Min in the flesh and see first-hand how evil he is. He starves the kids there and Seol-A returns to see this firsthand. She tells him to stop and tries her best to protect her friends but it’s no good, this man’s blackened heart doesn’t sway.

Back in the present, the drama never stops. Yoon-Hee is snatched up at Bosuk Village and bundled in the back of the car. She’s brought to a secluded place by Kyu-Jin who’s surrounded by goons and what looks like an electric chair.

Handing over a picture of her daughter, he threatens her and tries to force Yoon-Hee to stamp her seal of approval. Just then though, a truck shows and the man inside starts throwing smoke bombs.

He frees Yoon-Hee from her predicament in the carnage and tells her to run. It turns out, this unknown man happens to be Yoon-Cheol, who’s unwilling to watch this happen to his first love. As they race away together, Yoon-Cheol electrocutes a handful of guards and speeds off. Good grief that was dramatic!

They head up the road but are stopped midway by Joo and Kyu-Jin who somehow catch up and stop him. He’s beaten down to the ground but suddenly stops when Yoon-hee shows that she’s recorded all of this. The entire ordeal including the kidnapping and Kyu-Jin’s big mouth could be leaked to the police unless they comply. In order to save Yoon-Cheol, she tells the men she’s only going to go through Yoon-Cheol from now on.

While she’s taken away, Seo-Jin tails Su-Ryeon and decides to figure out what she’s up to. Su-Ryeon however, heads to the prison and learns that Director Min is involved. She inevitably feeds this straight back to Joo too, as these two treacherous fiends continue to scheme.

Seo-Jin is closer to the truth than she thinks, especially when she guesses that Su-Ryeon is Seol-A’s real mother.

After school, Seok-Hoon teaches his fellow student a lesson, beating him down with punching gloves until Ho-Dong shows and breaks it up. It turns out the entire incident is on CCTV but the boy doesn’t want to report it, claiming they’re just messing around.

That evening, Su-Ryeon stages the entire conversation with Min and spins it so Joo is the one being blackmailed. It’s a clever ploy and one that sees her find out the truth from his lips. He promises that he’s not the one who killed Seol-A but if it’s not him then… who was it?

Joo is determined to get his revenge and heads up to Director Min’s place to investigate. When he gets there he finds evidence that Su-Ryeon has placed and immediately “takes care” of Min. This basically translates to killing as we see a shot of Min outside swinging from his neck in the yard.

Joo messages the others afterwards too, telling them that “Seol-A’s ghost is now gone.”

Well, Seol-A’s ghost may be gone but the drama most certainly is not. Yoon-Cheol nurses his wounds and brushes aside Seo-Jin’s questions, eventually realizing that she was the one who slashed Yoon-hee’s neck and doubting her commitment to their relationship. He even smashes their wedding photo on the ground.

Seo-Jin’s problems continue at school too, as Ho-Dong wants to get the parents involved in the upcoming situation involving the bullying. This sees him head up to Su-Ryeon’s place where he comments that her eyes are just like her daughter’s.

As the episode closes out, Yoon-Hee moves in to Hera Palace sporting lavish new clothes and garments fit for the rich lifestyle she’s about to adopt. She greets the other women who remain wide-eyed and shocked at her appearance.

The Episode Review

Yes! Now the tables have fully turned and Yoon-Hee is clawing her way up the social ladder again, one rung at a time. Seeing her arrive with all this lavish furniture in front of the other women was incredibly satisfying.

Joo and Seo-Jin however remain the dastardly power couple and together they spell big trouble for the majority of our characters. Su-Ryeon’s stance in the middle of all this is a nice touch, and she’s a tough one to figure out in truth.

She’s definitely got her husband’s number though and already proven that she’s more than capable to hold her own in this arena. However, she’s also using Yoon-Hee for her own means too and her manipulation knows no bounds between the good and bad characters adopting this drama.

If yesterday ‘s episode was a bit subdued, this week goes full on makjang as everything borders on the incredulous. The situation with Yoon-Hee tied up felt like it was ripped straight out of a live-action Batman and Robin episode from the 60’s!

Still, the ending leaves the door wide open for next week and if you’ve made it this far, there’s a reason Penthouse is one of the top broadcasting dramas in Korea.