Language: Korean

Subtitle: English

Number of Episodes: 24

Genre: (Drama)

 

Korean Television Drama: All In
(24 episodes)

THE STORY:

Kim In-ha was born to be a gambler. As a child he would travel around town with his uncle, a professional gambler who earns his living by hustling others. As his uncle's "partner-in-crime" In-ha quickly learned how to survive the streets, relying only on his street smarts and gambling skills. Along with his friends, he would commit petty crimes and engage in many fights. Then on one chance encounter in a train he meets Soo-yon, the love of his life.

In a way, Soo-yon's life is a little bit tragic as well. Soo-yon's mother had recently passed away and the only living relative she has remaining is her father who works in a theater as a film projectionist. When she first met to see her father, he was getting beaten up by a group of thugs over an unpaid loan. Seeing as she had nowhere else to go, she moves in with her father and helps out at the theater.

In-ha would frequent the theater to get closer with Soo-yon. One day, he happened to witness Soo-yon's father getting beaten up by a group of loan-sharks with Soo-yon caught in the middle. Enraged, In-ha fought off the attackers with the help of new best friend Choi Jung-won.

To help Soo-yon's father repay his debts, In-ha begs his uncle to help him out. His uncle agrees and in the end they were able to earn the money to cover the debts. But tragedy always have to happen. On the way home, Soo-yon's father was ambushed by gangsters and was killed in the process. Since Soo-yon's father was killed and the debt was left unpaid, the loan sharks kidnapped her as payment. Enraged, In-ha led a rescue attempt to save her, which resulted in one of his friend becoming crippled for life. As revenge, both In-ha and Jung-won decided to set fire to the gangster's warehouse. They were unaware that the leader, Dae-chi was still in the warehouse and accidentally killed him during their arson attack. Jung-won was clear of all his charges but In-ha was left to serve 7 years in prison for the crime. We then fast-forward to the future and we are revisited with the lives of In-ha, Soo-yon, and Jung-won again; this time played by actors Lee Byung Hun, Song Hae Gyo, and Ji Sung, respectively. The three are re-united, and that's when the story begins.

The show is about gambling and going "All In" by sacrificing everything you have for the one you love. There's a lot going on in this movie. It's about gangsters, mafia, politics, and corruption. There's a lot of fighting and deception in the show, but it's also a story about loyalty and love. Like any typical Korean drama there's the obligatory love-triangle. There was a fourth character played by Park Sol Mi of Winter Sonata fame, but her role was very minor. It's too bad because they could have fleshed out her character some more.

What I like about the show:

Lee Byung Hun and Song Hae Gyo. The two fell in love in real life during the filming but are now broken up. (a little useless information in my part) Lee Byung Hun is always good in all the roles that he plays and Song Hae Gyo is beautiful as always. I think that All In is a very inspirational show. Despite the unfortunate events the two leads go through, they remain true to one another. One great thing about All In is that the show isn't that predictable. Sure, we know that In-ha will eventually end up with Soo-Yon and the good guys will eventually win, but there were so many different sub-plots that the viewers do not know what will happen next. There's a lot of action in addition to the sappy romance and one can learn a thing or two about the harsh reality of business with all the politics and betrayals.

What I didn’t like about the show:

I didn't really like the side stories with In-ha's uncle. It's meant as a comic relief, but with so much that is going on in the show it just became a nuisance watching him. His presence didn't really add anything to the story. There were some slow moments in the series, and it could have been two hours shorter if they hadn't repeated the key scenes so often. The biggest problem I have about the series is the horrible English subtitles!!! I know that it has nothing to do with the show, but it really irritates non-Koreans like me.

How do I rate this show?

Recommended. Go watch it. If you want to watch a drama series with a decent storyline, watch All In.